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Tag: Shareholders

  • Comcast/Time Warner Cable Merger Gets Thumbs Up from Shareholders

    The shareholders of two of the most-hated companies in America have approved their merger.

    According to Bloomberg, “more than 99 percent of shares were voted in favor of the deal” to sell Time Warner Cable to Comcast. On Thursday Comcast’s shareholders, by the same nearly 100 percent margin, approved the deal.

    That means all that’s left in the way of the merger is regulatory approval. The deal is currently facing scrutiny from the Federal Communications Commission, as well as various state regulatory agencies.

    Though Comcast and Time Warner argue that the deal would not be anti-competitive, some high profile companies and organizations have come forward to publicly oppose the sale.

    Netflix is one, which just recently filed an official petition with the FCC.

    “The proposed merger puts at risk the end-to-end principle that has characterized the internet and been a key driver in the creation of the most important communications platform in history. Unsurprisingly, given their dominance in the cable television marketplace, the proposed merger would give Applicants the ability to turn a consumer’s internet experience into something that more closely resembles cable television. It would set up and ecosystem that calls into questions what we to date have taken for granted: that a consumer who pays for connectivity to the internet will be able to get the content she requests,” said Netflix.

    The Consumers Union is another:

    “Under this proposed deal, two huge companies would become a behemoth,” said Delara Derakhshani, policy counsel for Consumers Union. “This has the potential to be a very bad deal for consumers. This industry is notoriously unpopular with consumers due to poor customer service, not to mention ever-increasing bills, and a deal this size doesn’t exactly convince us that things will get better.”

    Comcast says that the merger will “will make life online better for more people by bringing faster Internet speeds, a more reliable and more secure network, net neutrality protection, low-cost Internet access, and programming diversity to millions of new customers across the country.”

    Comcast expects the deal to close early next year, if approved. To pass the time while the FCC deliberates, Comcast and Time Warner can keep trying to give awards to FCC executives.

    Image via Comcast

  • Hostile Takeover Prevented By Safeway Thinking Ahead

    The grocery store chain, Safeway, devised a plan to ensure survival and prevent hostile takeover after an investor recently acquired a significant chunk of stock from the company. The plan instigated by Safeway is one of a defensive nature, set to go into effect whenever a person or group purchases at least ten percent of the company’s common stock, or when an institutional investment company purchases fifteen percent.

    The “poison pill” plans are set to encourage present shareholders to purchase a greater amount of stock at a reduced rate, thus limiting the potential for an outside party to purchase the stock instead.

    Safeway, as a company, has rewarded loyalty and strives not only to encourage present shareholders to purchase stock over outside forces, but also encourages present customers to have heightened grocery shopping experiences by providing specific deals individually-tailored for customers based on their past shopping experiences. The store has undergone some strategic changes such as the recent sale of the Canadian portion of the company, which totaled 5.7 billion dollars.

    The popular grocery store chain shares the unique company motto on the company twitter page. We’re proud to be your neighborhood grocery store. You can count on our great quality and low prices. That’s Safeway. That’s ingredients for life. Safeway has become a popular grocery-shopping option where customers are unwilling to give up their chosen grocer as shown from comments on Twitter.

    [Image Via Wikimedia Commons As Part Of Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike Licensing]

  • Zynga Planning Secondary Offering To Prevent Share Dumping

    Zynga went public last year with a $1 billion IPO that set the social games developer up for a year of rising profits and increased customer base. It seems its shareholders have other plans.

    Bloomberg heard from two separate sources that Zynga will be holding a secondary offering of shares to the shareholders. This would extend the “lock-up” period where shareholders wouldn’t be able to sell.

    This news comes on the heels of Zynga’s stock being downgraded by J.P. Morgan. It wasn’t exactly a bad thing that the stock was downgraded. At the time, J.P. Morgan said they were positive about the prospects of the newly announced Zynga platform, but it would take time for it to take hold.

    The downgrade could have had an effect on shareholder’s expectations nonetheless. They could be wanting to sell now instead of taking a chance in a market that some people think may just be a fad.

    As of writing, Zynga’s stock is down 38 cents to $13.38 per share. Looking at Google Finance, we can see Zynga’s stock take a visible drop after the news of the secondary offering. It wasn’t a big drop, but it was a drop nonetheless.

    Zynga Planning Secondary Offering

    The expanded “lock-up” with a secondary offering could give Zynga the time it needs to show the potential of their Zynga Platform. Launching a new platform is never kind to any company’s stocks so this could be the best option the company has at this point.

    Regardless, Zynga will bounce back. There are some companies that one may consider too big to fail. Considering that Zynga generated about 12 percent of Facebook’s revenue last year, I think they’re pretty safe for the time being.