bloggingbuyouts

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) is finally doing a health care acquisition. This merger is much smaller than we would have assumed based upon prior discussions. The company is acquiring Vital Signs Inc. (NASDAQ: VITL) for $860 million in cash or $74.50 per share.

Vital Signs will become part of the existing GE Healthcare's Clinical Systems business. GE is essentially buying a portfolio to expand medical operations in monitoring, anesthesia, sleep therapy, and respiratory care.

If you review my exclusive interview with GE's CFO Keith Sherin, he did outline the hurdles and benchmarks for its acquisition targets and he also noted that medical did have the "green light" to do a deal in the sector. This is one that flew under our radar and the radar of others who were trying to peg which company GE would acquire.

For whatever it's worth, Jim Cramer came on CNBC's MAD MONEY last night backing G.E. based upon it not recovering with other financial stocks and on other issues.

A fresh report out of Reuters is saying that Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) has withdrawn from the bidding process to acquire The Weather Channel due to price. The deadlines on this were supposed to be noon today.

Recent reports put Landmark Communications, the owner of the Weather Channel, was in direct talks with Time Warner and a rival group made up of General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) NBC Universal, The Blackstone Group, L.P. (NYSE: BX) and Bain Capital.

Because this is a private transaction and because this is such a large deal for the ultimate buyer(s) and sellers, this one has been a hard one to follow with any credible or dead set numbers and terms.

This is an ongoing and developing story with an outcome that is not yet known. Stay tuned.

David Rubenstein, the co-founder of the Carlyle Group, recently predicted we'd see a comeback in private equity deals. However, he did suggest that the transaction amounts would be smaller, ranging from $2 billion to $4 billion.

Well, based on reports from The Wall Street Journal (subscription only), we may see a new deal soon.

That is, the Weather Channel is in the midst of an auction. So far, the leading bidders include: Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) and a partnership of GE (NYSE: GE) and the Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX). It looks like the auction is in the second round.

Now, the GE-Blackstone partnership is interesting. Keep in mind that Blackstone has a long history of such arrangements. Basically, it helps to alleviate the financial burden. Besides, Blackstone has a proven track record of showing cooperation with major corporate alliance partners.

And the price tag for a deal? The range is about $3 billion to $4 billion. Unfortunately, it looks like the parent company of the Weather Channel – Landmark Communications – wanted to fetch $5 billion. But the credit crunch is still taking a toll on valuations.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

Rainbow Media Holdings, a Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC) programming subsidiary, announced today that it will acquire 100% ownership of the Sundance Channel. Sundance is currently owned by NBC Universal, which is owned General Electric (NYSE: GE), and Showtime Networks, which is owned by CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS), as well as various entities controlled by Robert Redford.

The exchange will be valued at approximately $496 million and consists of a tax-free exchange of 12.7 million GE shares held by Rainbow and given to General Electric and cash given to CBS and Redford entities for their interests.

Sundance began in 1996 under the direction of Robert Redford, with the goal of creating a channel that brings dedicated viewers while promoting artistic freedom of expression through various films, series, and documentaries. It now reaches some 30 million subscribers and with the acquisition, Sundance will join Rainbow's portfolio of channels, including AMC, IFC and WE.

Jon Ogg produces and edits the Special Situation newsletter for 247WallSt.com.

General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) might be getting to look into the eyes of private equity quite a bit closer now. Lee Equity Partners has brought on Robert C. Wright, Vice Chairman and Director of G.E., to serve the firm in the role of Senior Advisor.

Audible Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBL) is being downgraded today to "Hold" from "Buy" at Citigroup, although this is just after the run-up from the acquisition announcement and isn't really indicative of anything besides the exit call.

Warren Buffett be darned. There is a report today that a "Bond Insurer Rescue Package" is coming from major U.S., Candian, and maybe U.K. banks. The banks need to save their own skin and remember "financial mergers may be mandated rather than preferred" is our theory. Ambac Financial Group (NYSE: ABK) and MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI) are ramping solidly on this today.

I'd really pay attention to IAC/Interactive Corp. (NASDAQ: IACI) this morning on the heels of the largest Internet merger ever that was announced this morning.

Keeping up with Rio Tinto plc (NYSE: RTP) is starting to look like counting the votes in the Iowa caucus. This merger goal and action is changing daily. It is obvious these metals and mining firms are trying to consolidate into just a few major international players so they can control the supply side of the equation to influence prices. Is that a conspiracy theory? Remember, OPEC already does that.

Motorola Inc. (NYSE:: MOT) has finally capitulated and is putting its cell phone operations up for grabs.

Sprint NexTel Corp. (NYSE: S) is writing off almost the entire kit and kaboodle for what it paid for NexTel.

Jon C. Ogg is partner and editor of 247WallSt.com.

The Weather Channel, held by family-owned Landmark Communications of Virginia, is being auctioned off along with the rest of Landmark, and could fetch $5 billion. A number of public companies may have an interest. According to The New York Times, firms looking at the property include Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) and General Electric (NYSE: GE).

The Weather Channel is attractive for two reasons. The first is that there are very few large, independent cable networks. Most, including CNN, CNBC, ESPN, and MTV, are already owned by media giants. The chance to pick up another large advertising-supported 24-hour product should be very attractive.

The second tremendous selling point is that weather.com, the online arm of the company, is one of the most-visited sites in the U.S. In November, comScore ranked it as the 16th most-visited website, with 34.1 million unique visitors. That puts it ahead of ESPN.com, CBS.com, and the Viacom (NYSE: VIA) digital properties.

The Weather Channel is a rare prize. The bidding should be spirited.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

General Electric (NYSE: GE) and Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) announced a deal Monday, which will result in GE picking up most of Merrill's commercial finance business.

The deal is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2008, and will add an estimated $10 billion plus in assets to GE Capital. Merrill has been hit pretty hard this year with the subprime mortgage mess, and this deal will result in around $1.3 billion worth of capital that the company will be able to allocate elsewhere.

Merrill, which announced a massive $8.4 billion worth of write-downs back in October is in the middle of what it is calling a "strategic focus on divesting non-core assets." This sale is beneficial to Merrill because the firm's commercial-lending business has become reliant on companies that do not posses investment-grade credit ratings and pose a financial risk that Merrill does not need to be assuming, especially after Merrill's recent write-down.

Cree (NASDAQ: CREE) volatility & share price increase on unconfirmed takeover chatter. CREE, a manufacture of semiconductors for solid state lighting, is recently up $2.65 to $26.95 on unconfirmed General Electric (NYSE: GE) takeover chatter. CREE call option volume of 14,237 contracts compares to put volume of 2,129 contracts. CREE September call option implied volatility is at 58, up from 41 this morning; puts are at 68, up from 51 this morning. CREE's 26-week average option implied volatility is 39 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price fluctuations. CREE put implied volatility is higher than calls because CREE is difficult to borrow.

Daily M&A Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

As the old saying goes: you're only as good as your last deal.

Well, it looks like this is the case with Albie Hecht. His former gig was the president of Nickelodeon, where he helped to bring to life such franchises as "SpongeBob SquarePants" and "Dora the Explorer."

But, Hecht thinks he still has the creative instincts – and so do some big-time investors. This week, he announced that his two-year old firm, Worldwide Biggies, snagged $9 million in funding from GE's (NYSE: GE) NBC, Hearst, Alan Patricof, Platform Equity and PrismVentureWorks.

Basically,the focus of Worldwide Biggies is on digital entertainment (and user interactivity). And, yes, the demographic is on the youth market.

And, it already looks like the big media companies are taking notice of the space. After all, last week, Disney (NYSE: DIS) agreed to purchase Club Penguin for $350 million.

So, once again, it looks like Hecht is at the right place at the right time.

Also, if you want to check out more recent venture capital fundings, click here.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Sumner Redstone, Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA) Chairman, has reportedly forced his daughter Shari off its board. And Dealbook reports that with Shari gone, the chance of keeping Viacom in the family has evaporated.

Sumner Redstone, 84, is nothing if not a survivor. Back before he owned Viacom and CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS), in 1979, he found himself in room 341 of Boston's Copley Plaza Hotel when the place caught fire. So Redstone climbed out on the ledge and held on with one arm while severe burns covered nearly half his body. The gnarled claw of that hand is a testament to his survival instincts.

But Redstone has also managed to alienate his family. He divorced his long-time wife Phyllis a few years ago -- she alleged he was fooling around with the much younger ex-wife of former hairdresser and now producer, John Peters. And his son Brett sued him arguing that Sumner and Shari forced Brett off the board of their privately-held movie theater chain, National Amusements. But the chance for keeping Viacom in the family looked good when he appointed his daughter Shari to the Viacom board.

I don't know why they had a falling out -- possibly disagreements over National Amusements about whether to spin-it off (Sumner) or invest further in it (Shari) -- but with Shari rumored to be on her way out, there are many media companies that would love to own Viacom. News Corp (NYSE: NWS), General Electric Co.'s (NYSE: GE) NBC Universal, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) and Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX), owner of this blog, all come to mind as possible suitors.

With Viacom up 3% on the news, let the bidding begin!

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He owns General Electric stock, has consulted to News Corp.'s chairman, and has no financial interest in the other securities mentioned in this post.

According to a recent story in The Wall Street Journal, it appears that Dow Jones (NASDAQ: DJ) and News Corp (NYSE: NWS) have an agreement in principal on editorial control and protection. While deals can always fall apart, this is definitely a good sign. Rupert Murdoch is willing to write a check for $5 billion and he has desperately pursued the company. In a way, it could be his crowning achievement.

I'm a big fan of the Wall Street Journal and really can't live without it. And the focus on editorial issues probably helps Murdoch. But I still think the valuation is crazy. Even if there are lots of synergies, I can't find a payback. Even potential suitors like GE (NYSE: GE) think the price is just too high.

Basically, it seems that Dow Jones is a trophy asset. At the same time, Murdoch is a genius when it comes to strategic plays. His MySpace deal has turned out to be a brilliant move. And it's no accident. His career has been testament to skilled deal-making.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Late last year, I did an interview with Steve Ellis, who is founder and CEO of Pump Audio. I thought his company filled an import need in the market and was poised for growth in the YouTube video surge.

Well, Getty Images (NYSE: GYI) is also bullish. That is, the company shelled out $42 million to buy Pump Audio.

Basically, Pump Audio has spent the past six years developing a sophisticated system to license music to digital providers. The catalog has over 100,000 titles and has biggie customers like GE's (NYSE: GE) NBC and Nike (NYSE: NKE).

So video creators have a way to enhance content (the search engine makes it easy to locate the right music). And, at the same time, music creators can also monetize their creations.

It's a pretty smart idea. It's also a good fit with Getty Images, which focuses on licensing businesses.

To get more insight on all this, you can check out Ellis' interview on BloggingStocks.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

A piece in Monday's Wall Street Journal gave perhaps one of the best reasons, without explicitly stating it, for easing up on Sarbanes-Oxley and shareholder proposals: It may be contributing to a brain-drain from public companies, as the private equity firms lure top talent away with big pay packages and away from the fishbowl of being a public company.

The former Vice Chairman of General Electric (NYSE: GE), David Calhoun, has joined Nielsen, a private equity controlled consumer research company, and could make $100-$200 million in the next few years if he's able to meet performance targets. He like the flexibility that being private gives him: "If I had announced 10% cost-cutting and taken a big restructuring charge in a public company, I would gotten pounded by the investment community."

But the main difference between private equity and so many public companies, and the reason I don't necessarily buy that shareholders need to leave executives alone, is this: Calhoun invested in his own money in the deal, and he will earn a return based on how the company does. In too many companies, executives seem to get lavish bonuses and options grants even as their companies and stocks perform poorly. A Yahoo!'s annual meeting today, the carpenter's union will be proposing a resolution that would only award bonuses to officers if the company performs well. Isn't that supposed to be what a bonus is for?

Public companies should borrow from the private equity playbook: CEOs should be required to invest their own money in the companies they manage, and they should stand to become extremely rich -- but only if they perform well.