In keeping with our mission to provide comprehensive advertising analysis, MediaRadar puts together a report of the most important mergers and acquisitions news each week. Stay in the loop, whether you sell advertising space or focus on business development. 

This week, Mastercard purchased the eCommerce platform, IfOnly. Park Place Dealerships has a new owner and Blackstone Group plans on acquiring Takeda Consumer Healthcare.

MasterCard gains IfOnly 

According to TechCrunch, Mastercard Incorporated quietly acquired eCommerce platform IfOnly for an undisclosed sum. Per PitchBook’s data, IfOnly was last valued at around $105 million. 

IfOnly is an “experience marketplace platform” that offers exclusive and often expensive access to events and people. The company also donates a portion of the proceeds that a guest pays toward charity causes. 

Since the beginning of the year, Mastercard has integrated IfOnly’s technologies and expertise into its own marketplace platform, Priceless.

Mastercard believes that “The IfOnly platform will continue to help advance our Priceless strategy and our combined team will be even better positioned and equipped to deliver exclusive experiences for cardholders globally.”

Asbury Automotive Group purchases Park Place Dealerships 

Atlanta-based automotive retailer Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. announced that it has completed the acquisition of luxury dealer group, Park Place Dealerships, adding around $1.7 billion in annual revenue. 

The purchase price includes $785 million of goodwill, $215 million of real estate and leasehold improvement, and $30 million of parts and fixed assets. Park Place has a portfolio of high volume and award-winning luxury dealerships with four stores ranked among the top 10 stores in volume in the country amongst their branded franchise. 

Asbury CEO David Hult believes that Park Place is a highly regarded luxury dealership group with a strong base of loyal customers. The acquisition will increase Asbury’s geographical revenue exposure to 36% from the Texas market, and transform its overall portfolio to 50% of revenue derived from luxury brands.

Blackstone Group Acquiring Takeda Consumer Healthcare 

The Blackstone Group Inc. is acquiring Japanese multinational pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical company Takeda’s consumer healthcare business for $2.3 billion. 

Since mid-2019 Takeda has been slowly but steadily moving forward with a plan to divest some $10 billion of assets for more cash on hand to pay down debt incurred from the $58 billion acquisition of Shire PLC at the top of 2019. 

At the same time, the divestments fit in nicely with Takeda’s ongoing plan to refocus their greater business on prescription drugs for unmet medical needs and rare diseases. Takeda Consumer Healthcare Company is best known for its Alinamin line of energy drinks.

 The acquisition of Takeda’s unit is the second in Japan for Blackstone, which last year acquired Ayumi Pharmaceutical Corp, a maker of anti-rheumatism drugs, in a deal worth $1 billion. The current deal is expected to close by March 31, 2021.    

In Other News

There are many more noteworthy deals and developments this week:

• Apple is continuing its acquisition spree in the virtual reality segment with its latest acquisition. The iPhone maker announced that it is acquiring Spaces, a virtual reality startup specializing in VR video conferencing.

• Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has entered into an agreement to acquire Atlanta-based Tin Roof Software. 

• In a not-so-surprising sign of the times Cisco, owner of video conferencing application WebEx, has announced that it is acquiring BabbleLabs, a startup company whose offering filters out background noise.

• Delta Galil Industries, a branded and private-label apparel products manufacturer announced that it is acquiring intimates brand Bare Necessities from Walmart, Inc.

• According to Bloomberg News, U.S. private equity firm Platinum Equity is in talks to acquire electronics distributor Ingram Micro Inc. from Chinese aviation and shipping conglomerate HNA Group. 

• According to CNBC, popular video-sharing app TikTok is nearing an agreement to sell its U.S., Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand operations in a deal that is likely to be in the range of $20 – $30 billion.  

• Palantir Technologies Inc., the big data and analytics software company backed by tech billionaire Peter Thiel, filed to go public and applied to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker PLTR this week.

• After 194 years in business, Lord & Taylor, the first department store in the country is officially calling it quits.