Mergers & Acquisitions

Carlos Slim pays up for foothold in Europe

8 May 2012

The Mexican tycoon wants to boost his stake in KPN to 28 pct and offers a 23.5 percent premium in a $3 bln-plus deal. Investors in the ailing Dutch telecoms operator haven’t had such good news in a while. But Slim’s move is hard to read: KPN stock is cheap for good reasons.

M&A spin doctors take a thumping on the record

6 May 2012

Judge Leo Strine has called them out for blabbing confidential data in Martin Marietta’s hostile $5.3 bln offer for rival Vulcan. The sand and gravel outfit will pay the price of an order blocking the bid. But the reputation of deal flacks may also take a lasting hit.

Bright Food swallows Weetabix at palatable price

3 May 2012

The Shanghai firm is buying 60 pct of Britain’s no.2 cereal maker. An implied $1.9 bln enterprise value is in line with breakfast-table rivals, even if the private-equity seller is making a packet. The deal also underscores a shift towards brand-driven Chinese M&A.

World’s brewers reach last call for Latin targets

1 May 2012

The Brazilian AmBev’s Q1 earnings miss may be just the start. The Anheuser-Busch unit is paying $1.2 bln for the Dominican CND, one of the region’s last available beer producers of any scale. It’s more defensive than a growth play, as competition in Brazil is set to heat up.

Sunoco owners get rewarded for patience

30 Apr 2012

The 23 pct premium from Energy Transfer Partners doesn’t at first sight look huge. But given Sunoco’s unfinished turnaround, the $5.3 bln sale at a higher price than shareholders have seen in years is evidence of a well-timed leap onto the industry’s partnership M&A bandwagon.

Microsoft gives Barnes & Noble a big brother lift

30 Apr 2012

The bookseller’s Nook e-reader ambitions looked a day late and many dollars short. Microsoft’s $300 mln injection isn’t just a one-time hand up. The agreement gives Barnes & Noble time, capital and a path to follow - even if it may sadden fans of bricks-and-mortar bookstores.

Four Seasons finally gets debts under control

30 Apr 2012

Guy Hands is buying the UK care-homes operator for an enterprise value of 825 million pounds. Private equity’s role in the sector is controversial. But this restructuring-cum-takeover should return Four Seasons to a semblance of financial health.

Lawyers play high-low game with costly M&A suits

27 Apr 2012

Nationwide Mutual is paying investors too little for a rival U.S. insurer, unless it’s paying too much. Attorneys are hedging their bets, challenging the deal on both counts. While merger litigation may be hitting record highs, this transaction shows just how low legal eagles can go.

Unipol probe may further muzzle Italy powerbrokers

27 Apr 2012

The Italian antitrust agency has halted bidding for Fondiaria, the country’s second largest insurer. Blocking a currently favoured bid from Unipol would be good news for minority investors. But coupled with new boardroom curbs, it could also strike another blow for corporate reform.

Pharma saga shows bad lending’s long half-life

26 Apr 2012

Singlehandedly funding the 2007 buyout of Actavis, an Icelandic drugmaker, was one of Deutsche Bank’s worst boom-era moves. Failed M&A rescues, restructuring and $1.7 bln of charges followed. At least Watson Pharma is now ending this unhappy saga with a near-$6 bln takeover.

DBS deal tests Indonesia’s deep Singapore-phobia

24 Apr 2012

Even a 52 percent premium may not secure the Singaporean bank’s $7.2 bln takeover of Bank Danamon. A deal would benefit all sides and burnish Indonesia’s image as a hot investment destination to boot. But looming elections and longstanding mistrust may trump commercial logic.

Biotech’s blistering M&A pace should continue

23 Apr 2012

The industry is off to one of its best years in a decade. As Pfizer’s sale of its nutrition business for $12 bln suggests, Big Pharma is forgoing mega-deals for smaller, targeted acquisitions of innovators like Ardea and Amylin, who are needed to refill empty drug pipelines.

C&WW right to recommend Vodafone offer

23 Apr 2012

The UK telco is justified in recommending a 1 bln pound bid from Vodafone, even if top shareholder Orbis is unimpressed. The only rival bidder quit, and the premium is 92 pct. But Vodafone’s coyness on the synergies naturally fuels the suspicion it could afford to pay more.

Pfizer baby food gives Nestle a $12 bln sugar rush

23 Apr 2012

The Swiss food giant is paying a hefty 4.9 times sales for the U.S. group’s infant nutrition arm. That’s partly down to an M&A tug-of-war with rival Danone. But it also reflects Nestle’s rock-solid balance sheet - and the scarcity of big emerging-market growth plays.

Glaxo’s Human Genome bid smacks of opportunism

19 Apr 2012

The British drugmaker is already a partner of Human Genome Sciences and is thus the obvious acquirer. But the U.S. biotech is wise to rebuff a $2.6 bln offer. GSK can take big cost savings, and the bid looks cheap even given scaled-back expectations for the duo’s key product.

Roche runs out of room in $7 bln Illumina bid

18 Apr 2012

The Swiss drugmaker is walking away after failing to cajole the gene-sequencing firm into talks. Shareholders clearly weren’t pushing Illumina to the table, and a wobble in its shares now won’t change that. But Roche could return if the stock continues to languish.

Couche-Tard’s Scandinavian deal looks smart

18 Apr 2012

Though a 53 pct premium for Statoil Fuel and Retail is chunky, the Canadian convenience store chain has shown discipline in the past. It walked from a U.S. deal to avoid a bidding war. Couche-Tard’s new friendly purchase looks promising if it can manage things an ocean away.

Temasek tinkering could put StanChart in play

17 Apr 2012

The Singaporean fund’s latest asset reshuffle has revived talk about its $10 bln stake in the emerging market lender. Banks from the U.S. to Japan would like to get their hands on StanChart. But with the exception of China’s biggest lenders, most would struggle to pull it off.

Ducati could rip it up with VW

16 Apr 2012

The premium motorbike maker would add a little extra machismo to VW’s growing convoy of brands. A mooted $875 mln price tag is appropriately red-blooded, at nearly twice revenue. Cost savings would be limited. But perhaps VW could turbo-charge sales in newer markets.

3D printing deal enhances sector depth illusion

16 Apr 2012

Making items from digital files is a hot technology - maybe too hot given the market reaction to Stratasys’ deal for Objet. Despite few cost cuts and an odd poison pill, the buyer’s shares rose some 25 pct on the promise of revenue synergies. But the future isn’t quite here yet.