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$CAG to Buy $RAH for $4.95 Billion

 

“OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — ConAgra Foods is buying private-label food producer Ralcorp for about $4.95 billion, which will make it the biggest private-label packaged food business in North America.

ConAgra says the acquisition will strengthen its overall position in the North American packaged food business. ConAgra brands include Chef Boyardee, Egg Beaters, Peter Pan and Reddi-wip.

ConAgra Foods Inc. said Tuesday that it will pay Ralcorp Holdings Inc. stockholders $90 per share, a 28 percent premium….”

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Failing Chipmaker Said to Accept a $2.2 Billion Bailout by Japanese Government

 

“A government-backed fund is preparing to spend more than 180 billion yen ($2.2 billion) for two-thirds of Renesas Electronics Corp. (6723) as shareholders in the ailing Japanese chipmaker consider the deal, a person with knowledge of the plan said.

Renesas’s three biggest shareholders — Mitsubishi Electric (6503) Corp., NEC Corp. (6701)and Hitachi Ltd. — are close to agreeing on a stake sale to Innovation Network Corp. of Japan, the person said, asking not to be named because negotiations aren’t public. Eight companies, including Toyota Motor Corp. (7203), will invest more than 10 billion yen total for minority stakes under the proposal, which could still change, the person said.”

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L’Oreal to Buy Urban Decay From U.S. Private Equity Firm

L’Oreal SA, (OR) the world’s largest cosmetics maker, agreed to buy the Urban Decay brand from U.S. private-equity firm Castanea Partners to expand in specialty makeup.

Urban Decay had sales of $130 million in the year ended June 2012, the French company said today in a statement without disclosing terms of the deal. Regulatory approval is expected before the end of the year, L’Oreal said.

“Urban Decay is exactly the type of brand L’Oreal needs to beef up its makeup portfolio in the prestige channel,” Pablo Zuanic, an analyst at Liberum Capital in New York, wrote in a note today. He estimates that L’Oreal purchased the Newport Beach, California-based company for about $250 million to $300 million.”

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$GE Said to Be in Talks for Avio After Cinven Rejected CVC Bid

General Electric Co. (GE) is in talks to acquire Italian defense company Avio SpA from buyout firm Cinven Ltd., which rejected a previous offer from two private-equity funds, according to people with direct knowledge of the talks.

CVC Capital Partners Ltd. and Clessidra SGR SpA don’t plan to revise their offer of about 3 billion euros ($3.9 billion) for Avio, said the people, who declined to be identified because the discussions are private, leaving GE to pursue the acquisition. Cinven is also considering holding an initial public offering of Avio next year, the people said.”

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$CSCO Buys Meraki for $1.2 Billion, WiFi Management

“Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) — Cisco Inc. agreed to pay $1.2 billion for closely held Meraki Inc., adding technology that helps businesses manage Wi-Fi networks remotely and expanding its lineup of products for mid-sized customers.

Cisco, the world’s largest maker of computer-networking equipment, is using a combination of cash and retention-based incentives to pay for the acquisition, the San Jose, California- based company said yesterday in a statement.”

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Speculation Rises Over $BP as a Take Over Target, Value Based Notion

“Bob Dudley shrank BP Plc (BP/) to save it.

The onetime Mississippian and current chief executive officer has sold more than $50 billion of assets to pay the costs of the worst U.S. oil spill in history in 2010. Rescued from the brink of collapse, Europe’s second-largest oil company is now seen as vulnerable to a takeover.

BP is the cheapest of the world’s five biggest non-state oil companies by market value relative to reserves, earnings and output. As a result it may become a target, according to people familiar with the strategic thinking of the London-based company and its potential acquirers.

Dudley’s boldest move as the first American in charge of the 103-year-old British company was last month’s exit from a turbulent Russian venture in exchange for a 20 percent stake in state oil company OAO Rosneft (ROSN) and $12.3 billion in cash.

The deal solved one of BP’s two biggest challenges. The other,litigation in the U.S. over fines from the spill, came closer to a resolution last week with a $4.5 billion criminal settlement. The civil claims may vanish in a settlement before the trial set to start Feb. 25.

“You can absolutely make the case that it’s a potential takeover target” once BP’s U.S. settlement and the Russia deal are completed, said Julian Birkinshaw, a professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at the London Business School, the U.K.’s best, according to Financial Times rankings. “BP has been fighting wars on both the eastern and western fronts” that held back buyers, he said.

BP shares fell to the lowest since July after the criminal settlement was announced. Shares rose as much as 11.8 pence, or 2.8 percent, to 428.4 pence in London today. The stock traded at 426.6 pence 12:10 p.m. local time.”

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$CSCO to Buy Cloupia For Data Center Processing

“$CSCO is at it again, with yet one more acquisition. The company is acquiring Cloupia, a software company that automates converged data center infrastructure. Cisco will pay approximately $125 million in cash and retention-based incentives in exchange for all shares of Cloupia.”

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$LUK Buys $JEF for $2.76 Billion

Leucadia National Corp. (LUK) agreed to buy the the portion of Jefferies Group Inc. (JEF) it doesn’t already own for about $2.76 billion.

Investors will receive 0.81 Leucadia share for each Jefferies share they own, the companies said today in a statement. The deal values the entire company at about $3.59 billion, based on data from the company’s most recent 10-Q regulatory filing. Jefferies management will run the firm, according to the report.”

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$BSX Makes a Small Purchase of Vessix Vascular for Hypertension Device

Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX), the second- largest seller of drug-coated stents, agreed to buy Vessix Vascular Inc. for as much as $425 million to speed its entry into the market for hard-to-treat hypertension devices.

Boston Scientific will pay $125 million for closely held Vessix, based in Laguna Hills, California, and as much as $300 million more by 2017 based on clinical and sales targets, the Natick, Massachusetts-based company said today in a statement. While the acquisition won’t affect earnings excluding one-time items through 2014, the costs and amortization related to the purchase may reduce net income, the company said.”

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$DISH & $DTV May Join Forces to Boost Profits

Dish Network Corp. (DISH)’s stagnating growth is increasing the pressure on Chairman Charlie Ergen to combine with rival DirecTV (DTV), 10 years after a failed attempt.

Ergen said this week that the two largest U.S. satellite-TV providers “have to consider” a deal, potentially joining a rush of consolidation in the telecommunications, cable and satellite-TV industries that has already topped $46 billion in the U.S. this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Dish is facing declining profit this year, and analysts estimate sales will rise only 7.8 percent through 2014, less than 95 percent of the other cable and satellite-TV providers globally.”

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$PCLN to Buy $KYAK for $1.8 Billion

Priceline.com Inc. PCLN -1.06% has agreed to buy Kayak Software Corp.KYAK -1.59% in a $1.8 billion cash-and-stock deal, buying a travel search site that went public earlier this year.

Priceline will pay around $500 million in cash and $1.3 billion in equity and assumed stock options. The transaction values Kayak at $40 a share, a 29% premium to its Thursday close and 57% higher than its July IPO.

Kayak’s current management team will continue to manage its operations as part of the Priceline group of companies. The deal, which is subject to shareholder approval and a regulatory nod, is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2013.”

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$S Makes a Bid for Spectrum for $480 Million

“Sprint today announced that it has made an arrangement with U.S. Cellular to acquire PCS spectrum and also wireless network customers for $480 million in cash, and Sprint’s taking over of “certain liabilities” on behalf of U.S. Cellular. The arrangement will help Sprint bolster its own network as it rolls out LTE nationally, the company said in a press release, helping to beef up network capacity. U.S. Cellular customers in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri and Ohio, 585,000 in total, will also become Sprint customers as part of the deal.”

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Stifel Financial to Buy KBW for $575 Million – $SF, $KBW

 

Stifel Financial agreed on Monday to buy KBW Inc. for about $575 million in cash and stock, giving the acquisitive investment banking firm a prominent adviser to the financial services industry.

Under the terms of the deal, Stifel will pay $10 a share in cash and $7.50 a share in stock. (The exact amount of stock that KBW shareholders will receive will be based on Stifel’s volume-weighted average closing price for the 10 days before closing.)”

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Prudential to Buy Thanachart Bank for $590 Million

 

Prudential Plc (PRU), the U.K.’s biggest insurer by market value, will buy the life insurance business of Thanachart Bank Pcl, which is part-owned by Canada’s Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), for as much as 368 million pounds ($590 million).

Prudential will pay Bangkok-based Thanachart 358 million pounds in cash when the transaction is completed and a further 10 million pounds 12 months later, the London-based insurer said in a statement through the Singapore stock exchange. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2013, the company said.”

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Private Equity Firm Said to Be Near a Deal to Acquire $JDAS for $45 Per Share

 

“Private-equity firm New Mountain Capital LLC is nearing a deal to buy business-software provider JDA Software Group Inc., JDAS +12.47% people familiar with the matter said.

New Mountain is expected to pay around $45 a share, or roughly $1.9 billion, for JDA, one of the people said. The final negotiations are ongoing and a deal could still fall apart.

The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company’s software helps businesses manage their supply chains electronically.

New Mountain already owns a supply chain-management software provider, RedPrairie Holding Inc. Given this expertise, it could seek to combine the two businesses.

Shares of JDA rose 12% Wednesday after Reuters reported earlier in the week the company was exploring a sale, closing at $38.15 on the Nasdaq Stock Market NDAQ +0.04% .”

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Disney to Buy George Lucas’ Film Studio, Including Star Wars Franchise, for $4 Billion

“Disney is paying $4.05 billion to buy Lucasfilm Ltd., the production company behind “Star Wars,” from its chairman and founder, George Lucas. It’s also making a seventh movie in the “Star Wars” series called “Episode 7,” set for release in 2015, with plans to follow it with Episodes 8 and 9 and then one new movie every two or three years.

The Walt Disney Co. announced the blockbuster agreement to make the purchase in cash and stock Tuesday. The deal includes Lucasfilm’s prized high-tech production companies, Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound, as well as rights to the “Indiana Jones” franchise.”

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Potash Corp. in Talks to Merge With Israel Chemicals – $POT

 

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., the world’s largest fertilizer producer by market value, is in talks with the Israeli government to merge with Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL) in a deal that may be valued at $13.5 billion.

Executives of the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based company have held talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and met with government agencies about a “possible merger,”Israel Corp., (ILCO) the biggest shareholder in Israel Chemicals, said in a statement to the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange today. Calcalist reported earlier that Potash Corp. is seeking permission to buy 100 percent of Israel Chemicals, which has a market value of 61 billion shekels ($15.7 billion).”

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