Just when you thought the popularity surrounding meal kits was cooling down, grocery stores have jumped into the ring, creating their own version of the convenient pre-selected, pre-proportioned boxes of ingredients. But Albertsons Co. — operator of supermarkets like Safeway and Jewel-Osco — is taking a different road: It’s simply buying an existing meal kit service, Plated. [More]
Acquisition
Discovery Communications, Scripps Networks Bring HGTV & TLC Together In $14.6B Deal
By 7.31.17
Discovery Communications and Scripps Networks are putting Shark Week, Guy Fieri, House Hunters, and Bizarre Foods all under the same umbrella in a $14.6 billion mega merger of hugely successful, moderately entertaining media companies.
[More]
Staples Sells Itself For $6.9B To Private Equity Firm
By 6.29.17
Two months after Staples said it was ready to move on with a new lover following the messy breakup of its engagement to Office Depot, the office supply store is once again heading to the altar, selling itself to private equity firm Sycamore Partners for $6.9 billion. [More]
Apple Sneaks Into Your Bed With Purchase Of Sleep-Tracking Firm Beddit
By 5.10.17
Apple wants to get in your bed — but just to track how you sleep: The tech giant acquired Beddit, a Finnish manufacturer of sleep-tracking devices. [More]
Yelp Buys Restaurant Waitlist Tech Company Nowait For $40M
By 3.1.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
Yelp is trying to change the way users visit restaurants — or the way in which they wait for a table with the $40 million purchase of Nowait, a startup that uses technology to streamline the seating process at restaurants around the country. [More]
Airbnb Adds High-End Rentals To Roster With Purchase Of Luxury Lodging Company
By 2.16.17
Forget about renting someone’s extra bedroom through Airbnb on your next trip, now you can book a luxury villa, thanks in part to Airbnb’s recent acquisition of high-end lodging company Luxury Retreats. [More]
Walmart Continues E-Commerce Shopping Spree, Buys Outdoor Retailer Moosejaw
By 2.15.17
Just a month after Walmart continued its bid to boost online sales with the $70 million purchase of shoe-tailer ShoeBuy, the company has once again added to its e-commerce shopping spree with the $51 million acquisition of online outdoor retailer Moosejaw. [More]
Walmart’s Jet.com Jumping Into Shoe Game With $70M Purchase Of ShoeBuy
By 1.5.17 — Updated: 3.15.17
Following the $3 billion purchase of Jet.com, Walmart is continuing its bid to boost online sales, this time by targeting customers’ feet with the $70 million purchase of shoe-tailer ShoeBuy. [More]
Snapchat Jumps Into Augmented Reality With $40M Purchase Of Israeli Start-Up
By 12.27.16
Those Snapchat lenses you use to turn yourself into a dog or into a rainbow-puking caricature could soon be a bit more detailed, as the company behind the quick messaging service has reportedly purchased an augmented reality startup based in Israel. [More]
How A Small Nebraska Town Figures Into The Cabela’s, Bass Pro Shops Deal
By 10.5.16
Some companies have distinct ties to their geographical roots, whether it’s Walmart and Bentonville, L.L.Bean and Maine, Hershey and, well.. Hershey, or Cabela’s and the small Nebraska city of Sidney. But now that the outdoor goods retailer has been snapped up by Bass Pro Shops for $5.5 billion, what will happen to this town of around 7,000 people?
[More]
Airbnb Inches Closer To Full-Service Trip-Planner With Latest Acquisition
By 9.19.16
Airbnb has had success in providing a platform for travelers looking to stay somewhere other than hotels, but lodging is only one aspect of a trip. Where to eat? What to see? Airbnb’s recent acquisition of a startup travel-planning service shows that the company is inching toward offering one-stop shopping for travelers. [More]
Lyft Dismisses The Idea That It Even Wants A Buyer At All
By 8.23.16
A day after Uber reportedly shrugged off the idea of acquiring ride-hailing rival Lyft, the latter company says it’s not on the market, you know, anyway. [More]
Uber Reportedly Shrugs Off Idea Of Acquiring Lyft
By 8.22.16
With reports circulating that ride-hailing service Lyft may be looking to sell itself, it makes sense to think of Uber, its most prominent competitor, as a potential buyer. However, it seems very unlikely that regulators would allow this merger, or that Uber is even interested. [More]
Report: Walmart In Talks To Buy Jet.com
By 8.3.16
Just a year after it launched, Amazon challenger and fellow e-commerce site Jet.com could soon become the property of one of the largest bricks-and-mortar retailers in the world: Walmart. [More]
AMC Theaters Makes “Best & Final” Offer Of $1.2B For Carmike
By 7.25.16 — Updated: 3.1.17
Four months after AMC Theaters offered $1.1 billion to buy fellow theater chain Carmike Cinemas, the two companies have finally come together on a sweetened deal to appease shareholders. [More]
L’Oreal Expands Makeup Portfolio With $1.2B Purchase Of IT Cosmetics
By 7.22.16
Cosmetics biggie L’Oreal just got a bit bigger, adding some 300 skincare and makeup products with its $1.2 billion acquisition of infomercial fave IT Cosmetics.
[More]
Owner Of Radisson Hotel Chain Purchased By Chinese Conglomerate
By 4.28.16
Just weeks after China’a Anbang Insurance Group bowed out of its bid for the Starwood Hotel brand, another Chinese hotel group has gobbled up a different group: Carlson Hotels, the operator of the Radisson chain. [More]
Virgin America Reportedly Gets Takeover Bids From JetBlue, Alaska Airlines
By 3.28.16
Well that was fast. Less than a week after Virgin America realized it was a pretty hot commodity and said it would consider putting itself up for sale, the company has reportedly received not one, but two takeover bids from rival airlines. [More]
