If past industry performance is any indicator of future events, Main Street Municipal Water might soon become Big Private Water, Inc. Throughout the past decade, the water industry has experienced a flurry of M&A activity in which private, or Investor Owned Utilities (IOUs), have stepped in to acquire struggling public operators. Large players such as …
Category: M&A in the News
The Loblaw Companies to Acquire Shoppers Drug Mart
The trend of consolidation continues. Just one week after Kroger announced it would buy Harris Teeter, there’s another big deal in the grocery industry. Canada’s number one grocer, the Loblaw Companies, announced it would buy the top pharmacy chain, Shoppers Drug Mart, for $11.9 billion in cash and stock. It’s likely this acquisition is a direct …
Kroger Acquires Harris Teeter to Attract High-end Market
Big news from the grocery sector: Kroger will buy Harris Teeter for $2.5 billion following the trend of consolidation in the grocery industry. Earlier this year, Empire Ltd, the owner of Canadian grocery chain Sobeys, bought Safeway’s Canadian business for $5.7 billion in a “game changing” deal. As the supermarket industry becomes more competitive, companies …
M&A in European Telecoms: Go Big or Cash Out
Vodafone’s cash buyout of Kabel Deutschland for 7.7 billion Euros has the European telecom M&A scene heating up. AT&T, for one, is rumored to be eyeing Europe for suitable acquisitions ─ perhaps even Telefonica, Spain’s leading multinational. In the past, such deals would have been considered one-off acquisitions reserved for large corporations with the power …
Why Google Wants to Acquire Waze
There are many reports that Google will buy Israeli mobile traffic app Waze for $1.3 billion. This acquisition would allow Google to solidify its dominant position while actively preventing Apple or Facebook from acquiring the technology. If you have the number one product or service, one way to keep your customer base is by keeping your …
Deals in Cloud: IBM, Salesforce & SAP
The future looks cloudy. IBM, Salesforce and SAP all announced big deals in cloud this week. IBM announced it would buy Softlayer, a cloud computing company, in a deal estimated to be worth $2 billion. IBM plans to use Softlayer to bolster its cloud services in a growing market. Salesforce announced it intends to buy …
Why China’s Shuanghui Is Buying Smithfield
Chinese firm Shuanghui International Holdings announced its intention to buy Smithfield Foods Inc for $4.7 billion. The total of the transaction, including debt, would be $7.1 billion. That’s big news for M&A watchers in the food industry, an arena that has captured my attention since my firm managed the acquisition of shrimp specialist Empress International …
Facebook Says No Waze
Yesterday, we learned that Facebook’s bid for Israeli startup Waze has ended. According to reports, negotiations broke down over disagreements on moving the Waze team from Israel to Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California. Facebook was rumored to be in talks to buy Waze for $1 billion. This is a great example of why it’s …
Will Yahoo Take A Tumble?
Yesterday Yahoo announced its plans to buy Tumblr for $1.1 billion in cash, which has really grabbed people’s attention. Marissa Mayer has made about 10 acquisitions since becoming CEO in July 2012, as part of her overall plan to make Yahoo part of our everyday routines. This is her biggest investment yet. Did Yahoo Overpay …
Why American Greetings is Going Private
At the beginning of April, American Greetings announced it was going private after being publicly traded since 1958. American Greetings has seen increased competition from both traditional competitors, like Hallmark, and from new competition, like social media. Here are the top three strategic advantages I see for American Greetings going private. 1) Shed Costs Going private the …
