Recent mergers and acquisitions
Danone and Stonyfield Farms
Groupe Danone this week upped its stake in New Hampshire organic yogurt-maker Stonyfield Farms, from 40 percent to 80 percent. That adds to Danone's US lines, and lets Stonyfield Farms reach an ever-bigger audience, given Danone's clout in the supermarket. It also lets Danone start playing n the important organic sector.
TD and E-Trade
Toronto Dominion Bank joined its discount brokerage assets, TD Waterhouse, with online broker E-Trade Financial Corp., to form a new company. The Canadian bank will own between 40% and 50% of the new entity. This merger will expand E-Trade's volume and give it some added backing. For TD Bank, it is a chance to get some position in the larger US market, where online services like E-Trade are reviving thanks to the rising Us stock market.
ABN AMRO and Merrill Lynch
Dutch banking giant ABN AMRO sold off its US brokerage business, Professional Brokerage, to brokerage giant Merrill Lynch. ABN MARO tried to compete in this market against big companies like Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch, but will unimpressive results. ABN AMRO will continue its other US banking operations, where it is the largest foreign bank.
Abbot Laboratories and TheraSense
Pharmaceutical company Abbott Labs announced it will buy TheraSense, a company that makes blood glucose systems for monitoring diabetics. It will be an over $1 billion deal. Abbott Labs was already in this business through the acquisition of MediSense in 1996. Like other drug companies, Abbott is finding areas to specialize in. One of its biggest areas of interest is diagnostic equipment.
International Power PLC
UK-based International Power PLC continued to acquire more electricity assets in Great Britain. It purchased two coal-fired power plants from American Electric Power Co., one of the leading US energy holding and distribution companies. This follows a collapse in UK electricity prices that caused the American company to write off the new plants. International Power is still shopping for other power plants. To complement one sit owns in Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia.
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