United Tech Bids $2.6B for Diebold

zhang1983 writes "United Technologies, parent company of jet engine-maker Pratt & Whitney, Otis elevator and Sikorsky Aircraft, said it made the unsolicited offer to Diebold for $2.63 billion on Friday after trying to negotiate a deal for two years. United Technologies said the company announced the offer Sunday night because executives believe their offer is "so compelling we thought shareholders should know about it.""

Yeah but...

[mccalli (323026)]

When the shareholders come to vote on it, somehow the results won't be quite as expected...

Cheers,
Ian

Re:Yeah but...

[Rob T Firefly (844560)]

Should we accept the buyout offer by United Tech?

24% --- In favor
25% --- Against
51% --- Republican

Re:Yeah but...

[by Anonymous Coward]

I often wonder why people think it will ONLY be used to unfairly benefit Republicans. It's only a matter of time before it becomes an "equal opportunity offender". Problem is, lack of transparency means we will always think the victory was stolen by whoever "wins", but we won't know a damn thing. Does it mean anything to win if the calculation was driven by an easily manipulated database?

Re:Yeah but...

[infonography (566403)]

Democrats used to be completely corrupt, racist, and complete liars. Look up Tammany hall [wikipedia.org] Republicans used to be progressive eco-friendly and moral see Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt. Don't tie yourself to a party, they won't be who you knew when you were growing up. Consider Mark Foley, Tom DeLay, Trent Lott, Karl Rove, and Bill Frist. Do you really want leave these guys alone with your kids or even know where you live let alone running the country???? 30 years from now it will likely change. It's the way the world works.

Re:

[The Analog Kid (565327)]

Republicans used to be progressive eco-friendly and moral see Abraham Lincoln.

If you think Abraham Lincoln wasn't racist, you're lying to yourself.

"I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in anyway the social and political equality of the white and black races - that I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a phys

It's probably not about Premier Elections Systems

[morgan_greywolf (835522)]

It's probably not about Premier Elections Systems. The companies United Tech are all aerospace and defense contractor. Diebold sells a lot of security systems products and services. It's probably more about that than about the election machines.

Re:It's probably not about Premier Elections Syste

[GWLlosa (800011)]

That is entirely correct. Diebold is one of the key players in the ATM business, as well as being a major provider of banking security equipment. To clarify (since this is slashdot) banking security here refers to safes, cameras, locks, and bulletproof teller windows, not encrypted data on the server or anything. They've also made a significant effort to streamline banking processes in recent times; they've got a fair amount of technology relating to scanning and transmitting financial documents, so as to preclude the need to send the physical document itself.

Elections, despite the notoriety it has caused, is more or less a 'side' business for Diebold, which was probably the result of someone high-up watching the Gore VS Bush Florida recount debacle and saying to himself, "Now THAT [election devices] looks like a growth market right there..." As far as I know, the 'Diebold Election Systems' branch was simply bought and bolted on to the company.

Re:

[Brian Gordon (987471)]

I'm still wary; even security cameras are complex enough to be hacked if the company doesn't know what it's doing.. aka diebold..

Re:

[ozmanjusri (601766)]

Elections, despite the notoriety it has caused, is more or less a 'side' business for Diebold,

Which would you rather control, a $2.8b company or a $13 trillion economy?

Re:

[bluefoxlucid (723572)]

Repeat after me: George Bush does not have a giant lever marked "Economy."

You are absolutely right.

[brennanw (5761)]

It's a very TINY handle. And you need to jiggle it in order to get it to flush properly.

Re:

[aldousd666 (640240)]

I'd agree with you. But you can't mean what I think you do or that would mean I was seeing someone who knows something about economics, for real, from facts, not from feelings or beliefs, on Slashdot. That just can't be. So should I laugh instead?

Re:

[bluefoxlucid (723572)]

Defense budget: Economic growth. Dump money into R&D for things like armor, vision systems (night vision goggles designed for the C4ISR initially), radars, new fuel systems and engines for planes, power storage systems (I could make use of ultra caps in a war zone, trust me)....

NASA: More of the same. Dump cash into space research and suddenly you have non-tube transistors, heat shielding, capri sun packets, CO2 buffers, some toy that uses heated iron to break CO2 down into carbon deposits (scrape t

Re:

[immcintosh (1089551)]

My question is, if the economy gradually collapses throughout eight years of office, THEN can you blame the President? I mean, I can't really blame him for 9/11, but I can sure blame him for what's happened since. Maybe that's a bit of a stretched analogy...

Re:It's IS about Premier Elections Systems

[ukemike (956477)]

Diebold's ATM and bank security business $2 billion
Diebold's Other Miscellaneous Businesses $0.6 billion

Ability to control the US's elections... Priceless.

Re:

[sunking2 (521698)]

Actually that is far from true. UTC is about as diversified a company as you can find. While known as and still probably slightly tilted in the aerospace/defense side they include such heavy weights as Otis Elevator and Carrier. I think carrier at this point is on par if not greater than even Pratt revenue wise. In fact, if you look over the last 5 years their industrial companies are far outpacing the aero side in annual growth. A good reason why their stock is a pretty good bet, especially in times like t

Confusion

[captaindirtnap (1231494)]

2-3 Billion$ ATM business... 100 Million$ Election system business... Why do people think Diebold is primarily election systems-based?

Re:

[pinqkandi (189618)]

I agree with you 100% - unfortunately people remember the election aspect much more, due to claims of issues, etc. Human nature is to remember the bad, forget the good.

Re:

[Cryophallion (1129715)]

Because that is what gets more publicized.

Since the voting machines have had problems, all the news has been about that portion of their company, especially in an election year.

Now, if all their machines had started spewing out $20s at a certain time of day at some point last year, then we would be talking about the atm machines.

Many companies are known (or infamous) for a small subset of their business. Diebold is no exception, especially when they have been all over Slashdot for their voting machines for

Re:

[Asic Eng (193332)]

Why do people think Diebold is primarily election systems-based?

I'm not sure we think that - it's just that their election systems cause us to be interested in them. "United Tech Bids $2.6B for some boring ATM manufacturer" probably wouldn't have been posted on Slashdot - and rightly so IMHO.

Re:

[jhines (82154)]

Lack of a catchy logo on the ATMs?

Now even more pressure to buy the Voting machines

[Cryophallion (1129715)]

With UT behind it, there will be even more pressure on municipalities to buy the machines.

I can hear it now:
"Buy the machines, or we stop all your elevators, and we turn off all the fire and intrusion alarms!"

Now THAT is a good bargaining chip.

Profit!

[gnurfed (1051140)]

1. Buy Diebold
2. Elect neo-conservatives
3. Get the US into more wars
4. Sell lots of military hardware
5. Profit!

(no ????-step this time)

So 2.63 billion is the cost of buying an election?

[CrazyJim1 (809850)]

Or do they plan to recoup their investment through ATM fees?

In a total suprise...

[sunking2 (521698)]

George David is elected President. Homeland Security raids GE.

Is it just me?

[n3tcat (664243)]

Have I been under a rock, or have there always been this many unsolicited bids being tossed about? Or is it just that the economy is shit right now and the people with money are trying to take advantage of the situation?

Re:

[mh1997 (1065630)]

Have I been under a rock, or have there always been this many unsolicited bids being tossed about?

You've been under a rock. From Wikepedia (Mergers and Acquisitions):

The Great Merger Movement was a predominantly U.S. business phenomenon that happened from 1895 to 1905. During this time, small firms with little market share consolidated with similar firms to form large, powerful institutions that dominated their markets. The vehicle used were so-called trusts. To truly understand how large this movement was--in 1900 the value of firms acquired in mergers was 20% of GDP. In 1990 the value was only 3% and from 1998-2000 is was around 10-11% of GDP. Organizations that commanded the greatest share of the market in 1905 saw that command disintegrate by 1929 as smaller competitors joined forces with each other.

This does not break down solicited/unsolicited, but remember the 80's when corporate raiders and hostile takeovers became the business/social symbols of success?

Re:

[bluefoxlucid (723572)]

Thanks for explaining ambition. These were the same guys that had sex with over 400 girls in high school while you didn't boink your first cheerleader till your third year of college. (I'm in my fifth...:/)

Guess its a hostile take over

[sunking2 (521698)]

I thought this was interesting. http://utc.com/press/releases/2008-03-02.htm [utc.com]

Re:Yes

[drhamad (868567)]

Yes, that's why they announced the bid. They've been trying to reach a deal to purchase, and can't get Diebold to agree, so they're going straight to the shareholders.

Anyway, I've been trying to find a job at UTC for years... they're a great conglomerate (and based nearby). Maybe I can find one at Diebold UTC ;-)

Re:

[sunking2 (521698)]

Errr...where do you live, what do you do? Everyone in the Hartford area pops out of their mother with a UTC or Travelers (or some other insurance company) badge already on.

Shady elections are one thing...

[NotQuiteReal (608241)]

but the real money is in stocks [yahoo.com]

I'm not saying anyone did, but an insider would be up 65% plus on the buyout bid news this morning...

Re:

[sunking2 (521698)]

Sure, but this is way too much of a honeypot to even think you could get away with any shinangans. Ask Martha how well things worked out for her.

Re:

[jc42 (318812)]

Sure, but this is way too much of a honeypot to even think you could get away with any shinangans.

How so? The Diebold electronic-voting scandal has been with us for about a decode now, and I don't seem to have read of any indictments. Even Wally O'Dell's infamous promise in writing to deliver Ohio to the Republican got no obvious attention from the legal system. There don't seem to be much more than a few small-scale, local investigations so far, and the Justice Dept seems supremely uninterested in the top

In unrelated news...

[elrous0 (869638)]

Senator John McCain introduces proposal for a multi-year, $50 billion initiative to purchase Sikorsky helicopters for our military.

Awesome tactic

[bluefoxlucid (723572)]

Open, honest, and arm twisting as hell. There was another typical tactic [slashdot.org] used in politics (corporate politics too I'm sure) that arm twisted from another angle; I almost cried when I read that one... really disgusting.

This is how I like to see the game played, whether in the big business or politics field or in the social realm. There's too much FUD and crappy threats going on everywhere, or blackmail with deep dark secrets; line the facts up and appeal to the interests of whoever you're trying to co

Totally makes sense to buy now ...

[slashdotmsiriv (922939)]

After the recent Diebold fiasko, their stock has hit record bottom http://www.theonion.com/content/video/diebold_accidentally_leaks [theonion.com]

Err...

[brian0918 (638904)]

So instead of the term diebold catching on as a perjorative, we're going to have to say something like "Damn, Hewlett Packard has pulled a real Pratt & Whitney, Otis Elevator and Sikorsky Aircraft on the public!"

Sounds like a bargin

[edwardpickman (965122)]

The Democrats should consider rolling their coins so maybe they can win one.

Unsolicitied Offer Season...

[rizzo320 (911761)]

First Microsoft/Yahoo, then EA/Take-Two, and now UTC/Diebold. Are there always this many unsolicited take overs going on, or for some reason are these being more publicized than most? Is a generally depressed stock market causing this, with many companies share prices being undervalued, and in turn provoking some of these offers?

I just can't remember three such high profiles offers being made in such close proximity to each other. Not that I follow the financial markets closely...

Hostile Takeover

[deacent (32502)]

I actually read about this in my local paper Hartford Courant [courant.com] this morning. I don't think the CNN article really does a good job indicating the "hostile" in this hostile takeover. Note the part where Laurer directed UTC not to have further contact with board members.

My impression is that UTC has been getting more heavily into security over the last several years and they are probably more interested the ATM/check machine aspect of Diebold, in spite of Diebold's entanglements with voting machines.

Pentagon Voting Machines

[Doc Ruby (173196)]

Seems to me that the company dependent on the Pentagon shouldn't have the kind of say in counting votes for office that determine the Pentagon's budget.

Not while their products are closed systems, able to be rigged in secret, anyway.

Diebold bought their way into the election biz

[gelfling (6534)]

And until about 3 months ago were looking to sell themselves out of it. Election systems were never a money maker for Diebold and conspiracy theories notwithstanding, they have a fairly good record outside of the US. However they don't make much money in it. They also don't spend much money addressing public concerns which in any other venue would make sense, financially. But they're discovering that in the US election systems are like a public trust and require more investment than return.

Re:Sikorsky Aircraft?

[Constantine XVI (880691)]

According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Technologies [wikipedia.org]); United Tech (Sikorsky's parent) is based in Hartford, CT

Re:

[Cyberax (705495)]

Well, we now know the winner of the next president election in USA.

It's Vladimir Putin.

Re:Sikorsky Aircraft?

[Asic Eng (193332)]

Well, I think despite Constantine objection that the company is actually based in Hartford, CT - this is really the heart of the matter. If you wouldn't trust the machines if they were delivered by a Russian company, then you shouldn't trust them at all. Even if Diebold were a company of excellent reputation, impartial and known to deliver the best quality - how could you be sure that there wasn't at least one engineer working for them who could be bribed by a foreign power? Who is to say they don't have a sleeper agent on their workforce? Why wouldn't a hostile government attempt to gain control of the voting process? Maybe their push to avoid paper records is not just motivated by a desire to cover up problems in a shoddy product - maybe it's really because someone in that company needs to make sure that there can't be a trace?

I don't really think Diebold is controlled by a foreign power currently, but it seems like a rather high risk to take - combined with a rather low chance of finding out if it were to happen.

Re:

[gedeco (696368)]

Igor Sikorsky:
the Wikipedia article you should have read
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igor_Sikorsky [wikipedia.org]

Re:

[R2.0 (532027)]

So are you saying the data on Igor Sikorsky in the Wikipedia article isn't true? Or are you just a blowhard?

Re:

[sm62704 (957197)]

Truth is rare on wikipedia, the articles there prove nothing -- other than how easy people will believe in information that basically looks correct, even when it's rarely no more than a pile of badly-written lies.

How true! I personally prefer the Uncyclopedia, and it says Igor Sikorsky [uncyclopedia.org] doesn't exist. Oh wait, here he is [uncyclopedia.org], apparently he changed his name to "Smith". Hell, if I had a Russian name during the cold war [uncyclopedia.org] I'd change it to "Smith" too!

Ignore that nonsense on Wikipedia, Uncyclopedia is way more accura [uncyclopedia.org]

Re:

[MikeURL (890801)]

If you have read about the situation in detail you know it is difficult to prove wrongdoing when the backend was MS Access. The current state of the software/hardware, as far as i know, is unknown.

Then again /. has been over this issue 100s of times. We know elections need a paper trail. We know that relying on electronic voting is, generally, a bad idea. Yet these machines continue to spread throughout the entire United States with only some pushback here and there. When my tinfoil hat goes a bit a