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Broadcom Buying CA For $19 billion (axios.com)

Posted by msmash on from the breaking-news dept.

Broadcom on Wednesday announced plans to buy IT management software company CA for $18.9 billion in cash, just months after U.S. regulators blocked Broadcom's deal to buy fellow chip-maker Qualcomm.

Some history of CA, via CNBC reporter Ari Levy: 14 years ago CA was called Computer Associates. The former CEO was charged with securities fraud, conspiracy and obstruction of justice. The lead prosecutor was a Deputy Attorney General by the name James Comey. "The investigators in this case went up against highly sophisticated and allegedly corrupt corporate executives who used every means at their disposal to delay, deceive and derail the government's investigation," Comey said. "The Computer Associates story also includes a failed cover-up, replete with lies to government investigators, lies under oath, and the use of attorneys to obstruct and impede the government's investigation of this fraud," he said.

47 comments

  1. CA by ceeam · · Score: 4, Funny

    Oh, a software company. I thought California costs a little more.

    1. Re:CA by cre1mer · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      Actually, it's Canada. The steel and aluminum tariffs were so devastating that they had no choice but to sell off the country to the highest corporate bidder. No word on what Broadcom will do with Quebec.

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    2. Re:CA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Broadcom is buying CA? That's less than informative. Even TFA doesn't spell it out.
      California? Unlikely.
      Canada? Even less likely.
      Computer Associates? The AccPac people? Unlikely; what use would Broadcom have for accounting software?
      The California Angels? Cycling Australia? Cocaine Anonymous?

      <Looks back at TFS>
      Wait, it really is Computer Associates? Why would anyone, never mind a communication chip company, want to buy that sh!tshow?

    3. Re:CA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, actually California isn't worth that much when you factor in the public pension shortfalls and the likelihood that construction of the magic train from nowhere to nowhere won't get cancelled for some time (and $200B or more before they give up) because of lobbyists sucking at the government's teat.

      A damn shame actually, the weather is nice.

    4. Re:CA by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      I first read it as CIA. But then I realised Hillary already owns them.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    5. Re:CA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey, if they want California, they can have it.

  2. Funny by MBGMorden · · Score: 1

    I can't even remember the company but I recently spoke with a rep that was somewhat joking/somewhat complaining that they'd had several (3?) different owners in the last few years. They had just been bought by CA.

    --
    "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
  3. Elephant graveyard... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    I always thought of CA as the place where old software goes to die, or at least be sold without any intent to improve or even support it

    1. Re:Elephant graveyard... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I always thought of CA as the place where old software goes to die, or at least be sold without any intent to improve or even support it

      True at some level. CA was willing to ride the income stream for many products of companies they purchased with only the most basic support. When I was involved with supporting systems in a company as soon as CA bought the company of one of the solutions we were using I started the plan to replace the product, for it was dead, dead, dead. And no longer true for a number of their newer offerings, where they absolutely invested in and supported development. Some of their products in those spaces were considered good options, and sometimes even the leading option.

    2. Re:Elephant graveyard... by David_Hart · · Score: 2

      I always thought of CA as the place where old software goes to die, or at least be sold without any intent to improve or even support it

      Yep. CA bought up smaller, established, but failing software companies that had a market for at least one decent software title. They would then fire all of the developers and use the software titles as cash cows. wash, rinse, repeat. They made a decent business out of this strategy.

      On one hand, you have to admire them for successfully using this strategy for so long. On the other had, it was always frustrating when a useful piece of software was bought up by CA as it meant that you would have to find an alternative....

    3. Re:Elephant graveyard... by your_mother_sews_soc · · Score: 1

      David, you mush have gone through it. I used to work at ADR (Applied Data Research) where most of my coworkers were chewed up and spit out, and then at OSI (Online Software Intl.) where I experienced it (along with many of my former ADR coworkers). CA used to mine the "maintenance contracts" that were standard fare. You bought your software and paid for quarterly or annual upgrades. CA realized the cost was in the development and the cash cow was the maintenance fee. So they fired virtually all the developers and kept a skeleton crew of the maintenance folks. And they single handedly decimated an entire industry.

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    4. Re:Elephant graveyard... by JackieBrown · · Score: 1

      Yeah. My dad worked for a part of Texas Institutes that was sold to CA. He wasn't impressed. They reduced support for all the products and cut the staff allot. He made it through being the only person supporting OS2 and knowing allot of the mainframe stuff.

      He said the culture went to hell with CA and then they got sold to someone else.

    5. Re:Elephant graveyard... by Creedo · · Score: 1

      Yep. CA bought up smaller, established, but failing software companies that had a market for at least one decent software title. They would then fire all of the developers and use the software titles as cash cows. wash, rinse, repeat. They made a decent business out of this strategy.

      Yeah, so this fits in 100% with Avago....excuse me....Broadcom's normal strategy.

      --
      All that is necessary for the triumph of good is that evil men do nothing.
  4. Woah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I didn't think Arnold had it in him.

  5. And nothing of value was acquired... by ndykman · · Score: 2

    CA is where software is put to pasture and slowly dies. It seems like this is okay, but they will charge you quite a premium to use it until it finally keels over. Honestly, I can say that it is worth the effort o remove anything they have from your organization. Or move to another one if you can.

    1. Re:And nothing of value was acquired... by DaveSewhuk · · Score: 1

      I thought Symantec was that place for good software to be killed. We are looking at Ghost & Partition Magic back in the day. 100% reliable with the original developers, shiite afterwards.

  6. Hooray, more mergers and acquisitions by rsilvergun · · Score: 2

    I'm sure this ill only increase competition and lower prices.

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  7. Equity bubble - run away! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There is no conceivable synergy here. Intel tried this with McAfee and failed.

    When companies make nonsensical acquisitions, that's a good signal to exit the equity markets.

  8. California by burhop · · Score: 1

    I think it would not have broken the Internet to use the full name of the company. Did anyone else think they bought Califonia, at least for a millisecond?

    1. Re:California by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      That's what I thought for 0.68 second, sir.

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    2. Re:California by Fly+Swatter · · Score: 1

      Nah, it was clearly Canada

    3. Re:California by Powercntrl · · Score: 1

      Did anyone else think they bought Califonia, at least for a millisecond?

      Made sense, I figured the state was having a fire sale.

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    4. Re:California by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The full name is "CA".

    5. Re:California by burhop · · Score: 1

      Nah, it was clearly Canada

      They are trying to get Drake!

    6. Re:California by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The full name is "CA".

      Yeah, it used to be Computer Associates, but they changed it to just "CA" quite a while ago. However, I thought they changed it again to "CA Technologies".

    7. Re:California by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The name of the compani is CA

  9. Newport Beach alone is worth more than that by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

    Broadcom Buying CA For $19 billion

    But financial analysts say that San Francisco, with its mounting urban problems, is dragging down the value of the rest of the state.

  10. I worked there when it was Computer Associates by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    My first real job out of school was with Computer Associates when they were experimenting with high value web hosting for banks and major companies. It was a shit show.. and it's the only job I've ever quit without notice. Which I did because the guy I reported to was an actual sociopath who is (AFAIK) still doing time in California for fraud (for stuff he did after he left CA). The other leadership at that office was pretty incompetent too.. couldn't close deals.. and about 6 months after I left HQ ended up closing the entire office. That was also right around the time the incitements starting coming down at the top. Fun times!

  11. Re:CRE!MER ALERT by cre1mer · · Score: 0

    since slashdot has stopped letting you use all your mod points on one person all at once.

    That bug should have been fixed 20 years ago.

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    Goodbye, Slashdot!
  12. Now old tech will have to go to Symantec to die. by lusid1 · · Score: 1

    It's been shifting in that direction for a long time anyway.

  13. amazing by sad_ · · Score: 1

    i didn't know CA was run by such crooks, but that might explain their horrible, bug ridden, unusable, 'enterprise' software and the price they dare ask for it.

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    On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
  14. Isn't impeding investigators what lawyers are for? by sabbede · · Score: 1

    Well, one of the things lawyers are for, especially defense and some corporate attorneys. Any time an attorney is present during an interview, they're impeding a government investigation. What's Comey saying?

  15. About Computer Associates by OneHundredAndTen · · Score: 1

    I never knew exactly what this company was all about. I always wondered though who came up with such an uninspiring name for a company. They might just as well have called themselves Everything-that-Is-Boring-and-Tedious-and-Mindless-and-Uncreative-about-Computing-Is-Us.

    1. Re:About Computer Associates by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      by OneHundredAndTen ( 1523865 ) Alter Relationship on Thursday July 12, 2018 @06:24AM (#56933872)
      I never knew exactly what this company was all about. I always wondered though who came up with such an uninspiring name for a company. They might just as well have called themselves Everything-that-Is-Boring-and-Tedious-and-Mindless-and-Uncreative-about-Computing-Is-Us.

      Considering their flagship product way back when was AccPac, they were literally the company that made boring software. (No one gets excited over accounting software, and AccPac was one of the biggest around).

      I'm just curious why Broadcom, a chip maker, would purchase them. There's not exactly a lot of synergy between pure application software and communications chips

  16. Re:CRE!MER ALERT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Strange that none of the other slashdot posters had people modding them in the dirt every morning

  17. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion