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, Boston Scientific expands its portfolio of medical devices with the acquisition of BTG, Sony announces its acquisition of long-time partner Insomniac Games, and The Simply Good Foods Company adds even more protein to its menu.
Boston Scientific Acquires Oncology-Focused BTG
Boston Scientific has announced its acquisition of BTG plc.
BTG is a medical company known for producing tools used in minimally-invasive procedures targeting cancer cells and treating vascular diseases. The medical company’s operations also include licensing intellectual property and pharmaceutical development of antidotes for overexposure to toxins and certain medications.
As part of the deal, BTG shares are no longer open for trade on the London Stock Exchange and former stockholders will receive 840 pence ($10.30) in cash per share. In October last year, Boston Scientific acquired Augmenix Inc, another company in the interventional oncology field, for $600 million.
Sony Acquires Long-Time Partner Insomniac Games
After a working partnership spanning over 20 years, Sony Interactive Entertainment has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Insomniac Games.
Insomniac is the video game developer of many hit games such as the Ratchet & Clank franchise and Resistance. Just last year the two companies teamed up to make Marvel’s Spider-Man, which has sold over 13 million copies worldwide as of July 28.
Insomniac will be the fourteenth international studio operating under the Sony Interactive Entertainment banner. Although Insomniac has worked closely with SIE since their start in 1994, they have also developed games for other platforms such as 2016’s Edge of Nowhere and upcoming Stormland on Oculus Rift, as well as 2014’s Sunset Overdrive for Xbox One, later adapted for PC.
The Simply Good Foods Company Acquires Quest Nutrition
The Simply Good Foods Company, owner of protein-focused brands Atkins and Simply Protein, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Quest Nutrition, LLC for $1 billion in cash.
Quest produces high protein snacks with minimal sugars and net carbohydrates, making them popular for active and health-conscious consumers. They offer a variety of bars, chips, cookies, and even pizza. Quest has raked in annual net sales of about $345 million.
Simply Good Foods is known for their product portfolio of nutrition bars, snacks, and ready-to-drink shakes. The deal will build upon Simply Good Foods’ line of nutritional foods and snacking products brands. Joseph Scalzo, CEO of Simply Good Foods anticipates the acquisition of Quest “[to provide] us with greater consumer and channel diversification.”
In Other News
These are some other notable deals and developments from the past week:
- Splunk, a data processing and analytics company, has announced it will acquire SignalFx for a total of $1.05 billion. SignalFx is a cloud monitoring platform, and its addition to Splunk’s operational intelligence software will enable IT customers to optimize management of data in the cloud, on-premise or hybrid environments.
- Elanco Animal Health Inc. is set to purchase Bayer’s veterinary drugs unit in a deal valued at $7.6 billion. The acquisition, set to close in mid-2020, will create the world’s second largest stand-alone veterinary-medicine companies after Zoetis.
- General Atlantic, a growth equity form, has acquired a majority stake in Morphe Cosmetics in a deal valued at $2.2 billion.
- BlackRock Inc. announced it will be taking a controlling stake valued at $875 million in celebrity and clothing licensing group Authentic Brands Group LLC. The deal values Authentic Brands at over $4 Billion including debt. Authentic Brands is the parent company of Sports Illustrated, Aeropostale, Juicy Couture, Nine West and many notable other brands.
- Private equity firm Apollo Global Management, LLC has approached broadcast media and marketing company Tegna, Inc. for a potential merger deal. Tegna has a market value of about $3 billion. The company currently operates 47 TV stations in 39 markets, and it is the largest group owner of NBC and CBS affiliated stations.
