Bloomberg Businessweek (North America)
Bid/ask: Lockheed Martin gets out of IT; Sony gets into chips
$5b
Lockheed Martin offloads its information technology business. The cash and stock deal with Leidos Holdings lets Lockheed pocket $1.8 billion tax-free as it sheds a unit facing increasing competition from Silicon Valley. The defense contractor, which borrowed to finance its $9 billion purchase of Sikorsky Aircraft late last year, says it will use the money to repay debt, pay dividends, and possibly buy back stock.
$50b Royal Dutch Shell shareholders approve a purchase. Shell pitched the acquisition of natural gas company BG Group as a way to weather the slump in oil markets.
$32.4b Berkshire Hathaway is set to close on Precision Castparts. The all-cash deal is the conglomerate’s largest takeover. Precision primarily makes fasteners and turbines for airplanes.
$3.4b Huntington Bancshares buys Firstmerit. With assets of almost $100 billion, the combined companies will have much more clout in the Midwest and Pennsylvania.
$3.3b Terex attracts an unsolicited suitor. The construction crane maker, which has agreed to merge with Finland’s Konecranes, says China’s Zoomlion Heavy Industry made an all-cash offer.
$212m Sony rakes in a chipmaker. The company is buying Israelbased Altair Semiconductor for technology to power the next generation of smart appliances.
$60m Meredith accepts a breakup fee. The owner of broadcast stations and magazines will drop its attempt to merge with Media General, which Nexstar Broadcasting will acquire.
$8.9k Royal ear goggles. A pair of Dolce & Gabbana bejeweled headphones shaped like a crown quickly sold out when Rihanna tweeted a photo of herself wearing a pair.