It was another busy Monday of M&A and fundraising news, so let’s quickly recap. 👇
First up is Macy’s, which saw shares soar 20% on reports that the 165-year-old retailer is considering a buyout offer from Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital Management. It’s unclear how the company’s board feels about the offer, but clearly, these firms have value in Macy’s real estate. Analysts speculate that the investor group may sell off real estate and spin off its e-commerce business to deliver short-term gains. However, that would come at the expense of the core retail business people know and love it for. 🏬
Occidental Petroleum is looking to expand its Permian Basin production by purchasing privately held energy producer CrownRock for $12 billion. Additionally, it raised its quarterly dividend from 18 to 22 cents per share. The company is developing a 100,000-acre position in the Midland Basin, which produced 15% of U.S. crude in 2020. Overall, the transaction will add about 170,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day to Occidental’s production, with 1,700 more undeveloped locations. 🛢️
U.S. health insurer Cigna said it had ended its attempt to acquire rival Humana after the pair failed to agree on a price. The company instead plans to use its $10 billion for a buyback program, sending Cigna shares jumping 17% on the day. ❌
ByteDance’s TikTok has found a way to reestablish itself in Indonesia’s online shopping market after new regulations forced it to retreat from the country. It’s investing $1.5 billion to become a controlling shareholder of an e-commerce unit of Indonesia’s GoTo Gojek Tokopedia. That’ll help it get around Indonesia’s ban on online shopping via social media platforms, which it says is needed to protect smaller merchants and users’ data. 🛒
The French are getting involved in the artificial intelligence (AI) race, with a Paris-based OpenAI rival closing $415 million in funding. Mistral AI is now valued at $2 billion and opened up its commercial platform today, just six months after raising a $112 million seed round. However, for now, the company’s best model is only accessible via an API, as it looks to make money from its foundational models. 🤖
A rival to Jack Dorsey’s Block has defied the slump in fintech funding by raising $307 million. The British startup SumUp, known for its small card readers, is now valued at more than $8.6 billion due to this latest funding round, with it focused on further geographical expansion. It last raised funding in the summer of 2022, when it raised $635 million at a $8.6 billion valuation. 💳
Lastly, there are two smaller deals to note. Professional services firm PwC has acquired Surfaceink, a company that got its start as Apple’s key hardware engineering partner after the return of Steve Jobs as CEO. And New York has joined IBM and Micron to invest a combined $10 billion in a semiconductor research facility near the University of Albany as more states vie for the industry to build within their borders. 🗞️