Technology, Capital Markets, Corporate Governance, Leadership, Entrepreneurship
Category: M&A
We expect less Technology M&A activity over the near-to-intermediate term given the recent pullback in the NASDAQ Composite (down 14% over the past two weeks). This is especially true for Public-Private M&A transactions. Private companies as a general rule lag public companies in terms of resetting internal valuation expectations. Should private technology companies be willing … Continue reading We Expect Less M&A Activity Given the Recent Market Pullback
Disney CEO Bob Iger stepped down from his CEO post effective immediately and will remain Executive Chairman through December 2021. Bob Chapek has been named Chief Executive Officer. Our expectation was that Kevin Mayer - Chairman Direct-to-Consumer & International - would be named Mr. Iger's successor. Does this abrupt CEO change foreshadow a larger transaction? … Continue reading Disney’s Sudden CEO Change – What Does It Foreshadow?
The Wall Street Journal reports that Intuit (ticker: INTU), plans to acquire Credit Karma for approximately $7 billion. A Credit Karma acquisition would compliment Intuit's 2009 $170 million acquisition of Personal Financial Management ("PFM") fintech company Mint.com. The Credit Karma deal would mark Intuit's first large acquisition under Sasan Goodarzi who became Intuit CEO in … Continue reading Intuit Reported to Acquire Credit Karma – Building A PFM Powerhouse
It is difficult to get excited about Morgan Stanley's recently announced acquisition of ETrade. The latter is essentially a no growth business (P&L below), competing in a cut-throat market. On the other hand, Square - albeit a larger company that would command a larger price - is a FinTech leader in growing consumer markets. If … Continue reading Square Makes More Sense for Morgan Stanley
We believe the answer is "YES". We believe that cryptocurrencies will turbocharge online marketplaces during the next 10 years. For this reason we believe companies that have planted a cryptocurrency flag will look to acquire online marketplaces which can be "crypto-enabled." Thus, we peg the probability of an EBAY sale in 2020 at 80%. Intercontinental … Continue reading Will Cryptocurrencies Turbocharge Online Marketplaces?
It ought to be an interesting earnings call next week for CVS Health (ticker: CVS). Former Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini resigned from CVS Health's Board of Directors last night. Bertolini told the Wall Street Journal that the CVS Health / Aetna post-deal integration is far from over - a statement that contradicts CVS Health CEO … Continue reading CVS Health, Aetna Post-Deal Integration Hiccups
We liked The ICE (ticker: ICE) as a potential acquirer of Bloomberg LP. News that The ICE moved to acquire eBay is consistent with ICE founder & CEO Jeff Sprecher's affinity for "exchange" / "marketplace" type businesses. The deal could carry a $30 billion value per the Wall Street Journal. EBAY shares are up 9% … Continue reading eBay for The ICE?
AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner seemed like a good idea at the time. That is no longer true. Tickers mentioned: AAPL, AMZN, CMCSA, DIS, GOOG, NFLX, T, VZ AT&T's $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner seemed like a good idea when it was first kicked around a few years ago. AT&T would differentiate its fiber … Continue reading AT&T Should Sell WarnerMedia
Tickers mentioned: AMZN, FDS, GOOG, IBM, INFO, MSCI, MSFT, ORCL, SSNC, VRSK Late to the Cloud and Little Appetite for Acquisitions IBM named Arvind Krishna to replace Ginni Rometty as CEO effective April 6th, 2020. Some 7-8 years ago IBM accelerated its transition to the cloud. This transition was accompanies by a change to pro … Continue reading IBM Names A New CEO
Roper Technologies has generally executed well over the past number of years. We offer three recommendations to Roper for driving superior operational performance and shareholder returns. 1.) Focus the Enterprise Software M&A strategy: This is Priority One. To date Roper has taken a buckshot approach to M&A with acquisitions scattered across the Software landscape. This … Continue reading Here’s How Roper Technologies (tkr: ROP) Can Raise Its Game
