The worldwide games developer, Ubisoft, finally acquires Ivory Tower, the French maker of The Crew racing game. After years of collaboration with Ubisoft driving experts, Reflections, Ivory Tower is now part of the Ubisoft. The gaming developer confirmed the acquisition in the blog.
Deals
Square suffers $5.7mn loss from single seller, files IPO
Payments startup Square, e-Commerce organization run by new Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, is going for an initial public offer (IPO) and mentions in the filing to Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) that the fraud could be a major hurdle for it. Square was target of hacking as a single seller used its payment services resulting in a huge loss of $5.7mn for the e-Commerce startup. The automated global payment system and the liquidity of Square were the major reasons why it was the target for illegal or improper use.
Diageo sells US, UK wine biz for $552m to Aussie firm
UK alcoholic beverage giant Diageo Plc is planning to offload its wine operations across the US and the UK for $552mn (euro483mn) to Treasury Wine Estate, an Australia-based company. Treasury Wine Estate is also in the process of acquiring Blossom Hill, Britain's second largest wine brand. The acquisition deal for Diageo is subject to the approval of UK regulator and also the US anti-trust review. The acquisition deal is expected to be completed in next three months.
$1.68-tn M&As in 2015 nearing dotcom-driven 2000's $1.73-tn record mark
Dell's latest acquisition deal to buyout EMC for $67billion is the biggest merger and acquisition (M&A) deal for the US technology sector in 2015 so far. About $1.68trillion worth M&A deals in the US have been announced year-to-date (YTD). The M&As in 2015 with less than three months left is just short of $1.73trillion, the full-year record level for M&As 15 years ago.
German broadcaster buys Swedish travel firm for $267mn
ProSiebenSat.1, a Munich-based German broadcaster, has acquired Swedish online travel agency Etraveli Holding AB for Euro235million ($267mn) from private equity (PE) firm Segulah IV LP. The acquisition deal for ProSiebenSat.1 is its biggest investment in the global e-Commerce. The German broadcaster will expand its digital operations globally following the acquisition. ProSiebenSat.1 is planning to expand beyond TV business.
Latest News
Los Angeles-based American Apparel filed for bankruptcy protection. The clothing company agreed to restructure its finances after negative controversies and slump of sales.
ComScore Inc, a data analytics provider and a major player in web tracking, will acquire Rentrak Corp for an implied value of $771 in all stock deal. Rentrak offers viewership rating services. As part of the buying deal, every share of Rentrak will be converted into 1.15 shares of ComScore. After the buying process, Rentrak will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of ComScore. The combined entity is expected to become a major measurement system for media and advertisement agencies. The buyout deal is expected to close in early 2016. The combined entity will get cost benefit of $55mn over the next two years.
Comcast Corp. is getting a 51% stake in Universal Studios Japan Co. The US cable company has announced its NBCUniversal unit will pay Goldman Sachs and other owners of USJ Co. $1.5 billion for the majority stake.
The Dallas-based Energy Transfer Equity LP has decided to buy Williams Cos in a $32.6-billion deal. The acquisition will pave the way for developing a huge 100,000 miles network of natural gas pipelines in the US.
Australia - Vocus Communications will purchase M2 Group for A$1.93B. The merging will be completed in 2016. Vocus Communications Ltd. had come up with an agreement to purchase M2 Group for A$1.93B, that's US$1.35B worth. The deal will be the country's biggest acquisition in the telecom industry in four months, Bloomberg reported.
Goldman Sachs is racing ahead of its rivals in the global investment banking segment by revenues and fees in mergers and acquisitions (M&As) activity. Goldman Sachs' performance in 2015 so far exceeded while its competitors are not even close to it. With a market share of 12.3 percent, Goldman Sachs recorded $2billion revenues till date, while JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are left with less than nine percent market share in the M&A space. The mergers and acquisitions activity this year so far was a robust period for Goldman Sachs.
Switzerland reinsurer Swiss Re AG has decided to acquire the UK-based Guardian Financial Services from private equity (PE) firm Cinven for GBP 1.6 billion ($2.45bn). The acquisition will help in strengthening the British business of the unit.
Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co has offered bid to acquire the LCD business of Sharp Corporation. However, the bidding details were not revealed. Without confirming on its plans to offload LCD business or received any bid offer, Sharp Corp continues to explore several options for reviving the trouble-prone liquid panel display business. Sharp has also asked Apple Inc for funding support. Sharp Corp has sought a $1.9-billion revival package from the banks and decided to slash 5,000 jobs as part of the cost-cutting measures. The intense competition in LCD screens for smartphones from Asian companies is taking a toll on Sharp Corp's business.
Global cable group Altice is acquiring New York-based Cablevision for $17.7bn including debt. This makes Altice as the fourth largest cable provider in the US. Cablevision's CEO James Dolan will hand over the control to a group of Europeans after the Altice deal. Altice will pay $34.90 a share in cash taking the valuation of Cablevision equity to $9.6bn.
