Ericsson is still awaiting approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. for its acquisition of Vonage (see 2111220034) but is hopeful the deal will go through. The company hopes to complete the acquisition during the second quarter of this year, emailed an Ericsson spokesperson Wednesday. “We are fully committed to moving ahead to close the deal,” the spokesperson said.

Telehealth company MeMD changed its name to Walmart Health Virtual Care, in the final stages of its purchase by Walmart in May last year (see 2105070037), it said Thursday. Walmart Health Virtual Care gives enterprise-level organizations and groups nationwide access to telehealth services, including urgent care, primary care and behavioral healthcare. Patients can also get in-person care at brick-and-mortar Walmart Health locations, beginning in Florida, it said. The network’s telehealth solutions are used by more than 30,000 corporate, institutional and health plan partners covering more than 5 million members, it said.

Elon Musk’s $44 billion deal to buy Twitter is “temporarily on hold” until he gets more detail supporting the estimate that spam and fake accounts make up less than 5% of users, the Tesla CEO tweeted Friday. “Still committed to acquisition,” he added about two hours later. Twitter shares closed 9.7% lower Friday at $40.72, recording their lowest mark since Musk announced plans to become the platform’s largest individual shareholder in April. Abandoning the deal carries the potential for a $1 billion break-up fee. Musk earlier in the week said he would reinstate former President Donald Trump, whose account was suspended in response to his activity related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot (see 2204120056). “I saw President Trump said he wasn’t interested” in rejoining the platform “so I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told us Thursday. “I’m opposed to the social media companies censoring free speech so good for” Musk. “This is such an uninteresting conversation,” Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said of the potential Trump reinstatement. The company didn't comment.

The Redbox Entertainment “legacy business” of 38,000 DVD-rental kiosks “still has tremendous reach and power for consumers looking for the ultimate value,” said CEO Galen Smith, appearing on Thursday’s Q1 earnings call of Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment to discuss its proposed $375 million Redbox buy (see 2205110051). Redbox has been “investing heavily” in recent years to transform the company into a “multi-window multifaceted digital entertainment company,” said Smith. But COVID-19 “severely impacted” the Redbox kiosk business when it forced studios to release content on streaming platforms or delay movies “completely outright,” he said. The expected recovery has taken “longer than we expected,” and has “hampered our ability to invest in the digital transformation,” he said. “Joining forces” with CSSE will give Redbox “much needed scale,” plus access to capital, to “power” the digital transformation, “something we couldn’t do on our own,” he said.

Wedbush Securities downgraded Redbox shares to “neutral” from “outperform” in a Thursday note to investors, “given the acquisition price,” following Wednesday’s announcement that Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment (CSSE) plans to buy Redbox for about 65 cents a share plus assumption of Redbox debt (see 2205110051). Redbox’s “post-IPO performance did not inspire confidence for its long-term potential, and the company faced bankruptcy without a significant cash infusion,” said analyst Michael Pachter. Wedbush believes CSSE can steer the company “in the right direction, capitalizing on Redbox’s 39 million loyalty members by marketing the combined company’s entire suite of digital offerings.” In addition to its DVD kiosks, Redbox has a digital on-demand service, transactional over-the-top video purchase and rental offerings, subscription VOD channels and ad-supported VOD and live TV services, he noted. The acquisition is expected to close in the second half.

Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, owner of the Crackle video streaming service, agreed to buy Redbox Entertainment in a deal designed around scale, said the companies Wednesday. The combination will create an “independent, integrated direct-to-consumer media platform delivering premium entertainment for value conscious consumers,” they said. The combined company will have Redbox’s 38,000-plus kiosks, digital capabilities in ad-based, transactional and premium video-on-demand and free, ad-supported streaming TV channels, plus access to a 40-million Redbox Perks member list. The companies will build a “fully developed AVOD and FAST streaming business: proven branded streaming services, formidable content and production capabilities, and a strong AVOD and FAST ad sales operation,” said Chicken Soup CEO William Rouhana. Redbox CEO Galen Smith said the purchase will “accelerate Redbox’s transition from a physical to high growth digital media company.” Ad spending on connected TV platforms grew 57% from 2020 to 2021 and is expected to grow another 39% this year, they said, citing Interactive Advertising Bureau figures. The deal, valued at $375 million, includes $50 million in Chicken Soup stock and the assumption of $325 million in Redbox debt. Upon closing, expected in the second half, Chicken Soup for the Soul stockholders will own about 76.5% of the combined company, Redbox stockholders 23.5%, they said.

MaxLinear, a producer of analog and mixed-signal chips for broadband, connectivity and infrastructure applications, will buy Silicon Motion, a Taiwanese supplier of NAND flash controllers for solid-state storage devices, said the buyer Thursday. The cash and stock transaction is worth about $3.8 billion, based on MaxLinear’s $53.61 closing stock price Wednesday. The shares closed 16.7% lower Thursday at $44.68. The transaction is expected to close by the first half of calendar 2023.

Shopify said Thursday it agreed to acquire fulfillment technology provider Deliverr for $2.1 billion. Deliverr’s logistics network serves over a million orders per month for thousands of U.S. merchants, it said. “While adding Deliverr this year will impact profitability in 2022, it's well worth it because it accelerates our ambitions around” Shopify Fulfillment Network, said President Harley Finkelstein on the quarterly earnings call. Deliverr’s software, talent, data and scale will enable SFN to give merchants more control of their inventory across sales channels, Shopify said. Shopify shares hit a 52-week low Thursday at $395.86 before closing at $413.09, down 14.91%, after it projected lower first-half revenue growth vs. 2021. As consumers began returning in February to travel, dining out and shopping in stores, explosive growth in online shopping “moderated,” said Finkelstein. For Q1, revenue grew 22% to $1.2 billion vs. 110% growth in the year-ago quarter. Shopify’s gross merchandise value in Q1 last year jumped 114%, said Chief Financial Officer Amy Shapero, noting the 2021 surge in online shopping due to COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns and stimulus. Also affecting results were inflation, which pushed more consumer spending online and offline toward discount retailers, she said. Shapero said a comparable number of merchants will join Shopify’s platform this year based on what the company saw in Q1, resulting in fewer merchant adds than last year due to “a tight and transitional labor market.” Finkelstein also referenced Shopify’s Shop Promise that will show two-day and one-day delivery promises on merchants' online stores and across social media. On Shopify’s reaction to Amazon’s extension of Prime delivery to third-party merchants, CEO Tobi Lutke said Shopify is “actually thrilled” that Amazon wants to share its infrastructure with small merchants across the internet. Whatever leads to more entrepreneurship “helps the vision of a company,” Lutke said. Shopify tools can help small businesses manage complex retail strategies, he said.

The Arland Communications agency, whose clients include ATSC and Pearl TV, reached agreement to sell its video production arm to Phelps Creative House, said the seller Monday. Financial terms weren’t disclosed, but five Arland employees will go to work for Phelps, whose principal, Joshua Phelps, went to work for Arland after graduating from Butler University in 2013. Arland Communications owner Dave Arland graduated from Butler in 1985. Arland will now become a Phelps client.

Bosch acquired Arioso Systems, a German microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) micro speaker company, said the buyer Thursday. Arioso’s MEMS technology combined with Bosch’s MEMS sensor portfolio for wearables and hearables will allow true wireless earphone manufacturers to design products with lower power consumption and a smaller form factor for longer battery life and easier system integration, the companies said. Future growth of the internet will be driven by mobile devices, and audio components for speaking and listening will have to be smaller, lighter, efficient and scalable, they said. The global market for micro speakers is expected to grow from $9 billion in 2020 to $11 billion in 2026, they said, citing Yole data, and MEMS micro speakers “will have a fast-growing share in it." Arioso’s full team is expected to join Bosch. Terms weren’t disclosed.