NEW YORK, Feb 3 (Reuters) – As tech spending stages a comeback, industry giants like Hewlett-Packard Co <HPQ.N> and IBM <IBM.N> are expected to scour the security software market for acquisitions that will boost their share of corporate IT budgets.

Security software is a critical component of the “stack” of applications used by companies to store and manage networks and data, making software makers from McAfee Inc <MFE.N> to upstart Sourcefire Inc <FIRE.O> attractive targets.

“There is a clear trend toward convergence of technologies in the data center, and security is front and center,” said Daniel Ives, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets.

He and other analysts said security spending by companies held up well during the recession even as overall IT budgets shrank — a mark of resilience that only adds to the lure of security companies. “Security really has the attention of CIOs (chief information officers),” Ives said in an interview.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – As tech spending stages a comeback, industry giants like Hewlett-Packard Co <HPQ.N> and IBM <IBM.N> are expected to scour the security software market for acquisitions that will boost their share of corporate IT budgets.

Security software is a critical component of the “stack” of applications used by companies to store and manage networks and data, making software makers from McAfee Inc <MFE.N> to upstart Sourcefire Inc <FIRE.O> attractive targets.

“There is a clear trend toward convergence of technologies in the data center, and security is front and center,” said Daniel Ives, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets.

He and other analysts said security spending by companies held up well during the recession even as overall IT budgets shrank — a mark of resilience that only adds to the lure of security companies. “Security really has the attention of CIOs (chief information officers),” Ives said in an interview.

NEW YORK, Feb 3 (Reuters) – As tech spending stages a comeback, industry giants like Hewlett-Packard Co <HPQ.N> and IBM <IBM.N> are expected to scour the security software market for acquisitions that will boost their share of corporate IT budgets.

Security software is a critical component of the “stack” of applications used by companies to store and manage networks and data, making software makers from McAfee Inc <MFE.N> to upstart Sourcefire Inc <FIRE.O> attractive targets.

“There is a clear trend toward convergence of technologies in the data center, and security is front and center,” said Daniel Ives, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets.

He and other analysts said security spending by companies held up well during the recession even as overall IT budgets shrank — a mark of resilience that only adds to the lure of security companies. “Security really has the attention of CIOs (chief information officers),” Ives said in an interview.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – AOL Inc beat Wall Street’s profit and revenue expectations for the fourth quarter, but its top officers said that revenue from subscriptions and online search-related advertising would fall further in coming months.

AOL, which became an independent company once again in December after Time Warner Inc spun it off, is trying to reshape itself as an online content and advertising company under chief executive Tim Armstrong, a former Google Inc executive.

AOL executives said on Wednesday the company will exit some international markets as it invests in the creation and distribution of blogs, videos, photos and other online programing. It is also building its related Web search and advertising business.

The company said it is likely to sell assets outside its focus, even as it buys up businesses in its chosen markets.

NEW YORK, Feb 3 (Reuters) – AOL Inc <AOL.N> beat Wall Street’s profit and revenue expectations for the fourth quarter, but its top officers said that revenue from subscriptions and online search-related advertising would fall further in coming months.

AOL, which became an independent company once again in December after Time Warner Inc <TWX.N> spun it off, is trying to reshape itself as an online content and advertising company under chief executive Tim Armstrong, a former Google Inc <GOOG.O> executive.

AOL executives said on Wednesday the company will exit some international markets as it invests in the creation and distribution of blogs, videos, photos and other online programming. It is also building its related Web search and advertising business.

The company said it is likely to sell assets outside its focus, even as it buys up businesses in its chosen markets.

NEW YORK, Feb 2 (Reuters) – Initial bids for Interactive Data Corp <IDC.N>, the financial market data provider controlled by Pearson PLC <PSON.L>, are due in mid-February, sources familiar with the situation said.

Interactive Data has a market value of about $2.8 billion, based on Tuesday’s closing share price of $29.35 on the New York Stock Exchange. That values Pearson’s 61 percent stake at roughly $1.7 billion.

U.K. publisher Pearson, which owns the Financial Times newspaper as well as the world’s biggest educational publishing business and Penguin books, said in January that Interactive Data’s board was conducting a preliminary review of strategic alternatives for the company.

Several private equity firms are expected to put in initial bids, the sources said.

NEW YORK, Feb 1 (Reuters) – Leap Wireless International Inc <LEAP.O> has hired Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to advise the low-cost mobile service provider on a possible sale, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Leap has reached out to potential buyers in recent days, including MetroPCS Communications Inc <PCS.N>, AT&T Inc <T.N> and Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications Inc <VZ.N> and Vodafone Group Plc <VOD.L>, one of the sources said on Monday.

Shares of Leap rose 13.1 percent in heavy trading to $14.92, while MetroPCS shares rose 5.33 percent to $5.93 after the news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Leap, AT&T and MetroPCS declined to comment. Verizon was not immediately available for comment.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Peet’s Coffee & Tea Inc <PEET.O> plans to announce on Monday it will extend its tender offer for shares of Diedrich Coffee Inc <DDRX.O> by 30 days, a person with knowledge of the situation said, signaling its anticipation that regulators could block Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc’s <GMCR.O> deal to buy Diedrich.

In December, Waterbury, Vermont-based Green Mountain outbid Peet’s, a premium coffee and tea seller, with a $35-a-share all-cash offer for Diedrich that values the coffee roaster at about $285 million.

But on January 13, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which is reviewing the deal on antitrust grounds, issued a second request for information — enough for Peet’s to decide that it should stay in the game and offer Diedrich shareholders the option to tender their shares to Peet’s, should Green Mountain’s proposal run into regulatory roadblocks, the source said.

The $26-a-share tender offer, which expired on Friday at midnight, could be extended again beyond the initial 30-day extension, the source said.

NEW YORK, Jan 31 (Reuters) – Peet’s Coffee & Tea Inc <PEET.O> plans to announce on Monday it will extend its tender offer for shares of Diedrich Coffee Inc <DDRX.O> by 30 days, a person with knowledge of the situation said, signaling its anticipation that regulators could block Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc’s <GMCR.O> deal to buy Diedrich.

In December, Waterbury, Vermont-based Green Mountain outbid Peet’s, a premium coffee and tea seller, with a $35-a-share all-cash offer for Diedrich that values the coffee roaster at about $285 million.

But on Jan. 13, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which is reviewing the deal on antitrust grounds, issued a second request for information — enough for Peet’s to decide that it should stay in the game and offer Diedrich shareholders the option to tender their shares to Peet’s, should Green Mountain’s proposal run into regulatory roadblocks, the source said.

The $26-a-share tender offer, which expired on Friday at midnight, could be extended again beyond the initial 30-day extension, the source said.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which has received several first-round bids in an auction to sell itself, is considering a prepackaged bankruptcy along with a sale, sources familiar with the matter said.

The move would offer a healthier company to a buyer of MGM — which is struggling with $3.7 billion in debt — by reducing liabilities and cleaning up its balance sheet, the sources said.

Many media companies, including Time Warner Inc and Lions Gate Entertainment Corp, have put in bids for MGM, along with separate offers from private equity firms, the sources said. But not all the 12 companies that signed confidentiality agreements to look at MGM’s books over the past month have put in bids, they added.

The initial bids, which are non-binding, came in under $2 billion, sources said.