Tech Stocks in Motion

Shares of Maxtor(MXO) were among technology's winners Wednesday after the storage supplier agreed to be acquired by Seagate(STX) for $1.9 billion of stock.

The acquisition unites two big players in the disk-drive space and is expected to result in annual cost savings of $300 million at the combined company. Maxtor holders will get 0.37 a share of Seagate for each share owned, worth about $7.25 each, based on Tuesday's closing price. Maxtor rose $2.28, or 50%, to $6.80. Seagate rose 40 cents, or 2%, to $20.

Other storage stocks also were moving. Western Digital(WDC) gained 16% as traders bet a consolidation trend in the sector will eventually lead to its takeover. Komag(KOMG) lost 6% after an analyst said the company's growth prospects look limited.

In other merger news, Micromuse(MUSE) soared after IBM(IBM) agreed to acquire the network software provider for $865 million in cash. The deal is worth $10 a share to Micromuse holders, who have seen their stock languish in the single digits for the better part of four years. IBM will fold the new subsidiary into its Tivoli software operation. Shares of Micromuse were recently up $2.60, or 36%, to $9.81.

Shares of Total System Services (TSS) plummeted 14% after Bank of America(BAC) dropped the company as its credit card processor. Bank of America, which is set to purchase credit card giant MBNA(KRB), plans to move its card processing in-house in October. Total System Services now expects an annualized loss of $239 million in revenue -- about 14.9% of total revenue -- related to the portfolio that Bank of America plans to move. Total System Service shares were trading down $3.17 to $18.79. Synovis Financial(SNV), which owns 81% of Total System Services, fell $1.66, or 5.9%, to $26.41.