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Mergers and Acquistions News

Categories: Hardware

November 14th 2008, 16:28PM

The US government could block future attempts by foreign companies to takeover the nation's technology firms, according to one expert.

Writing for Forbes.com, Sramana Mirta explained that the nation's authorities might turn to protectionism as the economic climate worsens.

She also points to the case of 3Com, which was the subject of interest from Chinese firm Huawei.

Although the company was looking to acquire just 15 per cent of the networking equipment firm's shares, the US government blocked it on the grounds of national security.

She warned that such an attitude could prove disastrous for the technology sector, leading to a situation where firms which would have survived through mergers with larger, overseas rivals end up going bust.

"One of the bi-products of their survival - even with their foreign operations and foreign ownerships - is that they make the current democratisation of technology possible," she said.

Last week, the US Federal Communications Commission voted to allow the £28 billion (£17 billion) purchase of Alltel by Verizon, a move which will create the largest wireless internet carrier in the country.ADNFCR-1833-ID-18877549-ADNFCR

 

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