Category archive: Managing Business
Rupert Murdoch Hands Sons Keys to 21st Century Fox
Rupert Murdoch’s announcement that he will be handing over the CEO role at 21st Century Fox to his son, James, 42, and elevating his other son, Lachlan, 43, to the position of co-executive chairman, once again brings family business succession-planning to the forefront. From published news accounts, it appears that Murdoch’s sons know the…
Energizer’s New Plan: Split the Company in Two
The company responsible for providing Energizer batteries, Schick razors and various hygiene products has announced its new plan to separate into two publicly traded companies. One company will focus on the household products we’ve come to rely upon, while the other company will concentrate efforts on personal care products. Due to an increase in market…
Twitter Enhances Analytics by Acquiring Social Data Provider
In a strong push to improve their data analytics capabilities, the social media giant Twitter Inc. has announced it has acquired the social data provider Gnip. The data provider specializes in helping companies, PR agencies and other data specialists access tweets going all the way back to Twitter’s birth in 2006. In fact, Twitter itself has been…
eBay Asks its Shareholders to Veto PayPal Spin-Off
Last week, activist investor Carl Ichan submitted a proposal asking eBay to sell off 20 percent of its PayPal payments unit in an IPO. (The proposal is slightly different than the first; Ichan initially called for a complete spin-off of the company PayPal payments unit.) He states that selling part of the business would not…
‘Home of the Toasted Sandwich’ Files for Bankruptcy Protection
Quiznos Corp, the chain known for paving the way for the toasted sandwich, has announced that it has filed for pre-packaged bankruptcy protection. The move comes after years of struggling with high debt and increased competition from big-name chains like Subway. A pre-packaged bankruptcy is when an entity negotiates a deal in advance with creditors…
Nestle is Pondering Another Sale, Per Sources
The world’s largest food company—which has already sold several of its businesses in the past several months—is entertaining the idea of selling its frozen foods business, Davigel, as well. With potential sales come potential buyers, including Brake Brothers, Booker Group and Sodexho among some of the companies that may show interest in the news. However,…
Bank of America Boosts Salaries for Top Bankers
In order to bypass a new European Union (EU) cap on pay, Bank of America Merrill Lynch has formulated a plan to raise the salaries for a few of its senior bankers—by roughly 20 percent. The move was a result of EU’s new ruling that came into force in January 2014. The rule limits salary…
The Carlyle Group Offers Up Billions for J&J Business
As part of its typical trimming of family businesses, Johnson & Johnson started reviewing strategic options for its Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics business last year (a blood testing unit that services hospitals, testing laboratories and blood banks). In 2012, the diagnostics business reported revenue of $2.1 billion—down more than four percent from the previous year. The first…
Can Apollo Save Chuck E. Cheese?
There’s at least one company out there willing to bet Chuck E. Cheese is not a lost cause. The restaurant chain, which has been struggling to remain a relevant entertainment spot for years, agreed to be acquired for $950 million by an affiliate of Apollo Global Management. The investment firm is known for acquiring troubled…
Cloud Computing Increases Performance and Lowers Cost
If your business isn’t familiar with cloud computing, then you you’re likely falling behind the competition. Cloud computing is the foundation for organizations that are transitioning to a virtualized datacenter infrastructure. It can lead to high growth opportunities, lower cost, increase performance and efficiency. And the latest cloud computing study by TheInfoPro, a service of…