The spending continues

Yet another $1 billion+ acquisition took place internationally this week, this time involving IBM. At home it was a very quiet week, with an acquisition by Datatec being the most visible story, although the Naspers deal with Multiply should not be overlooked.

* Mixed interim numbers from Dialogue Group, with revenue down 5% but profit well up due to the gain on the disposal of Dialogue South Africa.
* Good year-end figures from FoneWorx, with revenue up 15% and profit up 11%.
* Mediocre year-end figures from Digicore, with revenue down 8% and profit down 38%.
* A positive trading update from Datacentrix.
* Logicalis, a subsidiary of Datatec, acquired Touchbase Singapore, a unified communications solution provider.
* Naspers bought Multiply, a social shopping site operator that is also a social networking site.
* Barney Esterhuyzen was appointed group MD of Digicore.

* France Telecom made a EUR640 million investment (40%) in Meditel, Morocco's second-largest mobile operator.
* The Mozambique government's third mobile operator will be announced by the middle of November.

Naspers bought Multiply, a social shopping site operator that is also a social networking site.

Paul Booth, MD, Global Research Partners

* Apple purchased Polar Rose (Sweden), a company that owns some face recognition algorithms, for $29 million.
* Arrow Electronics acquired Nu Horizons Electronics, an electronics distributor that had revenue of $671 million in its last fiscal year.
* BAE Systems bought L-1 Identity Solutions' intelligent services business for $303 million.
* Covisint, a subsidiary of Compuware, purchased DocSite, a provider of Web-based administrative tools for doctors.
* CSG Systems acquired Intec Telecom Systems, a telecom billing software rival that would create a major competitor to Amdocs, the US market leader. The deal was worth £236.7 million.
* Garmin purchased MetriGear, a US company that measures power output generated by pedalling a bike.
* IBM acquired Netezza, an analytics company, for $1.78 billion.
* LinkedIn bought ChoiceVendor, a provider of online business ratings and reviews.
* Safran (France) purchased L-1 Identity Solutions and its core biometrics identity business, in a deal worth $1.09 billion.
* Tibco acquired OpenSpirit, a provider of data and application integration products.
* HP and Oracle have settled their 'dispute' regarding Mark Hurd.
* Very good quarterly figures from Adobe.
* Good quarterly numbers from Tibco.
* Satisfactory quarterly results from Progress Software.
* Mixed quarterly figures from Red Hat, with revenue up but profit down.
* Lowell McAdam was named president and COO of Verizon Communications.
* John Goeken, founder of MCI, the telecommunications giant, died.
* A planned IPO from Axiom Telecom, a UAE-based mobile phone retailer.
* A planned listing on the UK's Aim market by Teliti International, a Malaysian IT services and data centre group.
* A very good IPO on Nasdaq by SciQuest, a software maker that focuses on streamlining and lowering the cost of purchases between buyers and suppliers.

* International:
* A possible merger of Flextronics and Inventec, the world's fourth largest notebook maker.
* The acquisition by Cognizant Technology Solutions of Genpact, a business outsourcing company. The move would create a group that is in striking distance of Infosys, India's leading IT services provider.
* Africa:
* The purchase by the Algerian government of Orascom Telecom's local subsidiary, Djezzy.
* South Africa:
* The creation of 5 000 jobs in the South African BPO sector through Aegis' R500 million investment plan.

* Enterprise software revenue will surpass $232 billion in 2010, according to Gartner.
* There will be 200 million mobile workers globally by the end of 2013, according to ProScan Mobility.
* The total telecommunications services market in 2009 was worth R103.3 billion, of which the business spend on telecommunications services was about R45.9 billion, according to BMI-TechKnowledge.

* JSE All share index: Up 1.1%
* Nasdaq: Up 2.8%
* Top SA share movements: Dialogue Group (-12.5%), FoneWorx (+5.3%), Labat Africa (-7.7%), MICROmega (-22.1%), Poynting Antennas (+15.4%) and Telkom SA (+5.5%)

FinWeek has just published its listing of the 40 fastest growing companies. From a technology perspective, FoneWorx was the highest, rated at number eight, with Vox Telecom at number 17, Gijima at 26, Dimension Data at 29, EOH at 32 and Pinnacle Technology at 36.