Mergers & Acquisitions, Internet | featured news

Amazon.com Inc., the world's biggest online retailer that got its start in bookselling, has agreed to buy book recommendations site Goodreads. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Yahoo Inc and its Asian partners, China's Alibaba and Japan's Softbank Corp, have called off talks over a tax-free sale of the U.S. company's Asian assets, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters.

From the department of weird ideas: AOL CEO Tim Armstrong is apparently out peddling the idea that the company could sell itself to Yahoo. Question is, what makes him think Yahoo is buying? Reuters is reporting that Armstrong has been meeting with shareholders in recent weeks pushing the notion that an AOL/Yahoo combination could result ...

The acquisition, an effort to gain a foothold in voice and video communications, would be Microsoft’s largest ever.

News Corp's IGN gaming and entertainment property has just acquired Hearst's gaming and entertainment property UGO, we've confirmed with the company. And yes, the move is step one towards News Corp. spinning out IGN as its own property sometime relatively soon, we're told.

Level 3 Communications Inc. said Monday it will acquire another top long-distance Internet carrier, Global Crossing Ltd., in an all-stock transaction valued at about $2 billion. Both companies operate vast networks of optical fiber. Combined, they would reach 70 countries on three continents.

Google's mergers and acquisitions chief said he plans to be aggressive this year, despite challenges that include soaring valuations for some Web start-ups.

The discussions with Michael Wolff's Newser are said to have faltered after the Huffington Post-AOL deal raised questions about the acquisition price.

News Corp. isn’t ready to pull the plug on MySpace just yet, but it is prepared to cut the cord. CEO Mike Jones told employees yesterday that the media conglomerate is “exploring strategic options” for the past-its-prime social network. That could mean a sale, a merger (Yahoo could be a candidate) or a spinoff. The last scenario is the most likely, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Yahoo's inability to snap out of a financial funk may be about to turn the Internet company into a takeover target for the second time in less than three years.