Streetbeat News

Acquisitions Mergers

ATVI

MSFT

NTDOY

SONY

Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, has reaffirmed his commitment to maintaining '100 percent parity' for the Call of Duty franchise across all gaming platforms, following Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard. This includes PlayStation and potentially Nintendo. Spencer also clarified that Xbox does not intend to leverage Call of Duty to push players into purchasing Xbox consoles. The acquisition has raised questions about when games from Activision Blizzard will be available on Game Pass, with Spencer citing regulatory challenges and uncertainty during the acquisition process.

Portfolio Pulse from Franca Quarneti

October 18, 2023 | 5:04 pm

AMZN

COOL

Noventiq Holdings PLC, a global digital transformation and cybersecurity solutions provider, has announced a multi-year Strategic Collaboration Agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS). The collaboration aims to support customers in migrating and modernizing their IT workloads and data on the Cloud. Noventiq will expand its AWS solutions and services across India, Europe, and the Middle East. Noventiq is also in a proposed business combination with Corner Growth Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:COOL), which is expected to result in the combined company being listed on Nasdaq under the symbol 'NVIQ'.

Portfolio Pulse from Benzinga Newsdesk

October 18, 2023 | 2:58 pm

BMMJ

Body and Mind Inc. (BMMJ) has sold its interests in the Body and Mind Ohio dispensary for $8.225 million in cash. The deal includes an additional $2.5 million in potential contingent proceeds. The company has also fully repaid its $7.33 million debt to its senior secured lender. The proceeds from the sale will be used to fund the development of its retail assets in Illinois and New Jersey. The company's shares traded 23.5968% lower at $0.0667 per share on Wednesday morning.

Portfolio Pulse from Jelena Martinovic

October 18, 2023 | 2:41 pm

TSLA

Billionaire hedge fund investor Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Holdings Ltd., has expressed interest in taking X public again through his newly approved special purpose acquisition rights company (SPARC). X, formerly Twitter, was taken over by Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk last year. Ackman believes that X's substantial debt burden of approximately $13 billion could be a compelling incentive for Musk to consider the proposed deal. However, the likelihood of Pershing Square successfully finalizing a deal with Musk remains uncertain.

Portfolio Pulse from Aditi Ganguly

October 18, 2023 | 1:54 pm

Morgan Stanley's CEO has stated that the company's M&A announcements will translate into revenue in the first and second quarters of 2024.

Portfolio Pulse from Benzinga Newsdesk

October 18, 2023 | 1:00 pm

CIR

KKR

CIRCOR International has completed its acquisition by KKR for $56.00 per share. As a result, CIRCOR's common stock has ceased trading and will no longer be listed on the NYSE. Dan Daniel, a KKR Executive Advisor, will assume the role of Chair of CIRCOR. KKR will also support CIRCOR in implementing an employee ownership program.

Portfolio Pulse from Benzinga Newsdesk

October 18, 2023 | 12:59 pm

BLND

BRN

BUKS

TGEN

Insiders have recently bought shares in four penny stocks: Butler National Corporation (OTC:BUKS), Blend Labs, Inc. (NYSE:BLND), Tecogen Inc. (OTC:TGEN), and Barnwell Industries, Inc. (NYSE:BRN). Butler National disclosed the acquisition of KC Machine, Blend announced an integration with MeridianLink, Tecogen signed a $1.5 million Credit Agreement, and Barnwell Industries reported a net loss of $717,000.

Portfolio Pulse from Lisa Levin

October 18, 2023 | 12:34 pm

RFAC

GCL Asia, a leading video game distribution and publishing group in Asia, is set to go public via a merger with RF Acquisition Corp. The combined company will be listed on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol 'GCL'. The proposed transaction gives GCL approximately $1.2 billion in pre-transaction equity value. GCL's shareholders will retain a majority of the combined company's outstanding shares. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2024.

Portfolio Pulse from Benzinga Newsdesk

October 18, 2023 | 12:28 pm

CNI

CN (NYSE:CNI) has announced the appointment of Patrick Whitehead as Executive Vice-President and Chief Network Operating Officer and Derek Taylor as Executive Vice-President and Chief Field Operating Officer, effective from November 15. They will succeed Ed Harris, who will become a consultant until March 31, 2024. The new structure aims to drive profitable growth through cost-effective expansion of CN's network infrastructure and improvements to customer service. The company also plans to refine its long-term fleet plan, reflecting its decarbonization ambitions.

Portfolio Pulse from Benzinga Newsdesk

October 18, 2023 | 12:20 pm

ATH

ATI

ATI has announced its plans to purchase group annuity contracts from Athene Annuity and Life Company and Athene Annuity & Life Assurance Company of New York. This move will transfer approximately 85% of ATI's U.S. qualified defined benefit pension plan obligations to Athene.

Portfolio Pulse from Benzinga Newsdesk

October 18, 2023 | 12:20 pm