Page 25 - Aruba Today
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BUSINESS A25
Monday 4 January 2016
Target’s fashion Record-breaking year sees $5 trillion in merger deals
moments for 2015 MARLEY JAY BG GROUP coatings and Nylon and billion. Anthem is the sec-
AP Markets Writer When Royal Dutch Shell Kevlar fibers. Dow DuPont ond-largest U.S. insurance
by the numbers NEW YORK (AP) — Com- agreed to buy BG Group will then break into three company in terms of enroll-
panies around the world in April, oil prices had taken separate companies with ment, and Cigna is fourth.
A. D’INNOCENZIO spent a record $5.04 tril- a steep fall from their 2014 more specific focuses. The combined company
AP Retail Writer lion on acquisitions in 2015, highs. But they were going would cover almost 50 mil-
NEW YORK (AP) — Target according to Dealogic, as to get a lot worse. Oil and CHARTER AND TIME WAR- lion people. Anthem sells
is working to reclaim its slow worldwide economic gas company Shell agreed NER CABLE health coverage to indi-
cheap chic image. Here growth and low interest to buy BG Group for $69.83 Charter Communications viduals and employees of
are some things it did in rates pushed companies to billion to expand its liquid agreed to buy Time War- small businesses and serves
2015: combine forces.
— This past spring, Target Dealogic, a financial data Drinks sit on the bar in a pub in London. In 2015, the world’s top two beer makers agreed to join
launched a partnership provider, says the value of forces to create a company that would control nearly a third of the global market. AB InBev’s
with the Lilly Pulitzer brand global deals soared 37 per- brands include Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona, while SABMiller produces Peroni and Grolsch.
to develop a limited-time cent in 2015. The highest
only collection of 250 price tag came in Novem- (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
pieces for a fraction of the ber, when Pfizer and Aller-
price of the Palm Beach gan announced the big- natural gas business. Natu- ner Cable for $56.80 bil- Medicare, Medicaid and
designer’s original mer- gest pharmaceutical deal ral gas prices have tum- lion in May, and it will also federal employees. Cigna
chandise. The discounter in history. bled since then, and in De- spend about $10 billion to sells group disability and life
says the collection gar- Low interest rates since cember they reached their buy Bright House Networks. insurance in the U.S. and
nered the most social me- the Great Recession have lowest levels in 16 years. That will make Charter one has an international busi-
dia hits of Target’s limited- made it cheaper for com- of the largest providers of ness.
time collections, but it was panies to borrow money to DELL AND EMC TV and internet services
fraught with challenges. pay for acquisitions, and In October PC maker Dell in the U.S. Cable provider EBAY SPINS OFF PAYPAL
The offer, which included because the global econ- agreed to pay $65.97 bil- Comcast tried to buy Time Online commerce giant
$38 pink shift dresses and omy only grew slowly this lion for EMC, which makes Warner in 2014, but the U.S. EBay spun off its payments
$25 beach towels, was year, companies decided data storage hardware government opposed that system unit PayPal for
wrought with long lines in it made more sense to buy and sells cloud storage and deal. $49.16 billion in July. That
stores and quick sellouts their competitors instead of security products. Dell’s was almost a year after
online within hours of the trying to boost their sales on personal computer sales HEINZ AND KRAFT FOODS eBay announced PayPal
debut on April 19. Still, a lot their own. have been weak for years, One of the largest food would become a separate
of pundits described it as a Here are the largest acqui- but the company has been companies in the world company. Investors value
success, not only because sitions announced during expanding its software and was formed when H.J. Heinz PayPal more highly than its
everything was quickly sold 2015: service businesses. bought Kraft Foods for former parent, as PayPal
out but also because ev- $53.83 billion. The purchase, has a market capitalization
eryone was talking about PFIZER AND ALLERGAN DOW CHEMICAL AND DU- which was announced in of about $45 billion com-
the chain. Pfizer, the maker of cho- PONT March and closed in July, pared to eBay’s $33 billion.
— Target teamed up with lesterol fighter Lipitor, im- Dow Chemical agreed to brought together brands
Vogue for the September potence treatment Viagra buy competitor DuPont in a including Oscar Meyer, Ca- TEVA BUYING ALLERGAN
issue to reimagine 15 icon- and fibromyalgia drug deal that will combine two pri Sun, Ore-Ida, Maxwell GENERICS
ic photographic images in Lyrica, agreed to buy Al- chemicals companies that House, Kool-Aid and Heinz Teva, an Israeli company
the fashion bible’s pages lergan in November. The were founded in the 19th ketchup. that is already the world’s
dating back to the 1920s. $148.57 billion deal would century. Both Dow and Du- largest manufacturer of
Some of the looks included be the second-largest Pont were pushed by activ- ANTHEM BUYS CIGNA generic drugs, will get even
fur head wraps, oversized corporate merger ever. It ist investors to break up or A wave of health insurance bigger by buying the ge-
coats and black and white would give Pfizer control of find other ways to revitalize combinations swept the neric drugs business of Bo-
checkered pumps. People Botox and move the com- their businesses. When the market in July as Anthem tox maker Allergan. Teva
also could use a Shazam pany’s headquarters to Ire- $62.38 billion deal closes, announced it would buy had been looking to ex-
app, which uses image land, cutting its taxes. Pfizer Dow DuPont will make Cigna for $51.93 billion just pand, as earlier in the year
recognition technology, to would also become the products including Ziploc after Aetna said it would it pushed to buy generic
see the original image or world’s largest drugmaker bags, Saran wrap, Teflon buy Humana for $35.04 drugmaker Mylan. q
buy the featured item from in terms of sales.
Target highlighted in the
20-page advertising insert AB INBEV AND SABMILLER
in Vogue. The biggest beer maker
— This past spring, Target in the world wants to get
launched Ava & Viv, a new even larger. The company
plus-size clothing collection behind Budweiser, Corona
for women. It marks the first and Stella Artois agreed
new exclusive fashion line to buy the maker of Miller
that Target has created in Genuine Draft and Peroni
more than a decade. for $105.56 billion in Octo-
— Target this fall hired fash- ber.
ion designer Adam Lippes The move would expand
to create 50 items in home AB InBev’s business in Af-
decor and fashion, includ- rica, Asia and other key de-
ing handbags and coats. veloping markets. As part of
It was part of an overall the deal, SABMiller agreed
limited time only plaid to sell the Miller brand to
theme collection of more Molson Coors.
than 360 items that even
included plaid Diet Coke ROYAL DUTCH SHELL AND
bottles, shampoo bottles,
special issue Chapstick sets
of three lip balms and ban-
dages.
