Citigroup Inc.; Market Cap (as of 06/03/2015): $160.98bn Springleaf Holdings Inc.; Market Cap (as of 06/03/2015): $5.58bn Introduction On March 3, 2015, Springleaf Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LEAF), a leading personal finance company focused on consumer lending, credit insurance and other credit relating products, entered into a definitive agreement with Citigroup Inc. Read more…
AbbVie Inc.; market cap (as of 06/03/2015): $88.7bn Pharmacyclics Inc.; market cap (as of 06/03/2015): $19.3bn Introduction On March 4, the pharmaceutical company AbbVie, outbidding the competitor Johnson & Johnson, agreed to buy the cancer biotech company Pharmacyclics in a $21bn transaction. The Chicago based company will pay $261.25 per Read more…
Altice SA; Market Cap (as of 06/03/2015): €24bn Altice’s use of high levels of debt to fund its consolidation of the cable and telecoms sector in Europe has raised many eyebrows among investors and analysts, but so far the risks seem to be paying off. Since it’s initial public offering Read more…
Citigroup Inc.; Market Cap (as of 06/03/2015): $160.98bn Springleaf Holdings Inc.; Market Cap (as of 06/03/2015): $5.58bn Introduction On March 3, 2014, Springleaf Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LEAF), a leading personal finance company focused on consumer lending, credit insurance and other credit relating products, entered into a definitive agreement with Citigroup Inc. Read more…
NXP Semiconductor NV; Market Cap (as of 06/03/15): $22.7bn Freescale Semiconductor Ltd; Market Cap (as of 06/03/15): $12.3bn Introduction On March 2, NXP Semi announced it will acquire Freescale Semi in a $11.8bn transaction. Amalgamating the Eindhoven-based chip manufacturer with its American rival will create the leader in both Auto Read more…
This week, we are proud to publish an in-deep analysis on the Italian Popolari banks situation, one of the most discussed topics since the announcement of the AQR done by the ECB. Thanks to the recent rumors of an Italian decree, which changes the voting powers’ structure of the above Read more…
It has been a tough couple of weeks for the Euro area and what seemed like a major Euro breakdown turned -temporarily- into a much more stable situation this week. But let us go back in time a little, when Grexit was more likely. Up to just a couple of Read more…
US The biggest event for US markets this week was certainly Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen’s testimony before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday. Indicating that if the US economy improved further, she stated that the central bank could change its language and abandon its “patient” stance (which means not to Read more…
UIL Holdings Corp.; market cap (as of 27/02/15): US$2.86bn Iberdrola SA; market cap (as of 27/02/15): US$43.5bn Introduction On February 26, Iberdrola SA, Spain’s largest electricity company, agreed to buy UIL Holdings Corp. in a deal valued at about US$3bn in cash and shares. With the acquisition, Iberdrola plans Read more…
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc.; market cap (as of 26/02/2015): US$76.68bn Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd.; market cap (as of 26/02/2015): US$10.07bn Introduction The pharmaceutical industry has undergone an intense period of consolidation in the past 18 months which is far from over as the big players take advantage of the Read more…
Hewlett-Packard Company; Market Cap (as of 27/02/2015): US$63.86bn Aruba Networks Inc.; Market Cap (as of 27/02/2015): US$2.72bn Introduction Hewlett-Packard (HP) CEO Meg Whitman has announced on Tuesday that the company is in the position to make acquisitions with media reporting on Wednesday that the company is exploring the possibility Read more…
US Big news has struck the US economy this week and in particular the ones oil-related has had a strong effect on the market. The US economy has been once again the main driver of the fall in oil prices this week as the country’s stockpiles of crude last week Read more…
As everyone knows, a commodity is a raw material – fungible by definition – that is supposed to trade in any market of the world for the same price. But when it comes to crude oil, things are not as simple. As it is widely known, the two main qualities Read more…
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.; market cap (as of 20/02/2015): $184.12bn Sector leadership and the acquisition The push to eradicate bulky wallets stuffed with cards seems to be picking up some steam. Samsung’s recent acquisition of mobile wallet startup LoopPay is seen as a strong sign of intensifying competition in the Read more…
BT Group plc.; market cap (as of 20/02/2015): $54.66bn Introduction On February 5th, 2015, BT agreed to acquire the British network operator EE from Deutsche Telekom and Orange in a £12.5bn (US$19bn) deal to form the leading telecommunication provider in the UK. Companies’ Overview British Telecom Group, is the world’s Read more…