|
Published March 26, 2008 at 2:17 PM
|
 Two heavy-hitting deals may have struck out while old-line companies Ford Motor Co. and Reuters Group plc are well under way to scoring a completion to their mergers. Overall, investors withdrew from the market, digesting deal news that included an unexpected slide in February durable good orders. The Dow is trading down 107.38, or 0.88%, to 12,421.72 midday Wednesday while the Nasdaq declined 25.74, or 1.11%, to 2,315.09. Here's a look at the performance of some Deal Stocks that are affecting the markets:
Continue reading below
- Radio station operator Clear Channel Communication Inc. [CCU] is trading down nearly 15% on news that its $22.1 billion buyout is reportedly in jeopardy because private equity players are having trouble with the financing agreements with lenders. The deal was struck during the period of easy credit that preceded the current crunch that is hurting the U.S. market.
- Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. [TTWO] is down slightly on its rejection of a $2 billion offer from competitor Electronic Arts Inc. Take-Two has countered the offer as "inadequate," and The Deal's Donna Block reports that Take-Two has already received "indications of interest from third parties with respect to possible business combination" since EA first made its overture, but has held no talks as yet.
- Ford [F] dipped after it finally agreed to sell its Jaguar and Land Rover units to Tata Motors Ltd. of India for $2.3 billion, less than half what it paid for the two brands.
- Shareholders of Thomson Corp. approved its acquisition of Reuters [RTRSY]. The London-based media company's shares were trading down.
- Citigroup Inc. [C] is down nearly 5% as Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Meredith Whitney revised her earnings estimate for the financial services company, predicting that its loss will be 4 times larger than she originally predicted, Bloomberg reports. Whitney predicted the bank will lose $1.15 a share in the first quarter. The trouble could spell even more divestitures, layoffs, a look toward more capital injections from overseas or a complete merger.
- Not all Deal Stocks were down. Investors pushed Motorola Inc.'s [MOT] stock up slightly because of the company's plan to split itself in two. One company will focus on handsets, and the other will offer network equipment, cable TV set-top boxes and two-way radios.
- Gerald Magpily
|
