The Michael Jackson estate lost its share in the joint venture with Sony Corp. when the music publisher bought Jackson’s share of 50 percent for $750 million. The transaction will wipe out the rest of Jackson’s $500 million debt he left when the artist died in 2009.
Deals
GeneChip Company, Affymetrix rejects offer from Origin Technologies
Affymetrix said its Board has rejected an offer from Origin Technologies, which was aimed to disrupt its potential sale to Thermo Fisher.
Paint Company Sherwin-Williams to Acquire Valspar for $9.3 Billion
Sherwin-Williams, Cleveland-based company is set to acquire another paint company Minneapolis-based Valspar at $9.3 billion. The merger of the paint companies will place Sherwin-Williams to the top and its presence will be broaden and reinfornced outside North America and Canada with the help of Valspar.
China's Anbang to Acquire Starwood Hotel Group At More Than $13 Billion Bid
Starwood is about to dump Marriott's offer in favor of Anbang's more than $13 billion bid for the acquisition. If the deal pushes through, Starwood will pay Marriott a breakup fee of $400 million. Marriott has been given five days to counterbid.
Bankruptcy Looms Over Peabody Energy, Files Chapter 11 Sooner or Later
Peabody is facing difficulties as it shares declined sharply the past year. It is considering to file Chapter 11 sooner or later to protect it from creditors while restructuring the company and recovers from the large loss.
Latest News
Forge Inc. received a total of $4.5 million in seed fund rounded by Resolute Ventures, True Ventures and WME Ventures. The venture capitalist funded the platform for PC gamers to have no difficulty in sharing short video clips of their favorite games. The Forge app is free to download and is only available on PC.
Honest Dollar Acquired By Goldman Sachs On Monday, Goldman Sachs' Investment Management Division announced that it will take over Honest Dollar, a web and mobile-based retirement savings platform based in Austin, Texas where the amount was not disclosed.
Sony will pay $750 million to the Michael Jackson estate for its share in the music catalog. Once the deal is closed, the estate will be no longer in debt.
It was agreed that Apollo Global Management is taking over Fresh Market Inc. Chairman and founder Ray Berry is not so pleased and is considering of making the company private where he and his son own 9.8% of shares. This would be Apollo's third largest acquisition that is worth more than a billion dollars.
Global venture capital funding for financial technology companies hit $13.8 billion last year. The number is a double from previous year, indicating a serious impact of fintech to the financial services.
Facebook acquired Masquerade to enhance its video features. On Wednesday, the largest social network bought MSQRD, giving its users ability to retouch their photo using playful and animated filters.
General Motors is moving forward to compete in the autonomous car markets. The giant automaker has acquired a driverless cars software maker, Cruise Automation, for reportedly more than $1 billion.
Life Insurance Corporation has invested in nine state-owned banks. The Indian-based insurance group has invested around ₹2,750 crore in shares of nine banks in order to strengthen their capital reserve.
Chicago Transport Authority has planned to replace 2,600 age old rail cars with 846 units of 7000-Series cars. CTA has awarded the $1.3 billion deal, the largest purchase in its history to a unit of CRR Corp. on Wednesday. Chinese companies have been awarded the second major deal following $567 million contract to supply trains for Boston’s subway system.
