British Firm Bags Samsonite for $1.7B

British miffed as $19B takeover deal sealed

(NEWSER) - Kraft has won a sweet victory in its 4-month-long battle to take over Cadbury, according to sources who expect a deal to be announced today, barring last-minute complications. The British chocolate maker's board has agreed to accept Kraft's improved offer of roughly $19 billion in cash and stock in a buyout that will create a food industry behemoth with sales of over $50 billion a year, insiders tell the New York Times . More»

Deal now tops $50 million, and Anheuser is likely to accept

(NEWSER) - InBev has increased its bid for Anheuser-Busch to $70 a share, the Wall Street Journal reports. Although willing to replace the Budweiser-brewer’s board in a hostile takeover, the $5-per-share boost—bringing the total deal to $50 billion—is a signal that InBev would prefer to keep things friendly. Anheuser will probably accept the new offer, sources told the Journal. More»

Reeling new Terminal 5 far short of capacity, but full of irate travelers

(NEWSER) - Logistical disasters continued today at Heathrow airport's new Terminal 5—and flight cancellations, delays and luggage losses will likely continue all weekend, the Times of London reports. British Airways, the facility's sole airline, said it hoped to run 80% of planned flights today, the terminal's second. "I am a frequent traveler," one passenger said, "and this is the worst experience ever." More»

Stock upgraded to a buy after $34-per-share offer predicted

(NEWSER) - A Citigroup analyst upgraded Yahoo stock to a buy today, predicting that Microsoft will raise its buyout bid from $31 per share to $34, MarketWatch reports. Acquiring Yahoo is the only way for Microsoft to successfully compete with Google for online advertising, said analyst Mark Mahaney, and so “the likelihood of Microsoft walking away from the deal is small." More»

(NEWSER) - Yahoo today restated its opinion that Microsoft’s $44.6 billion buyout bid underestimates the online giant’s “combination of unique assets,” but for the first time stated publicly the strengths it would bring to the Microsoft merger, MarketWatch reports. In an investor presentation for the SEC, the company argued it would take Microsoft "from sub-scale position to strong positions in search and display." More»