Detroit News (October 31)
“No plant closures, fewer government ties and independence from other entangling partnerships means Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV’s proposed merger with French automaker Groupe PSA has a better chance of success than it had with Renault SA, according to experts.”
Tags: Entangling partnerships, Fiat Chrysler, Government ties, Groupe PSA, Independence, Merger, Plant closures, Success
CBS News (June 5)
Following the close of the Bayer Monsanto merger, a “toxic corporate name” will be retired. Soon after the $60 billion all-cash deal closes on Wednesday, the Monsanto name will be retired. Bayer “wanted the pesticide producer but seemingly not all the associated baggage that comes with the name.” The decision shows “how anti-Monsanto demonstrations over the years have succeeded in molding the public’s view of the company.”
The Economist (March 2)
The planned $30 billion merger between Deutsche Börse (DB) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE) “had been billed as a bridge between Europe’s two main financial hubs.” In tatters, the merger now stands as “a symbol of their growing competition—and of the uncertainty into which Brexit has plunged the EU’s markets.”
Tags: Brexit EU, Competition, Deutsche Börse, Europe, Financial hubs, LSE, Markets, Merger, Tatters, Uncertainty
Wall Street Journal (September 14)
“For Monsanto owners, selling to Bayer provides a premium of 44%.” With relatively little overlap between the companies, antitrust issues should be less likely to threaten the merger. Moreover, “the deal seems to make strategic sense, as Bayer combines its pesticides franchise with a leader in seeds and biotechnology. Bayer is also known for health care, which will generate about half of the combined company’s sales. Crop sciences will contribute roughly the other half.”
Tags: Antitrust, Bayer, Biotechnology, Crop sciences, Health care, Merger, Monsanto, Overlap, Pesticides, Premium, Seeds
Institutional Investor (July 4)
Post-Brexit “uncertainty has smacked executives at the London Stock Exchange Group and Deutsche Börse in the face. Europe’s two leading exchange operators are pressing ahead with their proposed $30 billion merger even though the referendum result poses a huge and uncertain political risk to the deal’s completion.”
Tags: Brexit, Deutsche Börse, Exchanges, LSE, Merger, Political risk, Uncertainty
New York Times (November 24)
If successful, the planned $160 billion merger between Pfizer and Allergan will “be the biggest deal in what has been a banner year for mergers, driven in part by consolidation in the health care and pharmaceutical sectors.” It also promises to focus more attention, mostly negative, on tax inversions, the practice it will be using to lower its tax bill by relocating its post-merger tax home to Ireland.
Tags: Allergan, Consolidation, Health care, Ireland, Merger, Pfizer, Pharmaceutical sectors, Tax inversions
The Economist (May 17)
The planned merger of Publicis and Omnicom would have created the world’s largest advertising firm. Last week it was called off. “Anyone connected with the two firms should probably count himself lucky that they uncoupled before rings were exchanged. (Indeed, shares in both firms edged up after the cancellation.) Corporate marriages often go wrong, but mergers of equals…account for a disproportionate share of the most notorious failures.”
Tags: Advertising, Cancellation, Equals, Failures, Lucky, Merger, Omnicom, Planned, Publicis, Shares, Uncoupled
Chicago Tribune (December 9, 2013)
“The world’s biggest airline opens for business on Monday. Chicago has a huge stake in its success.” American Airlines Group Inc. will be formed from the merger of American Airlines and US Airways. The new group will complete against United-Continental and Delta-Northwest in what many see as a more stable competitive sphere. As “the only city in the country with three airline hubs” (American, United and Southwest), Chicago looks poised to benefit from this consolidation.
Tags: American, American Airlines, Chicago, Continental, Delta, Hubs, Merger, Northwest, Southwest, United, US Airways
Institutional Investor (October Issue)
“Atsushi Saito has reinvigorated the Japanese exchange world with a merger and a technology overhaul. Now comes the hard part: winning back market share in Asia.” Following the merger of the Tokyo and Osaka exchanges, the Japan Exchange Group ranks third behind only the NYSE Euronext and Nasdaq OMX. “JPX now controls more than 90 percent of all equity-and derivatives-trading volume in Japan.” Yet, “despite its lead in listed companies, JPX trails in foreign listings. It’s also weak in terms of options, futures contracts and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), compared with the big U.S. exchanges”
Tags: Asia, Atsushi Saito, Derivatives, Equities, ETFs, Futures, IT, Japan, JPX, Market share, Merger, Nasdaq OMX, NYSE Euronext, Options, Osaka, Tokyo, Trading volume, U.S.
The Economist (October 13)
“The decision made on October 10th by Britain’s BAE Systems, the world’s third-biggest defence firm, and EADS, the Franco-German owner of Airbus, to call off their proposed €38 billion ($50 billion) merger is a bitter blow both to the two companies and to hopes for the emergence of a more integrated European defence and aerospace industry.” Ultimately, it was Angela Merkel who blocked the deal and this was unfortunate. “Germany was wrong to stand in the way of a more integrated European defence and aerospace industry.”
