Deal of the Week

Introducing: Doubt

17 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A few decades ago, nobody really questioned vaccines. They were viewed as a standard part of staying healthy and safe. Today, the number of people que...

Introducing: Blood River

26 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The killers of Berta Caceres had every reason to believe they’d get away with murder. More than 100 other environmental activists in Honduras had be...

Introducing "What Goes Up," A New Show From Bloomberg

19 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On this new show from Bloomberg, hosts Mike Regan and Sarah Ponczek speak with expert guests each week about the main themes influencing global market...

Introducing "Works For Me," A New Podcast From Bloomberg

10 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

On this new show from Bloomberg, hosts Francesca Levy and Rebecca Greenfield navigate the productivity industry by way of their own experiences. In ea...

Over and Out

08 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

In the final episode of Deal of the Week, Ed Hammond is joined by Bloomberg Gadfly columnist Brooke Sutherland and Ian King to talk about the fallout ...

Get Rich or Dry Trying?

28 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Ed Hammond and New York bureau chief Jason Kelly are joined by private equity reporter Melissa Mittelman to discuss the challenges facing the buyout i...

Coming Soon: Decrypted Season 2

27 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Decrypted returns on March 6th with a brand new season. Here's a sneak peek of what's in store. We'll be releasing new episodes every Tuesday starting...

The Name of the Game

21 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Ed Hammond is joined by Jason Kelly, Bloomberg’s New York bureau chief, and hedge fund reporter Hema Parmar to talk about the importance of nomencla...

Gray is the new Blackstone

14 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Ed Hammond is joined by Jason Kelly, Bloomberg's New York bureau chief, and private equity reporter Melissa Mittelman, to talk about the changes under...

Semi-Hostilities

07 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Ed Hammond is joined by Bloomberg Gadfly columnist Brooke Sutherland and bureau chief Jason Kelly for a deep dive into the latest news on Broadcom's $...

Dimon's Not Forever

31 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Jason Kelly, Bloomberg's New York bureau chief, joins Ed Hammond to discuss the news that JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, one of Wall Street's best kn...

Rainmakers on Fire

24 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Jason Kelly, Bloomberg's New York bureau chief, joins Ed Hammond to talk about the booming M&A market, which passed $150 billion in the first thre...

Can GE Be Sold For Parts?

17 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Brooke Sutherland joins Ed Hammond to discuss the ongoing saga at General Electric, and what a breakup for the industrial conglomerate could mean for ...

Power Plays

10 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Ed Hammond is joined by Matt Monks to discuss the latest merger trends in America's power and utility industry and a closer look at how local politics...

The 2018 Predictions Episode

20 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

We're about to be singing Auld Lang Syne to 2017. To welcome in the new year, deals reporter Alex Barinka is joined by deals editor Lizzie Fournier an...

2017's Trump Slump

13 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The deals world was unable to escape the cloud of uncertainty that's followed the election of U.S. President Donald Trump. The value of announced M&am...

Insuring Against Amazon

06 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Ed Hammond is joined by senior Bloomberg healthcare reporter Robert Langreth to discuss CVS' $68 billion takeover of health insurer Aetna. How will th...

Time For A Change

29 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Ed Hammond is joined by Bloomberg Intelligence's Paul Sweeney to discuss Meredith's $2.8 billion acquisition of Time Inc and the impact the media merg...

Fox on the Block

22 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Ed Hammond is joined by Bloomberg’s Anousha Sakoui and Tara Lachapelle to talk about the future of Fox amid reports that the media company is discus...

What AT&T's Washington Battle Means for Dealmaking

15 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Ed Hammond talks to Bloomberg's Sara Forden and Tara Lachapelle to get the inside track of AT&T's increasingly bitter fight with the Department of...

A Note From Alex

03 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

A quick note to our listeners.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Citizens Executes Not Your Typical Deal

01 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

It’s Deal of the Week’s 100th episode! And to celebrate, Don McCree, vice chairman of Citizens Financial Group, the $19 billion market cap financi...

Stitch Fix Stands Out

25 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Stitch Fix is  going public, confirming Bloomberg’s scoop from  back in March. The online delivery company collects information on customers’ st...

Weinstein Co. Begins Sale Talks in Crisis

18 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Accusations of sexual misconduct against Harvey Weinstein haven’t just rocked Hollywood – they’ve also led to the potential destruction of his c...

Is Uber a Steal or a Mess?

11 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Uber’s a steal. Uber’s in turmoil. SoftBank wants to buy a huge stake in Uber. Benchmark, Uber's largest shareholder, wants to sell to SoftBank. W...

The Dangers of Corporation Consolidation

04 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Nine months of Donald Trump’s presidency hasn’t revealed much on his administration’s antitrust attitudes. While AT&T’s deal for Time Warn...

Sprint and T-Mobile May Finally Do It

27 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

T-Mobile US Inc. and Sprint Corp. could be just weeks from finally announcing a merger. It would be the largest deal of the year, but even if a deal i...

George Zimmer is Back, He Guarantees It.

20 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

How does it feel to watch your company ripped away from you and then merged with an arch-rival in an ill-conceived deal? George Zimmer, founder of Men...

I've Got One Word For You. Plastics.

13 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Australian company Amcor may be interested in adding plastics to its packaging portfolio with a deal for Bemis. Bloomberg reporters Ed Hammond and Kie...

Aerospace Acquisitors

06 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Ed Hammond talks to Bloomberg Gadfly's Brooke Sutherland and Gillian Tan about United Technologies' $30 billion takeover of Rockwell Collins and takes...

Secrets of a Rainmaker

30 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Paul Taubman, the legendary rainmaker and founder of PJT Partners, talks to Bloomberg's Ed Hammond about the challenges of building an investment bank...

What Sempra-Oncor Means for Warren Buffett

23 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Guest host Ed Hammond talks to Bloomberg's Scott Deveau and Tara Lachapelle about how Sempra won out in the closely contested battle to acquire $9.45 ...

Sard and Verbinnen Talk Sard Verbinnen

16 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

It's the 25th anniversary of strategic communications firm Sard Verbinnen, a company that specializes in explaining the rationale for large M&A to...

Will Sprint Be Left at the Altar?

09 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

As The Bachelorette wraps up another season, a mating dance is developing in the telecommunications world. SoftBank is desperate to find a match for S...

What Buying Power Says About M&A

02 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Longtime Silicon Valley lawyer Rick Climan and his team have worked on some of tech's biggest-ever deals, including Facebook's acquisition of WhatsApp...

Love It or List It? Discovery and Viacom Vie For Scripps

26 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Scripps Networks's HGTV has become a household name (pun intended) through its popular reality programming, including Property Brothers and House Hunt...

For U.S. IPOs, It's the Year of the Flop

19 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

For U.S. IPOs, 2017 has been the year of the flop. Blue Apron has tanked since it started trading last month. Shares of Snap fetch less than $15, the ...

Culture Matters

12 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Culture seems like a soft, intangible byproduct of mergers and acquisitions. Synergies. Tax efficiencies. Accretion. Those are empirical. That's what ...

Staples and Walgreens and Sky, Oh My!

03 Jul 2017

Contributed by Lukas

A trifecta of deal news late last week brings Bloomberg M&A reporter Ed Hammond into the studio. He expresses admiration over the price Staples wa...

How on Earth Is Vice Worth $5.7 Billion?

28 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

TPG's latest $450 million investment values Vice Media at a whopping $5.7 billion. That's about double the size of the New York Times. One explanation...

Amazon - The Everything Everything

20 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

"The Everything Store" no longer comes close to describing the totality of Amazon. The company's web services drive enterprise cloud computing. Its vi...

Pandora Got Siriusly Outnegotiated

13 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Sirius XM has explored an acquisition of Pandora for at least two years. Last year, Sirius floated a $15-per-share offer for Pandora. More recently, t...

How Do You Value Blue Apron?

06 Jun 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Is Blue Apron a technology company or a grocery delivery service? How investors answer that question will go a long way toward setting a valuation for...

Toshiba Memory Chip Sale Hinges on Nationalism

30 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Most mergers and acquisitions don't involve nationalistic pride and potential government intervention. Toshiba's potential sale of its memory-chip bus...

The View From Europe

23 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Aaron Kirchfeld, Bloomberg's global M&A executive editor, joins Ed Hammond, filling in for host Alex Sherman, to discuss the recent surge in deals...

Abercrombie & Fitch Seeks Savior

16 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

It was once a scent-filled mecca of teenage coolness. Now, Abercrombie & Fitch stores are, well, that's part of the problem. It's not exactly clea...

The Strange Tale of Straight Path

10 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Just weeks ago, Straight Path Communications was an obscure telecommunications company with a $400 million market capitalization. Today, it has a equi...

Why Time + Meredith Couldn't Get Done

02 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Time and Meredith tried and tried to merge, but the marriage wasn't to be. Greg Mason, CEO of digital media company Purch, tells host Alex Sherman the...

Spin The Telecom Wheel of Mergers

25 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Round and round it goes, and where will it stop? Nobody knows! Spin the wheel of telecom M&A. Will it match T-Mobile and Sprint? T-Mobile and Dish...

Amazon vs. Walmart

19 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

This week featured a clash of the retail titans in M&A land. Amazon has reportedly looked at buying both Whole Foods and BJ's Wholesale Club. Mean...

Going Beyond The M&A Headlines

11 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Company A buys Company B. That's the headline. The reality is more complex. Employee benefits must be transferred, 401(K)s rolled over to new plans, p...

TV Broadcasters Are Poised for Merger Spree

04 Apr 2017

Contributed by Lukas

If the FCC rolls back TV regulations this month, as anticipated, broadcasters may jump at the chance to get bigger. The first deal to be announced may...

Akzo Nobel Fends Off PPG

28 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

It's a common love story: PPG, the Pittsburgh-based paint and glass maker, offers to buy rival Akzo Nobel. Akzo Nobel says no, PPG sweetens offer, Akz...

Intel Buys Mobileye; What's Softbank's "Vision''?

21 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Did Intel yet again overpay for an acquisition with its $15 billion purchase of Mobileye? The takeover aims to give Intel a leg up in the automotive c...

Time's Up at Time Inc. as Board Ponders Bids

07 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Time Inc. has four options: Sell itself, sell some magazines, take a private investment... or do nothing at all. It's decision time for the iconic mag...

66: Should You Invest in Snap? A Debate!

28 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Is Snap Inc. the next Facebook or the next Twitter (or worse)? Bloomberg reporters Sarah Frier and Alex Barinka each take a side, giving listeners the...

65: What's Next for Kraft Heinz?

21 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

It would have been among the biggest deals ever. Instead, Kraft Heinz's pursuit of Unilever will become a footnote in history. Kraft Heinz, whose two ...

64: GM Exploring Sale of European Business

14 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

General Motors Co. hasn't turned a profit in Europe since the late 1990s. Still, the business is improving. GM's European division lost only $257 mill...

63: Is Verizon Planning a Megadeal?

07 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Here's what we know: Verizon Chief Executive Officer Lowell McAdam asked Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei to discuss acquiring Charter Communications, th...

62: AppDynamics Chooses Sale Over IPO

31 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

AppDynamics was set to be the first technology initial public offering in 2017 -- and then it was over. Cisco swooped in and bought the technology "un...

61: Oh The Humana-ty

25 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

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 wa...

60: J&J Nears Actelion Takeover Despite Twists and Turns

18 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Neither Bloomberg's M&A executive editor Jeff McCracken nor host Alex Sherman can remember a deal quite like Johnson & Johnson's pursuit of Sw...

59: Mars Matches M&Ms with Animal Hospitals

10 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

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 hos...

58: 2nd Annual Brooke Sutherland M&A Predictions Extravaganza

27 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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 p...

57: 2016 M&A Year in Review

20 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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 t...

56: Fox Agrees to Buy Sky While CBS and Viacom Stay Split

13 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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 prelimina...

55: What Does Donald Trump Mean for 2017 M&A?

06 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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...

54: The Future of Media M&A After Trump's Victory

30 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

This week's episode functions as a companion piece to a television interview between Methuselah Advisors managing partner, John Chachas, and host Alex...

53: FanDuel and DraftKings Finally Agree to Merge

21 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

At long last, FanDuel and DraftKings have finally agreed to merge. But that doesn't mean the deal will actually happen. Bloomberg sports business repo...

52: Twinkies Rise Again

15 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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...

51: Forget The Election, M&A is Rigged, NYU Professor Says

08 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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 f...

50: CenturyLink Buys Level 3; Gannett Gets Tronced

01 Nov 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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 a...

49: How We Broke AT&T's Discussions to Buy Time Warner

25 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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 o...

48: Snapchat's Lessons from Twitter and Facebook

18 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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 fum...

47: Qualcomm Hunts Car Computer Chips in Biggest 2016 Tech Deal

11 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

46: Redo! Putting CBS and Viacom Back Together

05 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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-mak...

45: CBOE's $3 Billion Bats Purchase Is Actually a Tech Deal

27 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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 rep...

44: Rob and Andy Kindler Telling Jokes

20 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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 comedia...

43: Where Oh Where Did All the IPOs Go?

13 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

42: Just Hoping Twitter Is for Sale Doesn't Make it True

06 Sep 2016

Contributed by Lukas

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 prosp...

41: Hershey Still Standing as Mondelez Deal Melts Away

30 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Hershey's has once again managed to fend off the takeover efforts of a rival. On Monday, Mondelez, the snack company, said it had abandoned its pursui...

40: The M&A Coverage Conundrum

23 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

As the number of media outlets -- and reporters -- covering deals has risen, so the news flow has boomed, creating what at times feels like an informa...

39: Formula One Sale Begets Questions About Sport's Future

16 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

This much is for sure: If CVC Capital Partners decides to sell its 35 percent stake in Formula One, it's going to make billions. What's a lot less cer...

38: Gawker Banker Says Ziff Davis Has 'Earned' Right to Buy It

09 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

The first time banker Mark Patricof sat down with Gawker founder Nick Denton, before the company had filed for bankruptcy, Patricof said Ziff Davis sh...

37: Is Uber Failing with Its $35 Billion Didi Merger?

02 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

After losing $2 billion in China, Uber threw in the towel this week, agreeing to merge with rival Didi Chuxing. Uber China will still own almost 20 pe...

36: Yahoo May Just Be The Beginning for Verizon

26 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

First, Verizon bought AOL for $4.4 billion. This week, the largest U.S. Wireless provider acquired Yahoo's Internet business for $4.8 billion. The dea...

35: Will SoftBank's ARM Deal Derail Sprint's T-Mobile Plan?

19 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

SoftBank is turning its attention -- and $32 billion -- to the Internet of Things with its deal for ARM Holdings. The move seems like founder and Chie...

34: UFC's Rise to $4 Billion From $2 Million

12 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

You may know WME-IMG as a Hollywood talent agency, but those days are officially over. Teamed with private equity firms, WME-IMG agreed to buy Ultimat...

33: Hershey Considers More Than Money as Mondelez Makes Offer

05 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

A company whose name sounds like a disease, according to investor Nelson Peltz, is trying to buy Hershey. Mondelez offered about $23 billion to acquir...

32: Why Pharmaceutical Companies Face an Existential M&A Crisis

29 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Sanofi and Boehringer Ingelheim agreed to a $25 billion dollar trade of big business units this week, the conclusion of a deal that first surfaced in ...

31: SoftBank Makes Billions on Supercell Sale (Correct)

22 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

You probably wouldn’t have guessed the first European technology startup to pass the $10 billion valuation mark would be the maker of “Boom Beach,...

30: Microsoft's LinkedIn Purchase Is Hardly a Sure Thing

14 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Microsoft spent $16.9 billion in the past four years to buy Skype, Yammer and Nokia's phone and tablet business. None lived up to the hype. Is there a...

29: Even You Can Profit from Merger Arbitrage!

07 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Behren and Mike Shannon, professional merger arbitrage investors, make money by placing on bets on how likely it is that a deal will get completed...

28: Big Money Utility Deals May Lead 2016 M&A

31 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

While they aren't household names, but utility deals are likely to drive 2016 M&A, reporter Matt Monks tells Deal of the Week host Alex Sherman. T...

27: Monsanto Dances with Bayer; George Zimmer Wants Back In

24 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome back, megadeals! Bayer wants to buy Monsanto for at least $62 billion. It would be the year's largest, and the biggest in German history. But ...

26: Why Warren Buffett's Bet on Yahoo Deal Probably Makes Sense

17 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Warren Buffett's decision to back a bid for Yahoo might seem to violate some of the billionaire investor's cardinal rules: Don't invest in tech, and d...

25: Tribune's Questionable Case to Fight Off Gannett

10 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Newspapers might have a future. Surprised? There's more! Two of the last remaining big publishers -- Tribune, owner of the LA Times and Chicago Tribun...

24: Another One Bites The Dust

03 May 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Halliburton's quest to buy Baker Hughes is over. Joining this week's episode is Bloomberg M&A Matthew Monks, who was first to report that the deal...

23: The Brazil-Born, Texas-Bred Banker Who Loved Basketball

26 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Was there something in the water? Brazilian-born Osmar Abib graduated from the same Houston high school with three other men -- Ralph Eades, Hugh "Ski...

22: Why In the World Does Verizon Want to Buy Yahoo?

19 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Verizon is the frontrunner to acquire Yahoo. But what will the largest U.S. wireless company do with it? Bloomberg telecom reporter Scott Moritz and D...