Remember that brief, weird moment a few years back when your Facebook feed was suddenly full of just-ironic-enough comic strip versions of your friends? Well, now you’ll probably see that all over Snapchat, as the messaging app reportedly agreed to pay $100 million to acquire Bitstrips. [More]
Acquisition
Marriott Beefs Up Bid, Buys Starwood Hotels For $13.6 Billion
Momentum in the tug-of-war over Starwood Hotels — home to brands like Sheraton, St. Regis, Westin, and W — has shifted once again. Only days after China’s Anbang Insurance appeared destined to win with its “superior proposal,” Marriott managed to dig deep with the help of a few billion additional dollars.
Staples, Office Depot: FTC’s Opposition To Billion-Dollar Merger Is “Flawed,” “Wrong”
Three months after federal regulators filed a lawsuit to stop the nightmare dream formation of the $6.3 billion StaplesMaxDepot Voltron , the CEOs of the mega-office supply chains are fed up, and they’re taking that frustration to the customers by airing their true thoughts on the Federal Trade Commission’s attempt to stop the deal. [More]
Kickstarter Buys Music Community Service Drip
After years of providing a platform for people to help fund everything from homemade hot sauces to feature films, Kickstarter itself has made its first big investment, acquiring streaming service Drip.
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Anheuser-Busch Buys Breckenridge Brewery, Third Craft Brewer In One Week
As if the pending $107 billion merger with SABMiller wasn’t enough of a portfolio boost for Anheuser-Busch InBev, the beer giant has purchased not one, but three craft brewers in the last week. The company’s most recent holiday gift for itself is Breckenridge Brewing of Colorado. [More]
Maker Of Sharpie To Buy Maker Of Crock-Pot For $13B, Creating A Consumer Product Smorgasbord
All of those storage containers, Sharpies, coolers, and crockpots you have dotting the insides of cupboards now have a lot more in common than one might think: Newell Rubbermaid, the company behind Sharpie and Rubbermaid storage products Jarden, the company behind the Coleman and Crock-Pot brands, for $13.2 billion. [More]
Keurig Green Mountain Selling Itself For $13.9B To Private-Equity Company
If you thought that cup of coffee you picked up on the way to work this morning cost a pretty penny, then can you imagine how the much one of the biggest names in the coffee biz would go for? Well, if you guessed $13.9 billion, then you should probably go buy a lottery ticket, as that’s how much Keurig plans to sell itself for. [More]
Bridgestone Buys Pep Boys Auto Service Retail Operations For $835M
Have we seen the last of Moe, Manny, and Jack – you know, the faces of the Pep Boys auto parts brand? It’s possible as the retail chain has agreed to be acquired by tire giant Bridgestone for $835 million. [More]
TV Retail Meets Online Flash Sales In QVC Parent Company’s $2.4B Purchase Of Zulily
In what appears to be a match made in retail heaven, the owner of QVC plans to purchase growing flash sale business Zulily for about $2.4 billion. [More]
Verizon Completes $4.4B Acquisition Of AOL
It’s not often you hear about a shotgun wedding between two tech companies, but that’s apparently what happened for Verizon and AOL, as the recently betrothed said today that they had officially completed a $4.4 billion acquisition proposed just a month ago. [More]
Amazon Reportedly In Talks To Purchase Luxury Online Retailer Net-A-Porter
Amazon appears to be on the cusp of its largest purchase ever with the potential purchase of luxury online retailer Net-a-Porter. [More]
Hershey Getting Into Meat Snack Business With Purchase Of Jerky Maker Krave, Because Meat
Things that go together in this world: peanut butter and jelly. Fish and chips. Coffee and donuts! Things that do not: sweet, creamy, delicious chocolate treats and… meat. But that last combination is about to become a reality with Hershey Chocolate Company’s purchase of meat snack producer Krave Pure Foods Inc. [More]