Flattr, which lets users send microdonations to online content creators, was acquired by Adblock Plus parent eyeo, Adblock said in a Wednesday news release and blog post. It's seen as the next step after the two companies last year collaborated on overhauling Flattr's micropayment service, allowing users to pay for content with a single account. Sweden-based Flattr said it paid 30,000 online content creators and publishers since it was created in 2010. "Constructive ad blocking and Flattr complete eyeo’s vision of putting users in control of an internet that is fair and still profitable,” said eyeo founder Till Faida. "This allows us to go that extra mile and finalize our vision of enabling hundreds of millions of users to choose how they want to pay for the content they consume." Eyeo, based in Germany, was heavily criticized by the marketing industry and others claiming they have to pay Adblock Plus to white list ads, amounting to a shakedown (see 1605260040, 1605270001 and 1609090057).

CA Technologies completed the acquisition of Veracode, which secures web, mobile and third-party applications, said CA in a Monday news release. The FTC approved the deal last week (see 1703310074). Former Veracode CEO Bob Brennan is general manager of the Veracode business.

Broadcom will sell Brocade’s data center switching, routing and analytics business to Extreme Networks after Broadcom completes buying Brocade (see 1611020050), the companies said in a Wednesday news release. Extreme agreed to pay $55 million cash for Broadcom’s divestiture. The companies said they expect to close the deal 60 days after Broadcom closes on Brocade. The divestiture is subject to regulatory OK but doesn't require any shareholder approvals, they said.

Akamai Technologies is buying digital performance management company Soasta, which is expected to give the cloud services provider's customers more insight into the performance of their websites and applications, Akamai said. The all-cash deal will close early in Q2, Akamai said in a Wednesday news release. Ash Kulkarni, the company's general manager-web performance and security, said customers will get "new ways to measure, optimize and validate the business impact of their web performance strategies."

Cisco closed a $3.7 billion acquisition of application-performance monitoring company AppDynamics (see 1701250060), Cisco said in a Wednesday news release. AppDynamics CEO David Wadhwani will continue to lead as the company becomes a software business unit in Cisco's IoT/Applications business, Cisco said. "We acquired AppDynamics because they are a market leader in a category that will be a cornerstone for how enterprises drive their business forward," Cisco Senior Vice President Rowan Trollope said.

Altice is buying online video marketplace Teads, it said in a news release Tuesday. Altice said the deal is part of its advertising strategy, letting it offer clients various advertising services on multiscreen platforms. It said the deal values Teads at up to $308 million, with the purchase price subject to Teads hitting certain revenue targets this year. It also said the deal is expected to close in mid-2017, and Teads senior management will remain with the company (see the personals section of this issue of the publication). Altice closed on Suddenlink in 2015 and took over Cablevision last year.

The potential Intelsat/OneWeb deal isn't just a satellite transaction but "a single piece in a puzzle" being assembled by Masayoshi "Masa" Son, CEO of SoftBank, a major backer of OneWeb that's also putting $1.7 billion into the deal, Northern Sky Research analyst Blaine Curcio said in a NSR blog post Sunday. SoftBank and Son seem to be driving toward a future of 5G, autonomous vehicles and machine-to-machine IoT through investments into such areas as semiconductors and robotics and partnerships with automakers, NSR said. A key step in an IoT connected world model would be cheap, ubiquitous coverage, such as what could be provided through Intelsat, NSR said. It said a variety of satellite challenges include OneWeb securing landing rights internationally; development of cheap, portable terminals; tackling interference issues; and Intelsat's finances. The firm said the deal "appears to put Intelsat/OneWeb at a massive head start" for creating such an integrated system.

The European Commission approved AT&T's $108.7 billion buy of Time Warner, AT&T said in a news release Wednesday. "The global clearance process is on track," said AT&T Senior Executive Vice President-External and Legislative Affairs Bob Quinn. The company said it hopes to have DOJ approval and close on the deal this year (see 1703080006).

Chief Financial Officer John Stephens pegged AT&T investment to decisions Congress may make this year on tax and infrastructure proposals. Speaking at a Wednesday event hosted by the firm, he lamented “dramatically slow economic growth” in recent years, curbing investment from the private sector. If Congress succeeds in the tax overhaul Capitol Hill Republicans and the White House say they want, “I believe we’ll see much larger capital investment, private investment,” Stephens said. “You’ll see it in our broadband, our wired, our fiber investments.” He would like to get gross domestic product growth up to 3-4 percent. A panel of staffers for the Senate Finance and the House Ways and Means committees said an infrastructure package could be linked to tax overhaul legislation and there are many questions about what it may look like. “There’s a whole lot of questions out there over whether this sort of structure is going to be responsive to the actual needs our country faces,” said Aruna Kalyanam, tax counsel for the House Ways and Means Democrats, citing the proposal laid out in a Trump campaign white paper and uncertainty over what funding may be dedicated to and what type of projects would be appropriate. Democrats “strongly believe” in infrastructure funding, she said. “We need more details about how this would work,” agreed Tiffany Smith, chief tax counsel for Senate Finance Democrats. Barbara Angus, chief tax counsel for House Ways and Means Republicans, called infrastructure and tax overhaul “critically related” and said her bosses are interested in anything that drives economic growth. Staffers agreed repatriation of U.S. corporate money held abroad has potential. “It’s the easiest pot of money that’s out there,” said Kalyanam. American Action Forum President Doug Holtz-Eakin urged Republicans to back infrastructure spending and urged inclusion of siting provisions. Infrastructure legislation should have “serious inclusion of economic analysis” and demand “performance metrics after the fact,” he said. Jennifer Fritzsche, Wells Fargo analyst, said the changes could all affect the capital spending of telecom giants. “AT&T buying Time Warner -- this is a game changer,” she said, citing its ability to “challenge the cable model.”

Finding strategic partners is a key component of Ligado's plan for a satellite/terrestrial network aimed at the industrial IoT space, the company said in a statement Tuesday after reports it's working with a pair of investment banks on finding strategic alternatives. Reuters reported that Ligado could face difficulty in finding investment because of its debt load and uncertainty over FCC approval for its planned satellite-broadband LTE network.