Fox dumps Time Warner bid, Sprint abandons T-Mobile, Walgreen stays at home
It's deal or no deal here on trending tickers, with these three names trending on a day of corporate mergers stalling at the altar:
Time Warner (TWX): The media conglomerate's shares are being dumped after Rupert Murdoch and Fox dropped their $80 billion take over bid. Murdoch said he had no choice after Time Warner refused to engage; a stunningly effective minimalist takeover defense on Time Warner's part. The company seems to be doing fine without Rupert. Time Warner posted earnings well ahead of expectations this morning. Despite today's drop it's worth noting that shares of TWX are 7% higher than they were the day before Fox made it's unsolicited offer.
Sprint (S): Shares of the 3rd largest U.S. mobile carrier are sliding after the company and it's parent, Japan's Softbank, abandoned a $32 billion bid to buy T-Mobile. According to various media reports, Sprint had growing concerns over gaining regulatory approval. Last but not least, Sprint also decided to dump CEO Dan Hesse, replacing him with Marcelo Claure. That's a lot of change for one day and investors don't seem inclined to wait for a full explanation.
Now a deal consummated - Walgreen (WAG). Shares of the drug store chain are sliding over 10% after it announced it is buying the part of Europe's Alliance Boots that it doesn't already own for more than $15 billion. Most importantly, Walgreen plans to keep the company's headquarters in the states. Walgreen considered a so-called "tax inversion," but was under heavy political pressure not to do so, especially from Illinois Senator Dick Durbin and the Treasury. Essentially Walgreen decided inversion while legal and money-saving would result in too much heat and what amounted to a never-ending audit. Patriotism isn't free; today the decision to stay in the U-S is costing Walgreen investors about $9 billion.
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