Another blockbuster tech deal was announced yesterday. Verizon will acquire Yahoo’s core business for $4.83 billion to boost its digital advertising capabilities. The deal includes Yahoo’s search, mail content and ad-tech business, but does not include Yahoo’s shares in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan. The combined company will reach over one billion users. Verizon plans to merge Yahoo …
Category: M&A in the News
M&A Update: 1H 2016 [Infographic]
After hitting record-high levels in 2015, global M&A activity dropped significantly in the first half of 2016. It was the slowest first six month period for global mergers and acquisitions in the past two years. The value of deals decreased from $2.03 trillion to $1.65 trillion (19%) while the number of deals decreased from 22,153 …
The Results of “Brexit”– How Business Leaders Should React
On June 23 the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union (E.U.). Many were shocked at the outcome of “Brexit” and the markets reacted badly. The day following the vote, the pound dropped down to the lowest level against the dollar since 1985, stocks in the U.K. and U.S. fell, and on June 27 …
A Healthy Appetite – Kashi Acquires Pure Organic
Consumer demand for healthy snacks is on the rise. In 2015, sales of conventional products were mostly flat (1.6%) while sales for specialty products grew by 6% and sales for natural products grew by 12.6%. U.S. natural and organic food and beverages sales also grew by 10.7% last year. Not only are consumers more health conscious, they are also snacking …
Will Bayer Acquire Monsanto? Lessons for the Middle Market
Monsanto has rejected Bayer’s all-cash $62 billion bid, but says it is open to negotiations. A combination of Bayer and Monsanto would create the largest seed and pesticide business globally with $67 billion in sales. While you may not be creating an agricultural behemoth with your acquisition, there are a few lessons we can learn …
Mixed Reports on Middle Market Growth
Middle market deal activity reached its lowest level since 2009, according to Mergers & Acquisitions. This may be a result of concerns about the upcoming U.S. presidential election and because banks are shying away from lending to private equity-backed deals. While middle market M&A activity is down, when compared to 2015 levels, the middle market …
Strategic Buyers Hungry for Acquisitions
Recent analysis shows that deal activity reached $435 billion in the first quarter of 2016 in North America and Europe. This is the second highest total on record and 84% of the deals were executed by strategic buyers. Companies with lots of cash on their balance sheets and are now willing to deploy some of it …
The Most Important Thing about M&A According to Warren Buffett
Last week, thousands of investors gathered at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting in Omaha. Warren Buffett, perhaps one of the greatest strategic acquirers, shared his insights for successful acquisitions. There are two pearls of Buffett wisdom, reported direct from the meeting by Dealbook that I’d like to highlight in this post. Looking at the Big …
Pruning for Growth — the Power of Divestment
News in from Coca-Cola reminds us that growth is more about recalibration than it is about adding size. According to the Wall Street Journal, Coke plans to sell off all of its US manufacturing plants by 2017. Why would they do that? Coke has struggled with its asset heavy distribution over the past couple of …
Pfizer and Allergan Break Up: Lessons in Staying Ahead of M&A Hazards
Pfizer and Allergan have announced that they are abandoning their $160 billion merger. This resulted from a political storm around tax inversions, a technique whereby US companies relocate abroad to avoid the high US corporate tax rates. The Treasury department took action to insert new rules that effectively killed the financial benefits of the deal. …
