Just recently released into production, the StarMine M&A Target Model is the newest predictive model from LSEG StarMine. This model has been designed to predict the likelihood of a publicly traded company becoming the target of a takeover or merger offer. Like all StarMine models, it ranks companies on a 1-100 scale. In the case of this model, companies with high scores are, on average, nine times more likely to become a target than those with low scores (Exhibit 1). The model has two major components: A Fundamental Component and a Text Component. The Fundamental Component uses LSEG content from

On Tuesday, 19 September 2023, ARK Invest LLC (“ARK Invest” or “ARK”), the parent of ARK Investment Management LLC, has acquired Rize ETF for £5.25m. This transaction can be seen as a major step for the global expansion strategy of ARK Invest, as this will enable them to launch UCITS ETFs on an existing ETF platform. This can immediately be distributed across Europe and in other parts of the world (Latin America and Asia), where UCITS is an acknowledged regulatory standard. The Rize ETF platform will be renamed to ARK Invest Europe. From my point of view the deal makes

Pulling the plug on its sale to Sinclair Broadcast was a shrewd move for Tribune Media. The U.S. local-TV group is now selling itself to Nexstar Media for $4.1 billion. This go-around looks like a stronger plot, given the higher price and the buyer’s track record. Sinclair secured Tribune’s agreement to a $3.9 billion deal in 2017. To get U.S. regulators to approve the deal, though, it had to sell some stations. Instead of going through a fairly straightforward process, Sinclair raised the hackles of a very friendly Federal Communications Commission with side transactions involving buyers with serious conflicts of

There is hope for Asia’s crowded skies. In much of the region, too many carriers, with too many planes, charging too little have left the industry on its knees, and put price controls back on the agenda. Consolidation offers a better fix. With Indonesia’s state-owned Garuda taking over a rival and India’s Jet Airways in play, some relief may be near. The aviation excess seen in South and Southeast Asia has few parallels globally. In India, where budget airline IndiGo now has more than 40 percent of the market, the result has been bargain-basement prices. Millions have flown for the first

One of Wall Street’s best-known high-frequency trading shops has found a Virtu-ous M&A circle. Doug Cifu’s outfit is embracing diversity by acquiring agency-brokerage and analytics shop ITG. The deal also offers Virtu Financial practically free insurance against a market downturn: Cost cuts are likely to cover most of the $1 bln price tag. Cifu is developing a knack for buying his way out of a tight spot. As becalmed markets slowed Virtu’s core trading business, he beefed up the books last year by snaring rival KCG, which had rebuffed him five years earlier. Migrating KCG’s business onto Virtu’s trading technology

Campbell Soup’s lukewarm sales pitch is begging for a real cook. The $12 billion canned food and snack company is trying to sell its fresh and international brands while stepping up cost cuts on its stagnant core business. It is leaving the door open for a sale, but that’s unlikely to appease activists like Third Point’s Dan Loeb. The New Jersey-based prepared foods outfit has had a difficult run. Chief Executive Denise Morrison quit abruptly in May after leading a string of questionable acquisitions, and the company launched a strategic review under an interim CEO. Meanwhile its main businesses are

Indra Nooyi is handing her successor a fizzy leaving present. One of the final acts of the outgoing PepsiCo chief executive is to buy Israeli-based SodaStream for $3.2 billion. Diversifying into the faster-growing carbonated water market has strategic logic. But incoming boss Ramon Laguarta will need some sparkling top line growth to make the deal as financially attractive. The purchase announced on Monday is part of Pepsi’s low sugar future. The company is paying $144 a share in cash for SodaStream, which sells sparkling water makers. That represents a 32 percent premium to the Israeli group’s volume-weighted average share price over

Sky investors on Tuesday received a mini Easter egg. Walt Disney is ready to buy the pay-TV group’s news channel to smooth the regulatory process for merger partner Twenty-First Century Fox. This signal of Disney’s commitment to owning the UK broadcaster boosts the odds of a bidding war with rival Comcast. Rupert Murdoch’s Fox has been stuck in regulatory limbo since late 2016, when the 39 percent shareholder in Sky launched an 11.7 billion pound ($16.5 billion) offer for the rest of the company. Britain’s antitrust regulator said in January the deal could give Murdoch undue influence given his existing

Takeda Pharmaceutical may take a turn at Shire’s risky M&A strategy. The $42 billion Japanese drugs group is mulling a bid for $45 billion takeover machine Shire. There’s not much overlap, and uncertainties hang over key businesses. But Shire is cheap, and its shareholders exasperated. While that may appeal to Takeda boss Christophe Weber, it’s also a warning. Takeda prospered for decades in its cozy domestic market. A declining population, government-reimbursement cuts and increased competition from cheap generic pills have forced Takeda and its peers to look abroad for growth. That’s a difficult prescription to fill. Takeda is large enough

Mukesh Ambani is playing a new tune. India’s richest man, through his flagship conglomerate Reliance Industries, is merging two music-streaming services into one worth $1 billion. Reliance is following a well-trodden path of telecom operators dabbling in music, movies and other entertainment to attract subscribers. As his oil-to-retail giant starts to throw off cash, the tycoon could take his content ambitions to another level. Ambani’s upstart telecom operator has attracted 160 million subscribers in barely 18 months. Its super-fast network has more than half the combined data capacity of the top three players, well ahead of incumbents Bharti Airtel and Vodafone

Market swoons are bad news for dealmakers. Stock-market plunges can erode the value of bids involving acquirers’ stock, make bankers reluctant to lend, and change the outlook violently. Recent market tumult, with the S&P 500 Index down 6 percent last week, doesn’t qualify as an extinction event – at least not yet. It does, however, make it harder to overlook regulatory dangers attached to certain possible deals, like the combinations of CVS Health and Aetna and AT&T and Time Warner. Last year was the fourth in a row with over $1 trillion of announced transactions involving U.S. companies worth over

JAB and its partners are taking a gulp from 3G Capital’s fountain. They’re merging Keurig Green Mountain, the coffee-pod outfit it took private in 2016 for $14 billion, with publicly traded Dr Pepper Snapple. It’s reminiscent of how the Warren Buffett-backed architects of Kraft Heinz operate. The strategic novelty is combining different kinds of hot and cold beverages. Financially, what’s a bit unusual is the private Keurig reversing into a publicly listed company. Dr Pepper was worth $17 billion, a bit under $96 a share, at Friday’s close. Investors bid the shares up as much as 40 percent early on