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Chicago-based Ventas Inc. said Monday that it will buy Nationwide Health Properties Inc. in a $5.8 billion stock deal, creating the nation’s largest health care real-estate investment trust.
The Nationwide purchase solidifies Ventas’ position as an owner of senior housing communities. The combined company will have more than 1,300 assets in 47 states, the District of Columbia, and two Canadian provinces. Ventas also owns hospitals and medical office buildings. Get the full story »
Five months after United Airlines and Continental Airlines sealed their legal merger, the combined company said it will introduce an “interim” advertising campaign this week and begin changing the United Web site to comport with the new look, which melds the United name with the well-known globe that Continental used. Get the full story »
CME Group Inc. can stay competitive without joining the merger and acquisition frenzy that has caught up financial exchanges globally, Executive Chairman Terrence Duffy told Reuters Insider Friday.
The tie-ups, including London Stock Exchange’s plan to buy Canada’s TMX Group, and Germany Deutsche Boerse’s agreement to buy NYSE Euronext, have sparked speculation over whether futures exchange operator CME would need to bulk up. Get the full story »
Bank of Ireland announced plans Thursday to sell its fund administration business, the Bank of Ireland Securities Services, to Northern Trust Corp. for up to 60 million euros ($82.53 million) to boost its capital levels.
Stock in Northern Trust closed at $52.14, down 26 cents.
From Business Insurance | Itasca-based insurance brokerage Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will acquire Woodbrook Underwriting Agencies, an agency in London, the company announced Wednesday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
CBOE Holdings Inc.’s focus on equity derivatives has kept it competitive against larger rivals, but remaining a niche player “may not be the only way that we will succeed,” CEO William Brodsky told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.
Germany’s Deutsche Boerse AG agreed last week to buy NYSE Euronext in a $10.2 billion deal, the biggest tie-up in a recent wave of global mergers that has also brought together the operators of the Toronto and London exchanges and the Australian and Singapore exchanges.
The deals have sparked speculation over what exchange could be the next takeover target. Get the full story »
Chicago's CME Group offices at 30 S. Wacker Drive in Chicago. (Nancy Stone/Chicago Tribune)
Nasdaq OMX Group could launch a rival bid for NYSE Euronext to avoid being left on the sidelines, a source said, as traditional exchanges race to merge to see off upstart electronic rivals.
This is one option Nasdaq, valued at $5.7 billion, is considering as a spate of deals shakes up an industry under intense cost pressure from new entrants such as BATS Global Markets, which last week snapped up rival Chi-X.
Nasdaq’s alternatives include tying up with IntercontinentalExchange Inc or the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) to wrest NYSE from its planned $10.2 billion takeover by Deutsche Boerse, the source familiar with the matter said. Get the full story »
The recent wave of exchange mergers marks an era of consolidation that will leave no more than four global trading firms in five years’ time, said Xavier Rolet, the chief executive of the London Stock Exchange. Get the full story »
Northfield-based Kraft Foods Inc. said Tuesday that it plans to bulk up its marketing efforts and introduce several new products in an effort to offset higher ingredient costs.
The company estimates that pricier ingredients will cost it between $700 million and $800 million in North America alone. The higher costs will be particularly important to areas where Kraft competes the most, including meat, cheese, chocolate and coffee. Get the full story »
Global mining giant BHP Billiton has agreed to buy shale gas interests from Chesapeake Energy Corp. for $4.75 billion in its first move into shale gas as it looks to beef up its oil and gas business.
In BHP’s first big acquisition since a string of failed deals, the global miner said it was buying Chesapeake’s holdings in Arkansas’ Fayetteville shale natural gas field. Get the full story »
Exchange giant CME Group Inc. discussed a merger with Deutsche Boerse AG in late 2007, but the two companies couldn’t agree on a price, according to people familiar with the matter.
The aborted talks show how hungry the Chicago company was to combine the biggest derivatives-trading operations in the U.S. and Europe. Even though the discussions fell apart, CME still has ambitions for world-wide dominance in derivatives. Get the full story »
Nasdaq OMX Group and IntercontinentalExchange Inc. could possibly strike a partnership and talks between the U.S.-based exchange operators are at a “critical stage,” Fox Business Network reported Thursday. Get the full story »
Caterpillar said Wednesday that it plans to sell Salem, Va.-based Carter Machinery as part of a management buyout. The terms of the sale were not disclosed. Get the full story »
French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis SA has agreed to buy Genzyme Corp. with a sweetened $20.1 billion cash offer, plus payments tied to the success of the U.S. biotech group’s drugs, the companies said on Wednesday.
The acquisition, which comes nine months after Sanofi CEO Chris Viehbacher first put the idea to Genzyme’s Henri Termeer, is expected to boost Sanofi’s earnings from the first year after completion by giving it a new platform in rare diseases. Get the full story »
