Segway Announces The Most Understated Merger Ever

from the so-yeah-we-were-acquired-by-somebody-some-time-ago dept

Considering the amount of hype and buzz that came about when Dean Kamen's Segway was first introduced, it seems like the company is going for the exact opposite in discussing its recent merger with a UK company. The company didn't even mention it for nearly a month, and only said something once rumors started spreading, and then the blog post they put up about it gives very little in the way of detail. They don't even mention the company's name:
Segway Inc. is pleased to announce that in connection with a merger that occurred on December 24, 2009, Segway was acquired by a company that is based in the United Kingdom. The acquiring company is backed by Jimi Heselden, a prominent U.K. businessman and the Chairman of Hesco Bastion. Mr. Heselden is also an investor in the independently owned Segway U.K. distributorship.
The company also got some funding (and lost its latest in a long, long, long line of CEOs), but in an interview with the local paper, Dean Kamen admits that he doesn't even know who the new investor is.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: dean kamen, merger
Companies: segway


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. icon
    Dark Helmet (profile), 15 Jan 2010 @ 6:20am

    Answer

    "Dean Kamen admits that he doesn't even know who the new investor is."

    This is easy. That's because Mr. Heselden is also known as Number Two, and the unknown company they merged with is Dr. Evil's Evil Corp.

    Can't you just see Dr. Evil mandating that all of his henchman zip around his evil volcano lair on those idiotic things? With a tiny little one made for Mini-Me?

    Well!!?? CAN'T YOU!!?????

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    MarkG, 15 Jan 2010 @ 6:31am

    Front Company Alert

    It's this company, I'm sure

    heseldenhats

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. icon
    PopeRatzo (profile), 15 Jan 2010 @ 6:35am

    The Magician's Friend

    I still can't believe sales of Segways didn't take off after Gob looked so cool tooling around on one in Arrested Development.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    John Doe, 15 Jan 2010 @ 6:36am

    Solution to what?

    Talk about a solution in search of a problem. Other than mall cops and city police, I don't see anybody needing these.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    BenJHare, 15 Jan 2010 @ 6:52am

    All well and good but...

    ...Segway's are completely useless in the UK anyway - our law system means they're not allowed on roads, or footpaths. They're only good for private properties or shopping centres!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. icon
    technomage (profile), 15 Jan 2010 @ 7:09am

    Re: Answer

    bad BAD BAD visual DH

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. icon
    Bubba Gump (profile), 15 Jan 2010 @ 8:00am

    Re: Answer

    WIN!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    hhe to haha, 15 Jan 2010 @ 9:16am

    Re: Answer

    His evil frickin' lair was destroyed by liquid hot maag-mah

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.