Earlier this year, health insurance giant Aetna was left broken-hearted when its $37 billion merger with Humana fell through because federal antitrust regulators apparently hate to see two mammoth insurers so in love with each other. But in this autumn season, there’s a rare bloom of corporate romance peeking out, as Aetna has reportedly found itself a suitor in the form of CVS Health. [More]
mergers and acquisitions
Walgreens & Rite Aid Will Close 600 Stores (Mostly Rite Aids) As Part Of $4.4B Deal
By 10.25.17
A month after the Federal Trade Commission gave Walgreens the go-ahead to acquire half of Rite Aid’s 2,000 stores for $4.38 billion, the chain says it will be closing 600 stores — and most of those will be Rite Aid locations. [More]
AT&T And Time Warner Extend Deadline For $85.4B Merger, Promise It’s Still Happening
By 10.24.17
Just over a year ago, AT&T and Time Warner proposed one of the biggest mergers of all time, a $85.4 billion deal that would bring together the owners of CNN, HBO, and DirecTV in a single company. The merger had a deadline of Oct. 22, which the companies have extended for an unspecified “short period of time” to gain regulatory approval in the United States. [More]
Sprint & T-Mobile Want To Merge Without Selling Anything Off
By 10.16.17
When a merger between two or more companies will have a drastic effect on competition, it’s all but expected that the new couple will sell off some of their existing operations to alleviate antitrust concerns. Even though a merger or Sprint and T-Mobile would leave the U.S. with only three national wireless carriers, the two rumored lovebirds are reportedly unwilling to part ways with any assets. [More]
Possible Sprint, T-Mobile Merger Could Face DOJ Antitrust Opposition
By 10.11.17
Though the romance rumor mill is still claiming that Sprint and T-Mobile are hoping to announce their engagement in the weeks to come, and it’s highly unlikely that the pro-industry FCC will do anything to slow these crazy kids from merging, the wireless wedding could be spoiled by the anti-trust wet blankets at the Justice Department. [More]
Sprint, T-Mobile Reportedly Making Final Plans For Halloween Honeymoon
By 10.6.17
The worst kept secret in merger romances is apparently getting achingly close to becoming a reality, with a new report claiming that the parents of T-Mobile and Sprint are putting the final details together on an arranged marriage that would see these two kids wed before Halloween. [More]
Amazon Acquires 3D Body Modeling Company That Could Be Useful For Fashion, Gaming
By 10.4.17
Wouldn’t it be useful to have a three-dimensional avatar that’s shaped like you that you could use for online clothes shopping or for video games? We don’t know what Amazon had in mind when it acquired a company that creates 3D models of human bodies for a variety of applications, but it probably involves the mega-retailer’s fashion ambitions. [More]
Coca-Cola Goes Shopping, Spends $220M On Topo Chico Sparkling Water
By 10.2.17
Coca-Cola is trying shed some of the criticism it gets for not only selling high-calorie sugar water but paying scientists to make dubious claims about said sugar water. So it now wants to sell you unsweetened water at a premium price. Problem is, the public only has so much of an appetite for Dasani, so Coke’s got to find other ways to convince you to pay for bottled water. Enter, Topo Chico. [More]
IKEA Acquires TaskRabbit, Saving Relationships Nationwide
By 9.28.17
If you want to break up with your significant other, just spend an afternoon at IKEA, where all your previous petty disagreements will be awkwardly resurrected amid the snaking displays of furniture that neither of you really want but are better than living on milk crates. Thankfully, IKEA just purchased TaskRabbit, the company that will allow you to stay in your relationship by sending someone to shop at IKEA — and maybe even put your mid-priced furnishings together. [More]
What Will Happen To Cabela’s Nebraska Hometown After Merger With Bass Pro?
By 9.26.17
Located in western Nebraska, a couple hours’ drive to either Denver or Cheyenne, WY, the small city of Sidney has been home to outdoors outfitter Cabela’s for more than 50 years, as it grew from a little catalog operation to a retail chain with billions of dollars in annual sales. But now that Cabela’s has been purchased by Bass Pro Shops, what will happen to the 2,000 jobs that the company had provided to the local economy? [More]
The 5 Best Parts From John Oliver’s Report On Corporate Mergers
By 9.25.17
You don’t have to read the business pages to know that recent decades have resulted in massive corporate consolidation. Whether it’s air travel, wireless service, internet, banking, or eyeglasses, a number of industries have enjoyed such merger mania that only a few national competitors remain. [More]
Post Strays From Cereal Aisle, Picks Up Bob Evans Packaged Foods For $1.5B
By 9.19.17
When it comes to breakfast, Post wants to serve up more than cereal: The company says it’s paying $1.5 B for the Bob Evans packaged food business, partly so it can have a “presence in breakfast sausage.” [More]
Verizon Gives Up, Decides It Doesn’t Want To Buy Comcast Or Charter After All
By 9.15.17
Ever since an openly business-friendly administration stepped into the White House, analysts and investors have been pushing for Verizon to merge with a cable/internet giant like Comcast or Charter. And the telecom titan’s CEO has even indicated his interest in a corporate marriage of convenience with a massive cable or media company. But now the company says it has no immediate plans to wed. [More]
Whole Foods Meat Guys Sculpt Amazon Logos Out Of Ground Beef
By 8.30.17
What’s that old saying, again? “When you love someone, say it with meat”? That’s how employees at one Los Angeles Whole Foods welcomed their new e-commerce overlords, sculpting Amazon and Prime logos out of ground beef in the display case. [More]
Amazon Prime Members Will Get Special Discounts At Whole Foods Stores
By 8.24.17
If you’ve been wondering what the marriage of Whole Foods and Amazon will look like, we now have one clue that’s more tantalizing than a bundle of young asparagus. In the companies’ official wedding announcement today, their leaders announced how they plan to open up special deals at physical Whole Foods stores to subscribers to Amazon’s Prime service, and place Amazon Lockers in Whole Foods stores. [More]
Could Comcast Engineer A Mega Merger That Would Include 55 Million Customers?
By 8.14.17
Not so long ago, Comcast failed in its effort to merge with Time Warner Cable and create a cable/internet giant with around 30 million customers. But now that the regulatory winds have shifted in a decidedly pro-merger direction, some are theorizing what it would take for Comcast to engineer a telecom Voltron nearly double that size. [More]
Sexy European Suitor May Be Looking To Woo Charter Into Another Merger
By 8.10.17
Summertime fling fantasies aren’t just for libidinous teens at camp. European telecom giant Altice, which recently purchased Cablevision and Suddenlink in the U.S., is reportedly gazing across the campfire and into the eyes of another potential American mating partner: Charter. [More]
Netflix Is Now In The Comic Book Business; Buys Company Behind Kick-Ass, Kingsman
By 8.7.17
Comic book characters are a big business, responsible for billions of dollars a year in movie and TV revenue. Netflix knows this fact first-hand from its various, exclusive Marvel shows, but now the streaming video giant has gone a step further, actually popping off to the shop and picking up a comic book company to call its own. [More]
