5/5: Lehigh Valley manufacturer to acquire Radnor-based VWR for $6.4bn, with PE backing; Universal Display Rockets On Monster Q1 Beat

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$6.4 billion mega-deal: Lehigh Valley manufacturer to acquire Main Line lab products supplier VWR (Philadelphia Business Journal)
At first glance, an unusual combination.
“Avantor’s acquisition of VWR is both highly compelling and complementary,” said Avantor CEO Michael Stubblefield in a statement. “We will bring together our well-known expertise in ultra-high-purity materials and customized solutions with VWR’s global scale, unparalleled channel access, and deep customer relationships. Collectively, this will create a larger, stronger and more diversified company with significantly enhanced scale and product breadth.”



No one is getting internet TV right — yet (Recode)

IBM Set to Drop $5 Billion in Value After Warren Buffett Sheds a Third of His Stake (Fortune)

Using Salesforce to access SAP? Pour yourself a stiff drink (PC World)


Citi lists Netflix, Tesla as potential takeover targets for Apple (Reuters)

OLED Display Firm Universal Display Rockets On Monster Q1 Sales, Earnings Beat (IBD)
Universal Display is based in Ewing NJ.

Fanatics plunks down $225M for Majestic division (Morning Call)


Industrial IoT Superstars GE, Siemens Are Butting Heads In Manufacturing Market (CRN)

Synchronoss Technologies Spikes After Silver Private Holdings Reports Large Stake (The Street)
Synchronoss Technologies is based in Bridgewater NJ.

Google May Need an Acquisition to Catch Amazon, Microsoft, Says Goldman (Barron's Tech Trader Daily)
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Report: Comcast Ventures was close to investing $25 million in Fyre Media

Tom Paine

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Bloomberg's Polly Mosendz and Kim Bhasin write that Comcast Ventures was considering a $25 million investment in Fyre Media Inc, and had even provided Fyre with a term sheet, before deciding not to invest just days before the infamous Fyre Festival, as due diligence raised some red flags.


Also, this article from the NY Post gives a slightly different account of Comcast Ventures' involvement with Fyre.

The Post article suggests that Comcast Ventures passed on Fyre Media months ago. Although the Post article doesn't attribute that to a specific statement from Comcast. I asked Comcast Ventures for clarification as to when it broke off talks with Fyre Media, and received no response.

“Comcast Ventures, like many other investors, considered an investment in Fyre’s marketplace business,” Tina McNulty, a spokeswoman for Comcast Ventures, told The Post. “After conducting thorough due diligence, we were unsatisfied with the results and passed on the investment, as we do with thousands of companies each year. Any indication that we invested in Fyre is completely false.”


Both articles implied that Fyre Media co-founder Billy McFarland often spoke to employees about a Comcast investment as if it were a fait accompli.

Comcast had only showed interest in the Fyre app - a talent-booking platform for consumers looking to hire musicians and artists, not the festival. You can see its website here. Its unclear as to how much commercial traction the app had obtained.