Reuters - Deals Today

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Friday, December 15, 2017

Disney buying Fox film, TV units for $52 billion in digital push

(Reuters) - Walt Disney Co has struck a deal to buy film, television and international businesses from Rupert Murdoch's Twenty-First Century Fox Inc for $52.4 billion in stock, giving the world's largest entertainment company an arsenal of shows and movies to combat growing digital rivals Netflix Inc and Amazon.com Inc .

BT and Sky strike deal to carry each other's channels

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's leading pay-TV companies Sky and BT have agreed to supply their most popular channels to each other's platforms in a thawing of a once difficult relationship.

Austrian airline Niki to lose runway slots unless buyer is found

VIENNA (Reuters) - Insolvent Austrian airline Niki has around a week to find a buyer before it loses its valuable runway slots, increasing pressure on its administrators to agree a deal, the chief of Niki's works council said on Friday.

Siemens buys Fast Track Diagnostics to boost molecular offering

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Siemens said it has agreed to buy Luxembourg-based Fast Track Diagnostics to boost its molecular-testing offering, one of the areas it is keen to expand as it prepares to float its healthcare unit, Healthineers.

South Korea's Kakao to issue GDRs of up to $1 billion for M&A

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean messaging app service provider Kakao Corp said on Friday it is targeting raising up to $1 billion overseas for use in global mergers and acquisitions.

Japan approves merger in struggling regional bank sector after lengthy review

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's antitrust regulator has approved a merger of Daishi Bank Ltd and Hokuetsu Bank Ltd , in a decision that pit considerations of competition against regional lenders' struggle to survive.

Daily Mail owner to liquidate U.S. business Xceligent

LONDON (Reuters) - Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) , publisher of Britain's Daily Mail newspaper, has handed Xceligent, its struggling United States property information business, over to liquidators, it said on Friday.

BP returns to solar with investment in Lightsource

(Reuters) - BP is getting back into solar power six years after its first, failed foray, with a $200 million investment in solar generator Lightsource that the oil and gas firm expects will deliver profits and deepen its foothold in renewable energy.

Exclusive: Luxottica, Essilor tie-up on track for unconditional EU okay - sources

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Italian eyewear maker Luxottica and French lens manufacturer Essilor are set to win unconditional EU antitrust approval for their 48 billion-euro ($57 billion) merger, two people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

China regulators start antitrust review of Toshiba chip unit sale: report

TOKYO/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Chinese regulators have begun an antitrust review of Toshiba Corp's $18 billion deal to sell its memory chip unit, two months after the Bain Capital-led buying consortium applied for approval, the Nikkei business daily said on Friday.