While no one else was paying attention, McGladrey quietly gobbled up a Cincinnati accounting firm, […]
Category: M&A
Ex-Employee Chronicles Grant Thornton’s Gutting of CCR After Acquisition
A few Accounting News Roundups ago, Colin linked to a story about Grant Thornton's new […]
For One Eide Bailly Partner, This Wipfli Merger Might Be “Like Getting Back Together with the Girl That Kicked Him the Balls at Prom”
On Wednesday we reported that the latest entries into the accounting firm merger orgy were Wipfli […]
Congress Sketched Out by Ticketmaster’s Luring of Live Nation to the Dark Side
Congress isn’t so sure that Ticketmaster inviting Live Nation into its tentacles is a good idea. Lawmakers think that the deal would remove our only hope to defeat the Dark Side of the live entertainment industry.
Senator Herb Kohl, D-WI, who chairs the antitrust subcommittee, has said that the merged company “would enjoy a virtual stranglehold over the live entertainment industry.” Translation: Help us DOJ. You’re our only hope.
We get Congress’s desire to ask the DOJ to scrutinize the deal but if they really wanted to do something to help concert-goers, they need to have Ticketmaster explain how the “Convenience Charge” is actually convenient and why it is usually somewhere between 15 and 25% of the actual cost of the ticket. Oh, and why processing fees, handling fees, and venue fees are all ness. K, thanks. And may the force be with you.
Ticketmaster and Live Nation Merger Raises Concerns [DealBook]
Yahoo and Microsoft Partnership Talk Continues to Annoy Us
In a follow-up to the most annoying potential corporate partnership in recent memory, Yahoo’s directors actually met with one another yesterday, after just yapping on the phone about it, to decide if they like Microsoft. Microsoft has been putting the moves on the search engine company for over a year now and some directors still aren’t sure they’re ready to put out.
Some directors are still grossed out and think that Microsoft will do naughty things like, “paying Yahoo for selling ads next to its search results”. GROSS. Other directors also don’t think that regulators would like the two companies getting together because it wouldn’t look very good.
No doubt we’ll be hearing more about these two flirting which will continue to make us nauseous.
Yahoo Board to Meet on Microsoft Search Deal [WSJ]
Microsoft and Yahoo Return to Shamelessly Flirting in Front of Everyone
In rumored merger talk news, apparently Microsoft and Yahoo have started playing footsie again which annoys the living crap out of us. According to Bits Blog:
A handful of top Microsoft executives are in Silicon Valley meeting with their Yahoo counterparts to try to iron out remaining wrinkles in a proposed partnership, according to people briefed on the talks who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity because the negotiations are confidential.
Get it over with you two! T. Boone Pickens isn’t cock-blocking anymore so you don’t have any excuses. We’d all really prefer if you just got down to biznass instead of flirting in front of everyone and then saying that you’re not interested in each other. Nobody is buying it.
Yahoo and Microsoft Said to Be Closer to Search Deal [Bits via DealBook]