Disruptive Trends in Tech M&A: The Cases of Microsoft and Snapchat

Introduction Over the past years, the technology industry experienced an overwhelming volume of M&A activity. The following article aims at outlining the motivations behind this phenomenon and at identifying numerous disrupting factors. Microsoft’s acquisition of the professional social network LinkedIn, as well as Snapchat’s rebranding strategy and potential IPO in Read more…

Times are Smoking Hot! – BAT to Acquire the Remaining Stake in Reynolds for $47bn

British American Tobacco Plc. (BATS)—market cap as of 28/10/16: £87.26bn Reynolds American, Inc. (RAI)—market cap as of 28/10/16: $78.16bn Introduction On October 21, 2016, British American Tobacco (“BAT”) delivered a non-binding merger proposal to Reynolds American Inc. (“Reynolds”). Through this $47bn deal, BAT will acquire the remaining 57.8% of Reynolds’ Read more…

Information is Power: Blockbuster Media Merger Faces Political Skepticism

AT&T Inc. (NASDAQ T:NYQ)—market cap as of 28/10/16: $224.61bn Time Warner Inc. (NASDAQ TWX:NYQ)—market cap as of 28/10/16: $68.04bn Introduction On October 22, 2016, AT&T Inc. announced the acquisition of Time Warner Inc. in a stock and cash transaction valued at $108.7bn including Time Warner’s $23.3bn Net Debt. AT&T will Read more…