mergers and acquisitions

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$27B Tobacco Merger Creates Cigarette 'Duopoly'

Reynolds, Lorillard to merge

(Newser) - Reynolds American, the maker of Camel and Pall Mall cigarettes, has agreed to buy Lorillard, the maker of Newport menthols, in a deal that will make it a strong second to Marlboro manufacturer Altria in the US tobacco market, the Wall Street Journal reports. Reynolds will pay a combination of...

Tyson Wins Hillshire Farms Sweepstakes—for $7.7B

Almost $1B more than rival Pilgrim's Pride offered

(Newser) - Tyson Foods has won the bidding war to buy Hillshire Brands, topping an offer from rival Pilgrim's Pride by almost a billion dollars, the Wall Street Journal reports. Tyson will pay $63 a share in cash for Hillshire, which makes Jimmy Dean sausages and Ball Park franks, among other...

Apple Makes Dr. Dre Hip-Hop's Richest Man

'Star-struck' firm pays record $3B for Beats Electronics

(Newser) - Apple has made the biggest buy in its history—and made Dr. Dre the richest man in hip-hop history. The company has confirmed that it is buying Beats Electronics for $3 billion, down from the $3.2 billion discussed earlier this month , reports Bloomberg , which notes that Apple is sitting...

YouTube Makes $1B Play for Game Streaming Site: Report

Company looks to acquire Twitch

(Newser) - YouTube is on the verge of a $1 billion-plus deal to buy Twitch, sources tell Variety . If you're not nerdy enough to know, Twitch is a popular destination for video game fans, where top players (or anyone, really) stream video of their play sessions. The company boasts that it...

AT&T Agrees to Buy DirecTV in $48.5B deal

Acquisition would create 2nd-biggest US pay TV operator

(Newser) - AT&T Inc. today agreed to buy DirecTV for $48.5 billion, or $95 per share, a move that gives the telecommunications company a larger base of video subscribers and increases its ability to compete against Comcast and Time Warner Cable, which agreed to a merger in February. AT&T'...

AT&T Eyes $50B Play for DirecTV

Deal may complicate Comcast merger

(Newser) - AT&T is in active talks to buy DirecTV for around $50 billion, multiple outlets are reporting, with the deal potentially coming in a matter of weeks. The move could have implications for Comcast's purchase of Time Warner, because anti-regulators may want to look at both deals together, the...

Comcast Gets Rid of 3.9M Customers to Ease Merger

It sells 1.4M, spins off 2.5M more

(Newser) - Comcast today announced a pair of moves that will rid it of a combined 3.9 million subscribers, in an attempt to make its Time Warner merger sit more easily with regulators. Comcast will sell 1.4 million subscribers to rival (and previous Time Warner suitor) Charter Communications for $7....

Facebook Drops $2B on Virtual Reality Pioneer

Oculus buy 'creeps out' game makers

(Newser) - Facebook has bought pioneering virtual-reality headset maker Oculus for $2 billion, and Mark Zuckerberg is pretty excited about it. The startup's immersive headset for video game developers has been a big hit, but Facebook appears ready to take virtual reality beyond gaming, Business Insider finds. "After games, we'...

What Is Facebook Thinking?
 What Is Facebook Thinking? 
OPINION
Feb 20, 2014 8:37 AM CST

What Is Facebook Thinking?

$19B purchase of WhatsApp raises all kinds of questions

(Newser) - Facebook just spent $19 billion —yes, that's billion, with a "b"—on a messaging app that's relatively unheralded for a service with 450 million users. Why? How? Are they crazy? Here's what people are saying:
  • The acquisition is all about teenagers, writes Cade Metz
...

Facebook to Pay $19B for Message Network WhatsApp

Facebook's shares drop on word of the deal

(Newser) - Facebook is apparently mighty impressed with WhatsApp, a messaging app for smartphones: Mark Zuckerberg's company announced today that it plans to buy WhatsApp for up to $19 billion in cash and stock. WhatsApp claims 450 million monthly users, and the deal is further proof that Facebook "is willing...

On What Planet Is the Comcast Merger OK?
On What Planet Is
the Comcast Merger OK?
OPINION
Feb 17, 2014 12:44 PM CST

On What Planet Is the Comcast Merger OK?

Paul Krugman thinks we've gotten too complacent about monopolies

(Newser) - Paul Krugman has just two questions about Comcast's deal to buy Time Warner . "First, why would we even think about letting it go through?" he asks in the New York Times . "Second, when and why did we stop worrying about monopoly power?" The broadband industry is already...

Jos. A. Bank Grabs Eddie Bauer for $825M

Combined company expects $2.1B in sales this year

(Newser) - Men's Wearhouse really wants to buy rival Jos. A. Bank, but the deal announced today is all about the latter, not the former. Jos. A. Bank is buying Eddie Bauer's parent company in a cash and stock deal worth $825 million, Bloomberg reports. The combination will allow "...

Can Cable Competition Possibly Get Worse? Yes
Can Cable Competition Possibly Get Worse? Yes
OPINION
Feb 13, 2014 4:45 PM CST

Can Cable Competition Possibly Get Worse? Yes

Proposed merger takes it from 'zero to two times zero,' writes Matthew Yglesias

(Newser) - Comcast and Time Warner Cable say their proposed merger into one massive cable company will help consumers. The deal "does not reduce competition in any market or in any way," insists Comcast CEO Brian Roberts. Well so what, is a common refrain among analysts—competition is already so...

Cable Titans Comcast, Time Warner to Merge

Comcast to buy Time Warner for $45.2B

(Newser) - Comcast is confirming plans to snap up Time Warner Cable in a deal that would merge America's two biggest cable operators into a behemoth with more than 33 million subscribers, reports the AP . The all-stock, $45.2 billion deal values TWC at around $159 a share, far above the...

Google Ditches Motorola
 Google Ditches Motorola 
Jan 30, 2014 7:54 AM CST

Google Ditches Motorola

Smartphone unit sold to Lenovo for $2.91B

(Newser) - Google is selling Motorola Mobility to Lenovo for $2.91 billion, the companies announced yesterday, ending what Bloomberg/Businessweek is calling "a rare misadventure" for the big G. Google will retain the "vast majority" of Motorola's patents—which were cited as a major reason for the acquisition in...

Great, Google Is Taking Over Our Homes, Too
Great, Google Is Taking Over Our Homes, Too
OPINION
Jan 15, 2014 1:46 PM CST

Great, Google Is Taking Over Our Homes, Too

Acquisition of Nest is more like an 'annexation,' writes Dan Hon

(Newser) - So Google just dropped $3.2 billion to acquire Nest , a maker of "smart" home thermostats and smoke alarms. Another ho-hum business acquisition? Far from it, writes Dan Hon at Wired . In fact, don't think of it as an acquisition, he suggests. Think "annexation." As in,...

Google Drops $3.2B on 'Smart Thermostat' Maker

Firm pays $3.2B for Nest

(Newser) - The Google empire is extending its reach into the heart of people's homes with its acquisition of Nest, a maker of Internet-connected fire alarms and thermostats. Google, which coughed up $3.2 billion in cash for the start-up, says Nest will continue to operate independently, though co-founder Matt Rogers...

Fiat Nabs Rest of Chrysler— at a Pretty Good Price

Deal will make Fiat world's 7th-largest auto group

(Newser) - America's No. 3 automaker has gone Italian. Fiat yesterday announced it has struck a $4.35 billion deal with the United Automobile Workers retiree health care fund that will see it buy the 41.5% of Chrysler it doesn't own, the New York Times reports. Per the deal,...

Coming Soon: Mega-Agency for Actors, Athletes

William Morris, IMG tie the knot

(Newser) - What do Oprah Winfrey and Maria Sharapova have in common? Soon, they could both be represented by the same company. Hollywood talent titan William Morris Endeavor Entertainment has reached a deal to buy the massive sports agency IMG Worldwide, the companies announced today . "IMG has incredible strategic value,"...

Biggest US Funeral Company Grows Despite Fears, Protests

Services Corporation International already owns 1,800 funeral homes

(Newser) - Vladimir Belostotsky was bowled over by the bill for his mom's funeral: $9,000. Luckily a lawyer helped him cut the fee by more than half, but he's still resentful that the Maryland funeral home overcharged him. "They take advantage of people in need," he said....

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