The final month of the third quarter saw a burst of business deals. A Business Insider report announced last weekend that Comcast won a bidding war with Fox to own 61 percent of the British media company, Sky, for $40 billion. In the fashion industry, Michael Kors announced Tuesday it is going to buy luxury Italian fashion brand Versace for $2.1 billion. Also this week, Sirius XM announced that it will buy Pandora Radio for $3.5 billion.
The acquisition of Sky media company will allow Comcast to expand into international markets. According to Business Insider, Sky is a British pay-TV business that serves 23 million subscribers in Europe and has a broad content portfolio with rights to run HBO shows and Premier League Soccer. Customers in the U.S. and Europe will now have more access to global content. After this merger, it is expected Comcast will start to increase its distribution in international markets and invest more into original content.
After the deal on Monday, The Motley Fool reported that Comcast’s share plunged six percent selling at $22.67 per share as many investors fear the company overpaid for Sky. Sky on the other hand jumped nine percent to $20.62 per share
With the rise of streaming causing many millennials to drop cable, Comcast, which was originally branded as a cable company, now needs to find a new way to generate revenue. After the deal was confirmed, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said, “This acquisition will allow us to quickly, efficiently and meaningfully increase our customer base and expand internationally.” Original content is going to be the next topic that investors are discussing in relation to Comcast, along with the company’s ability to compete with streaming giants like Netflix and Hulu. Comcast customers in the United States should expect to see greater access to international content after this major merger.
In the fashion industry, the deal between Michael Kors and Versace is part of Michael Kors’ expansion plan to reach a more diverse market. The Michael Kors brand originally established itself as a “middle market” luxury brand found in department stores and outlets. Much of the brand focus is on bags, shoes, watches and other accessories. With the decline in shopping mall traffic in recent years, Michael Kors has had to rethink its strategy and go for bigger spenders. According to a report from the Motley Fool, before the Versace deal, Kors bought Jimmy Woo designer shoe company for $1.2 billion last year in an effort to compete with larger luxury brands conglomerates.
John D. Idol, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Michael Kors Holdings, stated Tuesday, “We believe that the strength of the Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo brands, and the acquisition of Versace, position us to deliver multiple years of revenue and earnings growth.”
Once the deal is complete the name will be changed to Capri Holdings Limited. Donatella Versace will still remain at the head of creative direction for the Versace brand. According to a CNN report, Kors announced that it plans to grow Versace’s revenue from $808 million to $2 billion and add 100 more stores.
The ways in which music listeners consume music has drastically changed in recent years and Sirius XM acquiring Pandora radio is a response to that. According to the Motley Fool, the $3.5 billion deal will create the largest audio entertainment company with Sirius at over 36 million subscribers in North America and more than 23 million users on an annual trial. Additionally, it will put Pandora with 70 million monthly active users and about 6 million paid subscribers.
In a press release on Monday, Sirius CEO Jim Meyer explained the deal: “The addition of Pandora diversifies SiriusXM’s revenue streams with the U.S.’s largest ad-supported audio offering, broadens our technical capabilities, and represents an exciting next step in our efforts to expand our reach out of the car even further.”
The statement also mentioned that the two brands and services will still remain separate and that there will be, “no immediate change in listener offerings.” This deal is a response to the success the streaming giants Spotify and Apple Music have had with their respective services.
After the deal was made, CNBC reported that Sirius stock fell 10.3 percent to $6.36 a share, while Pandora jumped up 1.2 percent to $8.98 a share. Sirius’s stock will most likely normalize once a definite strategy is implemented on how the two companies will work together.
Big moves are coming from businesses in every industry as the fourth quarter of the fiscal calendar starts in October. There are many acquisitions still in the works that will probably be announced by the end of 2018. Most notably according to Bloomberg, Uber is ready to bid for the London based food delivery platform Deliveroo which was valued at around $2 billion last year. Expect more large deals to be made before the end of 2018.
Alex Fisher is a second-year student majoring in media and culture with a minor in information technology. AF885855@wcupa.edu