Poor Twitter. Despite an abundance of rumored suitors, it’s starting to look like no one wants to buy the social media company. This time, it’s Salesforce that’s walking away from discussions. [More]
mergers and acquisitions
Verizon: Yahoo Has To Prove Impact Of Data Breach Isn’t “Material”
By 10.13.16 — Updated: 11.1.16
It sounds like Yahoo has some explaining to do if it wants Verizon to go ahead with the $4.8 billion deal to buy its internet business: Verizon says it’s inclined to declare the impact of the massive data breach that affected at least 500 million Yahoo users as a “material” event. [More]
Stanley Black & Decker Buys Tool Brands From Newell, No Word On Craftsman Bids Yet
By 10.12.16
Stanley Black and Decker is rumored to be one of the bidders on the venerable Craftsman brand of tools from Sears, but the company may have gone out shopping and bought itself a different tool company instead. Newell owns brands that range from Coleman camping equipment to Uni-ball pens to Yankee Candle and Calphalon, and now it owns fewer power tools and saws than it used to. [More]
Report: Kroger Entertaining Idea Of Buying Whole Foods
By 10.7.16
The largest grocery store chain in the country could be getting a bit bigger and a lot more organic, as the rumor mill began churning that Kroger is exploring the idea of buying Whole Foods. [More]
Bass Pro Shops Reels In Cabela’s For $5.5 Billion
By 10.3.16
A year chock-full of mergers, acquisitions, and bankruptcies in consumer-facing businesses is chalking up another deal. This time, it’s the realm of the outdoors: Bass Pro Shops is dropping several billion dollars to snap up competitor Cabela’s. [More]
Yahoo Facing Lawsuits, Senate Inquiry, Possibly Merger Issues After Massive Data Breach
By 9.27.16
Last week was pretty rough for Yahoo, which confirmed on Thursday that it suffered a major data breach affecting more than half a billion (yes, with a B) users. Now 500 million people with Yahoo accounts are trying to figure out what to do next… but they’re not the only ones. [More]
Report: Disney Working On Bid For Twitter
By 9.26.16
The Walt Disney Co., the well-known operator of theme parks, movie production studios, and cable television networks could soon be a huge player in social media — at least according to reports claiming that Big Mouse is working on a bid for Twitter. [More]
Unilever Buys Seventh Generation. What About Honest Co.?
By 9.19.16
Days after Unilever was rumored to be discussing a deal to purchase The Honest Company — the line of household and personal care products co-founded by actress Jessica Alba — the company behind everything from Ben & Jerry’s to Vaseline added a different high-profile independent brand to its portfolio: The eco-friendly cleaning supply folks at Seventh Generation. [More]
Unilever Looking To Buy Jessica Alba’s Honest Co. For Around $1 Billion
By 9.16.16
Unilever — the company behind everything from Ben & Jerry’s to Vaseline, and who recently spent a billion dollars to buy the Dollar Shave Club — has reportedly gone shopping for yet another high-profile independent brand. This time its Honest Co., the line of household and personal care products co-founded by actress Jessica Alba.
[More]
Could AB InBev Try To Buy Coca-Cola To Create Beer & Soda Voltron?
By 9.12.16
After you’ve spent more than $100 billion to acquire your biggest competitor, what’s left? Sure, you can buy up that smaller business here and sell off this subsidiary there, but how does a company regain the adrenaline rush of pulling off a transaction so big people need to stop and count the zeros? [More]
Walgreens Will Sell Off Up To 1,000 Stores To Get Approval For Rite Aid Acquisition
By 9.8.16
When two companies in the same business want to merge, a common condition placed on the merger by authorities may be that one or both companies sell part of its business so there’s still some competition in the market. It looks likely that the Federal Trade Commission will approve the proposed merger of Walgreens Rite Aid, but Walgreens may have to give up more locations before the deal goes through. [More]
Office Depot CEO Roland Smith Stepping Down After Failed Staples Merger
By 8.22.16
The failed marriage of Office Depot and Staples has claimed another CEO. Nearly three months after Staples chief Ron Sargent made his sad exit, the Depot’s top exec Roland Smith announced his departure. [More]
Aetna Threatened To Quit State Insurance Exchanges If Humana Merger Was Blocked
By 8.17.16
In a lawsuit seeking to block the merger of health insurance companies Aetna and Humana, the U.S. Department of Justice cited decreased competition on state individual health insurance exchanges as one reason why the merger shouldn’t happen. [More]
Walmart Acquisition Could Mean Most Jet Customers Have To Pay Sales Tax
By 8.11.16
E-commerce companies don’t have to collect sales tax from customers who live in states where they have no physical presence, which could be anything from their headquarters to a distribution center. That’s been one of the advantages that Jet has had in the marketplace over its chief rival Amazon, which has facilities in 28 states, including the most populous ones. Jet customers in most states don’t have to pay sales tax. However, that could change soon, after Walmart’s acquisition of the young e-commerce company. [More]
Walmart Officially Acquiring Jet.com For $3 Billion
By 8.8.16
It looks like last week’s rumor mill was right on the money: this morning, Walmart has officially announced its plan to buy Jet.com. [More]
China Okays Merger Of Former U.S. Beer Giants
By 7.29.16
The final country that needed to weigh in on the mega-merger of beer giants SABMiller and Anheuser-Busch InBev has given its blessing to the sudsy nuptials. This morning, Chinese regulators approved the deal, effectively clearing the road for the acquisition to move forward. [More]
Verizon Will Spend $4.8 Billion To Acquire Yahoo
By 7.24.16
Yahoo — home to all those email addresses you use for subscriptions you’d rather not have anyone else know about, and the Flickr account you probably haven’t updated since 2010 — will soon be under the same umbrella as former web 1.0 rival AOL, with Verizon agreeing to acquire the ancient online operation for $4.8 billion. [More]
Justice Dept & 9 States Officially File To Block Anthem/Cigna, Aetna/Humana Mergers
By 7.21.16
The rumor mill yesterday has been borne out today, as the Department of Justice has officially filed a pair of lawsuits to block the mega-mergers of health insurers Anthem and Cigna. [More]
