If the word "advanced" is synonymous with "imminent," then the San Francisco-based investment bank Hambrecht & Quist is about to join forces with the brokers at Merrill Lynch & Co., assuming Merrill forks over more than US$1 billion.
The Wall Street Journal reports today that the two firms are in "advanced talks" about a Merrill buyout of H&Q, but that they haven't yet reached agreement on a final price. (At the close of trading Thursday, the market value of H&Q was $1.15 billion.)
H&Q has underwritten some of the most prominent Internet and technology IPOs in recent years, including those of CNET, @Home, Amazon.com, and Pixar. Merrill Lynch is the largest brokerage firm in the United States. Merrill and Wired Ventures, the parent company of Wired News, were co-sponsors of the Digital Nation survey featured in the December issue of Wired.
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Apple changes board rules: Now that it has a new board, Apple wants to change they way they're elected. The company is recommending that shareholders approve a proposal to ensure that each director will stand for election annually. The next annual meeting of shareholders will be 3 February.
If the proposal is approved, the terms of all directors will end at the annual meeting of shareholders in the fiscal year ending 30 September 1999.
The current two-class structure of the board, in which some directors stand for longer terms, was adopted in January 1990. (5.Dec.97)
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N2K's exclusive deal: Music Web-site operator SonicNet and online music retailer N2K announced today that N2K would gain an exclusive franchise on all of SonicNet's music-related sites, including Addicted to Noise, the Trouser Press Web site, and SonicNet itself. The deal was also a blow to N2K competitor CDNow, which had previously supplied retail services to SonicNet. (5.Dec.97)
