STOCK WATCH
ADAPTEC DEAL
Adaptec, the Californian seller of bandwidth management technology, has been forced to abandon its $775 million cash offer for Symbios, following hints that the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was planning to block the deal. In a statement issued last week, Adaptec said the companies had mutually terminated the agreement because the FTC 'was unlikely to approve the transaction in its current form'. The setback will cost Adaptec $20 million in committed expenditure. The charge will hit in the current quarter, ending 30 June, alongside an $8 million to $12 million restructuring charge to cover 250 redundancies, following a downturn in Adaptec's business.
EIDOS RESULTS
Eidos' results for the year ending 31 March revealed director Jeremy Heath-Smith was nearly #1.7 million better off due to bonuses while chairman Ian Livingstone made #1.14 million by exercising his share options. But the results also showed Simis, the flight simulation developer, had been sold to its original directors for #100,000 - nearly three years after Eidos paid #2 million for it.
Eidos reported pre-tax profits of #16.5 million, recovering from previous years' losses of #6.8 million. Sales climbed from #75.5 million to #137.2 million.
SILICON GOES PUBLIC
The initial public offering of shares in Mips Technologies, the chip design spin-off from Silicon Graphics (SGI), failed to get the US Nasdaq stock market excited. On 1 July, the share price closed slightly below its offer price of $14. SGI retained Mips' high-end design team to work on processors for its server and workstation products, leaving Mips Technologies with one customer - games company Nintendo - providing the vast majority of its business. The company hopes to expand its presence in the embedded chip and games console markets.
AOL SHARE OFFERING
America Online concluded its offering of 4.9 million new common shares, raising $500 million worth of equity. The company said in addition to using the proceeds for general operating purposes and to strengthen its balance sheet, it would provide the ISP with the means to 'capitalise on the growing number of opportunities available as the industry continues to consolidate'. A representative said the company did not have any particular targets in mind, but wanted to be ready when the right one came along. AOL shares rose $1.9 to close at $105.1 on 30 June on volume of just under eight million.
SHARES SALE
In its latest SEC filing, Novell said it intends to sell the 6.1 million shares of its Santa Cruz Operation stock and the 9.95 million Corel shares it holds.