and Spinnaker Software. Shareholders of Softkey Software represented about 53 percent of the new company's shares. After the merger, the company moved to Spinnaker's offices in Cambridge, Mass. Acquisitions MECC and The Learning Company In October 1995, SoftKey initiated a bidding war against Broderbund for Learning Company, launching a hostile offer valued at $606 million. SoftKey also announced it had agreed to buy the Minnesota Educational Computing Corporation (MECC) for $370 million, throwing wrench into Broderbund's offer. O'Leary commented, "They're working on the economics of yesterday", stating that "Learning's premium-priced products were out of step with trends in the market." After the acquisition of The Learning Company, SoftKey changed its name to "The Learning Company". A substantial percentage of the staff were let go, reducing it to a skeleton staff. MECC' senior vice president of product development Susan Schilling stated: "[O'Leary] had an interest in earning money. I'm not sure he had a desire to help children learn." Acquisitions from 1994 to 1998 On September 14, 1994, SoftKey acquired privately held Software Marketing Corp., Phoenix, for about 600,000 shares of SoftKey common stock and the assumption of $1.6 million in long-term debt. On November 30, 1995, the original Learning Company announced that it had sued the Tribune Company for violating securities laws as a "strategic partner" of SoftKey International. The next day, SoftKey agreed to acquire Compton's New Media Inc. from Tribune for stock valued at $106.5 million. In March 1998, Softkey, now called The Learning Company, acquired Mindscape Inc. from Pearson PLC for $150 million in cash and stock. Broderbund's Red Orb Entertainment was moved to Mindscape. In June 1998, Learning Co. agreed to buy rival Broderbund Software Inc., maker of the blockbuster game Myst, in a stock deal valued at about $416 million. In December 1998 ,The Learning Company acquired Palladium Interactive. According to Information technology consulting company Booz Allen Hamilton, two of SoftKey International's acquisition deals rank among the ten worst U.S. acquisitions during 1994–1996 as measured by shareholder value two years after the deal. Sale to Mattel In the fall of 1998, Mattel agreed to acquire The Learning Company in a stock-for-stock merger valuing the company at approximately $4.2 billion. The merger was finalized and unanimously approved by both companies' boards of directors on December 14. A few weeks after the sale, the Center for Financial Research and Analysis forensic accounting firm published a report critical