Author: Scott Hodges

Samsung and LG Unveil New Products

Posted on by Scott Hodges

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and LG Electronics Inc have recently unveiled devices, trying to keep up in the smartphone market. As an attempt to recapture their market shares, Samsung has launched two versions of its Galaxy S smartphones. They even brought in Mark Zuckerberg for a surprise appearance to show the potential of virtual reality.

LG, which has lost money in the last year from its mobile business, introduced a modular design for its new G5 smartphones. now, users can replace or upgrade functions like the camera and audio independently. It also showcased a virtual reality headset and accessories which include a drone controller to go with the G5.

As Seoul-based HDC Asset Management fund manager Park Jung-hoon said, “I think it’s possible for LG’s mobile business to recover on its new product launch, since they delivered significant changes with the G5. The Galaxy S7, however, doesn’t seem to be creating as much buzz.”

As Bob O’Donnell, president of Technalysis Research, said “The challenge you have got in the smartphone market is breaking through all that sameness. From a design and functionality perspective, everything looks and feels the same. So the challenge is finding things that stick out.”

Viacom Inc. in Deal with Snapchat

Posted on by Scott Hodges

The Wall Street Journal has recently reported that Viacom Inc. is extending its deal with Snapchat to sell advertising on the mobile app’s behalf. The deal is a multi-year one that is expected to be discussed by Viacom chief executive Philippe Dauman on Tuesday during their earning calls
Viacom, according to the deal, will have exclusive third-party rights to directly sell advertising that has to do with Snapchat’s content. Viacom has recently changed some of their leadership, appointing Dauman as executive chairman. The appointment has had mixed reviews. SpringOwl Asset Management was disappointed with the decision, while Permanent Portfolio of Family of Funds was happy about it.

Tweeting Their Way Out of Jobs

Posted on by Scott Hodges

Of course, if you work for Twitter and you or your buddies are leaving, chances are you’re going to make that announcement with a tweet. And that’s just what happened when CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted late Sunday night that leadership change is in the air. Dorsey tweeted that four executives are heading out. These include media head Katie Jacobs Stanton, product head Kevin Weil, engineering division Alex Roetter and HR head Brian “Skip” Schipper.

Jason Toff, who heads Twitter’s video streaming service joined the news as well, tweeting that he’s also leaving Twitter to join Google to work on virtual reality.

In October during an earnings conference call, Dorsey spoke about the need for “hiring and investing in talent” and for “bold rethinking.”

Watch for the tweets that introduce the new executives taking over these positions. Certainly, big changes are ahead.

Yahoo Shake-Ups?

Posted on by Scott Hodges

While Yahoo spokeswoman Sarah Meron will neither confirm nor deny the rumors, it looks like Yahoo Inc. is planning to cut its workforce by at least 10%. This percentage translates to about 1000 people and it will be focused on their media business, European operations and platform-technology group according to Business Insider.

Recently, an activist investor sent a letter to Yahoo pointing to CEO Marissa Mayer and her leadership team and implied that they all need to go. The activist threatened to shake up the board as well if the stocks continue to suffer.
Yahoo has hired McKinsey & Co to help them to reorganize their core business. But the investor, together with other shareholders, has demanded that Yahoo separate the Asian assets (including those in Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd. And Yahoo Japan Corp.) and has asked for a public auction of the core business.

10th Annual M&A Advisor Turnaround Awards Announced

Posted on by Scott Hodges
The 10th Annual M&A Advisor Turnaround Awards were just announced by M&A Advisor and included awards in many categories. There were over 200 participating companies vying for awards in: Restructuring of the Year, Transaction of the Year, Refinancing of the Year, Sector Deal of the Year, Firm of the Year, Turnaround Product/Service of the Year and Professional of the Year.
Winners will be honored at the Awards Gala on Thursday, January 28th, 2016 at the Colony Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida. Here is a partial list of some of the winners:
Canaccord Genuity with Geoffrey Richards won the Distressed M&A Deal of the Year ($50 million to $100 million) and the Healthcare and Life Sciences Deal of the Year. Both of these were in recognition of their work on behalf of PhotoMedex Inc.

The Technology Deal of the Year went to the Restructuring of Allen Systems Group, Inc. The Media Deal of the Year went to the Chapter 11 of Houston Regional Sports Network, L.P. The Telecom Deal of the Year went to the acquisition of RadioShack Stores by Sprint.

Nasdaq Gets a COO

Posted on by Scott Hodges

Securities exchange operator Nasdaq Inc.’s Co-President Adena Freidman is being named the chief operating officer (COO) on the Nasdaq. She will become Nasdaq’s first COO, while also continuing to serve as the co-president.

Friedman joined Nasdaq in 1993 and was there for 18 years before leaving in 2011 to join asset manager the Carlyle Group, to be their chief financial officer. She returned to Nasdaq in 2014 with the agreement that she would succeed CEO Robert Greifeld, perhaps as early as 2015. Greifeld’s contract is not supposed to end until 2017, however.


Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to Launch Cyber Monday Deals on Sunday

Posted on by Scott Hodges
In an interesting move, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is moving Cyber Monday to Sunday. This year, they will launch their Cyber Monday deals on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Cyber Monday started when people at the workplace checked out purchases that they wanted online after their shopping trips to the mall over the weekend didn’t bear the fruit they wanted.

Now, as Fernando Madeira, chief executive of Walmart.com, explained, the logic of limiting the event to a weekday no longer holds.

As he said, “The customers have changed but Cyber Monday hasn’t changed with them. Now everyone has Internet.”

This is the first time that they will be offering all of their Cyber Monday promotions on Sunday. It will launch 2000 online-online specials at 8pm Eastern U.S. time on Sunday, November 29th. This is up from 500 deals of this sort from last year.

Industry-wide Cyber Monday sales in the US will probably reach $3 billion for the first time in 2015. This is up 12% from last year. 

Alibaba Buys China’s YouTube

Posted on by Scott Hodges
On Friday, Alibaba bought China’s “YouTube” for about $3.7 billion. Youku Todou needed this partnership with Alibaba, according to Summit Research analyst Henry Guo.

The current Youku Tudou Chief Executive Victor Koo will remain CEO of Youku Tudou after the deal closes in the first quarter of 2016.

As Koo said in a statement, “With Alibaba’s support, Youku Tudou’s future as the leading multi-screen entertainment and media platform in China has been firmly secured.”  

This is not the first venture into digital media investments in China for Alibaba. In March of 2014, it agreed to buy a controlling stake in ChinaVision Media Group Ltd for $804 million. They also agreed to pay $1 billion for a 20% stake in Vasu Media Holdings Co. Ltd.

Winterkorn Stepping Down from other Posts

Posted on by Scott Hodges

The former Volkswagen chief executive, Martin Winterkorn, will be stepping down as the head of Porsche Automobil Holding SE. Chief Financial Officer of Porsche SE, Hans Dieter Poetsch, has been appointed to succeed Winterkorn as Porsche SE chief executive starting November 1.

Winterkorn resigned from his position as CEO of Volkswagen after admitting to cheating in deisel emission tests in the US. It was assumed that he would probably step down from his remaining posts related to the company, and this is, indeed, what we are seeing.

He is also chairman of VW’s luxury brand Audi, its truck division Scania and it’s Truck & Bus holding. See the complete article here.

German Business Morale Surprisingly High

Posted on by Scott Hodges

German business morale rose surprisingly for the third month in a row in September. This suggests that company executives in Europe’s largest economy are remaining upbeat even though there are concerns of an economic slowdown in China.

Of course, the Ifo institute recognizes that their survey responses will probably change next month from the economic impact of the Volkswagen emissions scandal. As Ifo economist Klaus Wohlrabe said, “We had expected that the export expectations of industry would have perhaps fallen a bit. They did not, they actually rose slightly.”

As Wohlrabe said, “The German economy looks in very robust shape.”

Read the full article and find out more details.