Procter & Gamble has been looking to streamline its massive portfolio of brands, looking to sell, spin off, or shut down the majority of them. Last night, the unofficial news came out that many of the company’s beauty brands sold to competitor Coty, which means that Cover Girl and Clairol will be run by another drugstore cosmetics veteran. [More]
mergers and acquisitions
CVS Buying Target’s Pharmacy Business For $1.9 Billion
By 6.15.15
If you’re a Target shopper who picks up your prescription refills at the same time you get your groceries, towels, toilet paper, and whatever else you buy at the big-box retailer, your Target’s in-store pharmacy could soon be run by CVS. [More]
Dish Talking To Banks About Potential T-Mobile Merger
By 6.12.15
The romance is heating up between potential merger mates T-Mobile and Dish, with the satellite company reportedly talking to banks about putting together a bid for the magenta-hued “uncarrier.” [More]
Campbell Soup Goes Grocery Shopping, Spends $231M On Salsa
By 6.9.15
Consumers have made their preferences known: their tastes are turning more toward fresh, organic, and minimally processed food. Large food manufacturers like Hormel and Campbell Soup Company are solving this problem by going out and acquiring smaller independent brands in the “fresh and organic” sector that people already like. The Campbell Soup Company announced today that it’s buying Michigan-based Garden Fresh Gourmet for $231 million. [More]
Farmers Voice Concern About Possible Monsanto Mega-Merger
By 6.8.15
Last month, Monsanto, the world’s largest biggest seed seller and a major manufacturer of pesticides, announced its desire to buy Syngenta, the Swiss company that is the world’s largest maker of pesticides and also a seller of seeds. Though Syngenta has twice said no to the takeover attempt, U.S. farmers are concerned about the impact that a merger of these two companies could have on their crops. [More]
Report: Dish And T-Mobile Mulling Merger (Again)
By 6.4.15
Last fall, rumors started swirling that satellite TV company Dish Networks and mobile carrier T-Mobile were eyeing a merger. And now, many months later, it looks like the two companies may indeed be close to a deal. [More]
GameStop, Not Hot Topic, To Acquire ThinkGeek For $140 Million
By 6.2.15
Remember the long, long-ago of, er, just last week when we thought Hot Topic was planning to buy the parent company of online specialty retailer ThinkGeek? Well, now they’re not. A mysterious new suitor showed up just a few days later, and it appears they have the better bid. And so, Geeknet today announced that their brief fling with Hot Topic is over, and they will be joining up with GameStop instead. [More]
Charter To Acquire Time Warner Cable In $55B Deal
By 5.26.15
Almost immediately after the failure of the Comcast acquisition of Time Warner Cable came news that TWC’s original suitor, Charter Communications, was already knocking at the door looking to rekindle their romance. Today, the couple made it official with the news that Charter and TWC will walk down the aisle in a deal worth around $55 billion. [More]
Time Warner Cable Also Being Wooed By French Suitor
By 5.22.15
It’s like something out of a romantic comedy that stars a couple of mid-level TV actors and gets dumped into theaters in mid-March: Fresh on the heels of being left at the altar by big-bucks beau Comcast, Time Warner Cable apparently finds itself being courted by a pair of very different suitors — a nice guy from Connecticut with rich friends and a mysterious French billionaire currently on a stateside shopping spree. [More]
Yelp Reportedly Testing The Merger Market
By 5.7.15
Yelp might still be the most recognizable name in crowdsourced online reviews, but it may be hitting a wall in terms of audience growth as it faces increasing competition; all the while, the company’s stock price remains less than half of what it used to be. All of this might explain why the company is reportedly looking to find a buyer for its multibillion-dollar business. [More]
Netflix To FCC: You Should Block The AT&T/DirecTV Merger Unless Conditions Are Added
By 5.5.15
AT&T and DirecTV announced their big corporate betrothal the better part of a year ago. The planned merger between the two companies has, comparatively speaking, flown under the radar as so much time and attention fell to the now-collapsed Comcast/TWC plans. But now that the 30-million ton elephant has left the merger room, all eyes are swiveling back to the other looming giant. [More]
California Still Deciding Whether To Block Comcast Merger That Is No Longer Happening
By 5.4.15
Even though the $45 billion merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable officially failed more than a week ago. One might assume that this collapse would have sufficed for the California state regulator who proposed blocking the deal in that state, but yet the merger approval process in California moves forward — even without a merger to approve. [More]
Why Everyone Is Suddenly Dying To Buy A Cable Company You May Never Even Have Heard Of
By 5.1.15
Odds are (unless you live in central Florida) that you probably don’t know much about Bright House Networks. The cable company serves about 2 million TV and internet customers, mostly in Florida and also in Alabama, Indiana, Michigan, and California. But in the many eddies rippling through the cable world after the sinking of the Comcast/TWC merger, this one regional provider may be poised to make or break some pretty big deals. [More]
T-Mobile CEO Sees Cable/Wireless Mergers As Inevitable
By 4.29.15
As we sip the last drops of champagne over the failure of the merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable, an even bigger acquisition appears to be passing through the regulatory process with relative ease — that of AT&T and DirecTV. And with Comcast, TWC, Charter, and other cable operators all now looking for potential corporate spouses, their eyes may also be turning toward the wireless market. [More]
Time Warner Cable Says It’s Not Seeking Rebound Romance With Cox
By 4.27.15
It’s only been a few days since Comcast and Time Warner Cable got tired of waiting for the inevitable regulatory objections to their wedding and called off the whole $45 billion marriage. While Comcast can enjoy the single life for a bit before deciding what to do next, TWC is already being linked to multiple suitors. First there was news that Charter, who was originally rejected in favor of Comcast’s bigger, sexier proposal, was once again standing outside TWC’s window with a boombox over its head. Now come rumors that TWC may be trying to make some merger magic happen with Cox. [More]
That Was Fast: Charter Reportedly Already Reaching Out To TWC About Possible Merger
By 4.24.15
Today’s headlines are all about Comcast failing to buy Time Warner Cable, but there weren’t just two players in the game. Another company is losing out: Charter would have been the lucky recipient of all the mega-merger’s spun-off customers, giving them greater consolidation over markets mainly in the midwest. But with the failure of the mega-merger, TWC is now minus one new owner, and Charter is minus all those new paying customers. So if a new deal i already in the works, well, color us unsurprised. [More]
What Will Comcast Do With The $45B It Couldn’t Spend Buying Time Warner Cable?
By 4.24.15
Comcast’s dream of achieving full coast-to-coast cable dominance this year came to an official end this morning when they had to admit the Time Warner Cable merger was just not going to happen. But Comcast is a huge business, with impatient shareholders. They need to continue proving growth, which means buying other businesses to make theirs bigger. TWC might not be on the table anymore, but something, somewhere has to be. [More]
Comcast CEO Tries To Cheer Up Employees Following Implosion Of Time Warner Cable Merger
By 4.24.15
While the majority of American consumers were opposed to the merger of the nation’s two largest cable/Internet providers, there is a large group of people for whom today’s news may be a big downer: Comcast employees. [More]
