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, Jazz Pharmaceuticals acquired a leader in cannabinoid-based prescription medicines. Okta and Auth0 came together to form one of the largest players in the identity authentication software market. And Slack purchased a calendar and scheduling app, Woven.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals acquired cannabinoid leader GW Pharmaceuticals

Jazz Pharmaceuticals has acquired GW Pharmaceuticals plc, a leader in the science, development and commercialization of cannabinoid-based prescription medicines, for $7.6 billion. 

The deal brings together two fast-growing biotech companies with complementary business focuses. 

GW Pharmaceuticals’ lead product is Epidiolex, a drug for treatment of early-onset seizure disorders that was the first plant-derived cannabinoid medicine ever approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 

The combination also diversifies Jazz’s pipeline to include clinical-stage development programs addressing significant unmet patient needs across neuroscience and oncology and will help the company drive sustainable growth. 

The transaction is expected to provide accelerated double-digit revenue growth in the first full calendar year of combined operations, and be substantially accretive in the years following.

Okta makes huge Seattle tech acquisition with Auth0

Okta, Inc. has closed on its massive $6.5 billion acquisition of Seattle-area startup Auth0. The price tag of the deal is particularly notable because the company was valued at $1.9 billion just last year. 

The combination of the two companies brings together two leaders in the identity authentication software market and is one of the largest acquisitions ever of a Seattle tech company. 

Together the companies will be able to better move forward with “address[ing] a broad set of digital identity use cases, providing secure access and enabling everyone to safely use any technology.” 

Auth0 will become an independent business unit within Okta, headed by Auth0 Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Eugenio Pace. Auth0 is Pace’s second try at founding a startup.

Slack Technologies gains unique calendar app Woven

Slack Technologies Inc. announced that it has acquired calendar and scheduling app maker Woven. The financial terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed and the workplace communications software company said that it invested through its SlackFund. 

Founded in 2016, Woven visualizes calendar events on a map and determines how much travel time is necessary between locations to save people time and help plan their days. 

According to its CEO Tim Campos, Woven has become the most powerful calendar on the market and it has scheduled over 2.2 million events and helped users save over 10 million minutes over the past two years. 

For Slack, which is in the process of being acquired by Salesforce.com Inc., this acquisition adds unique features and technology to better compete with Google and Microsoft.

In Other News

Other deals are in the works:

• Electronic Arts Inc. announced that it has completed the acquisition of Canada-based video game studio and developer Metalhead Software. 

• News Corp. has successfully acquired Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) from O’Neil Capital Management for $275 million.  

• Twitter Inc. announced that it is acquiring Scroll, a subscription service that offers readers distraction-free reading on the web. 

• Fox Corporation announced it reached an agreement to acquire a digital media platform, Outkick Media, LLC.

• The home decor superstore, At Home Group Inc., announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by global private equity firm, Hellman & Friedman. 

• According to The Wall Street Journal, sports-media outlet The Athletic has ended merger talks with news publisher Axios and turned its sight to making a deal with The New York Times Company. 

• According to Bloomberg, luxury gym operator Equinox Holdings has held merger talks with billionaire investor Chamath Palihapitiya’s blank-check company, Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. VI.