Posted on July 2, 2009 at 2:04 PM
Filed under: Corporate Strategy | Detroit Breakdown | Divesting and Restructuring
Tagged: chrysler , general motors , NADA

Can auto dealers do anything to fight back against the mass closings ordered by General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Group LLC, and the changes being required of those dealers who are retaining their franchises? Not a whole lot, according to National Automobile Dealer's Association chairman John McEleney, speaking on CNBC...  Continue reading

[ Share ]  [ E-mail]  [ Leave a Comment ]  [ Full Story ]

Posted on July 2, 2009 at 10:43 AM
Filed under: Corporate Strategy | Detroit Breakdown | Divesting and Restructuring
Tagged: cato institute , general motors corp.

The deadline is July 10. The Feds won't fund bankrupt General Motors Corp. past then, we learned Wednesday, so unless the court approves a 363 sale and the creation of the new GM by, let's see, a week from Friday, we're looking at liquidation. This and much more about what...  Continue reading

[ Share ]  [ E-mail]  [ Leave a Comment ]  [ Full Story ]

Posted on July 2, 2009 at 8:44 AM
Filed under: Corporate Strategy | Divesting and Restructuring
Tagged: BHP Billiton , Rio Tinto

The Deal Pipeline (subscription required) shows investors signed up to buy 96.97% of new Rio Tinto Group stock, worth about £7.1 billion ($11.7 billion). Though this helps quite a bit with its massive debt burden -- mostly incurred from its $38 billion acquisition of aluminum company Alcan in 2007...  Continue reading

[ Share ]  [ E-mail]  [ Leave a Comment ]  [ Full Story ]

Posted on July 1, 2009 at 2:52 PM
Filed under: Corporate Strategy | Divesting and Restructuring | Joint Ventures and Alliances
Tagged: paramount , Viacom Inc.

The business is profitable but not growing, and one of these days it will start shrinking. Several rivals are in exactly the same boat.It's a classic recipe for co-opetition -- in this case, combining manufacturing and back-office operations in a joint venture with one or more rivals to cut costs,...  Continue reading

[ Share ]  [ E-mail]  [ Leave a Comment ]  [ Full Story ]

Posted on July 1, 2009 at 9:14 AM
Filed under: Corporate Strategy | Divesting and Restructuring | Middle market
Tagged: AB InBev , Ball Corp. , beer distributors , Carlos Brito , CVC Capital , KKR , Labatt , Oriental Brewery , Tsingtao Brewery

On March 5, Anheuser-Busch InBev said it would divest about $7 billion worth of assets to deal with short-term debt after the November Euro-U.S. merger of InBev SA and St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch Cos., which created the world's No. 1 brewer. It's full debt load after the deal was $45 billion.Most...  Continue reading

[ Share ]  [ E-mail]  [ Leave a Comment ]  [ Full Story ]

Posted on June 30, 2009 at 5:04 PM
Filed under: Detroit Breakdown | Divesting and Restructuring | Joint Ventures and Alliances
Tagged: general motors corp. , NUMMI , Toyota Motor Corp.

General Motors Corp.'s decision to drop out of a California joint venture has created a difficult decision for partner Toyota Motor Corp.Bankrupt GM said Monday that its 50% stake in the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., or Nummi, facility in Freemont would not be part of the revitalized company that...  Continue reading

[ Share ]  [ E-mail ]  [ Leave a Comment ]  [ Full Story ]

Posted on June 30, 2009 at 4:44 PM
Filed under: Corporate Strategy | Divesting and Restructuring | Growth Strategy | Joint Ventures and Alliances
Tagged: areva sa , Constellation Energy Group , mitsubishi heavy industries

French nuclear engineering giant Areva SA is expected to put its transmission and distribution business up for sale to finance new investment, Paris-based Paul Whitfield reports on The Deal Pipeline (subscription required).The decision, and a related move by state-controlled Areva to seek outside investors, is the latest example of the...  Continue reading

[ Share ]  [ E-mail]  [ Leave a Comment ]  [ Full Story ]

Posted on June 29, 2009 at 11:35 AM
Filed under: Acquisitions | Case Studies | Changing Face of Media | Corporate Strategy | Divesting and Restructuring | Middle market | Sector Watch | Trends
Tagged: aQuantive , Microsoft , Morgan Stanley , Omnicom , Publicis Groupe , Razorfish , Steve Ballmer , Vivake , WPP

A Financial Times report said Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) tapped Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) to find a potential buyer for Razorfish, its digital agency, in a deal that could be worth around $600 million to $700 million. Microsoft gained Razorfish -- which designed the logo for new search function Bing -- when...  Continue reading

[ Share ]  [ E-mail]  [ Leave a Comment ]  [ Full Story ]

Posted on June 29, 2009 at 9:38 AM
Filed under: Acquisitions | Corporate Strategy | Divesting and Restructuring
Tagged: at&t , Nokia Siemens Networks , Nortel Networks Corp. , T-Mobil USA

On June 22 Nokia Siemens Networks BV became the stalking-horse bidder for the wireless infrastructure business of bankrupt Nortel Corp. If its $650 million bid succeeds, it will get Nortel's CDMA operations (the world's second largest) plus its LTE assets. LTE, or long-term evolution, is a standard for the next...  Continue reading

[ Share ]  [ E-mail]  [ Leave a Comment ]  [ Full Story ]

Posted on June 26, 2009 at 12:30 PM
Filed under: Corporate Strategy | Deal International | Divesting and Restructuring
Tagged: earnings , Jaguar , job cuts , Land Rover , Tata Motors

Tata Motors Ltd., which spent $2.4 billion acquiring the Jaguar and Land Rover brands from Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) a year ago, just reported its first annual loss in at least seven years as the recession strangled sales in its luxury unit. Tata lost about 25 billion rupees ($520 million)...  Continue reading

[ Share ]  [ E-mail]  [ Leave a Comment ]  [ Full Story ]