Mergers & Acquisitions | featured news

Packaging company Sealed Air Corp. has agreed to buy the privately-held Diversey Holdings Inc. for about $2.9 billion in cash and stock. Diversey is a cleaning and sanitation company.

Opponents of AT&T’s proposed merger with T-Mobile filed last-minute petitions to federal regulators Tuesday in hopes of blocking the $39 billion mega-deal. But they are going up against a deep-pocketed telecom giant that’s just getting started on its own campaign to influence the decision.

The acquisition, an effort to gain a foothold in voice and video communications, would be Microsoft’s largest ever.

News Corp's IGN gaming and entertainment property has just acquired Hearst's gaming and entertainment property UGO, we've confirmed with the company. And yes, the move is step one towards News Corp. spinning out IGN as its own property sometime relatively soon, we're told.

Applied Materials Inc. says it will buy Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates Inc. for $4.9 billion, gaining access to a leading supplier of ion implantation equipment used by chipmakers....

Johnson & Johnson is to buy Swiss medical devices maker Synthes Inc in a deal worth $21.3 billion, its largest ever buy, boosting its orthopedics franchise and reshaping the medical technology industry.

Level 3 Communications Inc. said Monday it will acquire another top long-distance Internet carrier, Global Crossing Ltd., in an all-stock transaction valued at about $2 billion. Both companies operate vast networks of optical fiber. Combined, they would reach 70 countries on three continents.

The parent company of the New York Stock Exchange said Sunday that it rejected an $11.3-billion bid from Nasdaq and IntercontinentalExchange to buy the company.

Dish Network Corp won Blockbuster Inc in a bankruptcy auction for about $320 million, a move that could see the second-largest U.S. satellite TV provider tapping the movie rental chain's online content to strengthen its offerings.

Looking at AT&T and its planned acquisition, it’s fair to suggest that it could not attract the financing necessary to complete the purchase if its plan was to raise prices. Not only would such a move be unrealistic given the existence of Verizon and other smaller competitors, it would also be self-defeating for high prices signaling to those outside the mobile-phone space a potentially profitable competitive opportunity.