Go big or go home – Reckitt Benckiser to acquire Mead Johnson for $17.9bn

Reckitt Benckiser Group (LON: RB) – market cap as of 17/02/2017: $61.7bn (£49.71bn) Mead Johnson Nutrition Company (NYSE: MJN) – market cap as of 17/02/2017: $16.05bn Introduction On 10 February 2017, UK-based consumer goods multinational Reckitt Benckiser (RB) and US-based infant nutrition leader Mead Johnson reached an agreement by means Read more…

Barbarians at the Fortress Gate: SoftBank Shows its Global Ambitions

SoftBank Group Corp (TYO:9984)—market cap as of 17/02/17: ¥88.84tn (€74.19bn) Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE:FIG)—market cap as of 17/02/17: $3.08bn Introduction On February 14, 2017, the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp. announced the acquisition of Fortress Investment Group LLC for $3.3bn in cash. The deal represents a radical departure from 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…

Biggest Chinese Acquisition of a U.S Technology Target Yet

Ingram Micro Inc.; market cap as of 19/02/2016: $5.44bn Tianjin Tianhai Investment Co., Ltd.; market cap as of 19/02/2016: $2.58bn    Introduction On February 17, 2016, Tianjin Tianhai Investment Co., Ltd. (Tianjin) (SSE A Share: 600751 and SSE B Share: 900938), a container shipping and freight agency company, entered into Read more…

Starwood – Marriott: Star Marriage or a Walkaway?

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.; Market Cap: $12.18bn (as of 19/11/2015) Marriott International Inc.; Market Cap: $ 18.64bn (as of 19/11/2015)   Introduction On November 16, Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAR) and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) announced that the boards of directors of both companies unanimously Read more…

Tireless Shire: Another Deal in Pharma M&A Wave

Shire PLC; market cap: $28.38bn (as of 06/11/2015) Dyax Corporation; market cap: $5.1bn (as of 06/11/2015)   Introduction On November 2, Dublin-headquartered pharmaceutical company Shire Plc agreed to acquire the Massachusetts-based biopharma company Dyax Corporation for an upfront cash consideration of $5.9bn and an additional $646m payment contingent on the Read more…

When “The best investment on earth is Earth”: PE and SWF bet on Real Estate

Prologis Inc.; market cap (as of 24/04/2015): $22.18bn Introduction On April 19th Prologis Inc., global leader in industrial real estate, announced its intentions to buy the real estate assets and operating platform of KTR Capital Partners (KTR), a real estate focused private equity company, for a total purchase price of Read more…