In keeping with our mission to provide comprehensive advertising analysis, the MediaRadar research team 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, luxury group LVMH sets its sights on luxury real estate with the acquisition of Belmond Group, PepsiCo expands its sports nutrition offerings with the purchase of CytoSport, and AT&T’s WarnerMedia sells its stake of Hulu to allow the parent company to focus on building its own streaming platform.
#1: LVMH Expands Real Estate With Belmond Group
Luxury group LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton completed its acquisition of Belmond Ltd. The deal will add to LVMH’s existing hotel portfolio, which already includes the Cheval Blanc hotels and the Bulgari Hotel and Resorts chain. The Belmond purchase adds over 40 luxury hotels, restaurants, trains and cruise properties to the portfolio and is worth an estimated $3.2 billion.
#2: PepsiCo Complements Sports Nutrition With CytoSport Buyout
PepsiCo has officially acquired CytoSport, the manufacturer of protein-enhanced powers, shakes and bars. CytoSport is a sports nutrition company best known for its Muscle Milk and Evolve brands. The deal is the latest in a string of acquisitions taking place under PepsiCo’s corporate “Performance with Purpose” campaign encouraging health and wellness. In this era of decreasing soft drink sales, CytoSport will serve to strengthen Pepsi’s nutrition portfolio.
#3: AT&T Goes All-in On Its Own Streaming Platform
AT&T’s WarnerMedia sold its 9.5% stake in video streaming service provider Hulu LLC for $1.43 billion. At the beginning of the year, Hulu was owned by four major media companies — Disney, 21st Century Fox, NBCUniversal and AT&T. Now, the $15 billion platform is owned by Disney and NBCUniversal after this deal and Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox last month. How Hulu will allocate the 9.5% stake will be determined in the coming weeks.
Although AT&T sold this stake to its competitors, the move also positions AT&T to focus on the launch of its own streaming platform later this year.
In Other News
Smith & Nephew bought biomedical company Osiris Therapeutics to support its burgeoning wound management franchise, Variant Equity bought Coach USA (and its Canadian affiliate), and Vimeo announced its planned acquisition of video creation service provider Magisto.
In one of the biggest deals in the energy sector, Chevron Corporation announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire Anadarko Petroleum Corporation for $33 billion.
Meanwhile, antitrust officials at the Department of Justice have expressed concerns about the proposed Sprint and T-Mobile merger.
