DRUG MAKERS ANNOUNCE $25 BILLION DEAL  | Actavis, the world’s second-largest generic drug maker by market value, will acquire Forest Laboratories for about $25 billion, the companies announced on Tuesday. The deal is a coup for the activist investor Carl C. Icahn, who gained a seat on the board of Forest Labs in 2012 and is one of the company’s largest shareholders, Bloomberg News reports.
The proposed merger of New York-based Forest Labs and Actavis, which is based in Dublin and run out of Parsippany, N.J., “is partly designed to position the resulting company to deal with the changing health care landscape in the United States. Hospitals, insurers and doctors in the country are combining to make larger organizations that can negotiate directly to buy prescription drugs,†The Wall Street Journal writes, adding, “A combined Actavis-Forest could offer a range of generic and brand-name medicines, reaping economies of scale of its own.â€
CANDY CRUSH MAKER FILES FOR AN I.P.O. Â |Â King Digital Entertainment, the maker of the addictive puzzle game Candy Crush Saga, filed on Tuesday to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange. King Digital, based in Dublin, said that it expected to raise $500 million in an initial public offering, a figure used to calculate the registration fee. The registration statement did not disclose the number of shares to be sold in the offering or the price range.
BITCOIN’S GROWING PAINS  | If Bitcoin were a person, it would probably be Justin Bieber. Once the darling of the virtual currency world, Bitcoin has recently run up against a spate of problems that have left some of its fans doubting its future. Bitcoin’s latest troubles include a software bug that forced several of the largest Bitcoin exchanges, including Mt. Gox, to shut down for most of last week and a hacking attack that raised questions about the sturdiness of the programming underlying the currency, Nathaniel Popper writes in DealBook. And, like concerned parents, regulators have indicated that they are moving ahead with rules for virtual currencies, raising fears that these laws could stunt Bitcoin’s growth.
Mr. Popper writes: “Bitcoin has already survived several bouts of volatility that were even wilder than the one last week. But during those crises, nearly everyone involved was a speculator and the currency was much further from real-world success. Now that Silicon Valley and Wall Street have begun to buy in, and everyday uses for Bitcoin are becoming more common, the stakes are much higher.â€
One proposal to tag the digital coins, which could help identify the ones used for illegal activities, has raised particular concerns among early adopters of Bitcoin who were attracted to the currency because it allowed them to avoid scrutiny from governments and banks.
But Mr. Popper writes, “This is only one of the disputes dividing the community of Bitcoin supporters. The winners will determine whether the virtual currency will simply be absorbed into the existing financial system or whether it will remain a new tool for people who want to circumvent the government and Wall Street, occasionally for illegal purposes like buying drugs or weapons.â€
THE BITCOIN WORD ON THE STREET  | From The Wall Street Journal: “At a weekly meeting Thursday of Mt. Gox investors and other members of Tokyo’s small, tightknit Bitcoin community at a bar about a 10-minute walk from Mt. Gox’s headquarters, some 30 Bitcoiners talked about Bitcoins and exchanged the currency using cellphone-readable bar codes. Some members reminisced about tipping burlesque dancers in Bitcoins at a bar called the Pink Cow in Tokyo’s foreigner-rich Roppongi neighborhood that accepts Bitcoins for payment.â€
From The Financial Times: “On Monday evening the price of Bitcoin on Mt. Gox staged a recovery from its daily low of $220, rising as high as $390 after an announcement from the company that a fix was in hand, and that withdrawals ‘at a moderated pace’ should be resumed ‘soon.’ Still, the price remains a long way short of the $642 rate quoted by CoinDesk, which averages prices across leading global exchanges excluding Mt. Gox.â€
NEW LIBOR CHARGES FOR BARCLAYS  | Britain’s Serious Fraud Office said on Monday that it had begun criminal proceedings against three former Barclays employees suspected in the manipulation of Libor, a global benchmark interest rate, Chad Bray writes in DealBook. The criminal proceedings are the latest development in a widening investigation into the manipulation of key interest rates. The agency said that the conspiracy to defraud took place from June 2005 to August 2007.
The Financial Times reports that previous charges “have concentrated on the alleged manipulation of yen-denominated Libor. The S.F.O.’s new charges are the first to focus on the alleged rigging of the dollar-denominated equivalent, and represent a broadening of the agency’s inquiries.â€
COMCAST DEAL BEGETS CABLE ENVY  | Comcast’s proposed $45.2 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable has set off fears among other cable companies that they will need to get bigger to retain any hopes of being able to negotiate, David Gelles writes in DealBook. And, he writes, “The prospect of such a behemoth looming over the media landscape could touch off a once-in-a-generation frenzy of deal-making.â€
“Companies that own cable networks may feel the need to get bigger to better negotiate their fees with a cable operator that could have seven times as many subscribers as its nearest rival. Other cable operators like Charter, Cox and Cablevision could try to consolidate as well. And local television station groups, constrained by decades-old regulations that limit their growth, could be squeezed by a newly enlarged Comcast,†Mr. Gelles writes, adding, “It will be years before the full effects of a Comcast takeover of Time Warner Cable are felt across the media landscape, if the deal is even approved. But content creators, rival cable operators and local stations are already scrambling to understand what an enlarged Comcast might mean for their own business.â€
ON THE AGENDA  | The National Association of Home Builders housing market index for February is out at 10 a.m. David O. Russell, the Oscar-nominated director of “American Hustle,†is on Bloomberg TV at 4:15 p.m. Representative Paul D. Ryan is on CNBC at 7 a.m. Aaron Levie, the founder of Box, is on CNBC at 2 p.m. “Young Moneyâ€, the book by Kevin Roose on young Wall Street workers, hits shelves today. The Federal Reserve holds an open meeting on banking standards at 3:15 p.m.
‘YOUNG MONEY,’ YOUNG PROBLEMS  | Kevin Roose briefly returned to DealBook to discuss his new book, “Young Money,†which comes out today (an excerpt is available over at New York magazine). For the book, Mr. Roose followed eight young Wall Street workers at some of the world’s most prestigious investment firms in the years after the financial crisis. N.B. The teal book jacket is as seductive as the promise of a Wall Street bonus.
DealBook »
Brightoil Buys Anadarko Unit for $1.075 Billion  | Brightoil Petroleum Holdings has agreed to acquire Anadarko Petroleum Corporation’s China subsidiary for $1.075 billion, The Wall Street Journal writes.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Chinese Gold Retailer to Purchase Texas Energy Firm  |Â
Goldleaf Jewelry Company, a gold retailer based in China, announced it would pay at least $665 million for ERG Resources, an oil and gas producer based in Texas, The Wall Street Journal writes. The move is part of the Chinese company’s goal to diversify away from processing gold jewelery.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Suntory Confident in Beam Investment  | The president of Suntory Holdings parried doubts that its $13.6 billion purchase of Beam Inc. last month was overpriced, The Wall Street Journal writes. Suntory said the acquisition, valued at $16 billion, would help the company become a global player in the spirits industry.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
China’s I.C.B.C. Considers Middle East Acquisitions  | The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China said it was exploring expanding into the Middle East to bolster earnings in the region, Bloomberg News writes.
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Google Buys Password Start-Up SlickLogin  | Google has acquired SlickLogin, a start-up that provides an alternative to traditional website password logins, TechCrunch writes.
TECHCRUNCH
Duke Energy to Shed Midwest Generation Business  | Duke Energy says it will get out of the wholesale power-generation business in the Midwest because the financial results are too volatile.
NEW YORK TIMES
The Four Tiers of Wall Street Bankers  | Kevin Roose makes a cameo in The New York Post to examine the new class system for young Wall Street bankers, based on the research he conducted for his new book, “Young Money.â€
NEW YORK POST
Peers Outperform Goldman Sachs in Equity Trading  | Goldman Sachs lost market share in equities revenue relative to the world’s top firms last year, Bloomberg News reports. Goldman Sachs’s share of total operating revenue from equities in 2013 dropped 4.1 percent from the previous year.
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Goldman Sachs Moves Away from Bond Trading Platform  | Goldman Sachs has put on hold development of its electronic bond trading platform, illustrating the difficulties that investment banks are facing in overhauling their struggling fixed income trading businesses, The Financial Times reports.
FINANCIAL TIMES
Stress Hormone Linked to Financial Crisis  | Scientists have found a connection between the stress hormone cortisol and financial traders’ aversion to risk, The Financial Times writes. Traders’ reduced appetite for risk may prolong financial crises since it is during these times that financial markets benefit most from risk takers.
FINANCIAL TIMES
Private Equity Management Fees Hit Record Lows  | Private equity investors are seeing management fees at record lows, with transaction fees increasingly paid back into the fund rather than to the fund manager, The Wall Street Journal writes.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Hellman & Friedman Plans to Cut Stake in Gaztransport and Technigaz  | Gaztransport and Technigaz, a French company that makes insulated hull linings for tankers that carry liquefied natural gas, is planning an initial public offering to raise up to $924 million, Reuters reports. Total and the private equity firm Hellman & Friedman’s stakes will be cut to 8.8 percent each after the I.P.O., expected later this month.
REUTERS
Group Led by TPG to Buy Chindex for $369 Million  | A group of private equity firms led by TPG Capital will purchase Chindex, a United States health care provider based in China, for $369 million, Chindex announced on Monday.
REUTERS
Loeb’s Third Point No Longer Listed Among Top 10 Sony Shareholders  | The activist investor Daniel S. Loeb’s hedge fund Third Point, which called for sweeping reforms at Sony after acquiring a stake, is no longer listed among the company’s top 10 shareholders, Reuters reports.
REUTERS
DealBook »
Former Hedge Fund Founder Plans Big Ad Campaign on Climate Change  | Tom Steyer, a Democrat who founded one of the world’s most successful hedge funds, is forging plans to spend as much as $100 million during the 2014 election, seeking to pressure federal and state officials to enact climate change measures through a hard-edge campaign of attack ads against governors and lawmakers, The New York Times writes.
NEW YORK TIMES
Activists Raise Stake in Williams Companies and Hire an Adviser  | Two activist hedge funds, Corvex and Soroban Capital, which are looking to spur change at the Williams Companies, disclosed on Friday that they have raised their collective stake in the gas pipeline company and have hired Moelis & Company to aid them in their campaign.
DealBook »
DealBook »
Outsourcing Firm to Seek $1.47 Billion in I.P.O. Â |Â ISS, which is majority owned by the Swedish private equity firm EQT Partners and funds advised by Goldman Sachs, has delayed two previous efforts to go public.
DealBook »
Spotify Fuels I.P.O. Speculation  | The online music streaming service Spotify, which is based in Sweden, is looking to hire an American financial reporting specialist, leading bankers and lawyers to infer that the company is getting ready for an initial public share offering, Reuters reports.
REUTERS
Foxconn Plans I.P.O. of Cable Unit  | Foxconn is expecting to list its cable and connector unit in Taiwan next year to raise funds for overseas expansion and new technologies, The Wall Street Journal writes. The company has not yet disclosed how much it is planning to raise in the initial public offering.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Starwood Capital Considers I.P.O Â |Â Starwood Capital Group, the investment group led by the real estate investor Barry Sternlicht, is in early discussions with banks on an initial pubic offering, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation. The group has $33 billion in assets under management.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Gulf Marine Services Plans I.P.O. Â |Â Gulf Marine Services, an oil services provider based in Abu Dhabi, is planning to raise $100 million in an initial public offering in London, The Financial Times reports. The I.P.O. is expected to value the company at more than $1 billion.
FINANCIAL TIMES
TutorGroup Collects $100 Million From Investors Including Alibaba  | TutorGroup, an English-learning platform, announced that it had raised $100 million in a Series B funding round from investors including the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, TechCrunch writes.
TECHCRUNCH
Hampton Creek Raises $23 Million  | Hampton Creek Foods, a company based in San Francisco that aims to replace eggs in food with plant-based food technology, announced it had raised $23 million in a Series B funding round led by Horizons Ventures, The Wall Street Journal writes.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
Tom Perkins Likened to Lottery Winner  | Given that Thomas J. Perkins “made the bulk of his money gambling on start-ups, he should understand the role that luck plays in wealth accumulation,†Charles Kenny of Bloomberg Businessweek writes.
BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK
DealBook »
The Untouchable Profits of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac  | An internal Treasury memo put the earnings of the two mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac off limits to their shareholders, Gretchen Morgenson writes in the Fair Game column.
NEW YORK TIMES
The Ebb and Flow of Executive Power  | After Republicans worked hard to bolster presidential power, some of them now complain that President Obama is using it, an economist writes in the Economix blog.
NEW YORK TIMES ECONOMIX
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