M&A Report: Letgo, T-Mobile, Sprint and Geomagical Labs In the News

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, Letgo is acquired by OfferUp, T-Mobile and Sprint finally merge after a long legal battle and IKEA gains AI imaging startup Geomagical Labs.

Shopping app OfferUp acquires letgo

Leading online marketplace app OfferUp has acquired its rival: letgo. This deal comes with a $120 million investment round by OLX Group and existing OfferUp investors.

Letgo launched in 2015 and has garnered over 100 million downloads and 400 million listings worldwide.

Both letgo and OfferUp have consistently ranked as top shopping apps for both Android and iPhone; this combination will bring two aligned businesses together to form an even larger network of buyers and sellers.

This business deal will create an online marketplace with over 200 million monthly active users across the United States, positioning them well to stay at the top as the leading marketplace app.

T-Mobile and Sprint finally complete their merge

Nearly 2 years after its initial announcement, T-Mobile US Inc. has completed its merger with Sprint Corporation to create the third largest wireless communications company in the United States. This merger was valued at $26.5 billion at the time of announcement in 2018.

This deal had to go through several iterations of legal obstacles before close. Consumer advocates and state representatives argued that the consolidation in the industry would discourage competition and lead to higher prices.

In response, T-Mobile reiterated a promise to keep rate plans the same or even better for the next three years. This promise was received skeptically by critics. T-Mobile also argued that Sprint would not have survived as a major competitor in the future anyway.

The integration of Sprint is projected to provide 14 times more capacity to T-Mobile’s networks in the next 6 years and allow them to build a nationwide 5G network at a faster rate. We’ll have to wait until the roll-out of the 5G network before determining if this merger is what T-Mobile needed to overtake Verizon and AT&T.

IKEA owner buys Geomagical Labs

Ingka Group, the owner of IKEA stores worldwide, announced that it has bought U.S.-based AI imaging startup Geomagical Labs.

According to Ingka, integrating Geomagical Labs’ AI technology into the IKEA website will make it easier for customers to try out and decorate their home with IKEA furniture on their phones.

The furniture company has been one of the leaders among retailers in terms of integrating innovative technologies into their platforms amidst fast change shopping habits. IKEA launched an augmented reality app IKEA Place, acquired furniture assembling on-demand platform TaskRabbit, launched a business unit for developing smart home devices and invested in an interior design startup in India.

In Other News

Other mergers and acquisitions we have our eyes on this week include:

Mondelēz International, Inc., multinational food and beverage holding company, has announced that it completed its acquisition of Give & Go.

Work space sharing company WeWork announced that it has sold its social networking platforms Meetup to AlleyCorp and other private investors.

Palo Alto Networks continues its buying streak. The cybersecurity company announced recently that it is acquiring CloudGenix for $420 million.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Xerox Holdings Corp. has decided to end its $30 billion takeover bid for HP Inc. due to the financial impact of the Coronavirus pandemic.