The sale of a stake in Universal Music has attracted potential buyers including KKR and China’s Tencent, but it’s hardly a perfect pitch. A buyer would need to assume hefty growth in streaming, and be comfortable playing backup to majority owner Vivend…
The U.S. FTC is creating a body to police anticompetitive behavior in Silicon Valley. The new task force will have the ability to unwind old M&A deals, which as Jen Saba explains is a powerful tool for the agency as it investigates Facebook’s data priv…
The U.S. telco’s $85 billion purchase of Time Warner was upheld by an appeals court – a relief for boss Randall Stephenson. With AT&T shares down since the 2016 deal announcement, though, his task now is to persuade his shareholders the combination wil…
CEO Larry Culp is selling part of the conglomerate’s health business to his old company, Danaher, for $21 bln. Rob Cyran explains that the deal helps the buyer bulk up in a fast-growing field while enabling GE to meaningfully reduce the debt load hangi…
Beijing is cutting back on coal imports from Australia. Whether that was triggered by domestic concerns or diplomatic tit-for-tat, the curbs could hurt miners and traders. Clara Ferreira Marques and Pete Sweeney discuss how it sends a stern message to …
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro proposes cutting $270 billion from retirement spending over a decade to fix the finances of Latin America’s biggest economy. Martin Langfield explains it’s a good start, even if Congress waters his proposal down.
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CVS Health knocked $7 bln off its market value with a profit warning less than three months after buying Aetna. Rob Cyran says the deal should eventually help the company cut costs and grow, but reduced pricing power in U.S. healthcare is inflicting pa…
Carmaker Honda is closing its only British plant – though not because of Brexit. Honda’s facility was the weak link in a surprisingly strong industry, Liam Proud explains. Yet stronger operators are at risk too from the potential loss of trade ties and…
The $800 bln e-commerce company is scrapping plans to open a second headquarters in NYC after local opposition. Both look foolish, but neither loses. Amazon can still expand elsewhere and New York is still a hot spot for job growth, as Amanda Gomez exp…
JPMorgan, the bank run by Jamie Dimon, is launching its own cryptocurrency to help facilitate blockchain-based transactions between its customers. At least so far, it’s a ways from the killer app for the technology behind bitcoin, as Tom Buerkle explai…