It seems as though the employee vs. contractor issue is popping up all over the news. Virtual assistant startup company Zirtual just fired over 400 employees by email because the company couldn’t sustain its payroll once it converted contractors to employees. The Wall Street Journal has also highlighted the many startups that are now grappling …
Category: M&A in the News
Strategic M&A: Berkshire Hathaway to Buy Precision Castparts
By now, many of you will have heard of Berkshire Hathaway’s $37.2 billion acquisition of Precision Castparts Corp. (PCC), an aerospace parts manufacturer. The acquisition is Berkshire Hathaway’s largest to-date which goes to show with each strategic acquisition, Berkshire Hathaway must make bigger and bigger deals to “move the needle.” Strategic and to the Point …
Pharmaceutical M&A: The Rush to Acquire
Last week alone, there were three major consolidations in the pharmaceutical space: Teva will acquire the generic business of Allergan Hikma pharmaceuticals will acquire Roxane, Boehringer Ingelheim’s generic drug business Mylan will acquire Perrigo These three deals in just a few days reflect the trend of pharmaceutical consolidation as companies seek new products in order to …
M&A Update: 1H 2015 Was the Most Active Half Year Since 2007
Global dealmaking remains robust, reaching $2.2 trillion in the first half of 2015, according to Thomson Reuters data. This is an increase of nearly 40% from the first half of 2014 and the most active half since 2007. However, the number of deals only increased slightly, by 3%. The trend of fewer, larger transactions continues: …
Why ConAgra Plans to Sell Ralcorp Less than 3 Years Later
Packaged food company ConAgra Foods plans to divest its private label branch Ralcorp after acquiring it in 2012 for $5 billion. Why is ConAgra spinning off this private label business so quickly after acquisition? The many reasons include pressure from activist investors, poor performance, increased competition, and tighter margins. Ralcorp’s revenues dropped by 6 percent …
Aggressive Lending, Bigger Deals… M&A is Back on the Move
There’s no denying it that M&A is on fire. Look at any financial newspaper headlines and you’ll see announced deals or merger talks. And keep in mind for all the major transactions involving publicly held companies there are many smaller, privately held transactions occurring unannounced. We can better understand this current wave of activity and …
When Organic Growth Stalls, Consider M&A
Robust mergers and acquisitions activity is often an indicator of economic growth, but the recent flurry of deals do not reflect a confidence in the economy, Andrew Ross Sorkin writes in Dealbook. Revenue growth of US companies has declined from 11.2% in 2010 to 5% to 2020, a Citigroup report indicates. “Strategic actions such as M&A…have become a key …
David Braun Speaks on Using M&A to Drive Growth in Biofuels Despite Uncertainty
David Braun presented on mergers and acquisitions at Oleofuels 2015 in Frankfurt, Germany. As overall energy demand increases, biofuels continue to play an important role in environmental sustainability. Global biofuel production reached 115 billion liters in 2013 and is expected to grow to 139 billion by 2020. Despite this increase, the dynamics of the industry …
The Return of the Mega Deal? Understanding Today’s Market
The top five deals announced in Q1 2015 were all well above $10 billion. In comparison to last year, the number of mega deals announced, or acquisitions over $5 billion, doubled. Last year there were 14 mega deals in the first quarter and this year there were 28. Despite the record-breaking activity of Q1 2015, …
