The FCC is very likely to block Comcast and Time Warner Cable, the reigning Worst Company in America and Most Hated Company in America, from completing their $45.2 billion super-megamorph into The Worst, Most Hated Company in America, a source familiar with the deal told Bloomberg today. Hey Comcast, have you tried…
The business world is giddy and agog at the rip-roaring return of mergers and acquisitions. M&A is back! Just yesterday, two mega-deals worth $100 billion were announced. Some people are getting very, very rich. The deserving people, that is.
When the corporate economy is booming as it is now, mergers and acquisitions happen. Industries consolidate. The cable industry is consolidating. The media industry is consolidating. And now, even the poor people industry is consolidating.
Drab menswear purveyor Jos. A. Bank, where you can "Buy 1 Get 3 Free," has made an offer to acquire boxy suit superstore Men's Wearhouse, where you can "Buy One Get One for $100." The American dream of getting ten ill-fitting suits for one dollar is now in reach. [Pic via ]
Some big news in the telecom world today, as the Justice Department has sued to block AT&T's $39 billion purchase of T-Mobile on antitrust grounds. This is just like in the old days, when antitrust laws were enforced.
That's the word on the street! The deal would include the assumption of Skype's $686 million debt, and will be made public at 5 AM Pacific time, according to NYT. If it happens, it'll be Microsoft's biggest acquisition ever.
The FCC has approved the proposed combination of cable provider Comcast and NBC Universal. Pretty soon one corporation will own everything.
Let us explain. The hagfish is a blind, slimy, deepwater eel-like creature that darts into the orifices of its prey and devours them, alive, from the inside. Which is what Tina Brown is doing to Newsweek.
The Observer reports Newsweek and The Daily Beast will officially announce that they're merging tomorrow morning. Finally!
The Daily Beast- Newsweek merger talks collapsed last month, followed by mild trash talk on both sides. Well: now the merger discussions are reportedly back on. Again! Newsweek is destined to flounder forever! Just hire someone, anyone! Christ. [NYP]
It looks like we weren't the only ones covering Marissa Mayers' wedding yesterday: Google's cyborg polar fairy tried to give Vogue the exclusive on her hugely extravagant San Francisco nuptials, which were even more grandiose than we'd been told.
In a battle between Mickey Mouse and Superman, most people would put their money on Superman. Well, that's almost true. Sure, Superman would definitely kill Mickey, but the Mouse has Disney power, and that Disney power forced Superman's company's hand.
It was announced today that Disney shelled out $4 billion for Marvel Entertainment, Inc. Not only does it now own Spider-Man, the X-Men, and Iron Man, but is also in business with almost every Hollywood studio. What a tangled web!
The surrender of AOL was a humiliating enough denouement for Time Warner, the old-line media conglomerate once imagined invincible. But there's talk it could get worse. What if Time Warner ceased to exist as an independent concern?
Do you know what today is? It's the 20th anniversary of Time Warner. The massive merger that created the media behemoth happened on March 4, 1989. Time Warner was the future! And now?
Liberty Media CEO John Malone told the Financial Times his company is ready to swap its $1.42 billion stake in Time Warner in order to acquire AOL's dialup business. There's just one holdup. "Time Warner still needs to divide the business," Malone complained to the FT. Though it's been more than two years since Time…
Microsoft will acquire Greenfield Online, which operates European comparison shopping site Ciao.com, for $17.50 per share or $486 million. Ciao works by directing shoppers to some 2,200 merchants, who then pay Ciao when those shoppers buy goods. ComScore says Ciao sees 26.5 million visitors a month. Last quarter,…
The International Monetary Fund says the mortgage mess is "the biggest financial crisis in the United States since the Great Depression," which means one thing for John Wren, CEO of ad-holding giant Omnicom: acquisition prices for companies in the advertising industry are low, and it's time to get shopping. Wren …
An AOL team of negotiators is in Seattle right now, trying to sell the business to Microsoft for a price somewhere between $10 billion and $15 billion. An AOL source told Silicon Alley Insider the probability that a deal gets done on this trip is "low/medium." Perhaps in an effort to speed the proceedings and ignite…
In a presentation filed with SEC earlier this week, Yahoo's board tried to convince Yahoo shareholders that "the record casts doubt on whether Microsoft was ever committed to a whole company acquisition." But Yahoo shareholders don't buy it. You shouldn't either. Why? Remember the five weeks between when Microsoft…
