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.
Category: business
10th Annual M&A Advisor Turnaround Awards Announced
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
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
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
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
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
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.”
Get Your Food From….Amazon?
In case Amazon weren’t already doing enough – never fear; they are about to do more. They are now opening restaurants in Seattle and NewYork. With plans to create a division called Amazon Restaurant, they are hoping to increase their meal delivery market foothold.
There are at least 15 job openings for a division called “Amazon Restaurants” based in Seattle and New York according to a Reuters search on LinkedIn and Amazon’s own mobs site. Amazon isn’t talking – but these postings seem to be talking for them.
Time will tell how Amazon plans to use this service and how they plan to develop their business in these areas. But something certainly appears to be in the works.
Mickey Mouse Soon Coming to Uniqlo
Uniqlo clothing chain has announced that it plans to expand its collaboration with Walt Disney Co. to offer more products. They will also be opening a flagship store at the Florida Disney World’s shopping complex in the spring.
The Japanese apparel retailer already has T-shirts that feature Mickey and Minnie Mouse. They will now extend their Disney-themed lineup to offer items that range from the Ultra Light Down collection and flannel shirts to toys and more. They will also be using characters from movies like “Star Wars” and “Frozen.”
Creation of Three New American Monuments
President Barack Obama created three new US national monuments in Texas, Nevada and California that span more than 400,000 hectares. He established the National Monument in California, the Waco Mammoth National Monument in Texas and the Basin and Range National Monument in Nevada.
During a White House ceremony for the monuments, Obama said that the national parks and monuments are “something that we pass on from generation to generation, preserving the incredible beauty of this nation, but also reminding us of the richness of its history.”
Former first lady Laura Bush said that the creation of these monuments, including the Waco Mammoth monument was “a special day for Texas.”
The creation of these monuments created hostility between the Democrats and the Republicans. As Rob Bishop of Utah said,
“This surreptitious land grab reveals that the Obama administration will stop at nothing to lock up more and more land, with the stroke of a pen. I condemn this shameful power move which makes states and citizens fearful that the federal government can invade at any time to seize more lands like bandits in the night.”