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Tag: Mergers and acquisitions

  • Netflix backs out of bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, giving studios, HBO, and CNN to Ellison-owned Paramount | TechCrunch

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    In a flurry of deal offers in the high tens of billions of dollars, the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery is over. David Ellison-owned Paramount will acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.

    On Thursday, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that Paramount Skydance’s newest offer of $31 a share was a “superior proposal,” giving Netflix four business days to counter. Netflix then said it would not raise its $82.7 billion all-cash bid for the legacy studio, and would walk away from the deal.

    “The transaction we negotiated would have created shareholder value with a clear path to regulatory approval,” said Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters in a statement Thursday. “However, we’ve always been disciplined, and at the price required to match Paramount Skydance’s latest offer, the deal is no longer financially attractive, so we are declining to match the Paramount Skydance bid.”

    Per the terms of the original deal, Warner Bros. Discovery will have to pay a $2.8 billion termination fee to Netflix to end the existing agreement. Paramount’s renewed offer — backed by the world’s sixth-richest person, Oracle’s executive chair, and David Ellison’s father, Larry Ellison — includes paying that breakup fee.

    The new deal will see Paramount, which was bought just last year by Ellison’s Skydance Media with heavy financial backing from his father, acquiring the entirety of Warner Bros. Discovery, including its studios, HBO, its streaming service, its games and entertainment divisions, and linear television networks like CNN, TBS, TNT, Discovery, and HGTV.

    Ellison, whose Paramount already owns major studios, entertainment, and news businesses, has warned of significant job cuts. His ownership of news network CBS has also attracted controversy and has largely been seen as a sympathetic turn toward the Trump administration, with reporting critical of the administration shelved or facing increased scrutiny by Ellison and CBS’s editor-in-chief, the conservative provocateur Bari Weiss. Larry Ellison is a major donor and supporter of President Trump.

    Netflix had announced its intent to acquire WBD in December, offering nearly $83 billion for its studios and streaming service alone. Despite several hostile takeover bids by Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery reaffirmed to shareholders its belief that Netflix’s offer was superior to Paramount’s, which offered $108 billion for the full company including its linear television networks. Paramount’s newest bid, of $31 a share, values WBD at about $111 billion.

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    Paramount will take on the about $33 billion in debt held by Warner Bros. Discovery, according to the deal. Larry Ellison, whose net worth is $201 billion, according to Bloomberg, has agreed to supply the additional equity to fulfill Paramount’s bid. Paramount’s market cap is about $12 billion.

    The deal is also being financed by a $57.5 billion debt commitment from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citi, and Apollo Global Management.

    Netflix shares jumped as much as 10% in after-hours trading in New York. Shares in Paramount were up 4.5%.

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    Graham Starr

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  • Demetriou: When to pursue acquisitions over organic growth | Long Island Business News

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    In Brief:
    • Companies typically pursue growth through organic expansion, acquisitions or a strategic mix of both.
    • builds brand equity and stability but requires patience and disciplined measurement.
    • Acquisitions can rapidly accelerate growth but carry risks tied to culture, operations and integration.
    • The strongest long-term strategies balance steady organic growth with selective, well-aligned acquisitions.

    Consolidation and expansion are a way of life for leaders of mature companies. The aches and pains of early-stage client growth give way to established processes and predictable production that sustain day-to-day cash flow and operations. It can be a comfortable place to be, except for the persistent “grow or die” adage that shadows nearly every leadership conversation.

    The paths to growth, simply put, are organic growth and acquisitions.

    Organic growth is typically the slower of the two choices. It achieves a perpetual trickle of new clients and incremental sales. All systems—advertising, marketing, , content, referrals and direct selling—are designed to attract new customers and drive revenue. Success requires closely monitoring KPIs and other performance metrics to ensure whether growth justifies the effort and expense. Done correctly, organic growth builds brand equity, strengthens culture and reinforces operational discipline. Done poorly, it becomes expensive noise.

    One of the most critical KPIs in evaluating organic growth is . Simply put, you land one new client who spends $50,000 annually, and your median client stays with your company for five years, presenting $250,000 in total revenue.

    Top-line numbers alone can be misleading. If that client contributes 15% to the bottom line, the long-term profit is $37,500. That figure becomes especially revealing when weighed against rising customer acquisition and marketing costs.

    Organic growth also demands patience. Markets fluctuate. Competitive pressures intensify. Client decision cycles lengthen. Leadership must be prepared to continually reinvest in talent, technology, and brand visibility while resisting the temptation to declare victory too early or abandon strategy too soon. Sustainable organic growth is not a campaign—it is a system.

    Acquiring a competitor or a synergistic company is not quite as simple, but it can be a powerful accelerator.  Strategic acquisitions can rapidly increase revenue, expand client bases, enhance capacity, add intellectual property, and secure key talent. When executed effectively, acquisitions compress years of organic effort into months.

    Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity advances the growth timeline. In one fell swoop, companies can gain stature, institutional recognition for funding of further expansion and the critical mass needed to compete at a higher level. Scale matters. Larger organizations often command better vendor terms, attract stronger talent and enjoy increased credibility with enterprise clients.

    That said, acquisitions carry risk. Cultural mismatch, client attrition, operational redundancy and leadership conflict can quickly erode anticipated value. Effective due diligence must extend beyond financial statements to include client concentration, employee dependency, systems compatibility and cultural alignment. Buying revenue without understanding the people and processes behind it is a costly mistake.

    The most successful growth strategies rarely rely on one track alone. Companies that thrive over the long-term balance disciplined organic growth with selective acquisitions aligned to strategic objectives. Organic systems provide stability and predictability. Strategic acquisitions provide acceleration and optionality.

    Leadership’s role is to know when patience is required and when boldness is warranted. Growth for growth’s sake is reckless. Stagnation disguised as comfort is equally dangerous. The mandate is clarity: Understand your numbers, your market, your people and your appetite for risk.

    In the end, growth is not a singular event but a continuous decision. Whether organic, acquisitive, or a thoughtful combination of both, expansion remains the lifeblood of relevance. Companies that recognize this reality—and act with discipline and intent—position themselves not merely to survive, but to lead.

     

    Greg Demetriou is the owner/CEO of Lorraine Gregory Communications in Edgewood.


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  • Smithfield Foods to buy LI-based Nathan’s Famous for $450M | Long Island Business News

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    Frankie, the mascot for Nathan’s Famous hot dogs, excites the audience at the official weigh-in ceremony, ahead of the Coney Island’s 2025 Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest in New York City on July 3, 2025. / REUTERS file photo by Angelina Katsanis

    U.S. will buy century-old in a $450 million deal that adds the most iconic U.S. hot dog name to its portfolio of brands, the company said Wednesday. 

    Smithfield Foods is the licensee of Nathan’s Famous pre-packaged , selling a wide variety of these beef franks at more than 20,000 supermarkets and wholesale club stores nationwide. 

    Smithfield will pay $102 per share, a nearly 10% premium to Nathan’s close on Tuesday.  Nathan’s shares were up about 9% at $100.94 in premarket trading. 

    Smithfield already holds an exclusive license to manufacture and sell Nathan’s Famous products in the United States and Canada and at Sam’s Club stores in Mexico. 

    Shares of Smithfield, a majority-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed rose about 2%. The stock gained roughly 6% in 2025 after its market debut. 

    Nathan’s Famous, which has its headquarters at One Jericho Plaza in Jericho, began as a hot dog stand in 1916, founded by immigrant Nathan Handwerker with $300 borrowed from entertainers Jimmy Durante and Eddie Cantor, and initially sold hot dogs for 5 cents. The brand later expanded nationwide under the leadership of Handwerker’s son, Murray. 

    The brand is known for its annual hot dog-eating competition held at Nathan’s Coney Island on July 4 every year, where winners are awarded a “mustard belt” for eating the most hot dogs. Last year, Joey Chestnut was declared the men’s champion after he devoured 70.5 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes, according to the company’s website.  

     “The Nathan’s Famous acquisition is a meaningful step in the progression of Smithfield Foods, allowing us to own all of the top brands in our portfolio,” Smithfield CEO Shane Smith said.  

    The deal is expected to close in the first half of this year, Smithfield said. 


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  • Allegiant Air to acquire Sun Country Airlines in $1.5B deal

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    LAS VEGAS — Allegiant Air said it will acquire Sun Country Airlines in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $1.5 billion, including debt, in a move combining two low-cost U.S. carriers focused on leisure travel.

    Executives at both carriers said their route networks complement each other and that the larger airline would increase affordable travel options for passengers. The merged airline will serve about 175 cities with more than 650 routes and a fleet of roughly 195 aircraft, the companies told investors Monday.

    “Allegiant and Sun Country have both shown that our leisure-focused, flexible capacity models are strong, thriving and consistently profitable, which gives me great confidence in the potential benefits of combining our organizations,” Allegiant CEO Gregory Anderson said.

    The deal still needs approval from regulators and Sun Country shareholders. It is expected to close in the second half of 2026.

    The airlines said travelers shouldn’t expect any immediate changes and can continue booking and flying with either carrier as they normally do. Ticketing, flight schedules, the overall travel experience and the Sun Country brand will remain the same for now.

    The merged airline will operate under the Allegiant name and will be headquartered in Las Vegas. It will also maintain a significant presence in the Minneapolis–St. Paul area, where Sun Country is based, while also continuing to operate Sun Country’s charter and cargo businesses, the companies said.

    Anderson will lead the combined airline as CEO, and Sun Country CEO Jude Bricker will join the company’s board of directors.

    “I’ve had the privilege of working at both companies and can say that based on those experiences, this is a tremendous fit across the board,” said Bricker, who previously served as Allegiant’s chief operating officer in 2016 and 2017.

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  • Paramount’s next target in hostile takeover bid of Warner Bros. is a board of its own making

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    NEW YORK — Paramount Skydance is taking another step in its hostile takeover bid of Warner Bros. Discovery, saying Monday that it will name its own slate of directors before the next shareholder meeting of the Hollywood studio.

    Paramount also filed a suit in Delaware Chancery Court seeking to compel Warner Bros. to disclose to shareholders how it values its bid and the competing offer from Netflix.

    Warner Bros. is in the middle of a bidding war between Paramount and Netflix. Warner’s leadership has repeatedly rebuffed overtures from Skydance-owned Paramount — and urged shareholders to back the sale of its streaming and studio business to Netflix for $72 billion. Paramount, meanwhile, has made efforts to sweeten its $77.9 billion hostile offer for the entire company.

    Last week, Warner Bros. Discovery said its board determined Paramount’s offer is not in the best interests of the company or its shareholders. It again recommended shareholders support the Netflix deal.

    David Ellison, the chairman and CEO of Paramount Skydance, said Monday that it’s committed to seeing through its tender offer. “We do not undertake any of these actions lightly,” he said in a letter to shareholders of Warner Bros.

    Warner Bros. has yet to schedule its annual meeting or a special meeting to consider the Netflix offer, and Paramount did not name any potential candidates for the board.

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  • 8 of the Biggest (and Most Interesting) Deals of 2025

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    When it came to investments, mergers and acquisitions, 2025 was a particularly busy year. More importantly, perhaps, it was also a year with some very interesting deals.

    In the first nine months of 2025, global M&A activity was up 10 percent over what it was in the same period in 2024, despite the headwinds of geopolitical tensions and tariff policies that seemed to change every few weeks. The tech sector was especially busy with deal-making this year as companies looked to find a way to leverage the AI boom.

    But some activity stood out from the rest. Here’s a look at the deals that made this year so unique.

    Intel and the U.S. government

    The Trump Administration surprised both the tech world and Wall Street in August, announcing that the federal government was taking a 10 percent stake in the chipmaker. (That was especially astonishing, as Trump had, just weeks before, strongly criticized Intel’s CEO on social media, saying he was “highly CONFLICTED and must resign.”)

    The government picked up 433.3 million shares of non-voting stock priced at $20.47 apiece, making it one of the company’s largest shareholders. The deal has already paid off, with the government’s stake now worth nearly $9 billion more than it paid for the stock.

    Stargate

    OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle, in January, jointly announced a massive AI data center project called “Stargate,” in which the companies plan to invest up to $500 billion over the coming years to develop AI infrastructure in the U.S. 

    Stargate, the companies said, will create 100,000 jobs. Plans were announced in September for five new AI data centers. Stargate will be set up as a separate company, which OpenAI said in a social media post “will not only support the re-industrialization of the United States but also provide a strategic capability to protect the national security of America and its allies.”

    OpenAI and Oracle

    In September, OpenAI signed a contract with Oracle to purchase $300 billion in computing power over the next five years, one of the largest cloud contracts ever. The contact will begin in 2027, but it did draw some concern from some analysts, who noted the value of the deal was much greater than OpenAI’s current revenue and Oracle will need to take on substantial debt to build out the hardware and infrastructure for the project. News of the agreement sent Oracle stock up 43 percent when it was announced. (It has since lost all of those gains.)

    Pepsi and Poppi

    Founded in 2020, Poppi started as an experiment in Allison Ellsworth’s kitchen, an attempt to make gut-healthy drinks that tasted good. The probiotic soda quickly grew into a popular, nationally recognized brand during the pandemic, landing Poppi at No. 148 on this year’s Inc. 5000 list, with a three-year growth rate of 2,638 percent. In May, Ellsworth and her husband Stephen, who is also a co-founder, sold the company to Pepsi for $1.95 billion.

    Prada and Versace

    The news in April that Prada would buy Versace for $1.51 billion was the ending to a very long story. Prada began chasing the luxury fashion house during the pandemic, but the parties couldn’t make the deal work. When Versace parent Capri’s sale to Tapestry was scuttled due to antitrust concerns, Prada tried again and was able to negotiate a price that was lower than the $2 billion Capri paid for the brand in 2018. The acquisition closed earlier this month.

    Dick’s Sporting Goods and Foot Locker

    Dick’s Sporting Goods had a strong 2025, raising its full-year sales growth guidance last month to a range of 3.5 to 4 percent up from 2 to 3.5 percent previously. Its acquisition of struggling competitor Foot Locker in May for $2.4 billion gave it a competitive advantage in the Nike sneaker market as well as access to international markets and a wider customer base. Foot Locker will continue to operate as a standalone business, though Dick’s does plan to close an undisclosed number of stores to protect the company’s profits.

    Sycamore Partners and Walgreens Boots Alliance

    Private equity firm Sycamore’s $10 billion purchase of the pharmaceutical chain in March ended almost a century of Walgreens being a publicly traded company. Walgreens, at one point in time, boasted a market cap of nearly $100 billion, but changes to the healthcare industry, acquisitions of rivals and reduced margins on drug sales shrank that number precipitously. Sycamore has a history of buying distressed companies, with other holdings including Staples, Nine West and Talbots.

    Keurig Dr Pepper and JDE Peets

    Keurig Dr Pepper’s U.S. coffee business needed some help, so it made an $18 billion bet in August that the Dutch coffee and tea company could boost earnings. Keurig Dr Pepper owns Green Mountain Coffee (as well as Dr Pepper, 7Up and Snapple), which has seen sales decline in recent years. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2026, after which Keurig Dr Pepper will split its coffee and other beverage units into two separate companies, both of which will remain listed on U.S. stock exchanges. 

    Go inside one interesting founder-led company each day to find out how its strategy works, and what risk factors it faces. Sign up for 1 Smart Business Story from Inc. on Beehiiv.

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    Chris Morris

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  • Nvidia to license AI chip challenger Groq’s tech and hire its CEO | TechCrunch

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    Nvidia has struck a non-exclusive licensing agreement with AI chip competitor Groq. As part of the deal, Nvidia will hire Groq founder Jonathan Ross, president Sunny Madra, and other employees.

    CNBC reported that Nvidia is acquiring assets from Groq for $20 billion; Nvidia told TechCrunch that this is not an acquisition of the company and did not comment on the scope of the deal. But if CNBC’s numbers are accurate, this purchase is expected to be Nvidia’s largest ever, and with Groq on its side, Nvidia is poised to become even more dominant in chip manufacturing.

    As tech companies compete to grow their AI capabilities, they need computing power, and Nvidia’s GPUs have emerged as the industry standard. But Groq has been working on a different type of chip called an LPU (language processing unit), which it has claimed can run LLMs at 10 times faster and using one-tenth the energy. Groq’s CEO Jonathan Ross is known for this sort of innovation — when he worked for Google, he helped invent the TPU (tensor processing unit), a custom AI accelerator chip.

    In September, Groq raised $750 million at a $6.9 billion valuation. Its growth has been quick and significant — the company said that it powers the AI apps of more than 2 million developers, up from about 356,000 last year.

    Updated, 12/24/25 at 5:40 p.m. ET, with clarification from Nvidia about the nature of the deal.

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    Amanda Silberling

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  • TikTok Reaches Deal With US Investors: Here’s Who Owns What

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    An Oracle-backed investor group is set to take majority control of TikTok’s U.S. operations, pending regulatory approval. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

    A yearslong saga over the future of TikTok in America is nearing its end. The U.S. division of the popular social media app, which is owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, will soon be majority-owned by a coalition of U.S. investors that includes Oracle.

    The agreement was detailed in an internal memo from TikTok CEO Shou Chew, first reported by Axios. Oracle, alongside private equity firm Silver Lake and the Abu Dhabi-based investment firm MGX, will own 45 percent of TikTok’s U.S. operations. ByteDance will retain a stake just below 20 percent, and affiliates of existing ByteDance investors will own the remaining roughly one-third.

    MGX did not respond to requests for comment from Observer. Oracle and Silver Lake declined to comment.

    The development follows years of concern over ByteDance’s access to data on U.S. citizens, an estimated 170 million of whom use TikTok. Efforts to either ban the app in the U.S. or force a sale to American owners began last year under the Biden administration, with deadlines later extended multiple times by President Donald Trump.

    The terms of TikTok’s new deal appear to closely mirror a framework laid out by the White House in September to place the company’s U.S. division in domestic hands. Under that proposal, Oracle would be responsible for recreating TikTok’s algorithm by retraining a new version for the U.S. market and protecting American user data in a secure cloud. At the time, Trump said Chinese President  Xi Jinping had expressed approval of the plans.

    Oracle will play a similar role in TikTok’s new agreement, which is expected to close on Jan. 22. The American owners of the division will oversee “retraining the content commendation algorithm on U.S. user data to ensure the content feed is freed from outside manipulation,” according to the Chew’s memo, which also notes that Oracle will serve as a “trusted security partner” upon the deal’s completion.

    Austin-based Oracle, co-founded by billionaire Larry Ellison, has emerged as the winner among a crowded group of U.S. players—including MrBeast and Perplexity AI—bidding for ownership of TikTok. The deal is set to further deepen ties between TikTok and the tech company, which already helps the platform store U.S. user data. Oracle’s shares are up by more than 7 percent today (Dec. 19).

    The new deal is expected to value TikTok at approximately $14 billion, according to Axios. After it closes, TikTok’s U.S. operations “will operate as an independent entity with authority over U.S. data protection, algorithm security, content moderation and software assurance,” the memo said, while “TikTok global’s U.S. entities will manage global product interoperability and certain commercial activities, including e-commerce, advertising and marketing.” The U.S. venture will be governed by a seven-member, majority-American board.

    The agreement, which is still pending approval from Chinese regulators, would resolve a longstanding point of contention between Washington and Beijing. Not all lawmakers, however, are convinced that it goes far enough to safeguard national security or protect the data of U.S. citizens.

    “This deal won’t do a thing to protect the privacy of American users,” said Senator Rob Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, in a statement.”It’s unclear that it will even put TikTok’s algorithm in safer hands.”

    TikTok Reaches Deal With US Investors: Here’s Who Owns What

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    Alexandra Tremayne-Pengelly

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  • Trump Media to merge with nuclear fusion company

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    Trump Media & Technology will merge with a fusion power company in an all-stock deal that the companies said Thursday is valued at more than $6 billion.

    Devin Nunes, the Republican congressman who resigned in 2021 to become the CEO of Trump Media, will be co-CEO of the new company with TAE Technologies CEO Michl Binderbauer.

    Shares of Trump Media & Technology, the parent company of President Donald Trump’s Truth Social media platform, have tumbled 70% this year but jumped 20% before the opening bell Thursday.

    TAE is a private company and the merger with Trump Media would create one of the first publicly traded nuclear fusion companies.

    “We’re taking a big step forward toward a revolutionary technology that will cement America’s global energy dominance for generations,” Nunes said in a prepared statement.

    TAE focuses on nuclear fusion, a technology that combines two light atomic nuclei to form a single heavier one. It releases enormous amount of energy, a process that occurs on the sun and other stars, according to the United Nation’s International Atomic Energy Agency.

    TAE and Trump Media shareholders will each own approximately 50% of the combined company.

    The companies say the transaction values each TAE common stock at $53.89 per share.

    At closing, Trump Media & Technology Group will be the holding company for Truth Social and TAE, along with its subsidiaries TAE Power Solutions and TAE Life Sciences.

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  • Kraft Heinz taps former Kellogg chief as its CEO as it prepares to split into 2 companies

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    The former CEO of the Kellogg Co. has been tapped to lead Kraft Heinz as it prepares to split into two companies.

    Kraft Heinz said Tuesday that Steve Cahillane will serve as CEO starting Jan. 1. Once Kraft Heinz becomes two companies – which is expected to happen in the second half of next year – Cahillane will become the CEO of what is currently called Global Taste Elevation Co. That company will house some of Kraft Heinz’s biggest sellers, including Kraft Mac & Cheese, Philadelphia cream cheese and Heinz.

    “Like millions of people around the world, I have a deeply personal connection to the Kraft Heinz brands, dating back to my childhood,” Cahillane said in a statement. “I’ve devoted my entire career to building brands, and the opportunity to do the same with Kraft Heinz’s iconic portfolio is a dream come true.”

    The remaining company, dubbed North American Grocery Co., will include slower-selling brands like Maxwell House, Oscar Mayer, Kraft Singles and Lunchables. Kraft Heinz hasn’t yet named a CEO of that company.

    Kraft Heinz said Carlos Abrams-Rivera, who has been its CEO since January 2024, will serve as an adviser to the company until March 2026.

    Kraft Heinz announced in September that it would split into two companies a decade after a merger of the brands created one of the biggest food manufacturers on the planet.

    Kraft Heinz said the separation would make it more agile and able to focus resources on products with the most growth potential.

    Kraft Heinz and other packaged food companies have struggled as consumers shift away from the kinds of highly processed packaged foods that they sell, like Velveeta cheese and Kool-Aid. The push to remove artificial flavors and dyes added further costs.

    Big food companies have also had trouble distinguishing their products from cheaper store brands.

    Cahillane presided over a similar breakup at Kellogg Co. in 2023. He served as CEO of Kellanova — which housed popular brands like Cheez-Its, Pringles and Pop-Tarts — until it was acquired last year by M&M’s maker Mars Inc. The remaining company, cereal maker WK Kellogg Co., was acquired by Italian confectioner Ferrero in July.

    Before joining Kellogg in 2017, Cahillane had executive roles at The Nature’s Bounty Co., Coca-Cola Co. and AB InBev.

    Kraft Heinz board Chairman Miguel Patricio said Cahillane is “uniquely qualified” to lead the company.

    “His track record and experience in the industry are unparalleled and will be invaluable as we embark on this next chapter,” Patricio said in a statement.

    Kraft Heinz shares were flat in midday trading Tuesday.

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  • Video: The Battle for Warner Bros. Discovery

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    new video loaded: The Battle for Warner Bros. Discovery

    Nicole Sperling, a Times reporter who covers Hollywood and the streaming revolution, breaks down the competing bids from Netflix and Paramount to buy Warner Bros. Discovery.

    By Nicole Sperling, Edward Vega, Laura Salaberry, Jon Hazell and Chris Orr

    December 9, 2025

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    Nicole Sperling, Edward Vega, Laura Salaberry, Jon Hazell and Chris Orr

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  • Broadcast giant Sinclair makes bid to buy out EW Scripps for $7 per share

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    NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — Sinclair has submitted a bid to buy out E.W. Scripps for $7 per share, in a deal that could bring further consolidation across America’s local TV news landscape.

    Under the proposal, which Sinclair disclosed Monday, the broadcast giant would acquire all of Scripps’ outstanding shares that it doesn’t already own. Sinclair has already upped its stake in Scripps recently — accounting for nearly 10% of the company’s class A common stock as of Nov. 17, per regulatory filings.

    The proposed $7 per share price tag would consist of both cash and stock. If approved, the deal would give Scripps’ shareholders about a 12.7% stake of the combined company upon closing.

    Sinclair is requesting a response from Scripps by Dec. 5.

    “We are submitting an updated, actionable merger proposal,” Sinclair CEO Christopher S. Ripley wrote in a letter to Scripps’ board. He said the deal would “strengthen local journalism” and “position the combined company and employees for long-term success.”

    Ohio-based Scripps acknowledged that it had received an “unsolicited acquisition proposal” from Sinclair on Monday. The company said its board would review it like any other offer — and determine next steps based on the interests of its stakeholders and “audiences it serves across the United States.”

    Scripps previously said it would also protect itself from any “opportunistic actions of Sinclair or anyone else.”

    Shares of E.W. Scripps Co. jumped more than 5% Monday, trading at about $4.30 apiece as of 2:30 p.m. ET. Sinclair’s stock slipped just under 1%, trading around $15.50 by the afternoon.

    Sinclair has been eyeing Scripps for some time. Last week, the Maryland-based company said it held months of talks “regarding a potential combination” — and maintained more broadly that increasing its scale is “essential to address secular headwinds” in the U.S. media industry, pointing to growing competition.

    Just this past August, Nexstar Media Group announced a $6.2 billion deal to buy broadcast rival Tegna.

    Companies like Sinclair — as well as Nexstar and Tegna — have argued that acquisitions would allow them to better compete with both bigger media and tech players vying for consumers’ attention today. But critics warn of wider homogenization of news. In other words, more and more local TV stations becoming “duplicators” of syndicated reporting — and sharing corporate owners who may decide not to air certain content.

    Sinclair Broadcast Group owns, operates or provides services to 185 TV stations in 85 markets affiliated with all major broadcast networks, and it also owns the Tennis Channel. The company has a reputation for a conservative viewpoint in its broadcasts.

    Meanwhile, E.W. Scripps Co. operates more than 60 local stations in over 40 markets. It also owns national news outlets Scripps News and Court TV, as well as entertainment brands like ION.

    Whether or not Scripps accepts Sinclair’s proposal has yet to be seen. And like all major corporate mergers, the deal would still require the regulatory greenlight. Sinclair on Monday said it was confident that its proposed transaction could be completed under existing rules.

    Still, media consolidation could accelerate industrywide if the Trump administration loosens restrictions — or, perhaps more immediately, makes exceptions for certain mergers. Just last week, in efforts to complete its Tegna acquisition, Nexstar asked the Federal Communications Commission for a waiver on current rules that limit the number of stations a single company can own.

    FCC Chairman Brendan Carr previously signaled openness to changing those requirements overall. But some conservatives — and Trump himself — have recently expressed disdain over the possibility of such a change leading to an expansion in networks they view as left-leaning.

    “If this would also allow the Radical Left Networks to ‘enlarge,’ I would not be happy,” President Donald Trump wrote on social media Sunday. The Republican particularly targeted ABC and NBC, which he claimed were a “VIRTUAL ARM OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY.”

    In response, Nexstar maintained that it believes “the landscape is ripe for regulatory reform” — and added that “we agree with President Trump that the status quo is no longer acceptable.”

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  • HBO’s Crown Jewel Status Shapes the Battle for Warner Bros. Discovery

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    HBO delivers the legitimacy and value no rival can replicate. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Warner Bros. Discovery

    There’s a particularly trenchant quote from HBO’s House of the Dragon that keeps popping into my head as major media companies jockey for position in pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery: “Aegon Targaryen sits the Iron Throne. He wears the Conqueror’s crown, wields the Conqueror’s sword, has the Conqueror’s name. He was anointed by a septon of the Faith before the eyes of thousands. Every symbol of legitimacy belongs to him.” 

    Symbols are assets that can be leveraged for value in different ways. Zooming out to House of the Dragon’s home network, HBO finds itself in a position to be an integral symbol of legitimacy and value in the WBD sweepstakes. As all publicly circle the wagons, it’s time to explore the premium cable network’s merits and which company would benefit most from its addition.

    This article contains a plethora of data points that highlight whitespace opportunities and strategic value in the market. But it’s not always the quantifiable elements that yield the greatest benefits. HBO’s multi-decade track record as a culture-shaping authority cannot be summed up in an Excel sheet.  

    “It is not merely a content library; rather, it is a brand that stands for prestige and audience trust, meaning an acquirer instantly uplevels its brand value with the acquisition, as well as attracts unrivaled talent,” Andrew Cussens, CEO of content studio Film Folk, told Observer.

    This very notion was recently demonstrated when WBD re-rebranded its streaming service to HBO Max. The name carries weight throughout the industry while certain rival brands still search for a defined identity that elicits strong audience associations. The data backs up its position as a go-to destination and an illuminating opportunity.

    HBO and HBO Max by the numbers

    WBD’s streaming platforms had 128 million subscribers at the end of September, with the vast majority belonging to HBO Max. (Netflix has more than 300 million subscribers.) It’s a hits-driven platform that values prestige quality over quantity. That’s incredibly valuable, but it can run counter to mass market ambitions. 

    For example, The Last of Us Season 2 and The White Lotus Season 3 rank among the most-watched U.S. streaming series of 2025, according to Samba TV’s State of Streaming report. Yet, HBO Max only accounts for 7 percent of the Top 100 most-streamed series overall, per Samba, while WBD’s share of U.S. streaming sits at just 1.3 percent, per Nielsen, respectively. Even as the majority of viewing for HBO series occurs on streaming vs linear, HBO Max remains a top-heavy platform that accounts for a surprisingly small slice of the U.S. TV pie despite its namesake brand’s prestige.

    From Watchmen and Penguin to House of the Dragon and It: Welcome to Derry, HBO has worked wonders in elevating brand-name intellectual property and franchise fare in pursuit of greater viewership (while still succeeding with more standard “prestige” fare like The White Lotus and Task). This raises the question: has it reached its scalable ceiling? 

    “There is definite upside in the number of subscribers and revenue-per-viewer, and HBO Max hasn’t saturated either,” Samba TV CEO and co-founder Ashwin Navin told Observer. “By adding new tier-one shows and tentpoles, they can continue to broaden their audience base. With more subscribers on the ad-tier, combined with more precision targeting and data, there’s definitely room to grow monetization. The ceiling is much higher with the right investment and growth strategy.”

    HBO is already doing most of the heavy lifting for HBO Max, especially when compared to its high-minded cable counterparts. HBO titles account for 14 percent of the streamer’s library, but more than 18 percent of its audience demand, according to Parrot Analytics. That tops Showtime on Paramount+ (7.2 percent supply vs. 7.3 percent demand) and FX on Hulu (3.6 percent vs. 4.6 percent). 

    Who stands to gain the most if WBD is sold?

    For better and for worse (mostly the latter), Hollywood is chasing scale to compete. Yet, no one is talking about the potential overlap when it comes to possible streaming combos. Paramount Skydance, Comcast and Netflix could all stand to gain from HBO’s prestige pricing power, but face challenges to continue scaling without sacrificing quality. 

    Roughly two-thirds of U.S. adults who subscribe to HBO Max also subscribe to Netflix, according to Greenlight Analytics, where I work as Director of Insights & Content Strategy. About 40 percent of HBO Max subscribers also use Paramount+, while only 20 percent overlap with Peacock.

    “Either Paramount or Comcast would benefit the most,” Hernan Lopez, founder and CEO of media/tech management consulting firm Owl & Co., told Observer. “They would immediately more than double their global revenue and profits from streaming, and the size of the library — both for their own streaming services as well as strategic leverage for negotiation with Netflix.”

    The end result for each suitor would be different. Generally speaking, we’re talking about more subscribers, greater pricing power, higher combined lifetime value per customer, higher engagement, lower churn and so on. On paper, that’s awfully tantalizing, though not without its obstacles. 

    “Netflix would only fully realize the value of buying WB streaming and studios if it keeps the TV and theatrical studios open, which would mean being willing to make and sell shows to third parties and distribute in theaters—things they haven’t done so far,” Lopez noted. Despite nudges in the theatrical direction, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said as recently as April that movie theaters are an “outmoded idea.” Oof. 

    Interestingly, 78 percent of 2025 HBO Max engagement was directed at titles released before 2025, the second-highest rate among the premium streamers, per Samba. That speaks to the enduring power of HBO’s treasured library and the appointment-viewing gaps between high-profile HBO releases. On the flip side, Peacock (64%) boasts the largest share of engagement dedicated to programming that debuted in 2025. Meanwhile, Paramount+’s male-skewing originals fit well with HBO Max’s female-leaning audience. To Lopez’s points, one can see the non-Netflix fits. 

    It would be media malpractice to see HBO reduced to a mere tile in another company’s crowded streaming ecosystem. The small screen’s crown jewel deserves better than that, not only for its reputational value but for the tangible results it yields. Yes, time spent has become the all-powerful quarry of every streaming platform. No, HBO is not a content firehose designed to constantly scratch that itch. But much like the throne, crown and sword, the validation it offers is the first step in empowering whomever its parent company may be to rule the realm.

    HBO’s Crown Jewel Status Shapes the Battle for Warner Bros. Discovery

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    Brandon Katz

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  • AI streamlines M&A due diligence

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    M&A activity is on the rise, and AI can get deals to the finish line faster.  In the third quarter, 52 U.S. bank deals were announced, marking the most in a quarter by quantity since Q3 2021, according to S&P Global’s October M&A report.  Top Q3 deals include:  Pinnacle to acquire Synovus Financial for $7.9 […]

    The post AI streamlines M&A due diligence appeared first on FinAi News.

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    Whitney McDonald

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  • Pfizer clinches deal for obesity drug developer Metsea after a bidding war with Novo Nordisk

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    Pfizer has signed a deal to purchase Metsera Inc., an obesity drugmaker in the development stage, after winning a bidding war against Novo Nordisk

    NEW YORK — U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer signed a deal to purchase development-stage obesity drugmaker Metsera Inc., winning a bidding war against Novo Nordisk, the Danish drugmaker behind weight-loss treatments Ozempic and Wegovy.

    Metsera, based in New York, has no products on the market, but it is developing oral and injectable treatments. That includes some potential treatments that could target lucrative fields for obesity and diabetes.

    The deal comes as Pfizer is attempting to develop its own stake in that market, several months after ending development of a potential pill treatment for obesity.

    In a statement issued Friday, Metsera said Pfizer will acquire the company for up to $86.25 per share, consisting of $65.60 per share in cash and a contingent value right entitling holders to additional payments of up to $20.65 per share in cash.

    Metsera cited U.S. antitrust risks in Novo’s bid, saying in its statement that the board has determined Pfizer’s revised terms represent “the best transaction for shareholders, both from the perspective of value and certainty of closing.”

    The deal comes three days after Novo Nordisk raised the stakes in its push to outbid Pfizer, saying Tuesday it would offer to pay as much as $10 billion for Metsera. That was higher than its previous bid of up to $9 billion which sparked a lawsuit from Pfizer.

    Pfizer had also altered the offer it made in September of nearly $4.9 billion to provide more cash up front, Metsera had said.

    New York-based Pfizer said in an email that it was happy with the terms of the deal, and expects to close the transaction shortly following the Metsera shareholder meeting on Nov. 13.

    Novo Nordisk said Saturday it would not increase its offer and would leave the race to acquire Metsera.

    Novo’s proposed deal had involved paying $62.20 in cash for each Metsera share, up from its previous bid of $56.50. The Danish drugmaker planned to tack on a contingent value right payment of $24, another improvement from its previous bid, if certain development and regulatory milestones were met.

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  • AI aiding FIS in client retention, growth

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    FIS is continuing its investment in AI as it sees higher client retention rates and improving risk management. 

    “We anticipated that AI would transform financial services, but the pace and depth of adoption have exceeded our expectations,” Chief Executive Stephanie Ferris said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call on Nov. 5. “Our clients are leaning in and asking us to help shape their AI journeys, viewing us as a strategic partner.”

    fis
    (Photo/Bank Automation News)

    The Jacksonville, Fla.-based company is deploying new AI-driven tools for their clients, which boosts client retention, Ferris said, adding that an increase in the bank’s tech spend will be a tailwind for its growing business. 

    “We’re achieving [revenue growth] through our investments in AI, which are fundamentally transforming how we operate and improve everything from client support to risk management to product development, modernizing our solutions to help our clients run, grow and protect their businesses more effectively,” she said. 

    FIS reported banking solution revenue of $1.8 billion for the quarter, up 6.5% year over year, partly driven by high demand for AI solutions, while its recurring revenue also increased 6% YoY, according to the Q3 earnings report. 

    Working with the industry 

    While FIS develops some AI solutions in-house, it also forms partnerships with other fintechs and explores acquisitions that aid its long-term strategy, Ferris said. 

    FIS teamed with AI-driven chatbot service provider Glia to provide its financial services clients with improved chatbot capabilities, according to an FIS release published Oct. 9. 

    Digital is rapidly becoming the default experience for retail banking customers and they expect personalized interactions, Shane McWilliams, head of retail banking for Digital One at FIS, told FinAi News. 

    “That is difficult to do at scale, and the more cutting-edge AI-driven chat bots are helping to bridge that gap,” McWilliams said. “Both internal and external chat bots are gaining traction, but the demand is far more for external given the demand for more personalized customer service.” 

    FIS’ third-party partnership strategy is to offer the core capabilities that banks want and partner with providers for them, McWilliams said. 

    Glia is an omnichannel provider and will be “integrated into many of the central functions at FIS to create a higher level of integration for our digital banking customers,” he said.  

    FIS also announced the acquisition of AI-driven onboarding and lending service provider Amount for an undisclosed price, according to FIS’s Sept 25 release. 

    The Amount “acquisition is a perfect example of how we are using AI to help clients grow their business,” Ferris said. “Amount’s platform fundamentally changes how banks acquire and onboard customers while helping to grow revenue and reduce friction and risk.” 

    The acquisition is expected to contribute around 20 basis points of additional growth in the coming quarters, Ferris said. 

    Register here for early-bird pricing for the inaugural FinAi Banking Summit 2026, taking place March 2-3 in Denver. View the full event agenda here. 

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    Vaidik Trivedi

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  • Tylenol, Kleenex, Band-Aid and more put under one roof in $48.7 billion consumer brands deal

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    Kimberly-Clark is buying Tylenol maker Kenvue in a cash and stock deal worth about $48.7 billion, creating a massive consumer health goods company.

    Shareholders of Kimberly-Clark will own about 54% of the combined company. Kenvue shareholders will own about 46% in what is one of the largest corporate takeovers this year. The deal must still be approved by the shareholders of both companies.

    The combined company will have a huge stable of household brands under one roof, putting Kenvue’s Listerine mouthwash and Band-Aid side-by-side with Kimberly-Clark’s Cottonelle toilet paper, Huggies and Kleenex tissues. It will also generate about $32 billion in annual revenue.

    Kenvue has spent a relatively brief period as an independent company, having been spun off by Johnson & Johnson two years ago. J&J first announced in late 2021 that it was splitting its slow-growth consumer health division from the pharmaceutical and medical device divisions.

    Kenvue has since been targeted by activist investors unhappy about the trajectory of the company and Wall Street appeared to anticipate some heavy lifting ahead for Kimberly-Clark.

    Kenvue’s stock jumped 12% Monday afternoon, while shares of Kimberly-Clark, based outside of Dallas, slumped by nearly 15%.

    Kenvue shares have shed nearly 50% of their value since approaching $28 in the spring of 2023. Morningstar analyst Keonhee Kim said Kenvue’s volatile journey as a public company may have been driven in part by poor execution and a lack of experience operating as a stand-alone business.

    He said the leadership of a more-established consumer products company like Kimberly-Clark could help unlock some of Kenvue’s value.

    He also noted that Kenvue brands include Neutrogena, Benadryl and other names that have been in store consumer health aisles for decades. Kim said he thinks Kimberly-Clark may have seen upside in adding those products.

    “I think that may have made the deal a lot more attractive … especially after the past couple of months of Kenvue’s stock price decline,” he said.

    Kenvue and Tylenol have been thrust into the national spotlight this year as President Donald Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promoted unproven and in some cases discredited ties between Tylenol, vaccines and the complex brain disorder autism.

    Trump then urged pregnant women against using the medicine. That went beyond Food and Drug Administration advice that doctors “should consider minimizing” the painkiller acetaminophen’s use in pregnancy — amid inconclusive evidence about whether too much could be linked to autism.

    Kennedy reiterated the FDA guidance during a press conference last week. He said that there isn’t sufficient evidence to link the drug to autism.

    “We have asked physicians to minimize the use to when it’s absolutely necessary,” he said.

    Kenvue has continued to push back on the Trump administration’s public statements about Tylenol and acetaminophen, the active ingredient it contains.

    “We strongly disagree with allegations that it does and are deeply concerned about the health risks and confusion this poses for expecting mothers and parents,” Kenvue said in a statement on its website.

    The merger could face other hurdles. Citi Investment Research analyst Filippo Falorni said he is concerned about the deal’s size given the recent history in the sector, particularly given the challenges faced by Kenvue.

    In July, Kenvue announced that CEO Thibaut Mongon was leaving in the midst of a strategic review, with the company under mounting pressure from activist investors unhappy about growth. Critics say Kenvue has relied too much on its legacy brands and failed to innovate.

    Industry analysts also point out the poor track record for mergers involving consumer packaged goods companies. In September, Kraft Heinz said it would break up its decade-old merger. Its net revenue has fallen every year since 2020.

    Kimberly-Clark and Kenvue, like Kraft Heinz, are facing increasing competition from cheaper store brands. In 2024, 51% of toilet paper and other household paper products sold in the U.S were store brands, according to Circana, a market research company, while store brands held a 24% share of sales of health products, including medications and vitamins.

    On Monday, a bottle of 100 extra-strength Tylenol caplets cost $10.97 on Walmart’s website. A bottle of 100 extra-strength acetaminophen caplets from Walmart’s Equate brand cost $1.98.

    Inflation drove some of that buyer behavior, Circana said. Shoppers are also shifting their purchases to stores with more private-label brands, like Aldi and Costco. And stores are improving their offerings and adding more of them; last year, Walmart and Target both launched new store brands to complement their existing ones.

    Still, both Kimberly-Clark and Kenvue make name-brand products in segments where consumers are less likely to shift to store brands, including hair care, skin care, feminine products and mouth care, according to Circana. Kenvue owns brands like Aveeno and Neutrogena, for example, while Kimberly-Clark makes Kotex and Depend.

    Kimberly-Clark Chairman and CEO Mike Hsu will be chairman and CEO of the combined company. Three members of the Kenvue’s board will join Kimberly-Clark’s board at closing. The combined company will keep Kimberly-Clark’s headquarters in Irving, Texas, but there will be significant operations around Kenvue facilities and locations as well.

    The deal is expected to close in the second half of next year. It still needs approval from shareholders of both both companies.

    Kenvue shareholders will receive $3.50 per share in cash and 0.14625 Kimberly-Clark shares for each Kenvue share held at closing. That amounts to $21.01 per share, based on the closing price of Kimberly-Clark shares on Friday.

    Kimberly-Clark and Kenvue said that they identified about $1.9 billion in cost savings that are expected in the first three years after the transaction’s closing.

    ___

    AP Health Writer Tom Murphy contributed to this report.

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  • VICI Admits Caesars Regional Casinos Lease Has Been ‘Overhang’

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    Posted on: November 1, 2025, 04:45h. 

    Last updated on: November 1, 2025, 04:45h.

    • Landlord admit issues with Caesars regional casino master lease are among factors weighing on its stock
    • REIT mentions possibility of acquiring Caesars Convention Center on Las Vegas Strip
    • Says its working with Caesars resolutions to regional lease concerns

    Shares of VICI Properties (NYSE: VICI) dropped 8.43% in October and are off 11.61% over the past 90 days. Concern within the investment community about the state of the property owner’s regional master lease agreement with Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ: CZR) are among the reasons the real estate stock is faltering.

    Caesars Forum
    The Caesars Forum convention center on the Las Vegas Strip. VICI Properties said there’s an opportunity to acquire that property. (Image: Network in Vegas)

    On the real estate investment trust’s (REIT) third-quarter earnings conference call, management admitted as much, though executives stopped short of blaming the stock’s recent weakness on issues stemming from the relationship with Caesars.

    We do think it’s a confluence of factors between, yes, this Caesars focus, but also at the same time, when there’s been a positioning rotation out of some winners, out of some long positions as the market has rotated into the end of the year,” said Moira McCloskey, vice president of capital markets, in response to analyst question. “So, the timing has been unfortunate, but we do think it’s a combination of factors, not just the one particular overhang.”

    VICI, which was spun out of Caesars in 2017, is the largest owner of the casino operator’s real estate — holdings that include Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip.

    Caesars, VICI Working Towards Resolution

    Amid another quarter of disappointing results and increasing likelihood that Caesars will miss its 2025 debt reduction target of $1 billion, there’s been increasing chatter on Wall Street that the gaming company may be strained by its regional master lease accord with VICI and that’s looking for some relief on that front.

    The landlord didn’t discuss its tenants financial issues, but CEO Edward Pitoniak noted the REIT is willing to work with its client to find favorable resolution.

    “We would look across the portfolio on our own and with them determine where do they want to be, where they want to continue to be, where do we want to continue to be, what are the various levers that we can work on our side, on their side to make sure that we end up with an outcome that is a genuine win-win for both parties,” he said in response to an analyst query.

    The most effective avenue would be for Caesars to the operating rights on some of the casinos where VICI owns the real estate, which could happen if interest rates continue falling, but no official announcements have been made to that effect. Outside of Las Vegas, VICI owns the real estate of more than 15 Caesars-operated casinos.

    Caesars Convention Opportunity ‘Live,’ Says VICI

    Earlier this year, speculation surfaced that VICI could bid for Caesars Forum convention center on the Las Vegas Strip. Nothing has come of that rumor as of yet, but the REIT confirmed there is an opportunity to acquire that property.

    “We obviously have a variety of things that we evaluate. You are correct that the opportunity to buy the Caesars Forum Convention Center is live right now,” said President John Payne on the conference call. “And we’re fitting it into all the other things that we look at when is the right time. Is there the right time?”

    Located behind the Flamingo, Harrah’s, and LINQ casino resorts, the convention center cost $375 million when construction started in 2018. It’s not clear if Caesars would sell it and lease it back from VICI or outright wash its hands of the meeting space.

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    Todd Shriber

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  • How CSI is using AI to merge fintech Apiture onto its platform

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    Core service provider CSI is using AI to merge digital banking platform Apiture onto its platform following its acquisition of the fintech in a deal completed Oct. 22.  To simplify the merging process, Paducah, Ky.-based CSI plans to deploy AI, Jeff Brown, vice president of technology strategy and architecture, told FinAi News. “AI will certainly […]

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    Vaidik Trivedi

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  • Google and Apple face extra UK scrutiny over ‘strategic’ role in mobile platforms

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    LONDON — LONDON (AP) — Britain’s antitrust watchdog on Wednesday targeted Google and Apple for their “strategic” roles in mobile ecosystems, opening the door for regulators to impose changes to their business practices to improve competition.

    The Competition and Markets Authority escalated scrutiny of the two U.S. tech companies by labeling them with “strategic market status.” It follows separate investigations that the CMA opened at the start of the year into Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS using newly acquired digital market regulations designed to protect consumers and businesses from unfair practices by Big Tech companies.

    The regulator’s decision was expected. It proposed the classifications in July but sought feedback before releasing its final decision.

    Google called the decision “disappointing, disproportionate and unwarranted,” and has contended previously that Android has saved app developers money because they didn’t have to adapt to different operating models for each smartphone.

    “Following the CMA’s decision today, our mobile business in the UK faces a set of new – and, as of yet, uncertain – rules,” said Oliver Bethell, senior competition director at Google. “The CMA’s next steps will be crucial if the UK’s digital markets regime is to meet its promise of being pro-growth and pro-innovation.”

    Google was already given the “strategic market status” designation earlier this month, when the CMA wielded its new powers for the first time by targeting the company’s role in a separate investigation into the online search advertising market.

    The CMA says being labeled with “strategic market status” doesn’t imply any wrongdoing. But it means the watchdog has the power to use targeted measures to open up competition and ensure consumers and businesses are treated fairly.

    The watchdog has said Apple and Google hold an “effective duopoly,” with 90-100% of mobile devices in Britain running on either mobile platform. Its investigation found a range of concerns affecting businesses and consumers such as unpredictable app reviews, inconsistent app store search rankings and commissions on in-app purchases of as much as 30%.

    The CMA had unveiled separate “road maps” for each company outlining possible measures to improve competition, including “fair and transparent” app reviews and app store rankings to give British app developers “certainty.”

    The watchdog had also recommended letting app developers “steer” users to channels outside of app stores where users can make purchases, mirroring similar efforts by the European Union.

    Apple has said it was worried the CMA’s moves could pose increase risks for users and jeopardize the U.K.’s “developer economy.”

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