Mergers & Acquisitions

Chat platform Discord acquires compliments-based social media app Gas

Chat platform Discord has announced that it is acquiring Gas, a poll-based social application that allows users to share compliments with one another

Mark Zuckerberg takes witness stand in FTC case against startup acquisition

Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook parent company Meta, took the witness stand Tuesday in the FTC's effort to stop the tech giant from buying a virtual reality startup. At issue is whether Meta's acquisition of the small company that makes a VR fitness app called Supernatural will hurt competition in the emerging virtual reality market. If the deal is allowed to go through, the Federal Trade Commission argues, it would violate antitrust laws and dampen innovation, hurting consumers who may face higher prices and fewer options outside platforms controlled by Meta Platforms Inc. The case, expected to wrap up Tuesday, is being heard by U.S. District Judge Edward Davila, who also oversaw the trial of disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and her partner Ramesh Sunny Balwani. Both were sentenced to over a decade in prison for their roles in the company's blood-testing hoax.

Year In Review: From Twitter to HDFC Ltd, successful M&As of 2022

The level of M&A activity in 2022 was in line with recent pre-pandemic levels

JK Paper jumps 4% on acquiring majority stake in Horizon Packs and SPPL

The shift in consumer preferences are driving demand for superior quality, eco-friendly packaging, JK Paper said.

M&As to drive hospital expansion in uncharted territory, say experts

Inorganic expansion gives instant market share in a new geography, greenfield works better in markets where a chain already has a presence, say industry players and analysts

A chapter ends: Penguin merger with Simon & Schuster stalled

The win in the book publisher case comes after DoJ's antitrust lawyers lost three challenges in a row, though some of those cases are now being appealed

We won't make an acquisition just because we have to: Piramal Pharma chief

In a Q&A, Nandini Piramal, chairperson of the firm, says the company currently sees great scope in expanding and organically growing the OTC business, and wants to build more consumer focused brands

M&A activity touches all time high in 2022, 58.2% higher than 2021: Report

In Private-Equity (PE)-backed M&A activity, India crossed China for the first time since 2008 accounting for 28 per cent of the market share as compared to China's 24 per cent

I-banking fees dip in nine months to September as smaller deals dominate

Even some big-ticket deals such as the LIC IPO did not generate higher fees

WPP acquires remaining 26% stake in MediaCom from Balsara family

Deal size not known immediately, marks the exit of the Balsaras from the agency

CCI needs to be abreast of global best practices on mergers: FM Sitharaman

Finance Minister stressed upon the need for the federal competition watchdog to communicate more

Target, acquirer, board of directors: Understanding a hostile takeover

While some people refer to Adani's acquisition of a stake in NDTV as a hostile takeover, others disagree. Read more to find out what a hostile takeover is

Consumer base, user data likely to determine CCI scrutiny of digital M&As

Significant business operation is a key condition to impose deal-value criteria proposed in the Competition Bill, targeting global digital mergers and acquisitions

Top Headlines: 5G spectrum bids on Day 1, IMF cuts India's GDP forecast

The opening day of the biggest telecom auction in the country ended with top telecom firms buying spectrum worth more than Rs 1.45 trillion across frequency bands including 5G

Mergers & acquisitions on rise as startups diversify into newer spaces

The second half of 2022 will see further consolidation as established start-ups look for M&A opportunities at attractive valuation to increase market share

Ronnie Screwvala-led upGrad eyeing acquisitions in the US, Southeast Asia

As part of the acquisition strategy, upGrad Rekrut, a 100 per cent subsidiary of upGrad, has acquired Wolves India, a recruitment and staffing firm, for an undisclosed amount

At $30.3 bn, M&As hit four-year high in March quarter

Mergers & acquisitions started off on a strong footing, hitting a four-year high at USD 30.3 billion in the first quarter of 2022, bucking the global trend where deal-making fell sharply, says a report. Deal activity grew by 5.6 per cent in value terms in January-March 2022 compared to the first quarter of 2021, making it the highest first-quarter period since 2018 when it was USD 31.1 billion. In volume terms, the M&A activity grew 29.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2022, making it the best-ever quarterly number, according to the M&A numbers collated by Refinitiv, an LSEG business, which is among the world's largest providers of financial markets data and infrastructure. M&As involving domestic companies stood at USD 23.7 billion, down 8.3 per cent on year. Domestic M&As declined 24.5 per cent to USD 12.1 billion, and inbound M&As grew by 17.9 per cent to USD 11.6 billion, which is the highest first-quarter period since 2017. The US was the most active ...

Zee Entertainment board clears media firm's mega merger with Sony

ZEEL's current CEO and managing director, Punit Goenka, will lead the combined company

India's mergers & acquisitions volume in 2021 near all-time high: Report

There were 85 strategic deals valued at more than $75 million in 2021, out of which the percentage of first-time buyers is almost 80 per cent

Sebi amends delisting rules to make M&A transactions more convenient

Sebi has amended rules pertaining to delisting of equity shares of a company following an open offer as part of efforts to make merger and acquisition transactions for listed companies more convenient