Netflix is already the apex predator of the streaming world. But the company co-led by Ted Sarandos does surprisingly little hunting. Netflix’s merger ambitions have so far been distinctly modest. With a possible breakup of rival Warner Bros Discovery, Sarandos might find his claws. WBD boss David Zaslav is considering strategic options for the $21 billion media company, whose hit shows include “House of the Dragon.” His options include selling assets or spinning off divisions, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. It’s not a surprise he’d be trying new tricks: Discovery’s merger with Warner Media in

The world’s most popular ice cream flavor is vanilla. Corporate boards increasingly prefer it, too, judging by their changing tastes for environmental, social and governance matters. Companies are agonizing over whether to speak out on issues such as fossil fuels and LBGTQ rights as an “anti-woke” backlash gathers steam and invites unwanted controversy. And yet Ben & Jerry’s, which dishes out purpose-driven pints of Empower Mint and Save Our Swirled, represents a clear case of how ESG and financial aims can go together as well as chocolate and peanut butter. Unilever said last month that it plans to scoop Ben

The semiconductor industry has changed immeasurably since Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group bought Arm for $32 billion in 2016. Yet the British chip designer’s fair value may be in that same ballpark, according to a Breakingviews valuation. SoftBank said on Tuesday it was seeking an equity value of $50 billion to $54 billion as part of the roadshow for Arm’s initial public offering, factoring in shares issued to employees that are yet to vest. When the Japanese conglomerate’s boss Masayoshi Son scooped up the Cambridge-based company seven years ago, he was placing a bet on the so-called Internet of Things, the view that

Alphabet is poised to welcome the autumn harvest. Ruth Porat, the web search giant’s chief financial officer and a former technology investment banker at Morgan Stanley, will move into a new role next month that includes overseeing “other bets,” an eclectic collection of experimental projects. It’s a good time to cull and rethink the cash-burning portfolio. A shift is already underway at Verily Life Sciences, the health-data cruncher that generated some $560 million in revenue last year, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month. The sum accounted for more than half the $1 billion contributed by the non-search division. In 2022, Alphabet’s top

Microsoft’s extended shoot-out with global trustbusters may nearly be over. On Tuesday, the technology giant inched forward in its quest to seal its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard with a deal to sell most of the video-game publisher’s global streaming rights to French rival Ubisoft Entertainment. Hurdles remain, but if the move satisfies objections from British regulators, it points to a path for assuaging global concerns about big-tech dealmaking choking off nascent markets. The 19-month merger odyssey still isn’t over. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, which blocked the tie-up in April, must now restart its investigation. The United States Federal

Buyout barons are nibbling their way back. Smaller transactions are a sensible way to stay active, and there are growing reasons to think mega-buyouts won’t come roaring back anytime soon. Hoards of capital can’t sit unspent indefinitely, however. Private equity firms notched nearly $300 billion of acquisitions worldwide through Aug. 15, according to Dealogic data. The figure is less than half last year’s pace and only 6% higher than the pandemic-era nadir in 2020. Relative minnows are the catch of the day. KKR is snapping up book publisher Simon & Schuster for $1.6 billion; STG agreed to pay $1.4 billion for software

KKR plans to write a new story on books, but the ending is a little fuzzy. The buyout shop agreed on Monday to buy Simon & Schuster from media conglomerate Paramount Global for $1.6 billion after trustbusters tore up an earlier sale to Penguin Random House. Even with modest growth, a healthy return for the new owner looks feasible. It’ll just take some imagination to exit. The private equity firm aims to expand the publisher behind horror writer Stephen King and presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. International sales account for less than a fifth of the top line and there may be

Dealmaking is creeping back to normal – almost. Less than five months after announcing plans to spin off its payments arm, Worldpay, financial technology giant Fidelity National Information Services has instead found a willing bidder in buyout shop GTCR. The deal defies weak debt and M&A markets, but it also requires flexing fundraising muscles to underpin a huge cash outlay. GTCR will acquire a 55% stake in Worldpay, valuing it at $17.5 billion including debt. For the seller, opting to take the certainty of even a partial sale over the vagaries of a stock-market listing makes sense. Worldpay has struggled to keep

Sequoia is blazing another new trail in venture capital. The firm, started in 1972 by the renowned Don Valentine, plans to separate its geographical teams, rebranding the China and India divisions, which will operate independently from the U.S. one. It’s a restructuring that speaks to geopolitical tensions, but also runs contrary to the natural evolution of such businesses. And any untangling comes with significant risks. As one of Silicon Valley’s pioneers, Sequoia Capital has backed everything from Apple to Zoom Video Communications over the past half-century, and many others in between, including Instagram, 23andMe and DoorDash. The world has changed, however – and

Alibaba’s biggest overhaul in over two decades might prove contagious. China’s e-commerce group is splitting into six units, some of which may then be listed or sold. That should unlock value for weary shareholders, and please regulators and politicians keen to control strategic businesses. Other tech giants like Tencent may follow. The restructuring will give each of Alibaba’s six businesses, which include its core commerce division, as well as cloud computing, games and logistics units, their own chief executive and board of directors. More importantly, each division will have the option to “pursue independent fundraising and IPOs”, according to boss Daniel Zhang,

Werner Baumann’s exit from Bayer lays fertile ground for a breakup. On Wednesday, the $66 billion drugs-to-seeds company said it was replacing its embattled chief executive with Roche’s former pharma boss Bill Anderson, effective June 1. Given the new chief’s background, investors have good reason to prepare for a spinoff of the crop science division. Veteran leader Baumann was on borrowed time. The German conglomerate had been misfiring since its disastrous takeover of Monsanto in 2018, which Baumann sponsored. The acquisition dragged Bayer into a wave of lawsuits from claimants alleging its Roundup weedkiller caused cancer. The risk of further litigation and

Brian Roberts is a buyer rather than a seller. The boss of U.S. media giant Comcast may want to make an exception for Sky. Four years after he won the auction for the European pay-TV provider with a $40 billion bid, the logic of the deal remains fuzzy while consumers are under duress. Spinning off Sky while it’s still in decent shape will shortcut challenges on the horizon. Including acquired debt, Roberts paid a multiple of 15 times Sky’s EBITDA to clinch the deal, two and a half times the company’s enterprise value before the takeover battle began. That was because he