Mergers and Acquisitions
Days after laying off 10%, Vimeo acquired for $1.38 billion
Just one week after CEO Philip Moyer took to Linkedin to spin the company’s decision to axe 10% of its workforce, Vimeo is being sold off. The struggling video platform is getting scooped up by European app developer Bending Spoons in an all-cash deal valued at $1.38 billion.
On paper, the acquisition looks rich: a 70% premium to Vimeo’s battered stock price. But investors who bought into the hype at its 2021 IPO won’t be celebrating. Even with today’s 60% pop, shares are still down nearly 85% from their debut.
For laid-off employees and long-suffering shareholders, the sale feels less like a comeback story and more like the last gasp of a once-hyped platform that never lived up to its promise.
In its article about the acquisition, TechCrunch points out why Vimeo employees shouldn’t be popping champagne for their salvation. Bending Spoons’ playbook is simple—buy broken companies (see: Evernote, WeTransfer) and then slash jobs and features until there’s nothing left but a logo.
Vimeo to be acquired by Bending Spoons in $1.38B all-cash deal
Mnuchin & Liberty Strategic Capital come to the rescue of NYCB
The news on NYCB just keeps coming today, and it appears as if it’s fundraising round was successful. The cash-strapped bank has just issued a press release and it appears Steve Mnuchin and a consortium consisting of Liberty Strategic Capital, Hudson Bay Capital and Reverence Capital Partners has come to the rescue with a $1bil cash infusion.
Some terms of the deal include:
- Reduction of the board size to 9-members (from 15 according to its website)
- Addition of Mnuchin and Joseph Otting to the board
- Otting will become CEO (replacing Alessandro DiNello who was installed last week)
Shares have rebounded and are now up ~5% on the day, which has to help offset some of Jenny Harrington’s losses on the stock.
BowFlex can’t handle the weight
BowFlex is filing for bankruptcy with $140mm in assets and $125.9mm in debt. The home workout equipment maker has said that it has a bid of $37.5 million from Johnson Health Tech which will enable it to continue operating in the interim.
JetBlue officially grounds takeover of Spirit Airlines
This was all but inevitable after a judge ruled against the acquisition last month, but it’s now officially dead.
Spirit is now on deathwatch.
