Total Pageviews

A Blockbuster Biotech Deal

Amgen, the world’s biggest biotechnology company, is gaining access to three anticancer treatments with a deal on Sunday to buy Onyx Pharmaceuticals for about $10.4 billion in cash, Andrew Pollack and Michael J. de la Merced report in DealBook. Amgen is offering $125 a share in cash through a tender offer for Onyx’s shares. The deal is expected to close at the beginning of the fourth quarter, subject to regulatory approval.

The takeover is the latest within the health care industry, one of the busiest sectors for deal makers. And Amgen’s purchase ranks among the five biggest takeovers of a biotechnology company, according to data from Standard & Poor’s Capital IQ. In addition, it is one of the two biggest takeovers in Amgen’s history, trailing only the company’s $17 billion deal for Immunex in 2002.

MURIEL SIEBERT, WALL STREET TRAILBLAZER, DIES AT 80  | Muriel Siebert, who was the first woman to buy a seat on the New York Stock Exchange and the first woman to lead one of the exchange’s member firms, died on Saturday in Manhattan, The New York Times reports. She was 80.

“Ms. Siebert, known to all as Mickie, cultivated the same brash attitude that characterized Wall Street’s most successful men,” Enid Nemy writes in The Times. “She bought her seat on the exchange in 1967, but to her immense anger, she remained the only woman admitted to membership for almost a decade.” She was a pioneer in the discount brokerage field, and she also was the first woman to be superintendent of banking for New York State, appointed by Gov. Hugh Carey in 1977.

SHOESHINES KEEP WALL ST. IN THE BLACK  | Inside New York’s investment houses, a vestige of old Wall Street lives on. Gone are the days when offices were filled with smoke and secretaries were the only women in sight. But in-house shoeshine service has proved remarkably resilient, surviving the rise of technology and even the turmoil of the 2008 financial crisis, which snuffed out many of Wall Street’s quirks.

But the modern shoeshine business has changed since the old days, reflecting the evolution of Wall Street firms from private partnerships to large, public corporations. At JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, teams of workers now collect shoes and take them elsewhere to be shined, leaving traders to work in stocking feet. Though many bank employees appreciate the efficiency of that updated method â€" harried traders sometimes claim they do not even have time to use the restroom â€" some longtime employees see it as an affront.

“They’ve turned it into a sterile thing,” said James J. Dunne III, the senior managing principal of the investment bank Sandler O’Neill & Partners. “That’s where Wall Street has gotten more like a department store.”

One shoeshine parlor in Manhattan, Eddie’s Shoe Repair, aims to capitalize on this shift by offering a classic experience that has become increasingly rare inside banks. A DealBook reporter goes to Eddie’s to experience a Wall Street-style shoeshine firsthand.

ON THE AGENDA  | Data on durable goods orders for July is out at 8:30 a.m. The Burning Man festival kicks off in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, an event that historically has attracted a Silicon Valley crowd. Jeffrey Gundlach, chief executive of DoubleLine Capital, is on CNBC at 12 p.m.

BANKING SERVICES FROM A PAWNSHOP  | “As banks zero in on more affluent customers who promise twice the revenue of their lower-income counterparts, close branches in poor areas and remain stingy with credit, pawnshops are revamping their image and stepping into the void to offer financial services,” Stephanie Clifford and Jessica Silver-Greenberg report in DealBook.

“There are, however, plenty of potential drawbacks, consumer advocates say. Some loans from pawnshops can come with interest rates as high as 25 percent. And fringe financial operations, the consumer advocates say, can imperil lower-income customers’ ability to save for the future. Without a traditional checking or savings account, borrowers often pay more for basic financial transactions like cashing checks, paying bills and wiring money, financial counselors say.”

Mergers & Acquisitions »

Telefonica’s Bid for KPN Unit Gains Support of Major Shareholder  |  Telefónica, the Spanish telecommunications giant, increased its offer for E-Plus, the German unit of KPN, on Monday, securing the support of América Móvil, KPN’s biggest shareholder. REUTERS

Indian Firm to Pay $2.6 Billion to Build Its Stake in African Gas Project  |  ONGC Videsh, a unit of the India’s state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, says it will acquire a 10 percent stake in a natural gas project in Mozambique from Anadarko Petroleum in an all-cash deal. DealBook »

Pritzker Organization Said to Be Buying TMS  |  An investment firm run by Thomas Pritzker is buying TMS International, a provider of services to steel mills, for about $1 billion, including debt, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. WALL STREET JOURNAL

Market Operators BATS and Direct Edge Are Said to Be in Merger Talks  |  BATS Global Markets and Direct Edge are in talks to merge, potentially creating one of the biggest stock market operators in the country, a person briefed on the matter told DealBook on Friday. DealBook »

Constant Acquisition at Microsoft, and One Deal That Didn’t Close  |  Steven A. Ballmer, as the chief of Microsoft, led one of the most prolific deal-making streaks in technology over the past two decades. But his record is as notable for its misses as its hits. DealBook »

With Ballmer’s Exit, a Chance for Reinvention at Microsoft  |  The departure of Steven A. Ballmer as chief executive of Microsoft, announced on Friday, is “paving the way for a generational change at the once-dominant technology company and giving it an opportunity to reinvent itself for a world dominated by mobile devices, social media and other technologies that have eluded its influence,” Nick Wingfield writes in The New York Times. NEW YORK TIMES

Microsoft Needs a Catch-Up Artist  |  “Being the next chief executive of Microsoft isn’t going to be an easy task for anyone,” Michael A. Cusumano, a professor at the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told The New York Times. NEW YORK TIMES

Next Microsoft Chief Should Pare the Menu  |  Whoever becomes the next chief executive of Microsoft should narrow the company’s focus, Robert Cyran of Reuters Breakingviews writes. REUTERS BREAKINGVIEWS

INVESTMENT BANKING »

Goldman Said to Put Employees on Leave After Glitch  |  The Financial Times reports: “Goldman Sachs has put four senior technology specialists on leave after an embarrassing trading glitch that is likely to cost the bank tens of millions of dollars.” FINANCIAL TIMES

How to Make the Financial System Safer  |  “We will never have a safe and healthy global financial system until banks are forced to rely much more on money from their owners and shareholders to finance their loans and investments,” Anat R. Admati, a professor of finance and economics at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, writes in an opinion essay in The New York Times. NEW YORK TIMES

Financial Shenanigans on the Big Screen  |  Leonardo DiCaprio, who portrays Jordan Belfort in the upcoming movie “The Wolf of Wall Street” (directed by Martin Scorsese), tells New York magazine that the memoir on which the film is based “personified America’s addiction to obtaining wealth at all costs, and that hasn’t changed.” NEW YORK

Bank of America to Review Intern Working Conditions  |  Bank of America announced on Friday that it was reviewing the working conditions of its junior employees after a 21-year-old intern died recently in London. DealBook »

Wall Street Turns Out to Support the Apollo Theater  |  “Of all the boards I’ve been on, I’d say this is the one I’m doing for fun. I grew up on soul music, and I got sucked in by Dick Parsons,” the hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones said, referring to Richard D. Parsons, a former chairman of Citigroup. BLOOMBERG NEWS

French Bank Said to Plan Islamic Bond Program in Malaysia  |  Société Générale would become the second major European bank to issue Islamic bonds, known as sukuk, and the first to do so in Asia, according to Reuters. REUTERS

PRIVATE EQUITY »

ING to Sell South Korean Insurance Unit for $1.7 Billion  |  The deal is the latest in a string of divestments in Asia for the ING Group, which is trying to raise money to repay a 2008 bailout by the Dutch government. DealBook »

Clayton Dubilier Said to Raise $3 Billion for Latest Fund  | 
BLOOMBERG NEWS

HEDGE FUNDS »

U.S. Short-Seller Takes Aim at Chinese Vegetable Producer  |  The Glaucus Research Group has accused the China Minzhong Food Corporation of fabricating sales and doctoring financial statements, leading to a 48 percent fall in Minzhong’s stock before trading was suspended on Monday. DealBook »

Hedge Funds Win Ruling in Argentina Bond Case  |  A group of hedge funds secured a victory in a federal appeals court in a case that could affect international bond markets, parts of the banking system and the nation of Argentina. DealBook »

I.P.O./OFFERINGS »

Goldman Plays Two Roles in a Planned I.P.O.  |  Goldman Sachs, one of the lead underwriters of the planned initial public offering of FireEye, has also made a $10 million loan to the company’s founder that is secured by his stake in the company, The Wall Street Journal reports. WALL STREET JOURNAL

A Lack of Technology I.P.O.’s  |  “There have been just 22 tech and Internet listings this year, raising $3.2 billion, the slowest annual pace in four years,” The Wall Street Journal writes. WALL STREET JOURNAL

Dutch Bank ABN Amro Takes Step Toward an I.P.O.  |  The announcement comes five years after the Dutch government bailed out ABN Amro after a consortium of European banks acquired the firm for around 72.2 billion euros, or $99 billion. DealBook »

VENTURE CAPITAL »

Computer Security Company HyTrust Raises $18.5 Million  |  HyTrust, which provides security products for cloud computing, announced on Monday that it had raised $18.5 million in financing from investors including Intel Capital and Fortinet. NEWS RELEASE

A Prospective Buyer Tries to Justify a Tesla  |  “It’s not yet practical as an only car,” Adam Jonas, a managing director and the leader of Morgan Stanley’s global auto research team, told James B. Stewart, a columnist for The New York Times. “You have to treat it as a toy and be completely cool if it doesn’t work. But there’s still tremendous potential.” NEW YORK TIMES

LEGAL/REGULATORY »

After Mishaps, Nasdaq Loses Standing to RivalsAfter Mishaps, Nasdaq Loses Standing to Rivals  |  The reputation of the market operator has suffered from recent technical problems and poor communication with other members of the industry. DealBook »

Nasdaq Chief Defends Handling of Trading Halt  |  As the Nasdaq opened without a hitch on Friday, Robert Greifeld said the market operator needed to work on its “defensive driving” to deal better with mistakes by others. DealBook »

JPMorgan Said to Limit Business With Foreign Banks  |  JPMorgan Chase “is looking to scale back its dealings with banks outside the U.S., according to a memo and people close to the situation, as it tries to reduce risk and shore up controls in a period of heightened regulatory scrutiny,” The Wall Street Journal reports. WALL STREET JOURNAL

Obama Says Law School Should Be Two Years, Not Three  |  President Obama urged law schools to consider cutting a year of classroom instruction, wading into a hotly debated issue inside the beleaguered legal academy. DEALBOOK

Trump University Made False Claims, Lawsuit Says  |  The New York State attorney general’s office filed a civil lawsuit on Saturday accusing Trump University, Donald J. Trump’s for-profit investment school, of engaging in illegal business practices. DealBook »