Mergers & Acquisitions

Barrick’s lowball Acacia offer is easy to refuse

22 May 2019

The Canadian bullion producer offered to buy out minority shareholders in the Tanzanian miner at an 8% discount. That gives an out from an $180 bln tax dispute with the East African country. It’s a bitter pill, but looming arbitration gives shareholders reason not to swallow it.

Pay-TV tycoon comes to his own rescue

20 May 2019

Dish is suffering from falling subscribers and revenue, a heap of debt and needs bidders for its spectrum assets. Founder Charlie Ergen’s short-term fix is to pay stock to another of his companies, EchoStar, for some satellites it uses. The cash saved will buy Dish some time.

T-Mobile US wins game of national champions

20 May 2019

Its $26 bln merger with rival telecom Sprint is likely to be approved. There was little reason to block it. Still, taken with a U.S. ban on China’s Huawei and last year’s nixing of a bid for chipmaker Qualcomm, it’s clear keeping 5G in American hands is now a national priority.

Deutsche may shaft another group of shareholders

20 May 2019

Minority investors in the German bank’s 6 bln euro asset manager could be next up in Deutsche’s wave of value destruction. Allianz and Amundi have expressed interest in DWS. But Deutsche CEO Christian Sewing's need to maintain control makes a lowball deal with UBS more likely.

Cerberus’s German bank punt looks stuck in Hades

16 May 2019

The U.S. buyout group has seen the value of its stakes in Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank fall by around half and one-third respectively since 2017. Cerberus now needs revenue to rise and costs to drop at both lenders just to break even by 2022. That’s not a foregone conclusion.

Legg Mason checks all boxes for activist interest

15 May 2019

Nelson Peltz is eyeing the underperforming manager of $758 bln of assets. As a mid-sized purveyor of mostly actively managed funds, Legg Mason sits in the industry’s biggest danger zone. High costs offer some low-hanging fruit, but a sustainable turnaround is a tougher challenge.

Facebook eyes new path around China’s great wall

15 May 2019

Blocked from operating there directly, the social network is considering alternatives including minority stakes in local tech firms. Politicians in Beijing and DC may not like it. Still, Yahoo’s investment in e-commerce giant Alibaba sets a highly profitable template.

Finsbury buyout would test WPP breakup defences

15 May 2019

Public relations guru Roland Rudd wants to buy back his firm from the ad giant. Accepting the mooted 100 million pound price tag might prompt other WPP units to go it alone. Despite their 18-year relationship, it’s a reminder of the fragility of people businesses.

Comcast boss rides Disney’s streaming coattails

14 May 2019

Brian Roberts will hand over Hulu, but not yet. The NBC owner has the option to sell its minority stake to the Mouse House in five years for at least $5.8 bln but potentially far more if Hulu succeeds. Having lost Fox to Disney, Roberts has found another way to make Bob Iger pay.

Goldman beats path to new Wall St hunting ground

13 May 2019

The firm is courting an investment adviser in what would be its largest deal since the financial crisis. United Capital’s $23 bln in assets are a drop in the bucket for Goldman Sachs, but bring the kind of predictable earnings that boss David Solomon wants. He’s not the only one.

Mergermarket’s fourth owner faces the toughest job

13 May 2019

BC Partners is selling the M&A-news service to Ion Group for $1.8 bln. The Irish software and data group is paying by far the highest multiple yet, and buying from private equity brings added risk. It’s putting a lot of faith in sticky clients and cross-selling products.

Thyssenkrupp shoved into a panicky Plan B

10 May 2019

The German conglomerate is binning a split after weak operations hit its shares, Reuters reports. Spinning off its elevator business instead would help, especially if the EU blocks a merger of its steel arm. But Thyssenkrupp would still need to show it can cut bloated costs.

UK subprime M&A scrap risks bloody outcome

10 May 2019

Non-Standard Finance’s $1.4 bln takeover of peer Provident is meeting resistance from the target’s shareholders, amid competition and capital concerns. The acquirer could face a lengthy delay, or get stuck with pesky holdouts. Finance is a tricky arena for hostile dealmaking.

Viewsroom: Oil M&A fight may end with no winner

9 May 2019

Occidental boss Vicki Hollub corralled BofA CEO Brian Moynihan and investor Warren Buffett to her side to seal a $38 bln offer for Anadarko. Her tactics scared off rival bidder Chevron but may alienate her own shareholders. Plus: Malaysia’s reform efforts since the 1MDB scandal.

Oxy wins Anadarko, and two years of questions

9 May 2019

Chevron will collect a $1 bln break fee rather than topping its rival’s $38 bln bid for the U.S. shale driller. Some Occidental owners will protest the lack of a vote on the deal at Friday’s annual meeting. Greater pressure may come in 2020 if the merger isn’t getting into gear.

Harry’s razor sale shreds its disruptive creds

9 May 2019

Once the scourge of big brands, the online shaving upstart is selling to Schick owner Edgewell for $1.4 bln. Harry’s is growing but unprofitable, hence the ho-hum price, and its new owner’s sales need refreshing. But a thick lather of debt blunts the logic.

Bank of America brings high M&A hopes to oil patch

8 May 2019

Its bankers are so keen for client Occidental to prevail with its $38 bln offer for rival Anadarko that chief Brian Moynihan personally called Warren Buffett for help. After losing ground for a decade, BofA’s dealmakers and their new boss Matthew Koder could use the boost.

Buyout firms download promising $14 bln data deal

8 May 2019

EQT and Digital Colony Partners are buying serial acquirer Zayo on the cheap. The fiber and data center firm’s subdued growth and hefty need for capital made for an uncomfortable five-year ride as a public company. A brighter future, helped by 5G growth, awaits as a private firm.

Private equity could choke on Imperial cigar sale

8 May 2019

Imperial Brands could raise 1 bln pounds from a unit that makes premium stogies. Its rapid growth means a buyout group could earn decent returns at that price. Yet concerns over cancer could irk their investors, and complicate an exit. A Chinese peer may be a more logical owner.

Blocked Aussie deal is sign of antitrust times

8 May 2019

Competition authorities Down Under torpedoed the $11 bln merger of TPG Telecom and Vodafone's local venture. Combining the smaller operators might have created a stronger challenger, but cheaper prices are no longer enough. Such aggressive oversight may become more common.