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Disney buys Fox's studios and cable TV channels for $52 billion
After weeks of rumors, the deal is done -- Disney will buy up large chunks of Rupert Murdoch's Fox media empire for $52 billion. The list of what it won't take is shorter: the Fox News cable channel, broadcast networks and Fox Sports, which are expected to spin off as their own business. The Disney conglomerate adds the Fox movie and TV studios (including big-name franchises like X-Men, Avatar, Alien and The Simpsons), majority control of Hulu, FX cable networks and $13.7 billion in debt. On top of that, Fox is attempting to acquire the parts of UK's Sky that it doesn't already own, and if that's successful then Disney will get it too.
Apple confirms it's buying music recognition app Shazam
Well, that was fast. Following reports on Friday that Apple was planning to buy music recognition app Shazam, CNBC reports that Cupertino has confirmed the purchase. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed, but TechCrunch estimates the agreement to be worth around $400 million. The site was also the first to report news of the acquisition Friday afternoon.
CVS buys health insurer Aetna to counter Amazon
Amazon is considering diving into the pharmacy business, and that's making incumbents nervous... so nervous, in fact, that it just sparked one of the larger acquisitions in recent memory. CVS Health is acquiring the insurance giant Aetna for the equivalent of $69 billion in a bid to create a highly integrated health care provider. You could get care right from your nearby CVS locations, and you'd have a one-stop shop for health that (theoretically) lowers costs, albeit by giving up choice. If regulators don't object to the deal, it should close in the second half of 2018.
Tesla buys automation company to mitigate production delays
Tesla is buying private machining company Perbix, possibly in a bid to mitigate the woes the car manufacturer announced last week, when it blamed a $619 million quarterly loss on production "bottlenecks". Perbix has been supplying Tesla with parts for nearly three years, but the acquisition will allow the company to produce more parts in-house, helping it fulfill its ambition to "build the machine that makes the machine".
Lenovo buys a controlling stake in Fujitsu's PC business
Lenovo has posted the biggest quarterly rise in revenue since 2015, and it has marked the occasion with the revelation that it's buying 51 percent of Fujitsu's PC biz. Fujitsu spun out its laptop and desktop division two years ago to get rid of parts of the company that weren't making money. Now, the Chinese PC-maker is snapping up over half that division for $157 million in cash. It will add between $22 million and $112 million based on performance until 2020 on top of that.
IKEA buys TaskRabbit to help you build furniture
In yet another surprising union of traditional retail and the tech world, IKEA has reportedly snapped up the on-demand service TaskRabbit, Recode reports. The deal makes a lot of sense. TaskRabbit has made a name for itself as the go-to service for random tasks -- and that often involves moving and building furniture. An acquisition is just the next step for the two companies: IKEA is already relying on TaskRabbit as a partner in the UK, and it's advertising the service for customers who need installation help in the US and the rest of the world.
Target buys same-day delivery company to battle Amazon
A couple of months ago, Target took on Amazon's Prime Pantry services with its own version: Restock. The retailer's new service undercut Amazon by a dollar for a 45-pound box full of goodies, and even offered next-day service to beat out Amazon's four-business-day deliveries. According to Bloomberg, Target is taking the next step in its competition by agreeing to purchase Grand Junction, a startup that manages local and same-day deliveries. The San Francisco-based business already handles same-day delivery for Target's Tribeca store in Manhattan.
Amazon is buying Whole Foods for $13.7 billion
In a surprising turn of events, Amazon and Whole Foods Market announced this morning that they are merging; Amazon will acquire the high-end organic food company for approximately $13.7 billion cash. The deal is expected to close during the second half of this year. Whole Foods is retaining its CEO, cofounder John Mackey, and they will continue to operate their stores independently. The company's headquarters will remain in Austin, Texas.
Sinclair buys Tribune Media to create a larger TV empire
It didn't take long for the rumors to come true. Sinclair Broadcast Group has confirmed that it's acquiring Tribune Media for $3.9 billion. The deal is the largest in Sinclair's history, and will add Tribune's 42 American TV stations to Sinclair's 173 -- that's a lot of broadcasters under one banner. The deal also gives it the cable channel WGN America, the digital network Antenna TV and small stakes in both Food Network as well as the internet job site CareerBuilder. However, it's not just about the immediate media expansion that matters. According to Sinclair, it's also about a long-term technological play.
Intel buys self-driving tech firm MobilEye for $15.3 billion
Intel's recent work with MobilEye on self-driving cars must have gone well, because the chip giant is buying its Jerusalem-based partner for $15.3 billion. The deal was first reported by Israeli business site The Marker but has now been confirmed by the two companies. MobilEye is one of the largest players in autonomous vehicle tech and was in the news recently over a spat with Tesla following a fatal Model S crash in Florida. However, it recently teamed with Intel on BMW's iNext self-driving platform, which the automaker aims to put into service by 2021.
21st Century Fox is buying UK's Sky in $14.6 billion deal
Following talks last week, 21st Century Fox has agreed to buy Sky, the UK's largest pay-TV network, for £11.7 billion ($14.6 billion). The UK-based pay-TV broadcaster and broadband provider counts nearly 22 million subscribers in the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany and Austria. That'll give Rupert Murdoch a delivery platform for his 20th Century Fox movie studio and Fox TV network, along with cable TV channels like FX, Fox Sports and National Geographic.
