Sunday, February 28, 2010

Buyout Action To Kickoff March '10

Two probable merger deals I'll be watching this week . . .

Coca-Cola (KO) is buying one of its distributors, Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE). Coke's betting on vertical integration. This is a complicated transaction and not a complete merger.

Merck (MRK) is buying Millipore (MIL) in an all-cash deal to branch out into broader life science type stuff.

I'm no specialist in either retail beverages or pharmaceuticals, so anything I have to say about either deal will treat them as short term special situations. The MRK-MIL deal looks more appealing since it's all cash.