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Category Archives: M&A
Merger Arbitrage Site of the Day
No more relying on Dana Cimilluca to find failed merger-arb trades! It turns out that a chap called Plamen Tsolov has created Arbitrage View, a web page with a continually-updated list of arbitrage opportunities in pending merger deals in the … Continue reading
Posted in hedge funds, M&A, stocks
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Value-per-Employee Datapoint of the Day
Sun has bought MySQL – a company which gives its main product away for free – for $1 billion, or about $2.5 million per employee. Which is pretty much exactly the same valuation per employee as the market puts on … Continue reading
Posted in M&A, stocks, technology
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Telco Merger Datapoint of the Day
Dana Cimilluca: When Sprint and Nextel agreed to combine in a “merger of equals” at the end of 2004, they were worth $70 billion together. The current value of the combined Sprint Nextel after the bleak news today from the … Continue reading
Why BofA Bought Countrywide
Countrywide’s Angelo Mozilo has had many opportunities, over the years, to sell his company for a huge sum to Bank of America. There’s only one reason why he would say yes to a deal now, at $4 billion, when he … Continue reading
Lufthansa: No Savior for JetBlue
In the wake of Lufthansa’s $300 million investment in JetBlue, it’s worth looking at how JetBlue CEO David Barger is doing after just over six months on the job. If you recall, he replaced founder David Neeleman in May, mainly … Continue reading
The Best and Worst Bank Deals of 2007
Time’s Bill Saporito says that the takeover of ABN Amro by the RBS-led consortium was the 4th best business deal of 2007. Wha? RBS overpaid massively: the consortium decided to pay mainly in cash, but by the time the deal … Continue reading
Takeover Speculation of the Day: JPMorgan to buy Citigroup?
When Merrill Lynch put out a research note saying that Bank of America might buy Barclays, Alphaville was not impressed, calling the Merrill research "bolshy" and "spivvy". When CreditSights puts out a research note saying that JPMorgan Chase might buy … Continue reading
A Chinese Bid for Rio Tinto?
It makes sense all the sense in the world that China, broadly defined, should make a bid for Rio Tinto. If it doesn’t, there’s a very good chance that the BHP-Rio merger will go through – a merger which would … Continue reading
Posted in commodities, M&A
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Rio Tinto Won’t be Independent for Long
When mergers get mooted, the stock-market reaction is generally predictable: the stock of the target company rises, and the price of the would-be aquirer falls. In the case of the latest proposed mining mega-merger, the stocks followed most of the … Continue reading
Behind the Zipcar-Flexcar Merger
The two leaders in the car-sharing business, Zipcar and Flexcar, are merging, in what looks very much like an acquisition of the latter by the former: the Flexcar name is disappearing, while the Zipcar CEO and headquarters are remaining in … Continue reading
Posted in M&A
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When Cash Isn’t King
The WSJ’s Jessica Vascellaro has an interesting article about what Jeff Bercovici calls the "Diller-Malone marriage": two media moguls fighting over control of a bunch of internet properties which presently goes by the unwieldy name of IAC/InterActiveCorp. IAC bought also-ran … Continue reading
Regulatory Bureaucracy Datapoint of the Day
Yet another example of a government agency refusing to admit defeat: the FTC still hasn’t given up trying to block the Whole Foods acquisition of Wild Oats, even now the deal is done! Interestingly, the chairman of the FTC thinks … Continue reading
Posted in M&A
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RBS Acquisition of ABN Amro More Likely Than Ever
In the battle for ABN Amro, the consortium of RBS, Fortis, and Santander has now clearly bested its rival, Barclays. The RBS consortium’s bid is about 20% higher than Barclays’ bid, thanks largely to Barclays’ sinking stock price, and Barclays … Continue reading
UK Sold to Foreigners
How’s this for a front-page headline? "Foreign Owners May Be Secret of U.K.’s Success" is the first thing you see when you look at the dead-tree WSJ this morning; the headline on the jump is "Foreign Owners Spur U.K. Revival". … Continue reading
Posted in M&A
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Barclays: Going Cheap
The market really doesn’t want Barclays to buy ABN Amro. After Barclays president
Bob Diamond all
but threw in the towel yesterday, the bank’s shares
are up 20p, or 3.45%, today.
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Australia: Ahead of the Regulatory Curve
Which country is most ahead of the regulatory curve these days? A couple of
recent developments suggest that it might be Australia.
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Posted in fiscal and monetary policy, M&A, regulation
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The Falling Price of Luxury Cars
If Jaguar slashed the price of its cars by 75%, demand would go through the
roof. So what’s going to happen now Ford is slashing the price of Jaguar?
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Posted in M&A
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Beware of Consultants Bearing Data
Has a BCG study just outdone the Street in the data massaging game?
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Posted in M&A
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The Sâgë of Omaha
Berkshire Hathaway and Ikea could be a match made in heaven.
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Posted in M&A
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The Barclays Catch-22
Dennis Berman talked to Barclays president Bob Diamond
today, and got this astonishing admission:
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Transocean’s Unnecessary $15 Billion in Debt
The era of leveraged deals is far from over, it would seem.
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Posted in bonds and loans, M&A
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M&A Trial Balloons Move to the Web
Paul Murphy had a kindasorta
scoop today:
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How Citi Reached the Top of the M&A League Tables
Maybe it’s not so surprising that Citi is now atop the M&A league tables: the league tables simply aren’t measuring advisory services any more.
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Posted in banking, M&A, private equity
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How the Bell Canada Deal Got Done
It seems that the
biggest buyout in history came as a result of an auction run idiosyncratically
by the target company, in conditions of no little secrecy and mystery.
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Posted in M&A
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The Whole Foods Complaint: Weak
There is nothing compelling in the FTC complaint. The idea that Whole Foods and Wild Oats have a monopoly on pleasant shopping experiences and therefore should be banned from merging is laughable on its face.
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Posted in M&A, regulation
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