Bryan Matthews

Amgen buys Otezla.     Amgen buys Otezla from Celgene for $13.4 billion.     The deal gives Amgen the drug Otezla and its related intellectual property. Celgene teams who make Otezla will transfer to Amgen . The drug is approved for three distinct inflammatory diseases in the US and has exclusive intellectual property rights until 2028. Otezla is approved in 54 countries, including the major markets of France, Germany, and Japan.     G iovanni Caforio of Bristol-Myers said: ‘This agreement is an important step toward completing our pending merger with Celgene . It also demonstrates the tremendous achievement of the Celgene team in establishing Otezla as an important medicine for patients with psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and Behçet’s Disease. Together with the Otezla team, Amgen has the capabilities and infrastructure to continue to support this important medicine and ensure a seamless transition for patients and healthcare prov...

Hasbro buys eOne.     Hasbro buys Entertainment One for $4 billion.     Peppa Pig, PJ Masks, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Monster Problems, and Ricky Zoom are coming to live with Power Rangers, Transformers, My Little Pony, G.I. Joe, and Monopoly.     The deal with eOne gives Hasbro a lift in its content media push, where it’s been buying smaller firms and licensing characters to major movie studios to boost sales of toys linked to movie franchises.  Hasbro gets a studio adroit at making movies, television shows, animation, and music.     The deal also opens out Hasbro’s global reach by adding a major universal brand to its portfolio. Peppa Pig is a success everywhere.  Hasbro will plug these characters into a brand-building infrastructure that turns dormant properties into robust revenue generators.     Brian Goldner of Hasbro said: ‘The acquisition of eOne adds beloved story-led global family brands that deliver strong...

Splunk buys SignalFx.     Splunk buys SignalFx for $1.05 billion.     SignalFx surfaced four years ago with software that lets its customers analyze, visualize, automate, and alert on metrics data from infrastructure, applications, microservices , containers, and functions.     D oug Merritt of Splunk said: ‘Data fuels the modern business, and the acquisition of SignalFx squarely puts Splunk in position as a leader in monitoring and observability at massive scale. SignalFx will support our continued commitment to giving customers one platform that can monitor the entire enterprise application life cycle. We are also incredibly impressed by the SignalFx team and leadership, whose ability and professionalism are a strong addition to the Splunk family.’     Karthik Rau of SignalFx said: ‘By joining Splunk , we will create a powerful monitoring platform - one ready to support CIOs whether they have fully embraced the cloud or have e...

ConnectOne buys Bancorp.     ConnectOne Bancorp buys Bancorp of New Jersey for $113 million.     The deal bolsters ConnectOne’s scale and competitive position in the New York and New Jersey metro markets.  It’s an in-market buy of a similar banking model using the same core systems with direct geographic overlap.  The economies of scale, considerable synergies, and known cost-savings are intrinsic.   Bancorp of New Jersey will add 9 branches, $782 million in loans, and $762 million in deposits to ConnectOne.  ConnectOne will provide expanded technology offerings and a broader product suite, including commercial and industrial, consumer, and SBA lending capabilities.     Frank Sorrentino of ConnectOne said: ‘This is a financially savvy, in-market acquisition with strong economics to enhance our powerful franchise.  The accretive transaction demonstrates our commitment to deliver attractive long-term returns for our shareholde...

BC Partners buys Presidio.     BC Partners buys Presidio for $2.1 billion.     Presidio is an IT managed service provider focused on digital infrastructure, business analytics, cloud, and cybersecurity.  The firm delivers these capabilities through a full life cycle model of strategy, consulting, design, and execution.  It's a close partner of Cisco Systems, Dell EMC, and VMWare Cloud on AWS.     BC Partners holds investments in 108 companies across 17 countries with a combined enterprise value of $151 billion.  It bought advisory firm Teneo in 2015, and in 2017 bought CenturyLink's data centers, permeated them with cybersecurity know-how, and renamed the business Cyxtera.     Bob Cagnazzi of Presidio said: ‘We believe this transaction will give immediate substantial value to Presidio stockholders, while providing us with a partner that can add strategic and operational ability to our business, with a focus on executing o...

Platinum Equity buys Wesco .     Platinum Equity buys Wesco Aircraft Holdings for $1.9 billion.     The aerospace parts and supply chain services provider will be combined with Pattonair , a supply chain management services company based in the United Kingdom.     Todd Renehan of Wesco said: ‘We are excited about the opportunities a combination with Pattonair will give Wesco . This is the right transaction for our shareholders, customers, and employees. This transaction is a strong validation of our customer value proposition, and it will allow us to find new and innovative ways to bring more value to customers, enhance relationships with suppliers and create more opportunities for employees.’     Wayne Hollinshead of Pattonair said: ‘This is great news for our company and our customers and will create new avenues for growth and expansion. Wesco is an outstanding business with an impressive track record for innovation and custome...

Broadcom buys Symantec .     Broadcom buys Symantec’s enterprise security unit for $10.7 billion.     S ymantec delivers cloud, web, and data security for organizations. The firm also has a consumer business, which is not part of the deal.     Hock Tan of Broadcom said: ‘M&A has played a central role in Broadcom's growth strategy and this transaction is the next logical step in our strategy following our acquisitions of Brocade and CA Technologies. Symantec 's enterprise security business is recognized as an established leader in the growing enterprise security space and has developed some of the world's most powerful defense solutions that protect against today's evolving threat landscape and secure data from endpoint to cloud. We look forward to expanding our footprint of mission-critical infrastructure software within our core Global 2000 customer base.’     Daniel Schulman of Symantec said: ‘ Symantec has a long history...

Macquarie buys Currenta .     Bayer and Lanxess sell Currenta to Macquarie for $3.9 billion.     C urrenta runs the infrastructure, energy supply, and critical services across chemical parks in Leverkusen, Dormagen , and Krefeld-Uerdingen.     H artmut Klusik of Bayer said: ‘We are delighted to announce that in MIRA, the world’s leading infrastructure asset manager, we have found the right partner to drive the successful development of Currenta while leveraging its international ability.  MIRA has a long-term focus and will also be a reliable employer for Currenta’s employees. Bayer and MIRA have reached an agreement on long-term service and supply contracts. We will continue to work with Currenta moving forward .’     Lanxess , a maker of lubricant additives, drug ingredients, and leather-tanning chemicals, will give MIRA working support throughout the changeover. Lanxess and MIRA have also reached an agreement on long-...