The deal is expected to close by Q2 of 2010 and Cisco expects the transaction to realize a profit within 2 years of acquisition. Once complete, the former Starent will become the Mobile Internet Technology group within Cisco’s “service-provider business,”and will be led by Starent’s CEO, Ashraf Dahod. It’s not the biggest or the most exciting technology merger, but it clearly shows that Cisco meant it when it said that it would become more aggressive towards acquisition opportunities during the economic downturn.

Cisco To Acquire Starent

A successor for Lewis has not yet been named, but the Board is diligently looking (so they say) and plan to find a suitable replacement in the near future. The announcement, done in very quick fashion and without much of a plan in place naturally comes with questions. The main question, according to Gasparino is whether Lewis is really retiring because the SEC is close to making a decision to sue Mr. Lewis, personally, for the ML deal and such. Considering it has been recently reported that Lewis was not planning to step down, the argument…or question…is definitely one that carries some weight and validity. To be fair…if the SEC were about to sue me personally (they wouldn’t get much, but still), I’d definitely be running for the hills and out of harm’s way.

Lewis Heads for the Hills

His plans, at this point are still fuzzy (at least this is what he’s been willing to divulge), but he has promoted Jes Staley to the head of investment banking, in a move, seen by many, as the equivalent of Dimon showing an ace in the hole while playing a hand of blackjack (in other words, Staley is now seen as the frontrunner to succeed Dimon). Of course it’s still early and plans can always change, if not disappear entirely (meaning Dimon decides to stick around for a while longer), but as of now, Mr. Dimon seems to have had enough to the game and is ready to start cooking (literally – see the full article for more details).

Dimon Moving On…

The Series 79 exam will be a 5-hour, 175-question multiple choice adventure, designed to inspire the reader and illuminate your mind. In others words, be prepared to waste a bunch of time cramming for this exam, then sitting 4-5 hours to take the test, and then immediately forget the information upon earning your license (note: whether successful or not, to be fair, the test is supposedly designed to be more closely aligned with the business of banking). To add a little more spice to the mix, regulators are currently claiming that banker will only have three attempts at the exam – what happens if you are unable to pass after the 1st three time, I have no idea. Then again, how many bankers are still in the business who failed the 7 once or twice…let alone 3 times.

By comparison, the Series 79 shouldn’t be that bad – considering the joy of the Series 7 (note the sarcasm). Finally, current Series 7 holders will have 6 months to be grandfathered in, and bankers who transfer to other banks will have 2 years to amend their licensing status to avoid the Series 79 requirement.

FINRA Makes a Mark

Regarding the new company, Sprint will keep the Virgin Mobile name, and retain its chief executive, who will continue to run the business. The plan is for Virgin Mobile to remain its own brand with its own name, only now coupled with deeper pockets and increased support from its soon-to-be parent, Sprint-Nextel.

Sprint Takes Another Crack At It

Getting specific for a second, the deal is a 10-year contract in which Yahoo will use the Bing platform on their sites, license their software to Microsoft to be used as Microsoft wishes, and will handle the sales of search ads for both companies. In exchange, Yahoo gets to be good pals with Microsoft, and will receive 88% of the search ad revenue from their sites for the first 5 years. The changes will mainly take place behind the scenes, so user confusion should be minimal.

Although Microsoft believes that this will catapult them beyond Google, analysts aren’t so sure, as many believe the real issue is in coming up with new ideas, not picking up a few %age points in market share through an alliance – we’ll see though – perhaps collectively they can come up with some strong ideas. According to shareholders, Microsoft has made a good deal (share price is up on the news), but Yahoo could have done much better (share price is down…pretty hard…on the news) – but these things are fickle; sentiment changes quickly around here. Personally, I like it – not necessarily the financials of it, but rather the idea of coming together to, hopefully, develop something better, something innovative, and something that presses Google to really do the same.

Bing! Microsoft and Yahoo Together At Last!

With anticipated growth in the field, IBM seems to believe they are getting a bargain (although $50 per share will be the highest price the stock has ever seen) and is eager to expand its position in the business-analytics technology space. If nothing else, this acquisition will further prove just how cash armed and purchase-ready tech firms are becoming in this, perhaps, cheap market.

IBM goes big…well…at least they’re going

Unable to come to a solution with anyone else, CIT has surprised us all yet again, by securing a $3 billion loan from a group of its bondholders. The terms of the loan are 2.5 years at L+1000bps (yup, 10% over LIBOR – sweet). The hope here is that this loan will provide CIT with enough time to adequately restructure and resize their current obligations – otherwise, it is back to the steps of bankruptcy court for them.

CIT is Saved (Probably…Maybe…Hopefully)

http://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-is-paying-itself-even-more-than-2007-record-bonuses-2009-7

Goldman Riding High…

Others share different reasons or, more aptly, notions, as to why M&A won’t come roaring back this summer, including:

1. Rising unemployment;

2. Poor consumer confidence;

3. Nervous CEOs and Board of Director reluctance;

4. The lack of Private Equity deals/market depth;

5. TARP bankers may push deals off until next year when their hearty bonuses should be less likely to attract a lot of attention; and my favorite

6. July and August are big vacation months and are therefore slow.

M&A Hot and Heavy This Summer – Probably Not.