SoftKey will acquire Spinnaker, WordStar in a 3-way stock swap
Article Abstract:
SoftKey Software Products Inc is set to acquire WordStar International Inc and Spinnaker Software Corp in a complex 3-way stock swap deal. This consolidation, which underscores the difficulties of smaller software firms to compete in today's crowded market, will create a $224 million consumer software company with estimated 1993 sales of $130 million. The new firm will focus on home-office and consumer software to be sold through large retail outlets such as Wal-Mart and Radio Shack. Industry observers say that the consolidation will create a much more viable company, and note that these firms have been under extreme pressure from price-cutting moves by larger firms such as Microsoft and Lotus Development Corp. SoftKey holders will own about 53 percent of the combined firms, with 31 and 16 percent held by Spinnaker and WordStar investors, respectively. The consolidation is likely to result in as much as 1/5 of the companies' total work force being laid off.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1993
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Poems by the byte: a hacker's garden of verse
Article Abstract:
British electronic publisher Chadwyck-Healey is developing a huge CD-ROM database of English poetry from the year 600 to 1900. Nearly 100 libraries have ordered the $41,000 English Poetry Full-Text Database. The first version is already shipping; the third and final release, set for 1994, will contain the works of 1,350 poets. The database requires an IBM PC-compatible running Microsoft Windows. Users can search by a variety of means, including title, keyword, author and date. Publisher Sir Charles Chadwyck-Healey says that the data base supports the 'democratization of poetry' by facilitating the rediscovery of forgotten poets such as Richard Harris Barham, who in one poem managed to rhyme 'moon,' 'June' and 'balloon.' Chadwyck-Healey says he may publish paper versions of some poets who have never been reprinted.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1993
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Members of Samsung's founding family said to plan investment in DreamWorks
Article Abstract:
Two members of the family that started Samsung Corp, a Korean Electronics giant, are reportedly set to invest about $300 million in DreamWorks SKG, according to sources close to the deal. The investment from Miky Lee and Jay Lee, brothers who are the grandchildren of the company's founder, is expected to almost complete DreamWork's startup financing. DreamWorks has now sold off a one-third equity interest, worth $900 million, in the entertainment company founded by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen. This figure includes a $500 Million investment from software billionaire and Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen and smaller investments from a handful of other companies, including Microsoft and Capital Cities/ABC Inc, equalling $100 million.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1995
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