Fabric and crafts retailer Joann Inc., which has been a destination for generations of quilters, knitters and other lovers of crafts for more than 80 years, is going out of business and shuttering all its stores. The announcement comes after the Hudson, Ohio-based retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January, the second time in a year. It then vowed it would keep all of its stores open. But earlier this month, Joann said it planned to close 500 stores _ or more than half of its nationwide footprint. The company said on Sunday that after a recent auction, financial services company GA Group, together with Joann’s term lenders, were selected as the winning bidder to “acquire substantially all of Joann’s assets.”
The Nigerian government is in talks with local communities to restart oil production in a region that’s previously suffered environmental damage after oil giant Shell’s sale of its onshore business in the country. Shell’s $2.4 billion sale of its onshore business to a group of local companies was confirmed last week by Nigeria’s special advisor to the president on energy, Olu Verheijen. It marks the end of the of the London-based energy giant’s nearly century-long operations in the onshore Niger Delta region, where it faces long-running complaints of environmental pollution.
U.S. government regulators sued to block Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s $14 billion acquisition of rival Juniper Networks on Thursday, saying the combination would eliminate competition, raise prices and reduce innovation. The Justice Department’s complaint alleges that Hewlett Packer Enterprise, under increased competitive pressure from the fast-rising Juniper, was forced to discount products and services and invest more in its own innovation, eventually leading the company to simply buy its rival. The Justice Department’s intervention comes as somewhat of a surprise. Most experts predicted a second Trump administration to ease up on antitrust enforcement and be more receptive to mergers than the previous administration.
Frontier Airlines is attempting for a second time to merge with the now bankrupt Spirit Airlines, which declared bankruptcy late last year as budget airlines struggle. Frontier Group Holdings, the parent company of Frontier Airlines, said Wednesday that the proposed deal would include newly issued Frontier debt and common stock. Frontier tried to merge with Spirit in 2022 but was outbid by JetBlue. However, the Justice Department sued to block the $3.8 billion JetBlue deal, saying it would drive up prices for Spirit customers who depend on low fares, and a federal judge agreed in January. JetBlue and Spirit dropped their merger two months later.
An asset manager is seeking to quash Nippon Steel’s takeover of U.S. Steel and oust the leadership of the U.S. steelmaker after taking a stake in the company. Ancora said Monday that it is opposed to U.S. Steel’s agreement with Nippon and believes that the company’s board and CEO David Burritt have prioritized getting the deal done because they stand to receive more than $100 million if it goes forward. Earlier this month Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel filed a federal lawsuit challenging a Biden administration decision to block Nippon’s proposed $15 billion acquisition of the Pittsburgh company citing national security.
Live Programming To Be Co-Hosted By Will Neff And Sydnee Goodman With Global Livestream Segments Featuring Top Streaming Talent, Special Guest…
Perplexity AI has presented a new proposal to TikTok’s parent company that would allow the U.S. government to own up to 50% of a new entity that merges Perplexity with TikTok’s U.S. business, according to a person familiar with the matter. The proposal, submitted last week, is a revision of a prior plan the artificial intelligence startup had presented to TikTok’s parent ByteDance on Jan. 18, a day before the law that bans TikTok went into effect. The first proposal, which ByteDance hasn’t responded to, sought to create a new structure that would merge San Francisco-based Perplexity with TikTok’s U.S. business and include investments from other investors.