Bryan Matthews

Comtech buys Gilat .     Comtech Telecommunications buys Gilat Satellite Networks for $532.5 million.     Founded in 1987 and based in Petah Tikva , Israel, Gilat focuses on satellite networking tech solutions and services. Its product group includes a cloud-based VSAT network platform, high-speed modems, high-performance on-the-move antennas, and high-efficiency, high-power amplifiers. It holds a top place in the satellite ground station and in-flight connectivity markets, with a deep ability operating big network arrangements.     The joint firms will drive global market access creating a world leader with joint sales of $1.0 billion. This will boost Comtech’s position as a top supplier of better comm solutions, adept in serving the need for ground infrastructure to support existing and emerging satellite networks. It expands Comtech’s product portfolio with complementary tech such as Gilat’s high-performance TDMA-based satellite modems and its next-generation solid-sta

WEX buys eNett and Optal . W EX buys eNett International and Optal for $1.7 billion. e Nett is a fintech company redefining virtual payments for the travel industry. Optal are world experts in optimizing B2B transactions. WEX is buying eNett from Travelport and its owners, partners of Siris Capital Group, and Elliot Management’s private equity partner, Evergreen Coast Capital. WEX is buying Optal from private shareholders. Optal is a shareholder of eNett , alongside Travelport , the majority shareholder. The two companies will be fully integrated under WEX’s ownership. This deal speeds up WEX’s global growth strategy by opening out its position in the travel segment. Optal brings global issuing ability, a broad suite of regulatory licenses, and a robust tech and banking base to ease expansion into new territories. It further reduces WEX’s exposure to macro-economic ebb and flow through diversification. This matchless combination of paired assets and a suite of pay

Business First buys Pedestal.     Business First Bancshares buys Pedestal Bank for $211.2 million.     Pedestal Bank was founded in 1999 by uniting City Savings Bank & Trust, Coastal Commerce Bank, Kaplan State Bank, Teche Bank & Trust, and Tri-Parish Bank. It operates 22 branches across southern Louisiana. Business First Bank has rebranded itself as b1BANK to signal its varied growth. Over the past 4 years, it has bought 3 banks in Baton Rouge, Minden, and Monroe, and opened branches in New Orleans and Dallas. This deal makes Business First the third-largest Louisiana bank with assets of $3.5 billion.     Jude Melville of Business First said: ‘This is a transformative, franchise-building opportunity for our company. Pedestal Bank has for years been a well-managed, high performing competitor of ours, and teaming up with them grows our market share, broadens our shareholder base, and strengthens our already deep talent pool. It’s the next step in our quest to be our region

Clarivate buys Decision Resources.     Clarivate Analytics buys Decision Resources Group from Piramal Enterprises Limited for $950 million.     DRG offers expert sounding and analysis boosted by machine learning and AI to give a full view of patient access and payer and health system dynamics at local levels for the healthcare ecosystem. The firm's experts cover healthcare markets, disease areas, and data science disciplines. This allows pharma, biotech, and medical tech companies to create real patient-centric strategies in complex health markets. Together, DRG and Clarivate are well-positioned to support customers across the entire drug, device, and medical tech life cycle from research to outcome. The joint business will offer a one-stop Life Sciences shop, boosting the commercialization of new therapies.     DRG's and Clarivate's paired solutions better position the firm in a market that favors tech-enabled players with end-to-end abilities and broad exclusive dat

Rayonier buys Pope.     R ayonier buys Pope Resources for $554 million.     Pope, a timberland firm with roots in the founding of Port Gamble in 1853, was created by joining enterprises and assets of Pope & Talbot. Pope and its affiliates Olympic Resource and Olympic Property Group own and manage 125,000 acres of timberland and properties in Washington. Pope also co-invests in and combines three private equity timberland funds, owning 141,000 acres in Washington, Oregon, and California.     This deal allows Rayonier to enhance the scale, diversity, and cash flow potential of its Pacific Northwest holdings and allows Pope unitholders to share in the upside of a more diverse portfolio. Pope Resources’ extra 125,000 acres increase Rayonier’s Pacific Northwest sustainable yield by 32 percent and its Douglas-fir inventory by 13 percent. This adds physical and market diversity by boosting the ratio of ground-based logging at lower operating costs.     Pope Resources’ land

WESCO buys Anixter .     WESCO International buys Anixter International for $4.5 billion.     The joint company, with pro forma revenues of $17 billion, will be a top electrical and data comms distributor in North America. With global reach and exposure, 12% of revenues will come from abroad. Increased scale will speed up digitization and deliver growth platforms in emerging markets.     WESCO's skills in industrial, construction, and utility united with Anixter's ability in data comms , security, wire, and cable. Merging products, services, technologies, and solutions creates major cross-selling opportunities, firming the customer value proposition and supplier relationships.     WESCO expects annual cost synergies of $200 million by the end of year three through overhead efficiencies. These include duplicate public company costs, branch and distribution center optimization, and yield in purchasing, field operations, and supply chain. Sales growth will come from

Lilly buys Dermira .     Eli Lilly and Company buys Dermira for $1.1 billion.     Dermira is a biopharmaceutical firm dedicated to evolving new therapies for chronic skin conditions. This deal opens out Lilly's immunology conduit by adding lebrikizumab, a new monoclonal antibody designed to bind IL-13 with high affinity. It’s being evaluated in a Phase 3 clinical trial for the healing of moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis in teenagers and adults. The FDA granted lebrikizumab a Fast Track label in December. The purchase of Dermira also opens out Lilly's portfolio of marketed dermatology remedies by adding QBREXZA , an FDA approved curative cloth for the topical care of uncontrolled extreme underarm sweating.     Patrik Jonsson of Lilly said: ‘People suffering from moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis have significant unmet treatment needs, and we are excited about the potential that lebrikizumab has to help these patients. The acquisition of Dermira is

Americold buys Newport.     Americold Realty Trust buys Newport-St. Paul Cold Storage for $56 million.     Americold also closes its deal to buy Nova Cold Logistics.     Newport Cold Storage is a 6.1 million cubic foot temperature-controlled facility with 26,000 pallet positions in St. Paul, Minnesota. Strategically located on Highway 494, the site offers three acres of adjoining land open for development.     The Nova Cold portfolio is three locations totaling 23.5 million cubic feet with 81,000 pallet positions and land for development. Located in the gateway cities of Toronto, Calgary, and Halifax, this deal opens out Americold’s position in Canada. It already has a third-party management business here, so their current customer base overlays Nova Cold’s.     Fred Boehler of Americold said: ‘We are excited to announce the acquisition of Newport Cold, which deepens our presence in the Minneapolis-St. Paul market. The completion of our previously announced Nova Cold

Wabtec buys RELCO.     Wabtec Corporation buys RELCO Locomotives for $29 million.     RELCO was founded in 1961 by George Bachman to lease quality locomotives to railroads and industrial companies throughout the Midwest. In its earliest days, RELCO leased locomotives to customers and provided full maintenance.     George’s son, Don, forged the development of a field service division in the 1970s, ensuring their locomotive lease fleet and any warranty issues were fully handled. By the 1980s, their privately-owned fleet of leased locomotives was the largest in the nation.     The 1990s brought class one railroads’ focus on larger high horsepower locomotives, the growth of the Short Line Railroads, and aging medium horsepower and switcher fleets. RELCO began to fill the growing opportunity for remanufacturing locomotives. Its world-class shop facility in Albia can now build 23 locomotives at once.     Mark, the third generation of the Bachman family, keeps RELCO ahead of

Yum buys The Habit.     Yum Brands buys The Habit Burger Grill for $375 million.     Founded in 1969, The Habit Burger Grill offers made-to-order items char-grilled over an open flame. Most popular are char burgers, hand-filleted and marinated char-grilled chicken sandwiches, sushi-grade char-grilled ahi tuna sandwiches, fresh salads, and desserts. Its open kitchens, outdoor patios, natural light interiors, polished stone, and hardwood accents make for a balanced daypart mix of 50 percent lunch and 50 percent dinner. There are 270 company-owned and franchised restaurants in California, Arizona, Utah, New Jersey, Florida, Idaho, Virginia, Nevada, Washington, Maryland, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, and 7 locations in China. Cambodia is next.     David Gibbs of Yum Brands said: ‘We’ve emerged from our three-year transformation stronger and in a better position to speed up the growth of our existing brands and leverage our scale to unlock value from strategic ac

Valmont buys AgSense.     Valmont Industries buys the remaining 49 percent of AgSense for $42 million.     Founded in 2003, AgSense develops agricultural tech and software. Its remote management tech is the most complete offering of irrigation solutions anywhere, with 95,000 connected devices globally. AgSense is best known for its wireless agricultural network, WagNet, which gives growers a holistic view of their operations by tying irrigation decisions to the field, crop, and weather conditions. Among AgSense's products are monitoring systems for center-pivot irrigation systems, which fits well with Valmont’s remote monitoring and control tech for agriculture.     Stephen Kaniewski of Valmont said: ‘We are happy with this acquisition and its performance. Completing our ownership of AgSense directly aligns with our strategic priority to speed up our global technology leadership position. Its profitable, recurring revenue service model has provided a growth platform fo

Snap buys AI Factory.     Snap buys AI Factory for $166 million.     AI Factory delivers AI business blends based on image and video recognition, analysis, and processing. Snap worked with them to create the Cameos animated selfie-based video feature. It's deepfake tech that lets you add your face to a GIF image with other people or even animals. It works in chats between users. To get a video with yourself and share it with a friend, you take a selfie, pick a GIF image you like from a template, then Cameo adds an animated photo of your face to the GIF. You can add text on top of the animated message if you want. AI Factory’s algorithms make all the vital visual changes, adding facial expressions where needed.     Snap bought facial-recognition startup Looksery for $150 million in 2015 to boost animated selfie lenses in Snapchat . Looksery ’s tech formed the basis of the popular Lenses video filter. Lenses doubles as an advertising medium for which Snapchat charges up t

J.B. Hunt buys RDI.     J.B. Hunt Transport Services buys RDI Last Mile.     Founded in 1987, RDI offers home delivery of big and bulky products in the Northeastern United States. RDI uses contract carriers for furniture deliveries, generating an annual revenue of $35 million.     John Roberts of J.B. Hunt said: ‘Growing our final mile delivery capabilities is a priority, and the acquisition of RDI further extends our ability in furniture delivery.’     Nick Hobbs of J.B. Hunt said: ‘Providing our customers with a comprehensive, high-quality delivery experience drives our final mile services. RDI is a reputable furniture delivery provider, and we are excited to welcome them to J.B. Hunt.’     Final Mile Services® is a division of J.B. Hunt’s Dedicated Contract Services® business unit and operates a nationwide, commingled cross-dock operation serving 100% of the contiguous United States. J.B. Hunt bought Special Logistics Dedicated in 2017 and Cory 1st Choice Home Deli