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It's time to kill the IPO quiet period

Like most regulation, the rules were designed to protect investors.  Now they're just keeping them in the dark.

FORTUNE -- In June, Groupon chairman Eric Lefkosky defended his money-losing company by predicting that it would become "wildly profitable." His comment sparked a Wall Street brushfire, because it arguably violated "quiet period" rules that prevent private companies from discussing themselves while in registration to go public. The reaction was to be expected. MORE

What HP has that Google doesn't

Google made the week's largest M&A splash, but HP made the week's most surefire M&A move.

We've had two giant tech mergers announced this week: Google (GOOG) agreeing to buy Motorola Mobility (MMI) for $12.5 billion, and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) agreeing to buy Autonomy (AUTNF) for around $10.3 billion.

One of these deals exudes confidence. The other does not.

I know what you're probably thinking: Google is the confident one. It's making a huge MORE

Will Google and Motorola 'venture' together?

The fate of Motorola Mobility's investment arm remains unclear.

There's a lot we still don't know about how Google (GOOG) will integrate Motorola Mobility (MMI), which the search giant recently agreed to buy for $12.5 billion. Not only whether or not Google will hold onto its hardware business, but even its management structure. As the Wall Street Journal's Dennis Berman tweeted:

On a smaller scale, that uncertainty also extends to Motorola Mobility's MORE

Google was not alone

Google (GOOG) was not the only company that discussed an acquisition of Motorola Mobility Solutions (MMI), multiple sources tell Fortune. The search giant earlier today agreed to buy MMI for $12.5 billion, but declined to say whether or not it had been a competitive process.

"Motorola Mobility's bankers [Quatalyst Partners and Centerview Partners] brought some other folks in to kick the tires," one source says. "I don't know if they had MORE

Google saves Carl Icahn

Carl Icahn is finally nearing break-even on Motorola.

Count Carl Icahn as among those celebrating Google's (GOOG) agreement to buy Motorola Mobility Solutions (MMI) for $12.5 billion in cash. The 63% premium means Icahn's stake in MMI appreciated by more than $365 million since Friday's market close, for a total of $1.07 billion. Moreover, it validates Icahn's July agitation for MMI to explore alternatives to extract value from its patent portfolio.

In a brief MORE

Where does Google-Motorola rank?

Google's deal for Motorola Mobility is big. But how big?

Google (GOOG) this morning announced plans to buy Motorola Mobility Solutions (MMI) for $12.5 billion in cash. Not only does the $40 per share sale price represent a 63% premium (sorry MMI shorts), but also signals that Google is serious about Android taking a bigger bite out of Apple's mobile device business.

This deal is the 11th-largest M&A transaction announced so far MORE

Value investing in tech boom 2.0

Larry Pitkowsky and Keith Trauner sat out the first bubble. Now the value investors justify why Google is a top holding and Microsoft is more exciting now than a decade ago.

FORTUNE -- Some splits in the mutual fund world are acrimonious, some aren't. This one fell somewhere in the middle. Larry Pitkowsky and Keith Trauner were happy working with Bruce Berkowitz at the Fairholme Fund. The fund's record was enviable MORE

Will Google disrupt venture capital?

How Google Ventures is looking to differentiate itself, and help its companies succeed.

By Brad Coffey, contributor

Back in March, Brian Halligan (our CEO at HubSpot) wrote a great post around his observations on why Sequoia wins at the VC game. Brian's assessment was based on HubSpot's experience raising our Series D and was spot-on. Sequoia is agile, yet disciplined. They are aggressive yet reasonable. They've taken the classic venture capital playbook and MORE

Why Google should buy RIM

A venture capitalist explains why the search giant and Blackberry maker are a smart match.

By Richard Dale, contributor

Google (GOOG) should buy Research in Motion (RIMM), makers of Blackberry smart phones. Here's why:

Everyone who uses a Blackberry loves its physical form factor, especially the keyboard, because the phones are great for email. RIM's famous security adds to this, and makes enterprises and even governments happy (or unhappy, if they like eavesdropping). People also MORE

Google-ITA approval clears path for Kayak IPO

The federal government may be shutting down later today, but not before helping to clear a path to the public markets for travel search startup Kayak.

Kayak was one of several online travel companies that banded together last October to form a lobbying group called FairSearch, in opposition to Google's (GOOG) proposed $700 million acquisition of ITA Software, which makes airline reservations software. Here's what I wrote at the time:

The main grievance MORE