Friendly targets
Ask any dealmaker why companies are sitting on the sidelines even as conditions for M&A have never been better, and the watchword is “caution”. In a world with enough uncertainty…
Disney plans to exploit Star Wars galaxy
©Getty In a video message posted online this week shortly after Walt Disney announced its $4bn purchase of Lucasfilm, Bob Iger, Disney’s chief executive, told viewers what the media group…
Disney and Star Wars join forces
©Getty Mickey Mouse has forged an unlikely alliance with Darth Vader after Walt Disney agreed a $4bn deal to acquire Lucasfilm, the company behind the Star Wars films, and revealed…
Former Disney executive to run Shine
Rich Ross, the former Walt Disney Studios chairman, has been hired by Elisabeth Murdoch to run Shine America, the television production company she sold to News Corp last year. Mr…
Apple revolution shows signs of reboot
©AFP The iPhone Maps fiasco may have been its immediate cause, but the senior management shake-up at Apple this week marks a deeper transition at the world’s most valuable company.…
Google and Starbucks face tax questions
©Charlie Bibby/FT Google and Starbucks will be subjected to parliamentary scrutiny over their tax affairs for the first time on Monday with the public accounts committee set to demand that…
A great British hope goes global
©Charlie Bibby Face time: founders Alastair Mitchell, left, and Andy McLoughlin see each other rarely since they set up a San Francisco office, where Mr McLoughlin spends most of his…
Grant Capital Partners to shut down
Grant Capital Partners, the hedge fund manager set up by the former Goldman Sachs trading star behind Peloton Partners – one of the industry’s biggest collapses – is shutting down.…
ADM’s quarterly earnings plunge 60%
ADM, one of the world’s largest agricultural commodities traders, on Tuesday said its net profits plunged 60 per cent in the most recent quarter as US corn supplies, one of…
Bayer diversifies with $1.2bn Schiff deal
Bayer is to buy Schiff Nutrition International of the US for $1.2bn, strengthening the non-prescription drug operations of the German healthcare group. The company has agreed to pay $34 a…
Apple shake-up at top after maps fiasco
Apple has replaced senior software executive Scott Forstall in the wake of the fiasco over its maps service, bringing the biggest shake-up in management at the consumer technology company since…
Petronas extends deadline for Progress bid
Petronas, the Malaysian state-owned oil and gas group, has agreed to extend the deadline for its $5.3bn takeover of Progress Energy Resources, the Calgary-based gas producer, to give it more…
Chrysler denies claim Jeep leaving US
While Fiat has grown used to taking political flak in Italy over its production plans, its US Chrysler business came under unusual criticism at the highest level last week. According…
Gatecrasher causes stir at book club
For about 36 intense hours between Saturday night and Monday morning, it looked as though the genteel world of book publishing was about to be shaken not only by its…
Global economy: Tricks of the trade law
©Bloomberg Turnround: In 2010 the threat of a WTO case from Washington caused China to abandon a wind power subsidy programme When doom-mongers predicted that the Great Recession would lead…