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, Morgan Stanley purchased Eaton Vance, Cisco bolstered its optics operations with Acacia Communications, and New Scientist has a new owner.
Morgan Stanley acquires investment management company Eaton Vance
Morgan Stanley completed its $7 billion cash-and-stock acquisition of investment management company Eaton Vance Corporation on March 1.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Morgan Stanley, James P. Gorman commented, “this acquisition further advances our strategic transformation by continuing to add more free-based revenues to complement our world-class, integrated investment bank.”
He continued, “With the addition of Eaton Vance, Morgan Stanley will oversee $5.4 trillion of client assets across its Wealth Management and Investment Management segments. The Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Eaton Vance businesses are delivering strong growth and their complementary investment and distribution capabilities will deliver significant incremental value to our investment management clients.”
Cisco boosts its optics with Acacia Communications
Cisco announced the completion of its acquisition of Acacia Communications, Inc. for approximately $4.5 billion.
Acacia is an optical networking strategy and technology company that empowers cloud and service providers to meet the fast-growing consumer demands for data.
The acquisition is a reinforcement of Cisco’s commitment to optics as a critical building block that will enhance Cisco’s “Internet of the future” strategy with world-class coherent optical solutions for consumers, further enabling them to address the accelerated scale of modern IT.
Cisco also claimed that it is “committed” to supporting Acacia’s existing customers and new customers looking for optics, digital signal processing or photonic integrated circuit modules and transceivers for use in networking products and data centers.
DMG Media bought weekly science and tech magazine New Scientist
DMG Media has announced that it has acquired the weekly science and technology magazine New Scientist in a cash transaction valued around £70 million ($97 million).
The 65-year-old magazine has a weekly readership of around 120,000, just over half of the readership based in the U.K. The deal comes nearly 4 years after New Scientist was bought in 2017 by a consortium of investors led by former Ministry of Defence special advisor Sir Bernard Gray and information group Relx.
New Scientist makes around 75% of its revenues from subscriptions and is forecasted to make operating profits of around $9.7 million this year.
In Other News
Other developments are happening this week:
- Wix has announced the acquisition of SpeedETab, a “skip the line” ordering payment technology platform for the restaurant industry.
- LVMH’s Moet Hennessy has purchased a 50% stake in Armand de Brignac, a Champagne producer operating under the ownership of Jay-Z. Armand De Brignac sold more than half a million bottles in 2019.
- Fintech company Square, Inc. announced that it is buying a majority stake in Jay-Z’s music streaming service Tidal for $297 million.
- New York-based cable television provider Altice USA announced that it has agreed to acquire Morris Broadband for about $310 million.
- According to Bloomberg, Walmart is currently exploring taking its Indian subsidiary Flipkart public through a merger with a SPAC, as it seeks to quicken and ease up the listing process.
- Online insurance platform Hippo Enterprises Inc. announced that it is going public via a $5 billion SPAC merger with Reinvent Technology Partners Z, a SPAC headed by founders or co-founders of LinkedIn and Zynga.
