Recent acquisitions, deacquistions, and busted deals
FirstData, the leading credit and debit card processing company in the world, acquired the credit card processing unit of Italy's FinecoBank. The move extends FirstData's global reach and gives it a major position in the Italian credit card business with half a million customers.
Pharmaceutical giant Bristol Myers Squibb announced it will sell its North American consumer products unit. Among the brands to be sold are over-the-counter pain relievers Bufferin and Excedrin, cold relief medicine Comtrex, Choice diabetes testing, and the Keri brand of lotions. With key patents on its far more profitable prescription drugs coming into public domain, the company is trying to get rid of non-core assets.
In the latest move in the attempt of US #3 brewer Coors to take over Canada's #1 brewer Molson, stockholder resistance is threatening the deal. Now it looks like international bee power SABMiller has said it may step in and make a counteroffer. SABMiller is the #2 American beer maker.
Generic drugmaker Mylan's $4 billion bid for rival King Pharmaceuticals may be doomed. Thanks on an ongoing probe of accounting irregularities in King Pharmaceutical's books for several years. Mylan has announced it would probably back out of the deal.
Kodak, in its ongoing campaign to migrate from photography to digital something, bought up the 50% stake held by Sun Chemical in Kodak Polychrome Graphics. The $800 million deal gives Kodak the company, which was started as a joint venture of 1998 by Kodak and UK-based Polychrome. That company specializes mostly in traditional commercial printing products like film negative and printing plates but has a growing market in supplies for digital proofing systems.
The US's #2 video rental chain, Hollywood Entertainment, through courted by chief rival (and #1) Blockbuster Video has instead accepted the offer from #3 (and much smaller rival) Movie Gallery for $850 million. However, Blockbuster says it will continue to disrupt the deal with further offers.
In further consolidation in the US steel industry, #2 steelmaker Nucor will acquire Fort Howard Steel, a maker of cold-finished bar steel. No terms were disclosed.
9:27:20 PM 
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