• BussinessWeek, Friday, January 15, 2010 3:16 PM

BusinessWeek has reason to believe that Apple could be gearing up for a slew of strategic acquisitions. Last year, the company quietly hired a Goldman Sachs investment banker, Adrian Perica, to help the company cut deals, while multiple sources say Perica is the first dedicated M&A specialist on staff. Apple has also stepped up its pace of acquisitions, as three of Jobs' 11 deals -- since he returned to Apple as chief exec in '97 -- have come in the past five months, including the $275 million purchase of Quattro Wireless, the largest buy since Jobs' return.

What's more, "Given Apple's strong stock price, it is in a position to be generous [in doing deals]," Michael Kwatinetz, a general partner with venture capitalists Azure Capital Partners tells BusinessWeek. Historically, Apple has bought far fewer companies than Silicon Valley counterparts like Cisco Systems or Hewlett-Packard. Google, meanwhile, has bought 11 companies in just the past 18 months.

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