Deal Of The Week

Aetna and Humana won't be stronger together. A federal judge blocked Aetna's $37 billion deal for Humana, probably ending a deal that was announced way back in July 2015. The transaction would violate antitrust laws by reducing competition among insurers, particularly among elderly users of Medicare Advantage, a U.S. district judge ruled earlier this week. Bloomberg reporter Ed Hammond, who covers health-care M&A, tells host Alex Sherman that Anthem's $48 billion deal for Cigna is almost certainly dead in the water with the decision. The two discuss what other deals may or may not make it through a new Donald Trump-led regulatory administration.

Neither Bloomberg's M&A executive editor Jeff McCracken nor host Alex Sherman can remember a deal quite like Johnson & Johnson's pursuit of Swiss drugmaker Actelion. First J&J publicly stated it was in talks with Actelion. Then, J&J said talks were over, and another party (Sanofi) had entered talks to buy Actelion. But just a week later, J&J and Actelion announced they'd re-entered talks. Now Bloomberg reports the sides have reached a tentative agreement on price, and a deal may be announced before the end of the month. McCracken explains why Actelion is such a coveted asset and what other large health care deals may emerge in 2017.

At first blush, it's not obvious why Mars, the owner of M&Ms and Snickers, agreed to pay more than $9 billion including debt to acquire animal hospital-owner VCA. Bloomberg consumer reporter Craig Giammona didn't even realize closely held Mars already owned 900 animal health clinics, many of which reside in PetSmart retail stores. Still, the deal pushes Mars away from its core food business. Is it a signal we could be seeing a new wave of consumer conglomerates? Or is it unfair to say this deal is trend-setting? Giammona discusses with host Alex Sherman.

Is 2017 the year big energy deals come back? What about monster food mergers? Bloomberg Gadfly columnist Brooke Sutherland gave us five M&A deal predictions for 2016 back in December 2015. Now she returns to give us "Brooke's Five Bold Predictions" (trademark!) for 2017. She joins host Alex Sherman to explain why she was right -- and wrong -- in 2016, and explains what's behind her guesses for the coming year.

AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner led the way as the biggest deal of 2016. The implications of the deals that did -- and didn't -- get announced this year set up 2017 as a year of uncertainty for mergers and acquisitions. That's usually a bad sign for deal volume, as chief executive officers like certainty when deciding to spend billions. Still, equity markets are booming, and there's a lot of optimism for a very big 2017 among M&A bankers and lawyers. Bloomberg M&A Executive Editor Jeff McCracken, M&A Managing Editor Aaron Kirchfeld and host Alex Sherman run down the biggest and most influential deals of 2016 and what the domino effects could be in 2017.

The fallout from AT&T's $85 billion deal for Time Warner has begun, but maybe not how investors expected. 21st Century Fox has reached a preliminary deal to buy the 61 percent of Sky it didn't already own for $14.1 billion. But Fox may need to boost its bid to convince Sky shareholders they're paying a high enough price. Meanwhile, Shari Redstone, who controls CBS and Viacom with her father, Sumner, pulled the plug on her proposal to merge the companies. Bloomberg entertainment reporter Lucas Shaw and host Alex Sherman discuss what CBS and Viacom may do now without a combination, and why Fox moved on Sky.

It's the big question everyone's asking in the M&A world: Will Donald Trump stay true to his business roots and champion mega-mergers, or will his protectionist, anti-media, anti-lobbyist tendencies lead to an administration that's tough on big corporations? Bloomberg Gadfly columnists Tara Lachapelle and Max Nisen give their opinions to host Alex Sherman.

This week's episode functions as a companion piece to a television interview between Methuselah Advisors managing partner, John Chachas, and host Alex Sherman earlier this week. Chachas, who has advised media companies on M&A for more than two decades, has a lot to say on how Donald Trump's election outed the news media as increasingly marginalized among all Americans as arbiters of truth. He says some news organizations will need to change how they report the news or lose ground to direct-to-consumer mouthpieces like Twitter. Plus, he says newer digital media companies such as Netflix may be the big acquirers, rather than the sellers, in 2017.

At long last, FanDuel and DraftKings have finally agreed to merge. But that doesn't mean the deal will actually happen. Bloomberg sports business reporters Eben Novy-Williams and Scott Soshnick tell host Alex Sherman that the future of both companies rests on the FTC's conception of fantasy sports and the future of legalized sports gambling.

Need a break from politics? Relax and have a Twinkie with Hostess Brands CEO Bill Toler, who stops by Deal of the Week to explain why his company went public again. Hostess almost liquidated in 2012, sparking a brief consumer panic that Ho Hos and Ding Dongs would go the way of the Dodo. But Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co. acquired the company for $410 million in 2013, saving the brands. Earlier this year, they agreed with the Gores Group, a special purpose acquisition company, to take Hostess public. Now that Hostess is trading under the ticker TWNK, Toler explains to host Alex Sherman how the new company is different from the past -- even if the brands remain the same.

M&A is a rigged game and the losers are shareholders of companies that do the acquiring, according to Aswath Damodaran, a professor of corporate finance and valuation at New York University. He tells host Alex Sherman that conflicts of interest among advisers, misaligned executive incentives and a refusal to involve the market in decision-making has led to a history of value-destroying deals. Still, October was the biggest month ever in terms of deal volume. Why do companies keep making big purchases when some evidence suggests it's bad for shareholders? Damodaran explains on this week's episode.

For our 50th episode extravaganza, you get two deals for the price of one (which is nothing!). CenturyLink is buying Level 3 for $34 billion in cash and stock, including debt. Surprised Level 3 is so big? We were too. Bloomberg Gadfly columnist Tara Lachapelle and telecom reporter Scott Moritz explain the businesses of CenturyLink and Level 3 and why a merger makes sense, although maybe not at $34 billion. Plus, Gannett's attempt to buy Tronc has officially failed. Bloomberg Gadfly columnist Brooke Sutherland joins host Alex Sherman once more to shake their heads at the name Tronc...and talk about why the deal failed.

M&A reporter Ed Hammond and Executive Editor Jeff McCracken join host Alex Sherman for a behind-the-scenes look at how we broke the biggest deal of the year, AT&T's plan to buy Time Warner. The trio discuss how sometimes what people don't say can be as telling as what they do. Plus, we discuss whether the deal will lead to even more mega-media mergers.

Snapchat (OK, Snap Inc.) has hired banks to run its initial public offering. Morgan Stanley is running the show, a return to potential glory after fumbling Facebook's IPO. Meanwhile, Twitter, whose IPO with Goldman Sachs garnered praise, is publicly stumbling in its quest to find a buyer. Bloomberg IPO reporter Alex Barinka tells host Alex Sherman why Snap is looking to both social media companies for lessons -- not just on how to go public but how to operate as a public company.

Qualcomm is making progress on acquiring NXP -- a deal that could be worth about $47 billion including debt. That would make it the largest tech deal of the year and the second-largest ever. Bloomberg's Ian King and Brooke Sutherland explain to host Alex Sherman why a deal makes sense for both sides, even if it comes with some major integration challenges. If there's an agreement, Qualcomm would become the largest supplier of chips used in cars, a stated interest of the San Diego-based chipmaker.

When CBS and Viacom split more than 10 years ago, Viacom was supposed to be the crown jewel. It had the cable networks, the media industry's money-makers. Fast-forward to today, and Viacom is floundering as millennials ditch cable TV and Paramount Pictures struggles. CBS, meanwhile, is flourishing from must-see broadcast network programming and hit shows on Showtime. Now, controlling shareholder National Amusements is calling for the two companies to explore coming together again. Bloomberg reporter Lucas Shaw and editor Crayton Harrison explain the pluses and minuses of a merger to Deal of the Week host Alex Sherman.

CBOE's $3.2 billion acquisition of Bats Global Markets may sound like a wonky financial transaction. That isn't really the case, Bloomberg M&A reporter Matt Monks tells Deal of the Week host Alex Sherman. Actually, you can view it as a technology deal. Monks and Sherman discuss why stock and options exchanges are consolidating and explain why technological changes have upended the industry.

Maybe you've watched "Old Jews Telling Jokes" on YouTube. But have you heard Morgan Stanley M&A head Rob Kindler and his brother, stand-up comedian Andy Kindler, telling jokes about old Jews? Yes, the Kindler brothers are this week's Deal of the Week guests. You can even rate their jokes (listen until the end!). Rob is one of the world's renowned M&A bankers after spending 20 years as a corporate lawyer at Cravath Swaine & Moore. Andy is one of the world's funniest people. He delivers a hilarious annual keynote speech on the state of the comedy world at Montreal's "Just for Laughs" festival. How did their parents produce these two people, whose professions aren't exactly similar? And for M&A diehards, Rob gives a prediction on if we'll see any more megadeals in 2016. They chat with host Alex Sherman.

The numbers speak for themselves. So far this year, just 70 companies sold shares to the public for the first time. That's half the pace of last year and a fraction of the 213 IPOs during the same period in 2014. Why are companies staying private longer, or selling themselves, instead of going public? Does 2017 herald a revival of the IPO market, or should we expect more of the same? Bloomberg IPO reporter Alex Barinka explains to host Alex Sherman why companies decide to go public and what's on tap for next year.

Investors seem to be praying Twitter will sell itself. The stock jumps almost 5 percent at every rumor or vague hope the company is engaging the prospect of selling, according to research by Bloomberg Gadfly columnists Shira Ovide and Brooke Sutherland. But the rumors are never true (yet!), even though "market deal chatter," whatever that is, happens all the time. Why is Twitter M&A speculation so rampant and unreliable, and how can investors use Twitter as a money-making tool? Sutherland and Ovide chat with host Alex Sherman.