Tech Roundup: HP nabs EDS, CBS grabs CNET

On Tuesday, tech bellwether HP said it is buying EDS for $25 per share in cash. The price represents a nearly 33 percent premium from the technology services provider's closing price last Friday, the last trading day before word of the acquisition leaked.

Robert W. Baird analyst Jayson Noland said the EDS acquisition would provide HP with a larger presence in the technology services sector, as well as new cost-cutting opportunities. Integrating the company, however, poses a significant risk, he added.

On Thursday, CBS and CNET said CBS will buy the online news and information company for $11.50 per share in a cash deal intended to increase CBS' Internet presence. The purchase may also get CNET out of a skirmish with one of its biggest shareholders, which has been pushing for changes at the company in the wake of a stock slump.

Pacific Crest Securities analyst Steve Weinstein said the deal is good for CNET shareholders.

Weinstein said CNET "was a platform with a lot of potential opportunity, but the opportunity wasn't really being realized."

Elsewhere in tech, activist investor Carl Icahn notified Yahoo Inc. on Thursday that he will lead a proxy fight to oust the company's board unless it renews negotiations with Microsoft Corp.

The world's largest software company withdrew its bid for the struggling Internet icon on May 3 after the two sides couldn't agree on a price.

Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock responded to Icahn's move by indicating the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company is prepared to battle the New York financier.

Also this week, beleaguered wireless carrier Sprint Nextel Corp. posted a wider first-quarter loss, hurt by continued subscriber losses, severance costs and declining revenue.