Banking, finance, and taxes
Over $100 Billion in Buybacks and M&A in August (HPQ, INTU, LO, VRSN, DTV, DISCA, GPS, JWN, MRVL, RSH, PAR, GENZ, POT, INTC, SCHW, MMM, DYN, SNY, BHP)
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$100 billion… That is roughly the combined tally of August share buyback announcements and merger announcements. This may not be a record, but it has to be one of the most active months of announcements that intend to return capital to shareholders.
Share buyback announcements were led by Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ), Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU), Lorillard, Inc. (NYSE: LO), VeriSign Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), DIRECTV (NASDAQ: DTV), Discovery Communications Inc (NASDAQ: DISCA), Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS), Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN), Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL), and RadioShack Corporation (NYSE: RSH).
M&A activity was led by deals for 3PAR, Inc. (NYSE: PAR), Genzyme Corporation (NASDAQ: GENZ), Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT), Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC), Charles Schwab Corporation (NASDAQ: SCHW), 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) and Dynegy Inc. (NYSE: DYN).
While you can not expect all of the set buybacks to be accelerated and while some may never be completed, combined announcements of more than $26 billion (not including many smaller buybacks announced) are hard to ignore even if $10 billion was via Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ). Some of these were add-on amounts and some were new combined announcements.
The merger front is also a slippery slope in the named deals (not including some smaller deals) because some of these are being challenged. The lion’s share of M&A revolves around Genzyme Corporation (NASDAQ: GENZ) by Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE: SNY) and Potash Corp of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) by BHP Billiton plc (NYSE: BHP), both of which deals have the targets trading at a premium because the companies want more money.
The table below was geared down to only account for the larger deals. Many smaller deals and smaller buybacks were left off, which is why the tally is just shy of the $100 billion mark. Below is a table summary of the combined share buybacks and the combined acquisition targets:
| BUYBACK ANNOUNCEMENTS | SIZE (MIL$) |
|---|---|
| Fossil, Inc. (NASDAQ: FOSL) | $750 |
| Qlogic Corp. (NASDAQ: QLGC) | $200 |
| Oil States International Inc. (NYSE: OIS) | $100 |
| White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. (NYSE: WTM) | $180 |
| Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: VECO) | $200 |
| Myriad Genetics Inc. (NASDAQ: MYGN) | $100 |
| Ann Taylor Stores Corporation (NYSE: ANN) | $400 |
| Dillard’s Inc. (NYSE: DDS) | $250 |
| Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) | $750 |
| Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) | $10,000 |
| Lorillard, Inc. (NYSE: LO) | $1,000 |
| Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: MRVL) | $500 |
| Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) | $2,000 |
| The Children’s Place Retail Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCE) | $100 |
| Nordstrom Inc. (NYSE: JWN) | $500 |
| RadioShack Corporation (NYSE: RSH) | $500 |
| Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ: RMBS) | $90 |
| Research In Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM) | $80 |
| Flextronics International Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX) | $200 |
| RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: RNR) | $500 |
| TD AMERITRADE Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: AMTD) | $500 |
| Advance Auto Parts (NYSE: AAP) | $300 |
| The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE: SMG) | $500 |
| Polo Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL) | $250 |
| VeriSign Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN) | $1,100 |
| DIRECTV (NASDAQ: DTV) | $2,000 |
| Discovery Communications Inc (NASDAQ: DISCA) | $1,000 |
| Gartner Inc. (NYSE: IT) | $500 |
| WMS Industries Inc. (NYSE: WMS) | $300 |
| Focus Media Holding Limited (NASDAQ: FMCN) | $300 |
| Plum Creek Timber Co. (NYSE: PCL) | $200 |
| Atmel Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML) | $200 |
| W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) | $260 |
| Skyworks Solutions (NASDAQ: SWKS) | $200 |
| Owens Corning (NYSE: OC) | $285 |
| WebMD Health Corp. (NASDAQ: WBMD) | $150 |
| Total Counted Buybacks | $26,445 |
| MERGER ANNOUNCEMENTS | SIZE (MIL$) |
| Deere & Company (NYSE: DE) sale of wind to Exelon | $900 |
| 3PAR, Inc. (NYSE: PAR) by HP | $1,900 |
| Genzyme Corporation (NASDAQ: GENZ) by Sanofi | $18,500 |
| Potash Corp of Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) by BHP | $39,000 |
| Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) Infineon wireless | $1,400 |
| McAfee, Inc. (NYSE: MFE) by Intel | $7,700 |
| New Alliance Bancshares Inc. (NYSE: NAL) | $1,500 |
| Charles Schwab (NASDAQ: SCHW) for Windward | $150 |
| Cogent Inc. (NASDAQ: COGT) by 3M | $943 |
| 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM) buys Attenti from Francisco Partners | $230 |
| Dynegy Inc. (NYSE: DYN) by Blackstone | $542 |
| Total Counted M&A | $72,765 |
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JON C. OGG
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