Tag: merger

Fosun buys Thomas Cook brand for £11 million

BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese conglomerate Fosun has snapped up the Thomas Cook brand for £11 million ($14.2 million), weeks after the renowned British travel group went bust and left hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers stranded abroad. Thomas Cook’s demise in September sparked 22,000 job losses worldwide and triggered Britain’s biggest repatriation since World War II, with the government paying to fly home 140,000 tourists. The 178-year-old British institution declared bankruptcy in September after an […]

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GSK, Pfizer to merge consumer healthcare units

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Pharmaceutical giants GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer on Wednesday announced a merger of their consumer healthcare units that produce over-the-counter medicines. GSK said it would have a 68-percent controlling equity interest in the joint venture that will have combined sales of about £9.8 billion ($12.7 billion, 10.9 billion euros). The deal paves the way for British group GSK to have two UK-listed companies, one specialised in the development of drugs and the […]

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IBM buys software company Red Hat for $34bn in bid for cloud dominance

by Christophe VOGT Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — IBM said Sunday it has reached a deal to buy open source software company Red Hat for $34 billion, among the biggest tech mergers in history which the computing giant said would enhance its cloud offerings. If approved it will be the third biggest tech merger in history, according to business news site CNBC. Red Hat said it was the biggest involving a software company. […]

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Investors shun Bayer stock over US pesticide ruling that awarded $290M to cancer patient

https://youtu.be/rEeEdBlt_OI   by Tom Barfield Agence France Presse FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Germany (AFP) — Investors fled shares in German chemicals and pharmaceuticals giant Bayer Monday, fearing a massive damages ruling against one of newly-acquired US firm Monsanto’s flagship products could signal a wave of costly lawsuits. The stock had plunged 11.5 percent to 82.60 euros ($94.47) by midday (1000 GMT), lopping around $10 billion off its market value. A California jury on Friday awarded dying […]

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US regulators approve Disney-Fox mega-deal, with conditions

by John Biers © Agence France-Presse NEW YORK, United States (AFP) – US antitrust regulators on Wednesday conditionally approved Walt Disney’s proposed $71.3 billion purchase of key 21st Century Fox assets, boosting the chances for the tie-up to create a new media-entertainment powerhouse. The US Department of Justice approved the deal subject to Disney selling 22 regional sports networks now owned by Fox. The news moves Disney’s proposed buyout one step closer to completion after the […]

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Judge clears AT&T merger with Time Warner in huge antitrust case

by Rob Lever Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States – A US judge Tuesday approved the $85 billion merger of wireless and broadband giant AT&T with media-entertainment conglomerate Time Warner, delivering a stinging rebuke to Donald Trump’s administration in its first major antitrust challenge. Federal Judge Richard Leon said the government had failed to meet its burden of proof that the tie-up between the largest US pay-TV operator and the media entertainment giant would harm competition. […]

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Alibaba acquisition values meal-deliverer Ele.me at $9.5 bn

SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba said Monday it was acquiring full ownership of leading food-delivery firm Ele.me in a deal that values the Shanghai-based start-up at $9.5 billion. The deal is the latest salvo in the intensifying turf battle between tech heavyweights Alibaba and Tencent in the fast-growing Chinese markets for online food ordering and digital payments. Alibaba and its financial arm Ant already owned 43 percent of the app-based Ele.me and said […]

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Broadcom lowers offer for Qualcomm as takeover saga continues

WASHINTON, United States (AFP) — Singapore-based Broadcom said Wednesday it was cutting its offer price for mobile chip maker Qualcomm in the wake of the US firm’s increased bid for Dutch rival NXP. Broadcom reduced its offer to $79 a share, which would still be the largest-ever deal in the tech sector if completed at an estimated value of nearly $117 billion. The move came amid a closely watched hostile bid for Qualcomm which could […]

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Qualcomm mulls ‘next steps’ in Broadcom takeover bid

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Qualcomm said Wednesday its board would “promptly” consider a hostile $121 billion takeover bid by Singapore-based Broadcom following a meeting of top executives of the two computer chipmaking giants. “We met with representatives of Broadcom for two hours earlier today, and listened carefully to what they had to say,” Qualcomm said in a statement. “The Qualcomm board will promptly meet to discuss the meeting and to determine next steps.” The meeting […]

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Germany’s BASF agrees oil merger with Russian tycoon’s firm

FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Germany (AFP) — German chemicals giant BASF has agreed to merge its Wintershall oil and gas unit with the DEA energy firm owned by Russia’s billionaire entrepreneur Mikhail Fridman. The multi-billion-euro deal will create “one of the largest independent European exploration and production companies” with “significant growth potential” and scope for synergies, BASF said in a statement late Thursday. BASF said it would initially hold 67 percent of shares in the joint venture, which […]

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Brewer SABMiller accepts AB InBev final offer: company

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) – Brewer SABMiller’s board on Friday accepted a final takeover offer from rival Anheuser-Busch InBev, the company said in a statement, heralding what will be one of the world’s biggest ever takeovers. The Belgium-based AB InBev had raised its cash offer to 45 pounds per share from 44 pounds, in a revised proposal tabled after the value of the pound slumped following Britain’s vote to leave the European Union. SABMiller Chairman Jan du […]

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Alstom denies takeover bid from General Electric

French train maker Alstom has denied it has received an official offer for its shares from US engineering group General Electric. The denial, however, doesn’t silence takeover rumors reported earlier. Alstom was not informed of any potential public tender offer for its shares from General Electric, the French turbine and high-speed train manufacturer said Thursday. “The group constantly reviews the strategic options of its businesses,” Alstom said in a statement, adding that an update on […]

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