Based on discussions with an antitrust expert in Washington, Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche came away thinking a Sprint/T-Mobile combination would get fair treatment by federal regulators. “The expert we met indicated under the current Administration, merger review would likely move away from being a tool for shaping social policy to a review focused on the merits of each proposed transaction,” Fritzsche emailed investors. “The expert also indicated under prior Republican Administrations, anti-trust review tended to be most concerned with effects of horizontal mergers rather than vertical. In their view, the DOJ merger review would likely not prejudge outcomes on new transactions.”
SoundExchange said it bought music licensing collective Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency. The groups “will integrate and streamline the administration and distribution” of sound recording and music publishing royalties and “continue to work independently and serve their current customers while also exploring collaborative opportunities such as sharing core services,” SoundExchange said in a Monday news release. “The acquisition of CMRRA helps us increase efficiencies while also extending service to the publishing sector,” said SoundExchange CEO Michael Huppe.
Free Press signaled it would fight any Sprint/T-Mobile combination. Bloomberg News reported Friday that Sprint and parent SoftBank have informally contacted T-Mobile owner Deutsche Telekom about a deal. The companies aren’t commenting. “No one but [President] Donald Trump’s pals on Wall Street wants to see this competition-killing, investment-killing and job-killing merger,” Free Press President Craig Aaron said in a news release. “There is no rational justification for this deal. It’s motivated by pure greed and a desire to reach deeper into people’s wallets.” Consumers win when telecom combinations falter, Aaron said. “In recent years, T-Mobile and Sprint have each exerted important competitive pressures on the wireless market, pushing each other and AT&T and Verizon to do things they otherwise wouldn’t -- like offering uncapped data plans again and dropping burdensome contract requirements.”
Garmin acquired ActiveCaptain, a developer of crowdsourced content for boaters, it said in a Thursday announcement. Karen and Jeffrey Siegel, founders and the sole employees of ActiveCaptain, will become employees of Garmin, it said. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
Masayoshi Son, CEO of Japan-based SoftBank, said T-Mobile remains Sprint’s "first priority" as a merger partner. SoftBank owns a controlling interest in Sprint and Son spoke on an earnings call Wednesday. His remarks were reported by Nikkei Asian Review. "If any other favorable options come up” for Sprint, “I will consider them with an open mind,” Son said. He said he was pleased with the signals from the Trump administration. "The previous administration turned a deaf ear,” he said. “The U.S. was a difficult place to do business and I felt a great deal of dissatisfaction."
IAC/InterActiveCorp's HomeAdvisor and Angie's List will combine into a new public company called ANGI Homeservices, they announced. The deal is expected to close in 4Q subject to approvals from regulators and Angie's List stockholders, they said Monday. The brands will be maintained. Angie's List first received an unsolicited bid from IAC in November 2015 (see 1511120017).
Cisco plans to pay $610 million cash to acquire Viptela, a software-defined wide area network company, in a deal expected to close in second-half 2017, Cisco said in a Monday news release. The deal requires customary closing conditions and regulatory review, Cisco said.
Motorola Solutions agreed to buy broadband push-to-talk provider Kodiak Networks, Motorola said in a Monday news release. Motorola didn’t disclose terms, and said the deal is subject to customary conditions and will close later this year.
Windstream agreed to pay $227.5 million cash to buy Broadview Networks, a cloud-based unified communications services vendor, the acquirer said in a Thursday news release. The deal bolsters Windstream’s business services portfolio and salesforce, Windstream CEO Tony Thomas said. Windstream expects $30 million in annual operating synergies within two years, it said. Each company’s board unanimously OK’d the deal and Broadview majority shareholders cleared it by written consent, Windstream said. The companies expect to close the deal Q3, subject to closing conditions and federal and state regulatory approvals, the telco said.
Akamai completed its purchase of digital performance management company Soasta, Akamai said in a Friday news release. Akamai announced the all-cash deal last week (see 1703290069).