By Reuters
The Huffington Post this morning. (Reuters)
AOL Inc. will buy Arianna Huffington’s influential website for $315 million, looking to the high-profile liberal pundit to rescue it from the dustbin of Internet history.
The move comes at a hefty premium. AOL is estimated to pay 32 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the Huffington Post, said Benchmark Co analyst Clayton Moran.
Similar content deals, such as Hellman & Friedman’s acquisition of Internet Brands in September 2010, typically go for eight to 12 times earnings, said Moran. Get the full story »
Feb. 4 at 5:55 p.m.
Filed under:
Internet,
M&A,
Media
By Reuters
News Corp. has tapped Allen & Co. to field buyout interest for MySpace and has heard from about 50 parties, people familiar with the process told Reuters Friday.
The global media conglomerate is considering a handful of options for MySpace, the once-hot Internet social network that has fallen far behind faster moving rival Facebook. Get the full story »
Feb. 4 at 1:49 p.m.
Filed under:
Autos,
M&A
Automotive News | Speaking at an auto industry conference in San Francisco, Chrysler and Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne said Friday that the two companies could merge as a U.S.-based automaker after a Chrysler IPO.
Feb. 4 at 1:16 p.m.
Filed under:
M&A,
Pharmaceuticals
By Reuters
French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis could unveil an agreement to acquire U.S. biotech Genzyme before Wednesday, the day Sanofi is due to publish its 2010 results, sources close to the matter said.
A deal would bring to a close the long-running saga sparked by Genzyme’s rejection of Sanofi’s initial $18.5 billion offer, worth $69 a share, which the French group has extended to Feb. 15. Get the full story »
Feb. 4 at 11:25 a.m.
Filed under:
Earnings,
Insurance,
M&A,
Updated
By Reuters
Aon Corp. forecast continued margin improvement and posted a quarterly profit that topped Wall Street estimates, as the world’s largest insurance broker began to reap the benefits of its 2009 acquisition of Hewitt Associates.
Aon said restructuring related to the Hewitt integration was expected to help drive margin expansion. Get the full story »
Feb. 4 at 9:32 a.m.
Filed under:
M&A
By Ameet Sachdev
Chicago-based InnerWorkings Inc. said it has acquired a print management firm in Chile as its seeks to expand in Latin America.
Terms of the acquisition of CPRO Services Ltd. were not announced.
CPRO Services had revenues of $22 million in 2009 and employs about 50 people, InnerWorkings said. CPRO’s clients include Unilever, Nestle and LAN Airlines. Get the full story »
Feb. 4 at 8:02 a.m.
Filed under:
Insurance,
M&A
By Ameet Sachdev
CNA Surety Corp. said Friday that it has rejected a $375 million buyout offer by its majority owner, CNA Financial Corp. A special committee of CNA Surety’s board said the $22-per-share bid by CNA Financial Corp. “substantially undervalues” the company, but the committee said it was open to more discussions with CNA Financial. Get the full story »
Feb. 3 at 2:53 p.m.
Filed under:
Health care,
M&A,
Updated
By Bruce Japsen
Two large Chicago-area hospital operators are exploring a merger in a deal that could create the largest Catholic-owned health care system in Illinois, sources told the Tribune.
Chicago-based Resurrection Health Care, which operates six hospitals in Chicago and the suburbs, has signed a letter of intent to “explore merger” with Mokena-based Provena Health, which owns six hospitals in the suburbs and downstate. Get the full story »
Feb. 3 at 9:39 a.m.
Filed under:
M&A,
Updated
By Reuters
A group of hedge funds that owns a combined 9 percent stake in Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. said it would vote against Rock-Tenn Co.’s $3.5 billion deal to buy the packaging and paper company.
Third Point, Royal Capital Management and Monarch Alternative Capital said in a letter to Smurfit-Stone’s board on Wednesday that the company could go it alone and shareholders would be better off. Get the full story »
Feb. 3 at 8:00 a.m.
Filed under:
Construction,
M&A
From the Rochester Business Journal | Retrotech Inc., a Rochester, N.Y. area engineering firm has been acquired by Savoye Inc., a Chicago-based subsidiary of Savoye of Dijon, France, for an undisclosed sum. Savoye, a logistics engineering firm with 550 employees and more than 1,000 customers globally, logged sales of $110 million in 2009, the company reported. Get the full story>>
Feb. 2 at 12:23 p.m.
Filed under:
M&A,
Private equity,
Stock activity
By Becky Yerak
Merger and acquisition activity nationwide in 2010 was something to cheer about for the first time in years, a new report by William Blair & Co. shows.
The Chicago-based financial services firm said M&A activity rose for the first time in three years, with the total number of U.S. deals rising 32 percent, to 12,271, and the dollar volume rising 25 percent, to $1.097 trillion. Get the full story »
Feb. 1 at 5:53 a.m.
Filed under:
M&A
By Dow Jones Newswires
Illinois Tool Works Inc. expects business acquisitions in 2011 to bring the company $800 million to $1 billion a year in additional revenue, nearly double the amount from 2010.
Chairman and Chief Executive David Speer said the company’s pipeline of potential acquisitions steadily improved throughout 2010, allowing the company to step up its acquisition goal for 2011. Last year, the company bought 24 companies with combined annual revenues of $530 million. Prior to 2009, ITW had been averaging $1 billion a year in acquired revenue. But the economic recession soured the market for acquisitions. Get the full story »
Jan. 27 at 12:32 p.m.
Filed under:
Food,
M&A,
Packaged foods
By Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal
Sara Lee Corp. is pushing ahead with plans to separate its two main businesses, after offers from interested buyers came in below the company’s price expectations, people familiar with the matter said.
The expected move is likely to squelch what had been a mounting auction for the Downers Grove-based company. But it could set up opportunity for deals in the future. Get the full story »
Jan. 26 at 5:20 p.m.
Filed under:
Food,
M&A,
Packaged foods,
Stock activity
By Emily Bryson York
Stock in Downers Grove-based Sara Lee Corp. took a dive Wednesday amid uncertainty about the company’s future. It closed down 5.7 percent, to $18.52.
Investors have been lifting the stock to 52-week highs since early December on reports that the company is likely to be broken up or sold. Get the full story »
Jan. 26 at 3:37 p.m.
Filed under:
Airlines,
Airplanes,
Airports,
Earnings,
M&A
By Mary Ellen Podmolik
Passengers of United Continental Holdings Inc. should expect a more seamless flying experience by late spring on the recently merged United and Continental Airlines.
By the end of the second quarter, customers will be able to check in for flights at United or Continental counters, the carrier’s two Web sites will operate and sell tickets as an integrated network and the new branding strategy will be apparent, first at United’s hubs. Get the full story »
