As part of its global business unit, Cisco announced it had teamed up with BMC Software and acquired LineSider Technologies in an effort to develop, market, and deploy cloud computing infrastructure.

FORBES: Pressure On Margins And Lower Profits Spark Cisco Sell Off Afterhours

The court held that banks would never find suitable places in crowded downtown business districts unless they could have the right to rent out surplus space acquired in a good-faith effort to house their operations.

ECONOMIST: American banks and property

Last week, The Next Web reported that the company acquired the taxi-fetching app maker TXXI in an effort to roll out a TomTom cab-booking service, and today the site reports that the theory is now confirmed.

ENGADGET: TomTom confirms new taxi-ordering service, beginning trial rollout in Amsterdam

It is entirely a function of an arbitrary budget "bogey" and a desperate, hasty effort to figure out how much can be maintained and acquired for that amount.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center for Security Policy | So Much For ��The Vision Thing��: Clinton-Aspin Defense Budget Is Risky Business

In June 2012, it acquired White Glove Technologies, a Texas-based managed IT services provider, in an effort to strengthen its presence in the cloud services industry and expand its managed IT services in Texas.

FORBES: Why Best Buy Is Still Worth $25

Highmark, one of the largest insurers in Pennsylvania, has acquired the West Penn Allegheny Health System, the second largest hospital in Pittsburgh, in an effort to become closer to the provider network.

FORBES: Is technology part of the health care solution --or part of the problem?