Verizon isn’t calling off its plan to buy Yahoo but, in a move that shocks no one, is cutting some cash off its offer price after massive data breaches and resulting attention from lawmakers. [More]
mergers and acquisitions
Anthem Responds To Cigna’s Lawsuit With A Suit Of Its Own
By 2.15.17
There are bad breakups, and then there are breakups that involve both sides suing each other at the same time: A day after Cigna announced it would officially give up on its proposed merger with Anthem and filed a lawsuit claiming billions of dollars in damages, Anthem has turned around and filed its own lawsuit in response. [More]
Cigna Officially Gives Up On Merger With Anthem, Sues Anthem For $13 Billion Instead
By 2.14.17
After more than a year of review and another six months in court, only to lose, it looks like health insurer Anthem’s plan to buy rival Cigna is truly dead in the water. Cigna announced today that it’s terminating the agreement to merge, but this breakup is far from mutual. Instead of simply going off their separate ways, Cigna is now suing Anthem, seeking billions in damages. [More]
Aetna And Humana Give Up On Merger Dreams, Agree To Part Ways
By 2.14.17
Alas, it seems that for two companies this Valentine’s Day brings them a breakup they never wanted: After more than a year of trying, Aetna and Humana have officially called it quits, and given up on their plans to merge into corporate unity. [More]
AT&T CEO: Merger With Time Warner Still On Track To Close By End Of Year
By 2.10.17
Mergers are never a sure thing, but the recent political atmosphere has been, let’s say, even less predictable than usual. Even so, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson remains optimistic that his Death Star will be able to acquire Time Warner and all its juicy media properties before the end of the year… and that the FCC won’t be involved in approving the deal. [More]
Charter Accused Of Charging Fees To Activate Service That Is Already Active
By 2.10.17
It’s been the better part of a year since Charter leapfrogged to the top of the giant cable company pile by gobbling up Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks. The transition, though, has been far from effortless for Charter, which now finds itself facing a potential class-action lawsuit brought by a former Bright House subscriber. [More]
L’Oreal Looking To Sell Off The Body Shop
By 2.9.17
Another day, another company looking to pull out of a retail entanglement: This time it’s L’Oreal, which has confirmed reports that it’s looking into selling off The Body Shop chain of stores. In other news, today we learned that L’Oreal owns The Body Shop. [More]
Federal Judge Blocks $54 Billion Anthem/Cigna Merger
By 2.9.17
Only a few weeks after a federal court blocked the insurance mega-merger of Aetna and Humana, it’s happened again: Last night, a U.S. District Court judge rejected the $54 billion marriage of health insurance giants Anthem and Cigna. [More]
Walgreens Slashes $2B From Value Of Rite Aid Merger; Up To 1,200 Stores To Be Sold Off
By 1.30.17
Last Friday, Jan. 27, was the deadline for the deal to close in the proposed acquisition of drugstore chain Rite Aid by competitor Walgreens. Today, the companies announced a revised deal with an eye to meeting Federal Trade Commission approval. This deal values Rite Aid at over $2 billion less, and proposes the sale of hundreds more stores to another drugstore chain. [More]
Verizon And Charter Romance Heats Up; Could Merger Marriage Be On Horizon?
By 1.26.17
Earlier this month, it was reported that Verizon has a thing for big cable companies that begin with the letter “C,” and that it really wants to make out under the bleachers with either Comcast or Charter. Now comes news that Big V has actually begun the courting process with the latter. [More]
Senators Call On AT&T And Time Warner To Explain How Merger Will Benefit Americans
By 1.25.17
During the campaign, then-candidate Donald Trump talked openly about putting a halt to the pending merger of AT&T and Time Warner, he has since appointed an FCC Chairman who has historically been pro-merger. That’s why a handful of Senators have called on the two companies to explain how this consolidation will be in the public interest. [More]
Federal Judge Blocks $37 Billion Merger Of Aetna & Humana
By 1.23.17
Six months after the U.S. Department of Justice and attorneys general from eight states and the District of Columbia sued to stop the merger of insurance giants Aetna and Humana, the federal judge in the case has blocked the deal from moving forward. [More]
Verizon Reportedly Interested In Buying Comcast Or Other Big Cable Company
By 1.17.17
AT&T has been on a buying spree in the last two years, first snatching up DirecTV and its more than 20 million customers, and now trying to acquire the massive Time Warner media empire. The company’s nemeses at Verizon apparently have acquisition envy, and are mulling over a purchase of a cable biggie like Comcast or Charter. [More]
British American Tobacco Actually Buying Reynolds For Real This Time, For $49 Billion
By 1.17.17
It looks like the end of a months-long, will they-won’t they saga is finally drawing to a close: North-Carolina based R.J. Reynolds American has finally agreed to let British American Tobacco buy out the remaining part of the company it doesn’t already own for $49 billion. [More]
AT&T Thinks It Might Be Able To Avoid FCC Review Of Time Warner Merger
By 1.6.17
A merger of the nation’s largest pay-TV provider (and second-largest wireless service provider) and a major multimedia conglomerate with multiple cable channels might seem like a gimme for review by the Federal Communications Commission, but AT&T now thinks it may be able to avoid or minimize scrutiny from the agency in its efforts to acquire Time Warner. [More]
Verizon Executive: Company Still Doesn’t Know If It’ll Go Through With Yahoo Deal
By 1.6.17
It’s been a few months of “will-they-won’t-they?” with everyone (okay, some people) wondering whether or not Verizon will go through with the $4.8 billion deal to buy Yahoo after not one, but two massive email breaches. Now, a Verizon executive is admitting that the company isn’t sure what’s going to happen. [More]
Comcast Snaps Up Watchwith So It Can Tell You What’s Happening Inside Your Show
By 1.5.17
It doesn’t seem like much of a story, at first: a giant tech conglomerate has quietly acquired a smaller, newer company that does things kind of like what the big company already does. It’s basically the story of the entire 21st century world of tech in a nutshell. But with every new set of players comes a new set of concerns. [More]
Will Massive Data Breaches Lead Verizon To Dump Yahoo?
By 12.28.16
While Yahoo has been grabbing headlines lately for its most recent data breach — one that affected more than one billion users — what about that other big story involving Yahoo, the one where Verizon Communications was preparing to buy the company’s internet business? [More]
