A short review video created by the IESE Business School on the business trends to watch out for in 2016.
Category Archives: Companies
GE Pulls Plug on Sale of Appliance Business to Electrolux
GE has decided to back out of a deal to sell its appliance business to the Swedish appliance company Electrolux rather than face the US Justice Department who wish to block the sale due to its apparent antitrust nature.
The $3.3 billion deal was first challenged by Justice this past summer when they stated in court that the forging of the two companies into one would lead to “less competition, higher prices and fewer options for millions of Americans.”
GE’s move to terminate the sale should entitle them to receive a $175 million break-up fee, a term they parties agreed on as an insurance in case the deal fell apart.
No verdict was yet reached by the Washington court considering the status of the sale. GE nevertheless exercised its right to terminate the agreement after 15 months of talks. The collapse of the deal is disappointing to Electrolux. The Swedish white goods company was hoping to make themselves into an appliance company giant able to compete with the likes of Whirlpool Corp and equivalent companies in Asia.
“We are disappointed but we are certainly not defeated,” Elextrolux Chief Executive Keith McLoughlin said.
Seeing the Bigger Picture: An Interview with Inger Loftheim Rood
In this video, Inger Loftheim Rood – who today has an executive position with Old Village Paint – discusses the importance of “seeing the bigger picture” in business.
Yes, Pun Intended!
Atlas Obscura is asking the public to help with a project that some might call “punny.” Yes, they are crowd-sourcing with the intent of putting together a map of the country’s businesses that utilize word play, or puns, in their monikers.
For instance, anyone familiar with the comedy television series “Friends” has heard of the much-visited neighborhood coffee house “Central Perk.” And there are probably quite a number of cafes called “Bean There, Done That.”
This project is requesting the public to send in real businesses with pun names, whether good or bad. The folks at Atlas Obscura will rank them from best to worst, and will follow trends in playful names. They will then put together an interactive map of imagined literary road trips.
To participate follow the link and fill out the form before September 7. Have a great time with this pun project!
Toys R Us To Place New CEO, David Brandon
Toys R Us chairman and CEO Antonio Urcelay is scheduled to retire on July 1. Taking his place will be David Brandon, past CEO and chairman of Domino’s Pizza. The 63-year old executive was on hand to help Domino’s with its IPO. Brandon was also president and CE of Valassis Communications and also helped them transition to a publicly held company.
Until last October Brandon was the athletic director at the University of Michigan, when he resigned amid concerns about the poor showing of the school’s football team as well as other problematic issues in the athletic department there.
Urcelay, who is the same age as Brandon, was the CEO and chairman of Toys R Us since near the end of 2013. He was employed by the giant toy retailer since 1996.
Toys R Us, a Wayne, New Jersey-based company, was bought by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, Bain Capital Inc, and Vornado Realty Trust in 2005, taking the company private. The huge toy store, which also has Babies R Us shops, has 866 outlets in the US, Puerto Rico, and Guam. They also have 730 stores globally, and an additional 240lnsed tor i37 countries and jurisdictions. They also operate FAO Schwarz.