If you thought the pending billion-dollar merger between Staples and Office Depot was the only office supply wedding in the works, then you might not have been prepared for the $600 million union between the maker of Sharpie pens and the owner of Elmer’s Glue. [More]
merger
New United CEO Apologizes For 5 Years Of Merger-Related Problems
By 10.1.15
The five-year-old marriage between United and Continental airlines appears to be hitting the seven-year itch a few years early, as new United CEO Oscar Munoz began his tenure acknowledging the mega-merger may not have been such a good idea after all. [More]
West Coast Grocery Chain Haggen To Close Most Stores After Expansion Gone Wrong
By 9.25.15
The purchase of nearly 150 grocery store locations in the Northwest meant to provide consumers with more options in the face of a mega-merger between chains Albertsons and Safeway has come to a rather disastrous end: Haggen Inc. plans to close most of those locations after its quick expansion turned sour and the company filed for bankruptcy. [More]
Office Depot, Staples Merger Under Scrutiny In Europe
By 9.25.15
The $6.3 billion merger between the top two office supply chains has hit yet another bump: the European Union opened an “extensive” investigation into the would-be union of Staples and rival Office Depot. [More]
Antitrust Concerns For Staples, Office Depot Merger Now Center On Corporate Supply Contracts
By 9.10.15
In an effort to gain approval for their $6.3 billion proposed marriage to Staples, Office Depot announced last month it would close about 400 stores. While that move could certainly help the merger process, it appears that federal regulators are less worried about retail sales at physical stores, and more concerned about their contracts to provide supplies to large corporations and businesses. [More]
West Coast Grocery Chain Haggen Sues Albertsons For $1B Over Misrepresentations In Acquired Stores
By 9.3.15
Nine months ago, when Albertsons and Safeway had to sell off a bunch of stores to make their $9.2 billion merger more palatable, the Washington-based Haggen supermarket chain agreed to snap up nearly 150 of those locations. Now Haggen, in a $1 billion lawsuit, says the sale of these stores was really a calculated effort on Albertsons’ part to eliminate competition. [More]
Fiat Chrysler Wants To Hug GM So Tight They Merge
By 8.31.15
When you’re a multibillion-dollar company that’s been under heavy scrutiny from federal regulators and you’ve been turned down by several potential suitors in the last year, you don’t simply give up on a possible merger. Or at least that seems to be the case for Fiat Chrysler when it comes to the automaker’s unrequited love for General Motors. [More]
Dollar Tree, Family Dollar Will Sell Off 330 Stores To Get Merger Approval
By 7.2.15
A year after the sordid dollar store love triangle began and nearly seven months after Family Dollar chose Dollar Tree to have and to hold for a mere $9.2 billion, the merger process appears to be almost over with federal regulators officially asking the new couple to ditch 330 stores. [More]
Office Depot, Staples One Step Closer To Walking Down The Office Supply-Wedding Aisle
By 6.19.15
Back in February Staples presented Office Depot with a freshly sharpened bouquet of pencils (really, $6.3 billion) as a token of its desire to live as one for the rest of their office supply days. Now, three months later, Office Depot has accepted the proposal. [More]
Add Comcast To The List Of Rumored Merger Partners For T-Mobile
By 6.17.15
Not one to sit around and sulk after ditching its $45 billion bid to buy Time Warner Cable – or let a rival cable company beat it to the altar – the Lords of Kabletown are reportedly making eyes with the wireless industry, flirting with the idea of buying T-Mobile. [More]
Dollar Tree, Family Dollar Expected To Close 340 Stores For Merger Approval
By 4.8.15
When Family Dollar accepted Dollar Tree’s proposal for a merger in January, the two companies estimated the deal would require the closing of no more than 300 stores. As federal regulators get closer to putting their stamp of approval on the dollar store marriage, they’re adding a few more stores to the chopping block. [More]
Staples, Office Depot Take Another Step Toward Merger, Enter “Advanced Talks”
By 2.3.15
Just weeks after activist investor Starboard Value publicly demanded Staples and Office Depot get hitched, the two office supply stores are apparently taking talks of a walk down the aisle seriously. [More]
FTC Requires Safeway, Albertsons To Sell 168 Stores Before Completing $9.2B Merger
By 1.27.15
Last March Albertsons supermarket owners Cerberus Capital Management and AB Acquisition LLC announced that they would acquire the Safeway chain of stores in a merger valued at more than $9 billion, but as with most deals of such magnitude, the new coupling between the second- and fifth-largest grocers in the United States had to pass regulatory muster before they could proceed down the aisle. Today, the chains announced they would sell 168 stores in eight states in order to make their matrimonial dreams a reality. [More]
Post To Hog Even More Cereal With $1.15B Purchase Of Rival MOM Brands
By 1.26.15
Piece by piece, cereal maker Post Holdings Co. has increased its portfolio to take on breakfast food behemoths Kellogg and General Mills. The mission to expand its bagged and hot cereal categories continued Monday with Post’s purchase of small, privately held rival MOM Brands Co. for $1.15 billion. [More]
Investor Demands Staples, Office Depot Begin Courting, Hoping To Hear Wedding Bells Soon
By 1.20.15
There’s a fine line between offering helpful suggestions and aggressively pushing for someone to do what you want. When it comes to activist investors Starboard Value, they tend to fall squarely in the latter camp – who can forget their harsh words for Olive Garden and ruthless take over of its board of directors? The firm appears to be back at it by not-so-nicely suggesting that Staples get a move on with regard to a possible merger with Office Depot. [More]
We’ll Be Waiting A Little Longer For A Dollar Store Merger
By 12.19.14
The fate of the long-running dollar store merger saga likely won’t be decided by the end of the year as once expected, now that Family Dollar has decided to delay an upcoming shareholder vote. [More]
Office Supply Marriage? Investor Reportedly Pushing For Staples, Office Depot Merger
By 12.11.14
Just a few months after roundly mocking Olive Garden and then seizing seats on its board of directors, the activist investors at Starboard Value are reportedly hoping to arrange the marriage of office supply retailers Staples and Office Depot. [More]
$8.5 Billion Discount Store Merger: Dollar Tree Purchases Family Dollar
By 7.28.14
Those dollar purchases really add up, but for Dollar Tree it’s just one proposed purchase that’s creating a rather substantial tab. The discount store recently announced plans to acquire its larger rival Family Dollar. [More]
