Cree bought Infineon’s RF power business for about 345 million euros ($428 million) to expand its Wolfspeed wireless market opportunity, the companies announced. Infineon will continue its focus on its connectivity businesses, including autonomous driving, they said Tuesday.
Liberty Media, through its SiriusXM operations, bought a portion of iHeartRadio corporate debt large enough to fund most of any iHeart restructuring it might pursue, Liberty CEO Greg Maffei said Thursday in an earnings call. He said Liberty Media sees "potentially substantial synergies" with Sirius in the form of shared personalities and cross promotions. FBN Securities analyst Robert Routh wrote investors that Liberty and Sirius XM -- of which Liberty has majority control -- combined are apparently considering a total investment of $1.1 billion to $1.2 billion that would have them each owning about 20 percent.
Discovery Communications expects to purchase Scripps Networks Interactive by the end of March now that the DOJ closed its review, it said Tuesday. Discovery said review is pending in Ireland. The $14.6 billion deal hadn't been expected to face regulatory difficulties (see 1707310062).
RLJ Entertainment would become a privately owned subsidiary of AMC, the cable network said Monday as it announced intentions to buy the outstanding shares of RLJ. AMC currently owns 26 percent of the premium digital channel, which is home to the Acorn TV and Urban Movie Channel streaming services, it said. It said founder Bob Johnson -- who founded Black Entertainment Television -- would keep a minority stake in RLJ. AMC invested $65 million in RLJ in 2016 (see 1610170027).
DOJ has challenged numerous other vertical mergers in the past, but its lawsuit to block AT&T/Time Warner is notably different in that, unlike those others, it doesn't have parties agreeing to behavioral conditions that let the deal go forward, Free State Foundation's Theodore Bolema blogged Friday. The last time the U.S. government went to court to force structural changes to a merger was in 1979, and the FTC lost, he said. FSF has been skeptical of DOJ chances in blocking AT&T/TW (see 1802080045). DOJ didn't comment.
Qualcomm directors urged shareholders in a Thursday letter to ignore proxy cards they receive from Broadcom and vote for re-election of the existing board. They cited Broadcom's lower takeover proposal for $79 per share, down from $82, saying it made "an inadequate proposal even worse despite the indisputable increase in value and certainty that Qualcomm stockholders will receive from the compelling and highly accretive acquisition of NXP." Broadcom refuses to engage with Qualcomm on price, said the board. Broadcom's current proposal "undervalues Qualcomm, fails to take into account the strategic and financial benefits of acquiring NXP, and continues to face a long and highly uncertain path to regulatory approvals," it said. An NXP acquisition would provide "significant strategic benefits" including increased revenue diversification, substantial expansion of serviceable addressable markets and more scale in high-growth automotive and IoT segments, it said. Qualcomm reached agreement with NXP Tuesday to increase its previously announced cash tender offer to buy all outstanding stock from $110 to $127.50 per share.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai rejected calls that he recuse himself on Sinclair buying Tribune (see 1802150031 and 1802210062), in a letter to Senate Antitrust Subcommittee ranking member Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., released Tuesday. The Office of Inspector General is investigating Pai's actions on rulemakings that benefited Sinclair. “I have confirmed with the FCC’s Office of General Counsel that nothing in the law suggests that recusal is appropriate, much less required, in these circumstances. And it should go without saying that mere policy differences do not warrant recusal,” Pai said.
A federal court rejected AT&T's request for White House-DOJ communications about its proposed buy of Time Warner. In a docket 17-2511 order (in Pacer) Monday, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon of Washington said AT&T fell "far short" of showing the DOJ lawsuit seeking to block AT&T/TW was selective. He said precedent established there's a bar to be met before obtaining discovery on a selective enforcement defense, and it's difficult to imagine a selective enforcement defense in an antitrust context since deals have to be viewed in the context of a particular industry and the transaction's size and structure. Leon said AT&T's use of Comcast/NBCUniversal as comparison for its selective enforcement claim is "unavailing" since Justice filed an enforcement action to enjoin the deal. Leon said "history belies the notion" regulators never before found antitrust problems with proposed vertical deals or insisted on structural remedies as a settlement condition. "So while it may, indeed, be a rare breed of horse, it is not exactly a unicorn," he said. In a statement, AT&T/TW outside counsel Dan Petrocelli of O'Melveny said, "We respect the judge’s decision and look forward to the upcoming trial." The trial is to begin March 19 (see 1712070067).
Qualcomm’s board rejected Broadcom’s “best and final offer” of $121 billion (see 1802050042), saying in an open letter Friday that it “materially undervalues Qualcomm and has an unacceptably high level of risk, and therefore is not in the best interests of Qualcomm stockholders.” It left open the possibility of additional negotiations, calling a Wednesday meeting at which Broadcom repeated its $82 per share offer “constructive,” with Broadcom representatives expressing a willingness to agree to “certain potential antitrust-related divestitures beyond those contained in your publicly filed merger agreement.” Broadcom continued to resist agreeing to other commitments that could be required by regulatory bodies, including the FTC, the European Commission and China’s Ministry of Commerce, the Qualcomm board said. It also said Broadcom declined to respond to questions about its intentions for Qualcomm’s licensing business, “which makes it very difficult to predict the antitrust-related remedies that might be required.” Broadcom has insisted on controlling material decisions for Qualcomm’s licensing business during the period between signing and a potential closing, “which would be problematic and not permitted under antitrust laws,” it said. The board is open to further discussions with Broadcom “to see if a proposal that appropriately reflects the true value of Qualcomm shares, and ensures an appropriate level of deal certainty, can be obtained.”
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai should recuse himself from Sinclair buying Tribune after The New York Times reported the Inspector General is investigating his actions on rulemakings that have benefited the buyer. The FCC didn’t confirm such an inquiry is occurring. Legislators asked for a probe in November (see 1711130038). “This investigation makes it crystal clear: Pai must recuse himself from review of the proposed Sinclair-Tribune,” said Demand Progress Campaign Director Kurt Walters. “To ensure the integrity of the FCC’s review process, the commission should take no action on this mega-merger until the conclusion of the inspector general’s investigation." If the IG finds that “Pai or any other FCC staff did indeed let their own bias and favoritism shape decisions related to the deal, they must not be permitted to vote on this matter and they should be subject to other appropriate ethics-review processes,” said Free Press Senior Counsel Jessica Gonzalez. “The publicly available evidence suggests a pattern of abuse where Sinclair forces its local stations to air pro-[President Donald] Trump messages in exchange for policy favors from the Trump administration and its FCC chairman.” Given the agency under Pai "recently proposed a $13 million fine against Sinclair (see 1712210042) the largest fine in history for a violation of the Commission’s sponsorship identification rules, the accusation that he has shown favoritism toward the company is absurd," emailed an FCC spokesman. Pai has long sought updates to media ownership rules, and his actions "have been consistent with his long-held views," the spokesman said. "Considering the strong case for modernizing these rules, it's not surprising that those who disagree with him would prefer to do whatever they can to distract from the merits of the reforms that the FCC has adopted.”