01/10/2008, 12:05pm, EST
Thursday, January 10thMicrosoft planning to buy Logitech?
Logitech, the maker of popular mice, speakers and other peripherals, may be on the verge of acquisition by Microsoft. Reuters reports that shares rose 12 percent early Thursday morning, fueled partly by trader speculation surrounding a possible takeover. In theory, Logitech -- which has a market capitalization of 7 billion Swiss francs ($6.3 billion US) -- would be bought for 48 francs per share, a premium of 38 percent on Wednesday's closing stock price of 34.80 francs. Logitech would thus become worth 9.16 billion francs.
Neither company has so far commented officially, but Daniel Borel, a board member at Logitech, says he has no intentions of selling his stake. "I am a co-founder of Logitech," he notes. "Would you be willing to sell your child?" Borel cautions, however, that even if he refuses to sell his six percent ownership, his control is still too small to prevent an acquisition. Borel also refuses to confirm or deny takeover moves.
Were Microsoft to absorb Logitech, it would instantly become the largest manufacturer of computer peripherals, as it already produces a number of mice, keyboards and other devices through companies it acquired earlier in its history. Reuters observes that while Microsoft has generally been apathetic about dominating hardware sectors, this would help with the company's Xbox 360 console, as Logitech already makes a number of third-party gaming controllers.
Filed under: industry, gaming, peripherals, gadgets
Other story tags: Microsoft, Logitech
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CVB
I'll be looking for some interesting integration in the future.
That said, looked at in pure business terms, this is a very bad idea. Microsoft is a software company. Its products have high fixed costs, but virtually zero cost of production. This provides protection against other companies entering the market and allows Microsoft to undercut competitors' prices until they are driven from the market.
Logitech enjoys no such protection. Microsoft mice and keyboards give it extra shelf space in retail stores. Since the company already sells webcams, the only thing that Logitech adds is sound systems.
Bad move by a desparate company.
I don't buy Microsoft products and this will be another company that I would no longer buy from. I've got about 30 different logitech mice and keyboards that I've bought since about the mid to late 80s up through ones I've purchase last year.
My wife calls my collection (of course I still use some of them) as my mouse museum. If they buy Logitech I will take them to the next computer recycling day and get rid of them.
Maybe you all missed it, but MS has been producing hardware products for a long time now (mice, keyboards, etc). And they generally have Mac support/software as well.