Symantec takeover talks
Takeover talks between Broadcom and Symantec have stopped due to disagreement over the price.
The deal had been expected to go through as soon as today, but Broadcom decided to lower the price it had originally agreed to pay over the weekend following the discovery of new information.
The Symantec share price fell by up to 15% at one point as investors were blind-sided by the latest developments.
The acquisition was meant to consolidate Broadcom’s move into software, but a rethink on price has clearly put a spanner in the works.
It seems to me like Symantec really needs this deal to go ahead as it has been in turmoil recently – but if it has to go it alone it will have an uphill struggle to get Wall Street back onside as this latest development will damage its credibility.
AG Barr profit warning
The second thing I wanted to talk about today was Scottish soft drinks group AG Barr, which announced a profit warning, sending its shares down by over 30% in early trading.
It put the blame on disappointing spring and early summer weather and “brand challenges” with its Rockstar energy and Rubicon drinks.
Its outlook was downbeat and it warned of a 20% fall for full-year profits with no uplift in sight.
AG Barr has taken a beating from the UK sugar tax, rising costs and staff cuts as it tries to keep up with regulation and changing consumer tastes.
I would say that AG Barr is not the only one in this space suffering as consumers seem to be gravitating towards healthier beverages – or at least drinking less sugary ones.
Coca Cola recently bought Costa Coffee from Whitbread as a way of diversifying its beverage offering and caused a great deal of excitement shortly afterwards on speculation that it was experimenting with cannabis-infused drinks.
Given the way things are going, maybe AG Barr needs to jump on that bandwagon
