Some recent news regarding IBM's acquisition of SPSS - Does not appear
to be a done deal. It should be
interesting to follow this.
I just hope that folks like Jon Peck, Richard Oliver and all the other
SPSS staffers who have contributed so much to this list (and Kyle Weeks
and the development folks, too) come out as well as the fat cats at the
top. SPSS is what it is because of them and people like them, not the
stuffed shirts on the top floor.
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SPSS Board Faces Shareholder Investigation
An investigation is being conducted by SPSS shareholders who believe
that the firm’s recent acquisition by IBM ‘appears to be unfair’.
News of the $1.2bn deal broke last week, when it was announced that the
go-ahead would be subject to shareholder approval, regulatory
clearances and other conditions.
Shareholders are now saying that SPSS failed to conduct an open and
fair auction and that the offer to purchase SPSS for $50 per share
appears ‘opportunistically timed’ to take advantage of the current
economic downturn.
The investigation is focused on whether the SPSS Board of Directors
fulfilled their fiduciary duties to maximize shareholder value in
connection with the proposal.
A second investigation describes the deal as ‘suspicious’ because it
appears from a review of the company’s financial statements that stock
value is greater than $50 per share, and because the ‘same Directors
that are approving the deal are receiving swanky new jobs at IBM’.
http://www.mrweb.com/drno/news10360.htm
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"The deal, which includes a fee of $23.5 million that SPSS would have
to
pay should the merger fall through, is subject to SPSS shareholder
approval and regulatory clearances, and is expected to close later in
the second half of 2009, the companies said.
"
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=34915
Locked
