“Historically, Steve Jobs has not been the acquisitive type. Since he returned to Apple as chief executive in 1997, the company has bought only 11 small companies, far fewer than Silicon Valley counterparts such as Cisco Systems or Hewlett-Packard,” Peter Burrows reports for BusinessWeek. “Google has bought 11 companies in just the past 18 months.”
Burrows reports, “Last year, Apple quietly hired a Goldman Sachs investment banker, Adrian Perica, to help the company cut deals. Multiple sources close to Apple say they believe Perica is the first dedicated M&A specialist on staff. The company has also stepped up its pace of acquisitions: Three of Jobs’ 11 deals have come in the past five months, including the $275 million purchase of Quattro Wireless, the largest buy since Jobs’ return.”
MacDailyNews Note: Actually, according to reports, PA Semi cost Apple $3 million more at $278 million.
Burrows continues, “Apple lost out on a deal last year, in part because of its improvisational approach. As the company was negotiating with the mobile advertising firm AdMob last fall, Google swooped in and quickly bought the company for $750 million.”
“Perica helped make sure Apple didn’t make the same mistake with its next deal, say four sources familiar with the situation. Late last year, Apple entered the bidding for the online music site Lala.com, after Google and several other potential acquirers had gotten involved. The company moved unusually quickly, closing the deal in a few weeks, rather than the more typical two to three months,” Burrows reports. “It was clear that Apple didn’t want to lose out again, and especially not to Google.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
