IN MERGER, AD GIANTS CHASE GOOGLE Â |Â The announcement on Sunday that Omnicom and Publicis would merge to create the largest advertising company in the world signals that advertising is now in the business of Big Data: collecting and selling the personal information of millions of consumers, Tanzina Vega writes in The New York Times.
“That business is a competitive one, with technology companies like Google and Facebook using their huge repositories of user data to place ads,†Ms. Vega writes. “Between them, Omnicom and Publicis accounted for $22.7 billion in revenue last year, more than the next highest ad firm, WPP. But no ad company comes close to the $50 billion in revenue that Google made last year, largely on the strength of its advertising business.†The combined Publicis Omnicom Group would have a stock market value of $35.1 billion and more than 130,000 employees.
VOTING RULE CHANGE VIEWED AS CRUCIAL TO DELL BID  | A seemingly small concession in the original negotiations over the proposed Dell buyout has now come into focus, DealBook’s Michael J. de la Merced writes. Last week, Michael S. Dell and his partner, the investment firm Silver Lake, sought to change the rules for a shareholder vote on their bid for the company, demanding in exchange for a small increase in price that shares not voted no longer count as “no†votes. The partners have changed their mind on this demand, after originally dropping it.
Recent tallies show a close vote. Of the roughly 1.1 billion shares that have been cast so far, about 579 million have been cast in favor of the buyout, while 563 million have been voted against the deal, people briefed on the matter said. That is not enough to win at the moment, given the voting rules. The special committee of Dell’s board and its advisers have been considering whether to accede to the demand. A decision is expected as soon as Monday, and a vote on the deal is scheduled for Friday after having been postponed twice.
“If the deal does not go through, I plan to stay and continue to do my best to make the company successful,†Mr. Dell tells The Wall Street Journal by e-mail. “I will not support the kind of recapitalization and sale of assets some shareholders are suggesting.â€
ON THE AGENDA Â |Â
Herbalife, a company over which big investors have been battling this year, reports earnings after the market closes. Data on pending home sales in June is out at 10 a.m.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR COHEN AND SAC  | A civil asset forfeiture case filed the same day as the criminal indictment of SAC Capital Advisors gives the government a means to try to take a sizable chunk of the fortune of Steven A. Cohen, the hedge fund’s owner, Peter J. Henning writes in the White Collar Watch column. “Whether prosecutors can succeed in forcing Mr. Cohen to give up billions of dollars of assets will depend on showing that insider trading so infected SAC that much of its money should be forfeited as the tainted proceeds of money laundering.â€
In response to the government’s aggressive action, SAC said it has “a strong culture of compliance†intended to “deter insider trading.†But that sets up a question, James B. Stewart writes in the Common Sense column in The New York Times: What were the compliance officers doing?
With SAC under siege, the giant hedge fund may have to unwind its portfolio, Gretchen Morgenson writes in the Fair Game column in The New York Times. “If it does, will the liquidation of its securities roil the stock market?â€
Despite the firm’s legal troubles, Mr. Cohen hosted a party Saturday night at his 10-bedroom home in East Hampton, according to Reuters. “The lavish affair, which one source said included delivery of $2,000 worth of tuna from a local fish store to Cohen’s home, was planned before the charges were filed. A person familiar with the event said the party, attended by a few dozen people, was intended by the 57-year-old manager to show support for ovarian cancer research, though it was not a fund-raiser.â€
A BUFFETT ON PHILANTHROPY’S PITFALLS  | Peter Buffett, a composer who is a son of the investor and philanthropist Warren E. Buffett, writes in an essay in The New York Times that philanthropy has become the “it†vehicle to level the economic playing field. It amounts to “conscience laundering,†Mr. Buffett writes.
“This just keeps the existing structure of inequality in place,†Mr. Buffett writes. “The rich sleep better at night, while others get just enough to keep the pot from boiling over. Nearly every time someone feels better by doing good, on the other side of the world (or street), someone else is further locked into a system that will not allow the true flourishing of his or her nature or the opportunity to live a joyful and fulfilled life.â€
Perrigo to Buy Irish Drug Maker Elan for $6.7 Billion  | The American drug company Perrigo agreed on Monday to acquire the Irish biotechnology company Elan in a cash-and-stock deal worth $6.7 billion. DealBook »
A New Corporate Parent for Saks Fifth Avenue  | Hudson’s Bay, the Canadian department store chain that owns Lord & Taylor, is said to have reached a deal to buy Saks Fifth Avenue, The New York Post reports, citing unidentified people. NEW YORK POST
Siemens to Oust Chief Executive  | The New York Times reports: “The supervisory board of Siemens, one of Germany’s largest companies, said that it would fire its chief executive at a meeting on Wednesday and replace him with an insider following a string of problems that led to a profit warning last week.†NEW YORK TIMES
PPG to Sell Controlling Stake in Transitions Optical  | PPG Industries is selling its $1.73 billion stake in Transitions Optical to Essilor International, Reuters reports. REUTERS
Vivendi’s Reinvention Takes Shape  | Investors may be disappointed that Vivendi did not realize the premium that usually comes with ceding control, Quentin Webb of Reuters Breakingviews writes. REUTERS BREAKINGVIEWS
Pearson Puts Mergermarket Up for Sale  | Pearson bought the news and data service, which has 400 journalists focused on mergers and acquisitions in 67 locations, for about $192 million in 2006. DealBook »
Rio Tinto to Sell Stake in Copper Mine  | China Molybdenum has agreed to pay $820 million for a controlling stake in Rio Tinto’s Northparkes mine, Bloomberg News reports. BLOOMBERG NEWS
Barclays Said to Plan to Raise Capital  | The British bank Barclays “is putting the finishing touches on a plan to boost its capital levels that will likely involve the bank issuing billions of pounds worth of new securities, according to people familiar with the matter,†The Wall Street Journal reports. WALL STREET JOURNAL
Banks Approach an Erstwhile Market Distinction  | Bloomberg News reports: “U.S. financial companies, fueled by the fastest earnings growth in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, are poised to reclaim their position as the market’s biggest industry for the first time since the credit crisis.†BLOOMBERG NEWS
Market Volatility Fuels Anxiety Among Japanese  | “The question market watchers are asking remains,†The New York Times writes. “Can Japan’s retail investors get over a deeply entrenched suspicion of the stock market made worse by recent volatility?†NEW YORK TIMES
The Antidote to Emptiness  | The behavior of men like Anthony D. Weiner and Steven A. Cohen suggests they were desperately seeking validation, Tony Schwartz writes in the Life@Work column. But there are better ways to fill that inner emptiness. DealBook »
Private Equity Invests More in European Property  | Large private equity firms including the Blackstone Group, TPG Capital and K.K.R. “have stepped up their investment in European property to the highest levels since 2007,†The Financial Times writes. FINANCIAL TIMES
Buyout Firms Said to Compete for CPG International  | TPG Capital and Warburg Pincus are among the bidders for the building products maker CPG International, which could sell for as much as $1.5 billion, Reuters reports, citing four unidentified people familiar with the matter. REUTERS
How a Private Equity Financier Turned to Charity  | Peter Lampl, a former private equity deal maker who founded the Sutton Trust charity, tells The Financial Times: “I had no intention of doing this, you know. I was working on my golf game. I thought maybe I should do something on the side.†FINANCIAL TIMES
Herbalife’s Rise Puts Pressure on Ackman  | As William A. Ackman maintains a bet against Herbalife, the company’s shares “have surged in the past two weeks, pushing Ackman into the red for the first time since he began building the short in June 2012,†The New York Post reports. NEW YORK POST
When Hedge Funds Close the Gate on Investors  | “Discretionary liquidity provisions, known as side-pockets or gates, remain commonplace†among hedge funds, The Financial Times reports. FINANCIAL TIMES
Among Hedge Funds, a Failure to Perform  | “Since the turn of the decade, Wall Street’s master stock pickers have spectacularly failed to beat the market,†Dan McCrum writes in The Financial Times. FINANCIAL TIMES
With I.P.O. Complete, Suntory Plans Acquisitions  | Nobuhiro Torii, the chief executive of Suntory Beverage and Food of Japan, tells The Wall Street Journal: “I’ve heard Africa, Latin America and the Middle East are extremely attractive. The team has gone to Brazil and is planning to go to Africa for research in the future. They check the list of good and bad targets compiled by investment bankers and set up their own list by scrapping ones that have no chance.†WALL STREET JOURNAL
Aiming to Bring Financial Planning to the Masses  | A start-up in New York called LearnVest is aiming to make financial advice “as widely available â€" and affordable â€" as any other mass-produced consumer product or service,†Tara Siegel Bernard writes in the Your Money column in The New York Times. NEW YORK TIMES
Debate Over Next Fed Leader Comes Out of the Shadows  | A debate between supporters of Janet Yellen, the Fed’s vice chairwoman, and Lawrence H. Summers, formerly the president’s chief economic policy adviser, has exploded into public view, The New York Times writes. NEW YORK TIMES
How to Revive Detroit  | In Detroit, “what is needed is a comprehensive and adequately funded plan to stabilize the city’s finances, repair its public infrastructure â€" almost half the streetlights don’t work â€" and raze its semi-abandoned neighborhoods, consolidating its population into a smaller, more manageable area,†John Cassidy writes in The New Yorker. NEW YORKER
