Palm Gets Cash Infusion, Shakes Up Board

By Ed Oswald | Published June 4, 2007, 2:00 PM

Palm said Monday that it had received $325 million in funding from Bono's Elevation Partners, and would shuffle its board -- including the addition of a former iPod exec from Apple -- to make itself more competitive.

Shareholders will receive $9 per Palm share they own as part of the restructuring. In turn, two board members will resign and be replaced by the co-founders of the private equity firm making the strategic investment in the portable electronics maker.

Fred Anderson and Roger McNamee of Elevation Partners will replace Eric Benhamou and D. Scott Mercer. In addition, former Apple iPod chief Jon Rubenstein will join the board as its chairman, the company said.

Palm president and CEO Ed Colligan said Rubenstein will lead the company's product development, while bringing Anderson and McNamee on board would add new partners and relationships, as well as ensure a source of future investment capital.

"As a result of this transaction, we will strengthen the Palm leadership team and create a more effective capital structure, which puts us in a great position to attract new talent, significantly strengthen our execution capabilities, and deliver long-term shareholder value," he added.

Elevation will own approximately 25 percent of the company following the closing of the transaction. The move will likely also put to rest rumors of sale, which had begun to circulate in recent months.

Not everyone is buying into the company's positive spin on the deal, however. "This move while generate a lot of attention, isn't likely to save the company, despite what the new board does," technology pundit Om Malik wrote for GigaOm.

Comments

View comments by with a score of at least

Who in their right mind would give Palm money after last week's fiasco?

Score: 0

|

So your argument is that because you don't like the foleo, that they shouldn't do this?

You speak as though you know that the foleo will be a failure and that you think that everyone is in agreement that the foleo is nothing new.

I'm actually going to be buying one when it comes out for a number of reasons: instant on(my biggest reason), fast phone sync, lightweight, flash based(instead of hard disk), full sized keys, long battery life, doesn't run windows, doesn't take forever to boot(but I'm repeating myself on that one), is linux based, and knowing palm, there's no question in my head that it's programmable so it'll be expandable to do things the makers would've never originally thought for it to do. All the benefits of a laptop without the constant nags that keep a laptop(for me) from being fully portable and accessible.

So you're deciding something is a failure before even trying it; before even the first review.

Score: 0

|

Google Buzz: Another attempt to harness the content firehose

Similar to how Google successfully remolded RSS into a Google tool, the company now wants to remold Gmail into one big Google party

Success: Google's Nexus One shipping support line takes tech support questions

UPDATED Though the support line had been set up for shipping, it now appears Google personnel are happy to hear technical concerns.

Goodnight, moon: What I learned from a space shuttle

Carmi Levy | Wide Angle Zoom: Can the tech sector learn a few lessons from the space program? Certainly, if you believe in learning from someone else's mistakes.

Netflix to FCC: NBCU + Comcast could bypass net neutrality

Weaning itself from the post office as its main means of video transfer, Netflix would like someone to ensure the Internet remains just as unencumbered.

Rhapsody to become an independent company

RealNetworks and Viacom subsidiary MTV Networks have begun the process of spinning off music service Rhapsody into an independent company.

Nvidia debuts new dynamically-switched graphics card technology

Today, Nvidia announced that its Optimus technology for GPU switching will soon be available in a handful of Asus notebooks.

Google lowers 'unusually high' early termination fee on Nexus One

Google has lowered the Nexus One's early termination fees which were twice as high as the norm.

Netgear and Ericsson introduce a mobile broadband hotspot with a twist

It's a mobile broadband hotspot, but it's for use in the home.

Report: Streaming video drove 72% global increase in mobile data consumption

A new study says streaming video is "the single most influential factor driving the need for increased mobile network capacity."

Stymied by continuing Nexus One 3G issues, Google blames the environment

If you're still afflicted with the 3G flip-flop trouble, then you might consider moving. That appears to be the only suggestion Google can give for now.

Wolfram|Alpha makes a strong argument for virtual keyboards

"Answer engine" Wolfram|Alpha has updated its iPhone/iPod Touch app, harnessing the strength of the virtual keyboard.