Take Sanofi’s bid sweetener with pinch of salt 6 Jul 2016 The French pharmaceuticals group is dangling a so-called contingent value right in its richer $11 bln offer for Medivation. A similar special payout predicated on a drug's success helped Sanofi seal a deal for Genzyme in 2011. The result there should give the latest target pause.
Tesla pressure clouds Elon Musk’s solar gambit 5 Jul 2016 The electric-car maker missed its delivery target again. That's bad news for a company aiming to quintuple production by 2018. A fatal crash also has invited scrutiny of Tesla's Autopilot feature. These concerns further undermine an already questionable effort to buy SolarCity.
Twinkie the Kid rides again, on risky debt saddle 5 Jul 2016 Hostess, indebted maker of the iconic snack cake, is going public in a deal with a SPAC run by Gores Group alongside investors Apollo and Metropoulos. At 10.4 times EBITDA, it's a high price for a spiffed-up baker that went bankrupt twice due to changing consumer tastes.
China’s M&A spree will face growing backlash 5 Jul 2016 German politicians are the latest to get jittery about a Chinese takeover bid. In the absence of global foreign investment rules, countries can block deals they don't like. China's reluctance to open its markets means surging cross-border acquisitions will spark more resistance.
Abu Dhabi $29 bln banking merger looks after No.1 4 Jul 2016 National Bank of Abu Dhabi - and the emirate's government - get a slight advantage in a merger with First Gulf Bank. Yet synergies leave both better off. The all-share deal will create the largest lender in the UAE and an institution capable of competing with foreign rivals.
Apple skips a few beats in streaming battle 1 Jul 2016 The $535 bln iPhone maker may be mulling a purchase of Tidal, rapper Jay Z's online music service, to bolster its own. Meanwhile Spotify says Apple is harming it by rejecting an app upgrade. Apple has the clout to fend off rivals, but adding Tidal won't help get its rhythm back.
Accountability flows from failed pipeline merger 1 Jul 2016 Nearly half of the Williams board – including the chair and two activists – quit after they failed to oust CEO Alan Armstrong. The departing directors supported the pipeline group's collapsed sale to ETE, which Armstrong had opposed. It's an uncommon win for oil-patch governance.
Skullcandy frenzy only mild music to investor ears 1 Jul 2016 The headphone maker's IPO in 2011 attracted considerable hype, fetching a valuation of over two times revenue. Since then, sales have stalled and profit margins shrunk. Despite at least three potential suitors now, long-term Skullcandy shareholders will be singing the blues.
Mondelez can stomach a richer bid for Hershey 30 Jun 2016 The confectioner rejected a lowball offer from Cadbury's parent. Mondelez could pay $26 bln without hurting its shareholders or incurring excessive debt. The jubilant reaction from investors to the initial bid may tempt CEO Irene Rosenfeld to sweeten the terms of her offer.
Hershey makes tempting but sticky takeover target 30 Jun 2016 The $25 bln confectioner belongs with Mondelez's Cadbury. CEO Irene Rosenfeld may sniff sweet opportunity as the charitable trust that blocked past Hershey bids is roiled by scandal, and rival Kraft Heinz is still digesting its mega-deal. But it won't come cheaply.
Lions Gate-Starz mashup is classic Malone 30 Jun 2016 The media mogul's fingerprints are all over the "Hunger Games" studio's $4.4 bln deal to buy the pay-TV operator: a complex structure, new non-voting stock and more influence for John Malone at Lions Gate. Starz shareholders, receiving a lowish premium, shouldn't be surprised.
McKesson finds skilled surgeons to revive tech arm 28 Jun 2016 The $40 bln drug distributor is carving out its languishing healthcare IT business and merging it with one owned by LBO firms Blackstone and Hellman & Friedman. Cost cuts and attentive management should help make it more valuable. Only excessive debt might impede a full recovery.
Lyft mulls trip out of capital destruction 28 Jun 2016 The $5.5 bln ride-hailing app has hired Frank Quattrone’s Qatalyst – an adviser with a knack for selling tech firms at hefty premiums. With rivals Uber and Didi raising and burning billions in an attempt to gain control of markets, M&A discretion may prove wiser than valor.
Steel deal will test China’s reform mettle 28 Jun 2016 Combining Baosteel and Wuhan Steel would create a global giant. If cost and capacity cuts followed, that would underline how serious China is about industrial reform, and suggest a flood of cheap exports could recede. For now, though, it’s easy to be sceptical.
Energy Transfer finds better to be lucky than bad 24 Jun 2016 The U.S. pipeline operator can wriggle out of its disastrous $20 bln takeover of rival Williams. A Delaware judge says a botched tax interpretation by lawyers was a genuine mistake, not part of a scheme to prevent the deal from closing. There may yet be a price to pay, however.
Qunar’s cut-price buyout might just fly 24 Jun 2016 The travel agent is the latest U.S.-listed Chinese group to get a buyout proposal from back home. A 15 pct premium to a depressed stock price is hardly generous. But if major shareholder Ctrip can be persuaded to hop aboard, this deal could work.
Brexit fails to deter Henkel’s lust for detergent 24 Jun 2016 Amid the worst market meltdown in ages, the German consumer goods giant is forking out $3.6 bln for U.S. home-care rival Sun Products. The price is rich and the timing bold. But at least today Henkel looks smart to lower its European exposure and transform its position in America.
Musk’s clean-energy deal runs on fossil governance 22 Jun 2016 The entrepreneur may see possibilities from uniting Tesla and SolarCity that others are missing. They seem, though, to share little beyond big ambitions, cash outflows and stakes owned by Elon Musk. Easier to spot are similarities to a dreadful mining and oil merger from 2012.
LSE-Deutsche Boerse hangs over Brexit precipice 22 Jun 2016 UK equities could crash if Britons vote to leave the European Union. Among other things, this could upend the carefully composed share split in the British and German exchanges’ merger. For Frankfurters carping at where the new company would be based, it could be the final straw.
SoftBank’s mixed signals prevent market upgrade 22 Jun 2016 The Japanese group has shown it can sell winners and tackle debts, with an $18 bln blizzard of selloffs. But botched succession planning tightens founder Masayoshi Son’s grip. The group’s sprawl, problematic core holdings and grand ambitions mean investors will remain wary.