ReportWire

Tag: Acquisitions/Mergers/Takeovers

  • The long-simmering rumor of Apple buying Disney is resurfacing as Bob Iger looks to sell assets

    The long-simmering rumor of Apple buying Disney is resurfacing as Bob Iger looks to sell assets

    Analysts got to the point early and often during a conference call late Wednesday: What are Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger’s M&A plans, particularly following reports that former Disney executives Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, now co-CEOs of Blackstone-backed Candle Media, have been retained in a “consulting capacity” to decide ESPN’s fate?

    There is even the unthinkable, unsinkable decades-old rumor floating about again: Could Apple Inc.
    AAPL,
    -0.90%
    acquire Disney
    DIS,
    -0.73%    ,
    as one Hollywood executive floated to the Hollywood Reporter?

    The prospect of an Apple-Disney combo seems far-fetched in a heated regulatory climate, where the Federal Trade Commission is attempting to crack down on Big Tech acquisitions, but it could happen should Disney sell off assets and Apple gobbles up Disney’s direct-to-consumer business that includes streaming service Disney+, some media analysts speculate. Apple could conceivably even buy ABC, which reportedly is on the block. But the path is long and circuitous.

    Yet the rumors persist, dating back to Apple co-founder Steve Jobs’ reverence for the Disney brand, and the increasingly overlapping businesses of both companies over the years.

    When pressed by analysts during a conference call late Wednesday, Iger declined to discuss the future of Disney’s structure or possible asset sales. When asked if Disney might “plausibly” be snapped up by one company — read Apple — an exasperated Iger said he would not “speculate” on the sale of Disney to a technology company or anyone else, given the current global stance of regulators. The FTC has aggressively challenged mergers from the likes of Microsoft Corp.
    MSFT,
    -1.17%
    and Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc.
    META,
    -2.38%    ,
    with limited success.

    Since Iger hinted at the potential sale of Disney’s assets in an interview with CNBC last month, rumors have swirled around ESPN.

    ESPN and related properties likely could command at least one-third of Disney’s current depressed market cap of about $150 billion, say some media watchers, though Iger has denied ESPN is for sale. He has acknowledged “the sports leader” is seeking “strategic partners” — possibly with the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL — to generate revenue. Late Tuesday, ESPN stuck up a deal with Penn Entertainment Inc.
    PENN,
    +9.10%
    to create ESPN Bet, a digital sportsbook to launch in the fall in 16 states.

    Read more: Penn dumps Barstool for ESPN-branded sports-gambling service

    Another possible property being dangled is ABC. But with rights to the NBA Finals and two Super Bowls in the next eight years, it is unclear who would acquire the network and how Disney would replace lucrative sports revenue.

    Other properties on the block include cable channels Freeform and Disney Channel, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

    “If an asset sale happens, will the proceeds be deployed into fortifying its balance sheet or beefing up its remaining operations?” Rick Munarriz, senior media analyst at The Motley Fool, said in an email.

    Disney, which is in the midst of a $5.5 billion cost-cutting campaign, is exploring several avenues to prop up sales as linear TV ads shrink, Disney+ subscriptions decline and attendance at Walt Disney World wanes.

    Read more: Disney posts smaller streaming loss amid cost-cutting moves, stock slips

    Shares of Disney are trading at half their highs from a few years ago, in large part because of dwindling sales and profits at ESPN and Disney’s other cable networks.

    Enter Mayer, who previously ran Disney’s strategic planning group for years and engineered a trifecta of mega deals: The acquisition of the aforementioned Pixar Animation Studios from Steve Jobs for $7.4 billion in 2006, the purchase of Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion in 2009, and the acquisition of Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion in 2012. Mayer also led the $71.3 billion acquisition of 20th Century Fox’s entertainment assets in 2019, which has drawn mixed reviews.

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  • Penn dumps Barstool for ESPN-branded sports-gambling service

    Penn dumps Barstool for ESPN-branded sports-gambling service

    Online sports-betting company Penn Entertainment Inc. sealed a $1.5 billion deal with Walt Disney Co.’s
    DIS,
    +1.50%
    ESPN to launch ESPN Bet, a branded sportsbook for fans in the U.S., and pivoted away from Barstool Sports on Tuesday, selling the platform back to founder Dave Portnoy.

    Penn Entertainment
    PENN,
    -0.68%
    will rebrand its current sportsbook and relaunch as ESPN Bet in the fall in 16 legalized-betting states where Penn is licensed.

    The rebrand — which includes the mobile app, website, and mobile website — sent Penn’s stock soaring 13% in after-hours trading Tuesday. ESPN Bet will benefit from exclusive promotional services across ESPN’s platforms, including access to ESPN talent, the companies said.

    Penn will pay ESPN $1.5 billion over 10 years as part of the strategic partnership, and will grant ESPN $500 million of warrants to purchase about 31.8 million Penn common shares, with additional bonus warrants possible.

     “Together, we can utilize each other’s strengths to create the type of experience that existing and new bettors will expect from both companies, and we can’t wait to get started,” Penn Entertainment Chief Executive Jay Snowden said in a release. 

    Penn also said it has divested 100% of its stake in Barstool Sports to Portnoy, allowing the sports media platform “to return to its roots of providing unique and authentic content to its loyal audience without the restrictions associated with a publicly traded, licensed gaming company.”

    For Penn, the ESPN partnership represents “a clear step up from Barstool in terms of mass appeal…and minimal regulatory risk,” according to Wells Fargo analyst Daniel Politzer, who said it was a “nearly impossible challenge for a publicly traded, licensed gaming company” to own “a media platform that thrived on viral/provocative content.”

    Still, he said in a note to clients that “it’s premature to conclude this is a game change” since past partnerships between online sports-betting companies and media players have come up short of what initial fanfare would’ve suggested.

    The news sent rival DraftKings Inc. shares
    DKNG,
    +0.25%
    sinking about 5% in after-hours trading.

     The decline in DraftKings shares comes as they’ve advanced 178% so far in 2023, through Tuesday’s close. Two analysts upgraded DraftKings’ stock just this week.

    See more: DraftKings’ stock has nearly tripled this year — and it just won a new fan

    Disney shares rose fractionally in after-hours trading.

    Mike Murphy contributed to this report.

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  • Puzzled by the stock-market surge? Overshoots are the new normal, Bank of America strategist says

    Puzzled by the stock-market surge? Overshoots are the new normal, Bank of America strategist says

    Stocks have surged this year without really anything going right, besides the rolling out of error-prone artificial intellligence chatbots. Interest rates have surged to a 22-year high, earnings are down from last year, and pandemic-era savings are being drawn down if not entirely exhausted.

    Read more: Those extra pandemic savings are now wiped out, Fed study finds.

    Strategists at Bank of America led by Michael Hartnett have an interesting theory.

    “Asset price overshoots [are] the new normal,” they say.

    Consider:

    • Oil
      CL00,
      -0.37%
      went from -$37 in April 2020 to $123 in March 2022, then down to $67 the following 12 months.

    • Bitcoin
      BTCUSD,
      +0.32%
      went from $5,000 in January 2020 to $68,000 in November 2021, down to $16,000 a year later, and up to $29,000 now.

    • The S&P 500 went from 3300 to 2200 to 4800 to 3500 to 4600 thus far in 2020s.

    “AI is simply the new overshoot,” they say.

    The S&P 500
    SPX,
    +0.67%
    has gained 18% this year as the Nasdaq Composite
    COMP,
    +1.53%
    has rallied by 34%.

    Hartnett and team noted that real retail sales — that is, adjusted for inflation — fell at a 1.6% year-over-year clip, which has coincided with recessions since 1967. Real retail sales falls in excess of 3% are associated with hard recessions.

    Historically, a 2-3 point rise in the savings rate also is recessionary, and already it’s risen from 3% to 4.6%. The unemployment rate so far hasn’t risen, though a 0.5 point to 1 point rise in the jobless rate also is typically recessionary.

    “It would be so ‘2020s’ for the economy to hit a brick wall just as everyone punts ‘soft landing’ into 2024,” they say.

    They like emerging market/commodities as summer upside plays and credit and tech as autumn downside plays.

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  • PacWest stock rockets nearly 40% after Banc of California confirms plan to buy troubled bank

    PacWest stock rockets nearly 40% after Banc of California confirms plan to buy troubled bank

    PacWest Bancorp’s stock jumped more than 38% in after-hours trading Tuesday after the company said it had agreed to be acquired by Banc of California Inc. in an all-stock merger backed by two private-equity firms. The merger comes as PacWest looks to put a rocky period behind it.

    Under the terms of the merger agreement, PacWest
    PACW,
    -27.04%
    stockholders will receive 0.6569 of a share of Banc of California common stock for each share of PacWest common stock. Based on closing prices on Tuesday, the deal values PacWest at $9.60 a share, a premium over its closing price of $7.67 a share on Tuesday.

    Warburg Pincus and Centerbridge will provide $400 million in equity.

    PacWest stockholders will own 47% of the outstanding shares of the combined company, while the private-equity investors will own 19% and Banc of California shareholders will have 34%.

    PacWest said that it is the company being acquired and that it will change its name to Banc of California. PacWest said it will be the “accounting acquirer,” with fair-value accounting applied to Banc of California’s balance sheet at closing.

    Banc of California CEO Jared Wolff will retain the same role at the combined company.

    The combined company will repay about $13 billion in wholesale borrowings to be funded by the sale of assets, “which are fully marked as a result of the transaction, and excess cash,” the companies said.

    The merged company is currently projecting about $36.1 billion in assets, $25.3 billion in total loans, $30.5 billion in total deposits and more than 70 branches in California.

    John Eggemeyer, the independent lead director at PacWest, will be chair of the board of the combined company following the merger.

    The board of directors of the combined company will consist of 12 directors: eight from the existing Banc of California board, three from the existing PacWest board and one from the pair of private-equity firms led by Warburg Pincus.

    Citing sources close to the deal, the Wall Street Journal had reported earlier that a tie-up was imminent.

    In regular trading Tuesday, PacWest’s stock ended 27% down; trading was halted for volatility following the report of the deal.

    Banc of California’s stock rose 11% but was later halted for news pending as well. The stock rose more than 9% in after-hours trading on Tuesday.

    At last check, PacWest’s market capitalization was about $1.2 billion, while Banc of California’s was about $764 million. Combined, the business would be worth about $2 billion.

    PacWest’s big share-price move on Tuesday marks the latest in a volatile few months for the Beverly Hills, Calif., bank, which was founded in 1999.

    Investors had speculated that the bank could be the next to fail after Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank failed in March and First Republic Bank was taken over by JPMorgan.

    Also on Tuesday, PacWest said it lost $207.4 million, or $1.75 a share, in its second quarter, as it got a hit from items related to loan sales and restructuring of its lending unit Civic. The loss contrasts with earnings of $122 million, or $1.02 a share, in the year-ago period.

    Analysts polled by FactSet expected the bank to report a loss of 58 cents a share in the quarter.

    PacWest disclosed in recent months that it was exploring strategic alternatives while it sold off parts of its business to raise cash to strengthen its balance sheet. It sold a loan portfolio to Ares Management Corp.
    ARES,
    +0.92%
    in a move to generate $2 billion.

    Also read: PacWest sells loan portfolio to Ares Management in deal that generates $2 billion ‘to improve liquidity’

    It also sold a portfolio of loans to Kennedy-Wilson Holdings Inc.
    KW,
    -1.70%    ,
    which then sold part of the portfolio to Canada’s Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd.
    FFH,
    +1.07%    .

    Also read: PacWest sparks regional-bank rally after unveiling plan to sell loans worth $2.6 billion

    In May, PacWest sold its real-estate lending portfolio to Roc360.

    Also in May, PacWest’s stock dropped more than 20% after it said it had lost 9.5% of its deposits amid market volatility.

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  • Digital World Acquisition stock soars, as the SPAC taking Donald Trump’s Truth Social public settles fraud charges

    Digital World Acquisition stock soars, as the SPAC taking Donald Trump’s Truth Social public settles fraud charges

    Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp.
    DWAC,
    -2.05%    ,
    the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) looking to take Donald Trump’s Truth Social media company public, soared 20% in premarket trading Friday, after the SPAC reached a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over fraud charges. The rally put the stock on track to open around the highest-price seen during regular-session hours since Feb. 6. The agreed upon settlement was a $18 million civil penalty fee in the event that it completes its planned  merger with the Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) and takes it public. The SPAC, which went public in September 2021, and entered into an agreement in October 2021 to buy TMTG. The SPAC’s stock has tumbled 59% over the past 12 months, while the S&P 500
    SPX,
    -0.68%
    has gained 13.4%.

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  • FTC files appeal, again seeks to block Microsoft-Activision deal

    FTC files appeal, again seeks to block Microsoft-Activision deal

    The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday asked an appeals court to temporarily block Microsoft Corp.’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc. while it challenges a ruling earlier this week green-lighting the deal.

    The FTC on Thursday asked U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley to postpone her ruling — which she promptly denied — and also appealed to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to pause the acquisition “to preserve the status quo” while the case is reviewed, claiming it is likely to succeed in its appeal.

    According to the filing, the FTC claims the judge applied the wrong legal standard to its request for a preliminary injunction, and erred in a number of other matters.

    The deal is set to close in the coming days, and letting it happen will “irreparably harm the public interest and the FTC,” regulators said.

    Also see: GOP blasts FTC Chair Khan as a ‘bully’ after agency’s loss in Microsoft case

    In a response filed with the court, Microsoft said the FTC “failed to carry its burden on independent, fact-based grounds” and “dragged its heels” before appealing.

    “The court has already found that it would be inequitable” to order an injunction that could lead to “the potential scuttling of the merger,” Microsoft said, in asking for the FTC’s request to be denied.

    The FTC has claimed the tie-up of a major videogame platform — Microsoft’s
    MSFT,
    +1.62%
     Xbox — with a major videogame publisher — Activision
    ATVI,
    -0.51%
     makes the wildly popular “Call of Duty,” among other titles — would be harmful to the videogame industry and consumers.

    Microsoft has pledged to keep “Call of Duty” available to Sony’s
    SONY,
    +2.82%
     PlayStation console for 10 years, and will make it available for Nintendo’s 
    7974,
    -0.36%
     Switch and some cloud-gaming platforms.

    In her ruling clearing the deal Tuesday, Corley said the FTC did not show “this particular vertical merger in this specific industry may substantially lessen competition.”

    Bloomberg News reported late Thursday that Microsoft and Activision are considering giving up some control of their cloud-gaming business in the U.K. to win approval of British regulators, who — if the U.S. appeals court does not act — are the final hurdle to the deal closing on time.

    FTC Chair Lina Khan testified on Capitol Hill on Thursday, where Republican lawmakers assailed her actions and sharply criticized her agency’s court losses in trying to block the Microsoft-Activision deal and Meta’s
    META,
    +1.32%
    acquisition of a virtual-reality gaming company earlier this year.

    Read more: After Microsoft defeat, ‘toothless’ FTC needs to pick better battles if it wants to rein in Big Tech

    Also: FTC’s probe of OpenAI marks key moment in Khan’s push to rein in Big Tech

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  • FTC will appeal judge’s ruling clearing Microsoft-Activision deal

    FTC will appeal judge’s ruling clearing Microsoft-Activision deal

    The Federal Trade Commission late Wednesday filed notice that it will appeal a judge’s ruling this week that gave Microsoft Corp. the green light to proceed with its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc.

    In a filing with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, the FTC is seeking to overturn U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley’s ruling Tuesday, which said the deal would not hurt competition.

    “The District Court’s ruling makes crystal clear that this acquisition is good for both competition and consumers,” Brad Smith, Microsoft’s vice chair and president, said in a statement.” We’re disappointed that the FTC is continuing to pursue what has become a demonstrably weak case, and we will oppose further efforts to delay the ability to move forward.” 

    The FTC has claimed the tie-up of a major videogame platform — Microsoft’s
    MSFT,
    +1.42%
    Xbox — with a major videogame publisher — Activision
    ATVI,
    -1.09%
    makes the wildly popular “Call of Duty,” among other titles — would be harmful to the videogame industry and consumers.

    “The facts haven’t changed,” an Activision spokesperson said Wednesday. “We’re confident the U.S. will remain among the 39 countries where the merger can close. We look forward to reinforcing the strength of our case in court, again.”

    Microsoft has pledged to keep “Call of Duty” available to Sony’s
    SONY,
    +1.78%
    PlayStation console for 10 years, and will make it available for Nintendo’s
    7974,
    +1.63%
    Switch and some cloud-gaming platforms.

    The deal faces a July 18 deadline, and still must gain regulatory approval in the U.K.

    Tuesday’s ruling was yet another antitrust setback for the FTC, which has failed to do much to rein in Big Tech, and one analyst told MarketWatch on Tuesday that the regulators need to do ” a much better job of picking their battles,”

    Read more: After Microsoft defeat, ‘toothless’ FTC needs to pick better battles if it wants to rein in Big Tech

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  • European Commission approves Broadcom’s $61 billion acquisition of VMware

    European Commission approves Broadcom’s $61 billion acquisition of VMware

    The European Commission has approved Broadcom Inc.’s
    AVGO,
    +0.49%
    acquisition of VMware Inc.
    VMW,
    +5.19%    ,
    sending VMware’s stock up 2.3% premarket. Broadcom, which makes chip and infrastructure software, announced the $61 billion deal to buy VMware in May 2022, but the deal has been the subject of regulatory scrutiny ever since. It has now been granted legal merger clearance in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and Taiwan, and foreign investment control clearance in all necessary jurisdictions, the company said Wednesday. Broadcom “looks forward to continuing to work constructively with regulators around the world. Broadcom is confident that when regulators conclude their review, they too will see that the combination of Broadcom and VMware will enhance competition in the cloud and benefit enterprise customers by giving them more choice and control over where they locate their workloads,” said the company. It still expects to close the deal in fiscal 2023. Broadcom’s stock was up 0.6% premarket.

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  • After Microsoft defeat, ‘toothless’ FTC needs to pick better battles if it wants to rein in Big Tech

    After Microsoft defeat, ‘toothless’ FTC needs to pick better battles if it wants to rein in Big Tech

    The U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s defeat as it sought to block Microsoft Corp.’s acquisition of videogame maker Activision Blizzard is yet another setback for an increasingly toothless regulator that needs to pick better battles with Big Tech.

    On Tuesday morning, a federal judge denied the FTC’s injunction that was seeking to block the software giant’s proposed $69 billion acquisition of Activision
    ATVI,
    +10.02%    ,
    best known for its hit videogame “Call of Duty.” The FTC argued that Microsoft
    MSFT,
    +0.19%
    could withhold “Call of Duty” and other Activision games from rival console platforms such as Sony’s PlayStation, and keep the games on its Xbox only.

    Microsoft, in a show of faith, committed in writing to keep “Call of Duty” on PlayStation on parity with Xbox for 10 years, agreed with Nintendo
    7974,
    +1.10%
    to bring “Call of Duty” to Switch and entered into several pacts to bring Activision content to several cloud gaming services, U.S. District Court Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley noted in her decision.

    “With these 10-year contracts that Microsoft made across the board with so many vendors, Nvidia
    NVDA,
    +0.53%    ,
    Nintendo and others, 10 years is a really long time, in my opinion,” said Sarah Hindlian-Bowler, an analyst at Macquarie Equity Research, in an interview Tuesday. “It is long enough to cover the arrival and maturity of the cloud gaming market….She understands  that 10 years is a very long long time to make a guarantee of this kind.”

    Also read: Regulators face an antitrust dilemma after Meta launches Threads

    Hindlian-Bowler said that she had been in the minority of Wall Street analysts in not believing the U.S. government would be able to block this deal.

    “The assumption that this somehow decreases the market is going to prove to be wildly incorrect,” she said, adding that she does not believe that the U.K.’s  Competition and Markets Authority will be able to block the deal either.

    The latest upset at the FTC was also not too surprising to other Capitol Hill watchers, especially in the light of other high-profile setbacks by the agency and its once-heralded commissioner, Lina Khan. When she was sworn in as chair of the FTC in mid-2021, Khan was hailed as the sheriff who would rein in Big Tech.

    “It’s hard to say I am surprised by the ruling because Khan has had a fairly unsuccessful track record,” said Owen Tedford, a senior research analyst at Beacon Policy Advisors. “The regulators are pushing the boundaries, deals that previously would have gone unchallenged have now gone challenged. And they are breaking precedent because Khan and company have expressed a dislike of settlements.”

    The FTC’s attempts to sue Meta Platforms Inc.
    META,
    +1.42%
    have had some defeats so far. In February, a California judge denied the FTC’s attempts to block Meta from buying a virtual-reality startup called Within Unlimited. The FTC’s suit to reverse Meta’s acquisitions of WhatsApp and Instagram, filed in 2021, is still plodding along.

    Additionally, the FTC recently filed a suit against Amazon.com Inc.
    AMZN,
    +1.30%    ,
    alleging that it is too difficult for consumers to cancel their Prime accounts, and the agency is reportedly also mulling another far-reaching suit against Amazon alleging that the e-commerce giant punishes merchants who do not use its logistics services. One analyst has already made a case that the FTC will lose that fight too.

    “I think that the FTC is in need of some change, in need of some refreshing and in need of doing a much better job of picking their battles,” said Hindlian-Bowler. “This does feel toothless, a lot of the fights they are picking are toothless. And unfortunately, they are missing the real battle. They are missing TikTok, they are missing the real fights where we actually have national security at risk.”

    In February, one of the Republican commissioners on the FTC resigned, and wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal accusing Khan of disregarding the rule of law and due process.

    Compared to the European Union, which has had far more success implementing regulation to rein in Big Tech, the U.S. is still much weaker. “The EU seems to be having somewhat more success, levying big fines, getting these companies to change,” said Beacon’s Tedford. “The EU has passed these bills, but the U.S., despite these efforts, has not gotten there and is not going to get there for the next two years.”

    Money spent by Big Tech to lobby Congress in a huge part of the problem, whereas in Europe, “those lawmakers feel less beholden,” he added.

    More than a century ago, President Teddy Roosevelt, known for his “speak softly and carry a big stick” foreign policy, also used his bully pulpit to bust industrial monopolies.

    If Khan and her staff want to follow his lead and rein in Big Tech, they need to start picking their future battles more carefully — and carry bigger sticks.

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  • Brookfield Reinsurance to acquire remaining shares of AEL in $4.3 billion cash-and-stock deal

    Brookfield Reinsurance to acquire remaining shares of AEL in $4.3 billion cash-and-stock deal

    Brookfield Reinsurance Ltd.
    BNRE,
    -0.63%
    has agreed to acquire the shares of American Equity Investment Life Holding Co.
    AEL,
    -0.69%    ,
    or AEL, it does not already own in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $4.3 billion. Under the terms of the deal, AEL shareholders will receive $55 per AEL share, consisting of $38.83 in cash and 0.49797 of a Brookfield Asset Management Ltd.
    BAM,
    +0.25%
    class A limited voting share with a value of $16.15, subject to adjustment. The price is equal to a 35% premium over AEL’s undisturbed closing share price on June 23, and a 42% premium to AEL’s 90-day volume-weighted average price as of that date. “This transaction represents an important step in the continued growth of our insurance business, further diversifying, and scaling, our insurance capabilities, and is a direct result of the partnership we have developed with AEL since our initial investment in 2020,” said Brookfield Reinsurance CEO Sachin Shah in a statement. The deal is expected to close in the first half and will not be dilutive to BAM, BN or Brookfield Reinsurance. Once ti closes, AEL shares will be delisted from the NYSE. AEL’s stock rose 2.4% premarket.

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  • Judge temporarily blocks Microsoft’s $69 billion purchase of Activision

    Judge temporarily blocks Microsoft’s $69 billion purchase of Activision

    A federal judge late Tuesday approved a request by the Federal Trade Commission to temporarily block Microsoft Corp.’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc.

    U.S. District Judge Edward Davila in San Francisco issued a temporary restraining order in order to “maintain the status quo,” and set a evidentiary hearing to be held June 22-23 on whether a preliminary injunction should be issued.

    The deal was set to be finalized as soon as this Friday. Tuesday’s order said the deal may not close until at least five days after the court’s preliminary injunction ruling.

    The acquisition has raised antitrust concerns that Microsoft
    MSFT,
    +0.74%    ,
    with its Xbox gaming console, could withhold hit Activision Blizzard
    ATVI,
    +1.17%
    videogame franchises such as “Call of Duty” and “Overwatch” from competing console platforms.

    On Monday, the FTC filed for a restraining order and injunction to block the deal, arguing “a preliminary injunction is necessary to maintain the status quo and prevent interim harm to competition.”

    “This loss of competition would likely result in significant harm to consumers in multiple markets at a pivotal time for the industry,” the FTC said in its filing Monday.

    In a statement Tuesday evening, a Microsoft spokesperson said: “Accelerating the legal process in the U.S will ultimately bring more choice and competition to the gaming market. A temporary restraining order makes sense until we can receive a decision from the court, which is moving swiftly.” 

    While EU regulators approved the deal in May, British regulators have tentatively scheduled appeal hearings after saying in April they would prohibit the purchase.

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  • Manchester United shares leap on report Qatari suitor to be named preferred bidder

    Manchester United shares leap on report Qatari suitor to be named preferred bidder

    Manchester United shares
    MANU,
    +3.98%
    jumped 17% in premarket trade following a report from Qatar’s Al-Watan that Qatar’s Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani will soon be announced as the preferred bidder. He has been battling Jim Ratcliffe for control of the club after the controlling Glazer family said they would consider selling.

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  • Nasdaq stock dives after deal to buy Adenza for $10.5 billion in cash and stock from Thoma Bravo

    Nasdaq stock dives after deal to buy Adenza for $10.5 billion in cash and stock from Thoma Bravo

    Shares of Nasdaq Inc.
    NDAQ,
    +0.28%
    dove 5.1%, enough to pace the S&P 500’s premarket decliners Monday, after the securities trading, clearing and listing company announced an agreement to buy software company Adenza for $10.5 billion in cash and stock from Thoma Bravo. The terms of the deal include $5.75 billion in cash and 85.6 million shares of Nasdaq common stock, which will be issued to the owners of Adenza after closing of the deal, expected to occur within six to nine months. The number of shares represents 17.4% of Nasdaq’s shares outstanding. Nasdaq plans to issue 5.9 billion of debt for the cash portion of the deal. “With Adenza, we will have a more complete suite of essential software and technology solutions that make managing risks and complying with regulations simpler and more efficient for our clients,” said Tal Cohen, president of market platforms at Nasdaq. Adenza is expected to have $590 million of revenue in 2023, with annual recurring revenue growth of 18%. Nasdaq’s stock has lost 5.7% year to date through Friday, while the S&P 500
    SPX,
    +0.11%
    has gained 12.0%.

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  • Circor’s stock rockets toward 4-year high after buyout deal with KKR valued at $1.6 billion, including debt

    Circor’s stock rockets toward 4-year high after buyout deal with KKR valued at $1.6 billion, including debt

    Shares of Circor International Inc.
    CIR,
    +8.46%
    rocketed 49.2% toward a four-year high in premarket trading Monday, after the flow control products company announced a deal to be acquired by KKR & Co. Inc.
    KKR,
    +2.29%
    in a cash deal valued at $1.6 billion, including debt. KKR’s stock was still inactive ahead of the open. Under terms of the deal, Circor shareholders will receive $49 for each Circor share they own, which represents a 54.7% premium to Friday’s closing price of $31.67, and implies a market capitalization for Circor of $999.1 million. The deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2023, follows a strategic review Circor initiated in March 2022. “We believe that this transaction and the immediate cash value it will provide to Circor’s stockholders best achieves the Board’s goal of unlocking the significant incremental value within Circor for its stockholders,” said Circor Chairman Helmuth Ludwig. Circor’s stock has soared 32.2% year to date through Friday, while KKR shares have run up 15.5% and the S&P 500
    SPX,
    +1.45%
    has advanced 11.5%.

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  • PacWest sells its real-estate lending business to Roc360

    PacWest sells its real-estate lending business to Roc360

    PacWest Bancorp will sell its real-estate lending arm to Roc360, as the beleaguered regional bank moves to refocus on its core business.

    The deal, first reported late Tuesday by the Wall Street Journal, comes a day after Los Angeles-based PacWest
    PACW,
    +7.74%
    unveiled a plan to sell a $2.6 billion portfolio of real-estate construction loans.

    In a statement Tuesday night, Roc360 said it will buy PacWest’s Civic Financial Services unit for an undisclosed sum. Roc360 will take on the unit’s business operations, but not its previously extended loans or loan-servicing operations.

    “In the face of market difficulties, we continue to expand and develop more products and services for real-estate investors,” Roc360 Chief Executive Arvind Raghunathan said in a statement. “We believe that America’s housing stock is severely undersupplied, with more than 50% of homes in deferred maintenance, lacking the modern-day energy efficiencies that our clients install with each loan they take from us. We will continue to prudently expand and invest for long-term solutions to these structural problems.”

    New York-based Roc360 is a financial services platform for residential real-estate investors, and includes the brands Roc Capital, Finance of America Commercial, ElmSure, Wimba Title and Tamarisk Appraisals.

    On Tuesday, PacWest shares jumped 8% on news of Monday’s loan sale, which also fueled gains among other regional-bank stocks.

    PacWest shares have sunk nearly 70% year to date, amid a wider downturn by regional banks following the failures of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank.

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  • Shutterstock to buy Giphy from Meta Platforms for $53 million in cash

    Shutterstock to buy Giphy from Meta Platforms for $53 million in cash

    Shares of Shutterstock Inc.
    SSTK,
    +3.46%
    rallied 4.4% in premarket trading Tuesday, after the digital media and marketing company announced an agreement to buy GIF and stickers company Giphy Inc. from Meta Platforms Inc.
    META,
    -0.29%
    for $53 million in cash. Meta shares slipped 0.2% ahead of the open. As part of the deal, Meta has entered into an application programming interface (API) agreement with Shutterstock, to ensure continued access to Giphy’s content across Meta’s social-media platforms. Shutterstock said the deal, which is expected to close in June, should add “minimal revenue” in 2023. The company will fund the deal with cash-on-hand and with its revolving credit facility. The stock has tumbled 28.9% over the past three months through Monday while Meta shares of soared 44.3% and the S&P 500
    SPX,
    -0.39%
    has gained 4.5%.

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  • Regional banks slump after report Yellen told bank leaders more mergers may be needed

    Regional banks slump after report Yellen told bank leaders more mergers may be needed

    The KBW Regional Bank index
    KRX,
    -2.62%
    slumped over 3%, after a report from CNN that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told bank chief executives than more mergers may be necessary. The CNN report, citing two people familiar with the matter, raises the prospect that more regional banks would have to be bought by larger too-big-to-fail firms. The Treasury Department confirmed the meeting on Thursday but its readout did not include the point about the possible need for further mergers.

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  • Fanatics to buy PointsBet’s U.S. sports-betting business for $150 million

    Fanatics to buy PointsBet’s U.S. sports-betting business for $150 million

    Fanatics Inc. will buy the U.S. operations of Australia’s PointsBet for about $150 million, in the company’s largest foray yet into sports betting.

    PointsBet
    PBH,
    -18.70%
    announced the deal Sunday night, specifying that the acquisition only applies to PointsBet’s U.S. assets, not its businesses in Australia and Canada. CNBC first reported the deal. Fanatics did not immediately reply to MarketWatch’s request for comment Sunday night.

    PointsBet is an online sportsbook that launched in the U.S. in 2019, and operates in 15 states, including New Jersey, Iowa, Illinois and Colorado.

    “Despite the strategic success building a valuable asset in the U.S., the costs of operating in a state-by-state environment, together with the requirement to build significant scale to compete against well capitalized operators, led us to explore a number of options,” PointsBet Chief Executive Sam Swanell said in a statement. “The sale of the U.S. Business to Fanatics Betting and Gaming delivers the most attractive risk-adjusted value outcome for shareholders compared to the risks and benefits of other options including the status quo.”

    PointsBet shareholders are expected to vote on the sale at their annual meeting in late June.

    The deal should increase pressure on U.S. sports-gambling companies such as DraftKings Inc.
    DKNG,
    -1.96%
    and FanDuel. In late April, Fanatics launched sportsbook wagering for its customers in Ohio and Tennessee, and the Wall Street Journal reported at the time that the company pans to invest about $1 billion in its new sports-betting division.

    In an interview, Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin told the Journal he wants Fanatics to be the world’s top sports-betting company within the next 10 years, and expects its betting operations to be profitable by 2025 or 2026.

    In December, Florida-based Fanatics — which got its start in sports apparel and collectibles — closed a $700 million funding round, valuing it at about $31 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported. The privately held company is expected to eventually launch an IPO.

    Last year, Fanatics acquired trading-card company Topps.

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  • Swedish Orphan Biovitrum to acquire CTI BioPharma in a deal valued at $1.7 billion

    Swedish Orphan Biovitrum to acquire CTI BioPharma in a deal valued at $1.7 billion

    Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB SE:SOBI on Wednesday announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire U.S.-based CTI BioPharma Corp. CTIC in a deal valued at $1.7 billion. The Stockholm-based drugmaker said it will offer $9.10 for each share of CTI, which focuses on blood-related cancers and rare diseases. The offer represents a premium of 88.8% over CTI’s the Tuesday closing price of $4.82 per share. “CTI represents a perfect fit for Sobi’s haematology franchise today, adding a powerful and highly differentiated new product that will make a significant difference for patients”, said Guido Oelkers, president and…

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  • PacWest stock plummets more than 50% after report of potential sale; other bank stocks fall too

    PacWest stock plummets more than 50% after report of potential sale; other bank stocks fall too

    PacWest Bancorp PACW shares tumbled more than 50% in after-hours trading Wednesday, taking other bank stocks with it after a report that the company’s executives were weighing a possible sale.

    The report, from Bloomberg News, adds to the concerns over the financial stability of regional banks, following the collapse in March of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, and the sale of First Republic Bank to JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM this week. PacWest’s shares have been diving this week in the wake of First Republic’s collapse….

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