UPS image credit: Parcells UPS recently announced that it was selling its less than load (LTL) and truckload business. TFI International will buy that business, UPS Freight, for $800 million. The companies expect to complete the deal in the second quarter of 2021. The deal is subject to working capital [...]
Image credit: PixabayIn many large initial public offerings (IPOs), the bank underwriters decide to exercise their “greenshoe option” to sell additional company shares. This special share arrangement is formally known as the “over-allotment option”. Companies such as Facebook, Alibaba, Exxon Mobil and Saudi Aramco have utilized this option following their [...]
The last week of January 2021 unexpectedly turned out to be a wild week for stock markets and online forums focused on trading advice. It also cast an unlikely spotlight on a few previously anonymous day traders and their clashes with Wall Street. At the center of the story were [...]
SPACs, or special purpose acquisition companies, surged into popularity in 2020. They have continued making headlines in 2021. With their limited downside and huge upside potential for companies and investors alike, SPACs are increasingly becoming a mainstream source of acquisition capital.U.S.-based SPACs raised $82 billion in capital in 2020, almost [...]
Oklahoma recently proposed consumer data privacy legislation. The Oklahoma Computer Data Privacy Act (OCDPA) was filed on January 19, 2021 for consideration in the State’s 58th Legislative Session, which starts in February.Representatives Josh West, R-Grove, and Representative Collin Walke, D-Oklahoma City, sponsored the bipartisan legislation, House Bill 1602.The Consumer Data [...]
Growth equity firms have been one of the fastest growing segments of the private equity industry. This industry lies somewhere at the intersection of the private equity and venture capital industries, carrying elements of both. In many ways, they offer the best of both worlds. They fall in between private [...]
The United Kingdom is finally joining in the global resurgence in mergers and acquisitions. The COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted the United Kingdom, just as it did so many other countries and companies. The worst economic contraction in 300 years saw the country’s M&A activity shut down in the early summer [...]
Image credit: @LumentumLumentum Holdings has announced an agreement to purchase the laser manufacturer Coherent in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $5.7 billion.Deal DetailsUnder terms of the agreement, Coherent shareholders will receive $100 per share in cash and 1.1851 shares of Lumentum common stock for each Coherent share they own. A [...]
Smaller companies often face tighter lending requirements. They generally have non-investment grade ratings and therefore can struggle to obtain debt financing from banks. As a result, these higher risk companies look for alternative financing sources. There are a variety of alternative financing arrangements that help to fund smaller-sized companies. The [...]
The United States Supreme Court recently heard a case on climate change that may help determine the fate of many similar lawsuits across the country. In July 2018, the Mayor and City of Baltimore filed suit in Maryland state court against over two dozen oil and gas companies. The state [...]
Image credit: scale.com Scale AI is a data labeling startup headed by 23-year old Alex Wang. Its value is now $3.5 billion. The four-year-old startup raised a $155 million Series D funding round led by Tiger Global Management. Based in San Francisco, its customers include Airbnb, General Motors, DoorDash, Nvidia, [...]
Image credit: Lareina Giles Regulation Fair Disclosure is a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule. It prohibits companies from selectively disclosing material non-public information (MNPI) to investment professionals or key shareholders. Sometimes as simply Reg FD, the rule states that companies cannot selectively share MNPI with certain individuals covered [...]
On December 31, 2020, the Trump administration announced in an executive order concerning the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The order states that the NYSE would be delisting three foreign companies that are Chinese telecom giants. This move came in the wake of ongoing tension between the U.S. and China [...]
The total value of U.S. retail deals last year reached $36 billion—roughly three times the $13.9 billion of in 2019. This was despite the pandemic, or perhaps in part because of itThis growth came after year-over-year declines in both 2018 and 2019. This information comes from the M&A insights tool [...]
Image credit: Suhail Haque The record IPO surge in the second half of 2020 looks set to extend well into 2021. The IPO euphoria, particularly with respect to tech companies, has defied expectations. Utah-based Qualtrics is a customer-relationship management software company. It has entered the arena with its announcement of [...]
NYDIG is a financial services firm that trades in Bitcoin. The firm announced this week that it has acquired crypto data firm Digital Assets Data. The acquisition is part of its grand initiative to expand its platform. NYDIG says that the acquisition adds to its “best-in-class platform for institutions, hedge [...]
A wave of large deals in the last few weeks of 2020 drove global mergers and acquisitions to the $3.6tn mark in 2020. It’s an impressive rebound of M&A activity in the second half of the year. Financial Times reports that the 2020 total value of M&A transactions is down [...]
Tyco Fire Products is a company known for manufacturing and testing firefighting foam containing “forever chemicals.” Recently, it settled with hundreds of homeowners over contamination found in private drinking wells, specifically Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFAS, which is also known as “C8.”). The company agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit with 271 [...]
The lack of gender and racial diversity at the highest levels of corporate America has long been an issue. A recent board diversity survey of 3,000 of the largest publicly traded companies yielded disappointing findings. The survey revealed that women make up a mere 21% of corporate board seats and [...]
The New Mexico Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments on whether businesses can sue the state for compensation due to COVID-19 closures. The Court has not yet made a decision. This case was the third lawsuit on its kind in the New Mexico Supreme Court. Businesses sued the governor over [...]
