Several mergers and acquisitions stocks got our attention; investors may find trading opportunities from these deals, because mergers and acquisitions usually send related stock to climb higher.
Environmental, energy and industrial services provider Clean Harbors Inc (CLH) Monday announced that it has agreed to acquire Safety-Kleen, a privately held used oil re-refining and recycling company providing components cleaning and environmental services, at a price of $1.25 billion in cash, and said that the acquisition will expand its waste treatment capacity.
Safety-Kleen collects nearly 200 million gallons of waste oil annually, most of which can return to the market as a reusable oil. In 2011, the company’s revenue reached $1.3 billion. Highland Capital Management, Contrarian Capital Management, JP Morgan Chase and GSC Acquisitions Holdings are the largest four shareholders of the company.
Excluding one-time charges and acquisition-related expenses, Clean Harbors expects the deal will immediately increase its revenues. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of this year and has not obtained the approval of the regulators of the United States and Canada.
French car parts maker Valeo and V. Johnson Enterprises announced that the two companies have established a joint venture called Detroit Thermal Systems, to acquire Automotive Comonents Holdings, a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company (F). However, they did not disclose the amount of money involved in this acquisition.
Through this acquisition, Valeo Thermal Systems will get a leading position in the U.S. auto market. Under the agreement, Valeo will hold a 49% stake in the joint venture, and V. Johnson Enterprises will hold the remainder of the stake in the new company. According to the plan, Detroit Thermal Systems will employ about 500 employees.
Currently, Automotive Comonents Holdings provides a variety of air conditioning products to Ford. After the completion of this acquisition, Valeo will have a hand in the supplying projects of Ford.
Valeo Automotive Comonents Holdings has kept eyes on the acquisition target for several years, both sides have signed a memorandum of understanding in 2006, but the negotiation with the United Auto Workers union was frustrated, eventually resulting in berakdown of the deal.
News Corporation has made a 1 billion pounds takeover offer to the British publishing and education giant Pearson PLC (PSO), to join the acquisition competition for the latter’s publishing company, Penguin, at the last mioment.
News Corporation wholly owns Penguin’s competitor Harper Collins, and News Corporation’s participation in the competition will disrupt the merger of Penguins and Random House, the subsidiary of the European largest media group Bertelsmann SE. According to the prior plan, after the merger of Penguin and Random House, Bertelsmann will hold 60% of the shares of the combined company, and the combined company would occupy 30% of the sales of English books and a market share of 20%.