Deals wrap: Teva trumps rival to win Cephalon bid
The world’s largest generic drugmaker, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries plans to buy U.S. specialty drugmaker Cephalon for $6.8 billion, topping an unsolicited bid by Canadian rival Valeant Pharmaceuticals International.
Warner Music’s $3 billion buyout could be done by the end of the week, according to a person familiar with the matter. Final buyout bids for the company are due today. Warner Music’s board effectively put itself up for sale in January when it appointed Goldman Sachs and AGM Partners to assess interest from external parties.
Danisco, the Danish food ingredients and enzymes producer urged shareholders to accept a higher takeover bid from chemicals group DuPont as fund managers welcomed the “decent offer” and said it would likely succeed. DuPont raised its offer for Danisco by 5 percent to 700 Danish crowns ($139) per share from 665, making its cash offer worth $6.64 billion.
Arch Coal said it will acquire International Coal Group in a $3.4 billion all-cash transaction to create the second-largest U.S. producer of steel-making coal. The news boosted International Coal shares in premarket trading.
Quest Diagnostics announced last month it would buy genetic-testing firm Celera Corp for $671 million, but word of a crucial scientific study helped the company negotiate a nearly $200 million discount in its deal. In this Wall Street Journal article, author John Jannarone asks, just how did Quest learn of the study months prior to its official publication?
Deals wrap: Nasdaq triumphant?
Nasdaq OMX and IntercontinentalExchange unveiled a rival bid to buy NYSE Euronext for about $11.3 billion in cash and stock, a 19 percent premium to the offer made by German competitor Deutsche Boerse. The move could raise new antitrust questions as it would combine the two largest U.S. stock exchanges. The new offer is valued at $42.50 per share, Nasdaq and IntercontinentalExchange said. The offer represents a 19 percent premium to NYSE’s closing price on Thursday and is 27 percent above the company’s valuation before Deutsche Boerse’s $10.2 billion bid in February. Analysts were skeptical about whether Deutsche Boerse would launch a counterbid.
Citigroup might be uncomfortable sitting on information needed to determine whether the onetime successor to Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett violated securities laws when he personally traded in shares of Lubrizol, which Berkshire acquired for $9 billion, but it doesn’t have to be damaging territory for Citi, writes Rob Cox.
No.1 concert promoter and ticketing company Live Nation Entertainment is in the running to buy the recorded music assets of Warner Music Group, the world’s third largest music company, according to a person familiar with the talks. Bids have come in valuing Warner Music Group at around $3 billion on an enterprise value basis, which includes both debt and equity.
Canadian satellite company Telesat Holdings is weighing takeover offers from EchoStar and Carlyle Group, and may decide on a possible sale in the coming days, according to Bloomberg. EchoStar agreed to buy Hughes Communications for $2 billion including debt in February.
Huffington Post columnist and non-executive board chair of the Mobius Life Science Fund Lucy Marcus compiled a list of the 100 Most Influential VCs, Angels and Investors for the new, social decade, writes PE Hub’s Mark Boslet. Union Square Ventures’ Fred Wilson at number 3 and blogger investor Paul Kedrosky at number 4 might not come as a surprise. But Kevin Rose, Digg founder, at the top of the chart and Twitter investor Chris Sacca number 2 are questionable, according to Boslet.
Deals wrap: A rock & roll deal
Warner Music Group is looking for potential buyers and Goldman Sachs is advising on the process, a source familiar with the matter said.
Rumbles of shareholder dissent show drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis is walking a tightrope as it enters the endgame in its drawn-out bid for biotech Genzyme.
A group of companies led by Brazilian beef processor JBS has arranged a financing package to bid for all or parts of Sara Lee, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters.
Success is bringing new headaches for small hedge funds, reports the NYT.
Just the ticket
Will Ticketmaster’s new duet fend off a hot rival and help it rise above an economic climate that makes pricey concert tickets seem like an extravagance?
The ticketing giant has announced a complex deal to acquire top artist-management agency Front Line, home to artists including Christina Aguilera, the Eagles and Neil Diamond. Front Line honcho Irving Azoff will run the combined company — raising questions about how Ms. Aguilera’s manager will negotiate her ticketing fees with himself.
Ticketmaster already owns a minority stake in Front Line, and will pay $123 million to Warner Music Group for an additional 30 percent stake, as the Wall Street Journal was the first to report.
As the music industry has crumbled, the concert business has been one of the sole bright spots in recent years. But with a global recession getting top billing and upstart rival Live Nation scooping up exclusive deals with artists like Madonna, it could be a tough act for Ticketmaster to follow.
Are you less likely to go to concerts now that the economy is looking grim? Leave you answer in the comments section.
DEALS OF THE DAY
** New Zealand’s Port of Tauranga is expecting rival Ports of Auckland to bid for its container business, it said, as a declining shipping business has port operators looking at consolidation.
I went to the Bright Things AGM yesterday and have to say I am very impressed with the team they have got together as well as their energy, clear business plan and understanding of the market they work in
The deal with Widgetlaboratory mentioned in the article above looks like it’s going to be of huge benefit for the development of their network making tool website, http://www.socialgo.com
Excellent to see a microcap minnow actually doing well during these torrid market conditions
