Consumerist

merger

Food Processor Archer Daniels Buys Wild Flavors For $3 Billion

The plethora of oils, syrup, starches and other products from Archer Daniels Midland Company are getting a bit more natural with the company’s acquisition of Wild Flavors GmbH this week. [More]

Too Much of a good thing

Office Depot Shuttering 400 Stores, Because No One Wants To Compete Against Themselves

By Ashlee Kieler 5.6.14

Are too many office supplies a bad thing? Apparently so for Office Depot and Office Max. As the merger of the two companies gets underway an overlap of stores in the same areas means some stores will be closing their doors. [More]

The Joys Of Corporate Marriage

American Airlines, US Airways Merger Means New Policies, More Baggage Fees

By Ashlee Kieler 4.8.14

Change is inevitable in a new relationship, and often one partner will give a little more than the other. That appears to be the case with the $17.7 billion American Airlines and US Airways merger. To better align with its new partner, American announced today it’s making more changes; this time to its baggage fees and frequent-flier rule. [More]

Banana

Chiquita, Fyffes Merge To Form World’s Largest Banana Supplier

By Ashlee Kieler 3.10.14

Miss Chiquita is getting hitched to an Irishman. The 144-year-old banana company is set to merge with its European rival, Fyffes, in a deal that would create the world’s biggest banana supplier. [More]

Happily Ever After?

Albertsons Owner Will Pay $9B To Walk Down The Aisle With Safeway

By Ashlee Kieler 3.7.14

Prepare for the “save the date”, because there’s another marriage on the way. This time between the second- and fifth-largest grocers in the United States. [More]

vacation time

Going South Of The Border: Southwest Announces First International Routes

By Ashlee Kieler 1.27.14

Pack your bags for the sunny Caribbean (maybe not for a cruise, though) because bags are flying there for free now, along with passengers of course. Southwest Airlines just announced one of the most anticipated integration aspects of their 2011 merger with AirTran — international travel. [More]

New Name Same Service

Classy Name Change Doesn’t Change Cramped Space On American Airlines Regional Service

By Ashlee Kieler 1.21.14

We’ve all been on one of those small regional jets – the tiny seats, cramped leg room and barely enough overhead space for your roller bag. Nothing will make trips on those small planes better. But American Eagle Airlines Inc. is hoping a name change might class things up a bit. [More]

chrysler

Chrysler Will Enter Bankruptcy, Partner With Fiat, Warranties Backed By US Government

By Meg Marco 4.30.09

President Obama announced today that Chrysler would seek bankruptcy protection and enter into an alliance with Fiat. The president told reporters that a “small group of speculators” made up of hedge funds and other investors held out in the hopes that the US government would bail them out. That didn’t happen.

customer choice

Sirius XM Merger Reveals True Face: Fewer Channels And 'Sanitized' Programming

By cwalters 11.14.08

This week, Sirius XM began consolidating its channels. In reality, this mostly meant jettisoning XM channels wherever there was a tenuous overlap with something Sirius already offered, which is bad news for anyone with a favorite station on XM who woke up Wednesday morning to find it missing. Alex wrote in to tell us that the four Spanish music channels have been condensed to one without regard to genre, and that the uncensored “urban music” station Hot Jamz has been cleaned up, rechristened “The Heat,” and now leans toward radio-friendly R&B. The Motley Fool suggests that the new lineup may drive people to downgrade their subscription—it’s “an incentive to downgrade to the cheaper plan that costs $6 less a month and lets users cherry-pick 50 stations.”

airlines