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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: mergers and acquisitions

mergers and acquisitions stories: 174 news summaries

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 GM Won't Sell Opel After All 

European operations won't go to Canadian outfit

Nov 3, 09 7:47 PM CST
(Newser) - General Motors backed out today on a deal to sell Opel, its European arm, to a Canadian parts supplier and its Russian banking partners. The GM board’s move reflects an uptick in the auto business, the Financial Times reports, and will also be a blow to the German government,... More »

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Magna International Inc. • Germany • General Motors • mergers and acquisitions • auto industry • Opel • Sberbank

Buffett Bets on Recovery, Buys Burlington for $26B

Deal will be Berkshire Hathaway's largest ever

Nov 3, 09 8:41 AM CST
(Newser) - Berkshire Hathaway has agreed to buy up the 77.4% of railroad operator Burlington Northern Santa Fe it didn’t already own for $26 billion, in what would be Warren Buffett’s largest acquisition ever. “It’s an all-in wager on the economic future of the United States,”... More »

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Warren Buffett • mergers and acquisitions • acquisition • Berkshire Hathaway • railroad • Oracle of Omaha • Burlington Northern Santa Fe

Stanley Adds $4.5B Tool to
Its Belt: Black & Decker

Hand-tools giant merges with power-tools leader

Nov 2, 09 6:21 PM CST
(Newser) - Two of America’s iconic tool companies are merging, with Stanley buying up Black & Decker in a deal worth $4.5 billion in stock. Stanley Black & Decker, as it will be known, combined complementary facets of the business: B &D is No. 1 in power tools and,... More »

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mergers and acquisitions • tools • Black & Decker • Stanley Works • hand tools • power tools

 Ford Looks to Sell 
 Volvo to China 

Geely is only bidder remaining for Swedish subsidiary

Oct 28, 09 8:52 AM CDT
(Newser) - Ford put its Volvo unit up for sale last December, and it's narrowed the possible buyers to just one bidder: a Chinese consortium led by Geely, the country's largest private automaker. Geely first approached Ford about the purchase in summer 2008 and is prepared to pay about $2 billion, less... More »

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mergers and acquisitions • Ford • Volvo • auto industry • Ford Motor Co. • Geely Automobile Holdings

 Google Moves In 
 on Online Music 

Search giant to partner with streaming/download services

Oct 21, 09 1:13 PM CDT
(Newser) - Google is getting into the online music business. TechCrunch has learned that the search giant will partner with iLike and LaLa to integrate clips into its search engine. An announcement is planned for October 28. Both companies allow streaming on first access, a 30-second clip thereafter, and the option to... More »

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Google • Internet • Web 2.0 • mergers and acquisitions • search engine • digital music • iLike • LaLa

 Feds Tear Into 
 Ticketmaster Merger 

Antitrust officials weigh concessions for Live Nation deal to pass

Oct 16, 09 1:41 AM CDT
(Newser) - Concerned Justice Department are considering blocking a deal that would create a music industry behemoth—unless major concessions are made. Antitrust officials are worried about the effect the proposed Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger would have on consumer cost and may require the companies to make major concessions, insiders tell the Wall ... More »

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Department of Justice • music industry • mergers and acquisitions • merger • antitrust • Ticketmaster • Live Nation

 Bloomberg Gets 
 BusinessWeek for $5M 

Financial-news giant founded by current NYC mayor promises it won't gut mag

Oct 13, 09 9:23 PM CDT
(Newser) - Financial-news giant Bloomberg is the winning bidder for BusinessWeek, acquiring the 80-year-old magazine for between $2 and $5 million from parent McGraw-Hill, plus any liabilities associated with the purchase—not exactly a princely sum. “We are not buying BusinessWeek to gut it. We are buying it to build it,... More »

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mergers and acquisitions • publishing • BusinessWeek • McGraw-Hill • Bloomberg LP • financial data

Analysis

Comcast Weighs Charging Viewers for Hulu

Cable giant no fan of free site, and could soon own NBC's part of it

Oct 5, 09 3:25 PM CDT
(Newser) - Comcast is no fan of Hulu's business model, and the cable giant could soon own a stake in the site—which means trouble for fans of using it to watch TV shows free. Comcast is in talks with NBC to pool their entertainment offerings in a joint venture that would... More »

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television • Internet • Comcast • NBC • NBC Universal • mergers and acquisitions • online videos • Hulu

 Comcast Near $35B Deal 
 for NBC Universal 

Cable giant has been in talks with owner of network for weeks

Sep 30, 09 9:01 PM CDT
(Newser) - Comcast is near a $35 billion deal to acquire NBC Universal, which encompasses the network, a movie studio, cable channels and more, sources tell the Wrap. Bankers from the cable giant and General Electric, NBCU’s parent company, met Tuesday after Comcast decided to think bigger than a pursuit of... More »

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entertainment • Comcast • cable TV • NBC Universal • mergers and acquisitions • General Electric • Vivendi • TV networks • movie studio

(Newser) - Saturn's hopes of a life after GM ended today when a deal to sell the brand to Penske Automotive fell through. GM said it will now begin shutting down manufacturing and dealership operations. Penske canceled the deal—which could have saved about 13,000 jobs—because it couldn't swing an... More »

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General Motors • Detroit • mergers and acquisitions • Saturn • auto industry • Roger Penske

ANALYSIS

Rise in Mergers 
Signals Fresh Confidence 

Chief execs becoming more bullish about recovery prospects

Sep 29, 09 3:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Mergers and acquisitions activity is still way down from pre-financial crisis levels, but a recent flurry of big deals suggests America's chief executives are regaining confidence in their own businesses. Recent mergers have involved strategic buys by big companies instead of the debt-fueled private equity buys seen a couple of... More »

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private equity • Wall Street • mergers and acquisitions • merger • US economy • Xerox • financial crisis • Affiliated Computer Services

 Feds Probe 
 BofA-Merrill Deal 

FBI, Justice Department investigate timing of bonus payments: source

Sep 18, 09 3:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - Bank of America's acquisition of Merrill Lynch is the focus of an ongoing investigation by the FBI and Justice Department, sources tell the Charlotte Observer, the bank's hometown paper. The SEC and the AGs of New York and North Carolina have already launched civil probes of the timing of huge... More »

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Department of Justice • FBI • Bank of America • mergers and acquisitions • Merrill Lynch • SEC • bonuses • New York Attorney General • New York attorney general • Securities and Exchange Commission • executive bonuses • North Carolina attorney general

New Recession Villain:
Warren Buffett's Cell Phone

Oracle of Omaha missed message that may have saved Lehman Brothers

Sep 18, 09 8:24 AM CDT
(Newser) - If Warren Buffett knew how to use his cell phone, the financial world might be in better shape, blogs Karen Tumulty of Time. Just before Lehman Brothers collapsed last year, a Barclays executive attempting to rescue the firm with an assist from Buffett left a message on the Oracle of... More »

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technology • cell phones • Barclays • Warren Buffett • mergers and acquisitions • recession • Lehman Brothers • financial crisis

 Skype Sale in Doubt  
 as Founders Sue eBay 

Techies alleges copyright violation costing them $75M a day

Sep 17, 09 6:34 AM CDT
(Newser) - The founders of Skype are suing eBay and the investor consortium buying the Internet phone company, accusing them of copyright violation, reports the Wall Street Journal. The suit is only the latest bump in eBay's disastrous ownership of Skype and may complicate the planned $2 billion sale. Janus Friis and... More »

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eBay • intellectual property • mergers and acquisitions • copyright • Skype • copyright infringement • peer-to-peer • Marc Andreessen

 Cadbury Shoots Down 
 $16.7B Kraft Takeover Bid  

Watchers suspect undervalued bid could be sweetened

Sep 7, 09 11:44 AM CDT
(Newser) - Cadbury today rejected a $16.73 billion takeover bid from food giant Kraft, the Wall Street Journal reports. The candy maker has recently undergone restructuring and divestment that it says make it more valuable—and more attractive to suitors like Kraft. The Cadbury board says the offer “fundamentally... More »

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mergers and acquisitions • Kraft Foods • takeover bid • food industry • conglomerate • candy company • Cadbury

Disney-Marvel Deal Could Signal M&A Recovery

Monday deals push August volume up 40%

Sep 2, 09 1:41 PM CDT
(Newser) - Two major deals finished on the last day of August—projected to be the worst month for deal making since 1995—have raised expectations that the mergers and acquisitions market is finally coming out of hibernation, the Wall Street Journal reports. Monday saw Disney buy Marvel for $4 billion and... More »

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mergers and acquisitions • big deals • Marvel Comics • Disney • recession • recovery • deal • recession depression

(Newser) - Comics fans are just a little miffed by Marvel’s $4 billion acquisition by Disney: “SOOOO NOT HAPPY! Spider-man should not be co-mingling with Goofy,” reads one blog post. The problem, Linda Holmes writes for NPR, is “one of perception: Put simply, Marvel has a cool factor... More »

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film • Spider-Man • mergers and acquisitions • Marvel Comics • Disney • movies • Iron Man • Goofy • Stan Lee • Jon Favreau • comic books

 To Sell or Not to Sell? 




Aug 27, 09 7:35 AM CDT
(Newser) - The founders of Twitter keep insisting it's not for sale, but perhaps they should think again, writes Ben Parr of tech blog Mashable. Only two weeks ago Twitter looked smart for refusing its suitors—but then Facebook made a series of big moves, from buying FriendFeed to launching a speedy... More »

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technology • social networking • mergers and acquisitions • Facebook • Twitter • microblogging • technology companies

Facebook Buys Rival FriendFeed for $50M

Purchase sets up battle with Twitter for real-time search market

Aug 11, 09 7:31 AM CDT
(Newser) - Facebook is buying fellow social networking site FriendFeed for nearly $50 million, the Wall Street Journal reports. Friendfeed, a 12-employee outfit founded by former Google engineers, allowed users to share information across multiple social media services but never took off beyond a core techie user base. The purchase may help... More »

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technology • social networking • mergers and acquisitions • Facebook • Internet startups • FriendFeed • Twitter • technology companies • Jay-ZTV • social media

Analysis

 Why MicroHoo 
 Won't Kill Google 


Jul 29, 09 12:41 PM CDT
(Newser) - Wondering what the Microsoft/Yahoo pact will mean for you, the tech-loving consumer? Probably not much, writes Todd Weiss for PC World. His reasons:
  • “I tried Bing, I played with Bing, I experienced Bing, but Bing, you’re no Google search,” Weiss opines. Even with Yahoo’s
... More »

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Yahoo • Google • Microsoft • mergers and acquisitions • search • Bing

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