#acquisition

Tomorrow, 31 Oct 25, is Juniper's last day as the company.

The sadness of seeing something valued come to an end.

Stifel Chairman and Chief Executive Ronald Kruszewski on Wednesday sent a memo to the company’s employees, including 2,300 advisors, seeking to counter rising speculation that he could sell the 135-year-old firm.

“Let me be clear. Stifel is not being sold to Raymond James or to anyone else,” Kruszewski wrote in the memo, which referred to a report in industry publication WealthManagement.com.

The article had linked Stifel to a potential deal with regional rival Raymond James Financial. The publication cited anonymous sources who said that legal pressure and rising costs tied to barred Miami broker Chuck Roberts could put pressure on St​​ifel to sell and that Raymond James was discussed as a “likely buyer.”

Kruszewski called the report “ridiculous and misleading” and compared it to a “White House leak.”

“I’m just surprised Stifel isn’t being linked to Russian collusion,” Kruszewski wrote in the memo, titled “Setting the Record Straight (With a Smile).”

A Stifel spokesperson confirmed the memo but declined further comment.

Raymond James did not return requests for comment. Wednesday’s article noted that, “[I]t is unclear how formal the talks are between the firms or if an agreement is imminent.”

Raymond James trades at a market capitalization of around $31 billion compared to Stifel’s $12 billion. The St. Petersburg, Florida-based firm has around 8,900 brokers.

“I know the folks at Raymond James,” wrote Kruszewski, who has led Stifel since 1997. “They’re a nice company, but let’s be honest, I believe Stifel is number one.”

The question of a sale surfaced last week on Stifel’s third quarter earnings call during which BMO Capital Markets analyst Brennan Hawken asked about whether the company was for sale and noted that, “Many investors believe that [it] can make for a good target.”

Kruszewski, 67, responded that there was “no need” to sell the company and that questions seem to be driven by concerns about whether he could run out of energy and want to sell.

“That ain’t the case here,” Kruszewski said on the call. “I’m not looking to do anything.”

A source close to the company said that Kruszewski was concerned following the earnings call that plans to sell its non-core independent brokerage business had been conflated with an intention to sell the company.

Stifel on Monday announced it had agreed to sell its $9 billion-asset independent contractor unit to Equitable Advisors, confirming a report earlier this month.

Common Wealth said the same thing and they sold like 4 months later. I definatley think they are selling now.

Congratulations leadership team! You’ve wiped out 7 years of growth in 2 quarters - but don’t fear…This new leadership team will bring it back - even though they haven’t got the first clue how to address the complexities of the various acquisitions of the last 2-3 decades.

16 core platforms to 5!..Yeah, right. If you force a bank/cu customer through a conversion then they will RFI/RFP to the competition and you will probably lose that client for causing them pain. Add to that the continuing shrinking of the FI business in the US through acquisition, merger and liquidation…It’s ugly!

The fact that the CEO threw out Agentic AI as the savior technology within the first few minutes of the presentation just shows they’ve been spoon fed by their consulting advisors (e.g. McKinsey, Bain, etc). There isn’t a single person in the leadership team that can describe how that would work against their biggest problems - i.e. Customer Satisfaction.

Let’s see how this changes for full year results.

So which one will it be?

BG&E buys PE Maryland

Dominion buys MP and FEPA

JCP&L merges with a local "waste management" operator for investment opportunities.

Clemmer did the same thing with AGERE and LSI in the early 2000's. Starboard sees a huge return on share price, sells of course. Good call on Starboard's part brining Clemmers to the table.

There is going to be be some major reorgs and fat cutting. I don't think the Triquint-RFMD Lackeys will survive overall. Arrangements like five supervisors for the the same group of people will not bode well.

There will be massive duplication of services. Redundant groups will be addressed.
Watch the management! True test of character now, watch what your manager shares with you. More than likely only concerned about themselves. And rightfully so.
This is an IP grab for Skyworks. Maybe some niche designers will be absorbed. Personally, I feel it couldn't happen to a more deserving management group!

Just in time for Christmas too!

What's this renewal rights transfer supposed to mean for us? Some former colleagues went there with huge pay increase, they'll start regretting it now I guess

Do you think Hal is downsizing the business to sell?

"Skyworks Solutions will BUY smaller rival Qorvo, they said on Tuesday, forming a $22 billion combined company that supplies radio-frequency chips to Apple and other smartphone makers."

The stock-and-cash deal, which will create one of the largest U.S. suppliers of radio-frequency chips. The aim is to repositoon the new company for a recovery in the smartphone market.

SAP bid twice but failed to acquire BlackLine in 2024 and 2025...maybe SAP will eventually succeed due to PE investors in BlackLine!
https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/blackline-m-a-sap-three/
https://www.marketscreener.com/news/germany-s-sap-mulls-new-bid-for-software-firm-blackline-sources-say-ce7d5ddfdd8af324

This comes after SAP's acquisition of SmartRecruiters to compete against Workday which has taken away bulk of its business in HCM domain!

Saw they sold to private equity...what happened after FDS invested? Not a good fit?

Shell drones and NPC’s it’s that time again to predict and possibly influence the future

What are your predictions for 2026?

Will Shell domicile move from UK to USA for economic reasons or a regional event?
Will Shell purchase another operator?

What assets must Shell divest in order to succeed?
How is Wael being received as a leader of the organization?

Is the organization genuinely invested and rewarding simplicity?

You control the future

Any rumors on buyers for PSS? Panasonic might make sense given their partnership earlier this year.

Is the merge happening? Media has been pretty quiet about it. the most recent report was a clean team meeting was scheduled and it went well. Hope all goes well if the merge does happen but what's going to happen in certain markets. If pfg and usfood both delivering in the same area.who's going to take over those markets when you have delivery drivers and sales reps for both sides. I guess only time will tell if it's even going to happen or not happen.this is slow seasons but usfoods jist hired 10 drivers in my area.while we still have stand days going on. Doesn't make sense

There’s been a lot of snarky posts indicating that the sale of Oxychem to Berkshire Hathaway is going to lead to a lot of people not having any work to do resulting in layoffs. I don’t see this happening. Berkshire Hathaway is well known for not having shared services arrangements inside the conglomerate. Each company operates as a separate unit with its own HR, Treasury, IT, etc. I see the need for a lot of support staff from Greenway to go to OxyChem as a part of the acquisition. Thoughts?

So hearing from multiple sources inside and outside of the company that our management is pushing hard for a sale to Thoma Bravo. They own multiple companies in complimentary spaces.

This is what the industry has to say about them:
Employees at the companies it acquires,experience can be negative, often involving layoffs and a focus on cost-cutting after the acquisition.

Oil producers go to battle over mineral rights in Arkansas’ Smackover formation

Jamie Smyth in El Dorado, Arkansas

Published
Apr 23 2025

ExxonMobil has defeated an attempt by rival Occidental Petroleum to contest its production rights on one of the largest lithium deposits in the US, as oil companies fight for a foothold in the critical minerals business.

The regulatory battle in Arkansas between two of the largest US oil companies comes as the Trump administration rushes to boost domestic extraction and processing of critical minerals to break American industry’s reliance on Chinese supplies.

Lithium, a crucial ingredient in high-powered batteries used in the electric vehicle and defence industries, is a priority for Washington as Chinese companies process almost two-thirds of the world’s lithium supplies.

Exxon, Equinor and Occidental are among companies racing to develop lithium extraction and processing facilities in the Smackover, a geological formation stretching across Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.          

A US Geological Survey study published in October estimated there was between 5mn and 19mn tonnes of lithium reserves in underwater brines in the south-west Arkansas portion of the Smackover. If commercially recoverable, this would meet the projected 2030 global demand for lithium in car batteries nine times over, it said.

Saltwerx and other producers in the Smackover intend to use direct lithium extraction technology, a process in which lithium is pulled out of brine while leaving other dissolved compounds behind.

There are still questions over whether the technology can be a commercial success when compared to hard rock lithium mining and evaporation ponds, a low-cost technique used in Latin America.

This week Saltwerx, an Exxon subsidiary, was granted the right to establish a 56,000-acre lithium production unit by regulators over the objections of Occidental, which argued it owned minerals rights in the area and had plans to produce lithium.

An Exxon spokesperson said the decision could help unlock the domestic lithium industry, support jobs and strengthen American energy security.

“Attempts to delay progress could jeopardise economic growth for Arkansas and undermine US efforts to reduce dependence on foreign critical minerals,” she said.

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https://www.ft.com/content/7b229e31-692a-4342-8973-3147f6063a99

Saltwerx intends to begin producing lithium in 2028. It forecasts that it can generate $27mn in annual profit from producing 165,000 barrels of lithium brine per day, according to a regulatory filing.      

An Occidental spokesman said the company routinely participated in hearings with state regulators to develop operating agreements that ensured the responsible and fair development of resources for all interest owners.

The commission also approved an application by SWA Lithium, a joint venture between Standard Lithium and Equinor, to establish a rival production unit in south-west Arkansas. Last week the Trump administration selected it as one of 10 critical minerals projects that it would prioritise.

https://www.ft.com/content/7b229e31-692a-4342-8973-3147f6063a99

General update: US Silica was purchased by the Apollo Group ("wealth management firm") in August 2024.
Almost immediately layoffs in the corporate structure (not surpising, given a buyout)
Company is now ULTRA focused on cash - so very little capital spending, really digging into every bit of money spent.
Rumor is that they're trying to sell the Oil & Gas plants.
ISP - They laid off all of the mining employees at the Lovelock, NV plant. (Most of them got rehired by the contractor that they hired to run the mine now.) Several plant employees also laid off, not sure how many.
Decisions being made at the corporate level without regard/knowledge of how the DE plants run are going to make it impossible to keep the plants open. Orders in general on the DE side have been low since Nov 2024.
I'd stay away from US Silica. They also have a history of laying people off right after performance reviews (in November) . That way they don't have to pay any bonuses, since you have to be employed in March of the next year to collect the bonus from the year before.

Rumors flying around that Chevron’s North Dakota assets are seeking a suitable purchaser. Folks on the ground what’s your perspective? Possible or Impossible…love it when they say impossible

Blake has ruined the company. Sure. Stock price is up but so is everything. 2 years ago, there where 9000 NEW people and all the GOOD leaders had left. BECKHOFF and Siemens are delivering way more new products. Blake keeps overpaying for underperforming assets. The board is worthless.

Reuters exclusively reported that the company's board rejected a mostly cash offer of nearly $24 a share for the company, whose assets include the Warner Bros film and television studios, its CNN and other cable television networks and its HBO Max streaming service, according to a source familiar with the matter.

https://www.reuters.com/business/warner-bros-discovery-initiates-review-strategic-alternatives-2025-10-21/

Following the purchase of HVAC business Johnson Controls this summer, the Bosch Group confirmed “a workforce reduction of around 200 jobs” in Wichita happened on Tuesday.

https://www.kwch.com/2025/10/22/bosch-group-confirms-200-wichita-layoffs-following-johnson-controls-purchase/

GF's stock and market cap continues to shrink. The analysts finally caught on to the same BS story TC continued to give as CEO, they bought the story long enough for TC and DR (former CFO) to cash in a bunch of their stock at higher prices. So where does GF go now? At around $35/share their market cap would be like $17.5B. Intel offered $25B before the IPO, Mubadala is probably wishing they took that deal now. Let's be honest, GF SLT is like a retread tire, they landed here because nobody else wanted them, none of them were really successful elsewhere. So, what is the solution? The only solution in my opinion is hoping the US govt gets involved, redirects most of the US mfg chips bill dollars to Intel. Intel then spins off foundry as separate company and then with govt funding buys GF and makes them a US owned company. Get rid of all the GF SLT, bring in a totally new set of execs for the combined company and climb the mountain of making Intel Foundry a great company that can battle TSMC. TSMC is good at mfg ramping, but they aren't great at R&D, the engineering staff is technically much stronger and brighter in the US. Intel and IBM were way ahead of TSMC in the past. If things are done right Intel foundry could jump past TSMC for technology competitiveness. However, when the US gov't can't even stay open, the probability of them putting together a smart Chips Bill is very unlikely. I see this scenario as the only way out for GF, otherwise the ship will just continue to sink and eventually submerge!!

Gotta love these headlines, can’t make this up

What will he do when there is no one left to fire?

Ah, silly me. That means it is acquisition time!

Fu-k SS&C cheap a-s company, coming in taking over and not doing sh-t glad that I left

With the purchase from Cenovus' 50% share of WRB and now the pipeline deal to Arizona and California P66 has now made 2 good deals in a row. These deals place substantial focus on refining.
The Elliott directors must be making their presence known. Go Go would just buy more broken-down gas plants.

Looks like rumors were true all those people will be laid off.

https://www.advisorhub.com/exclusive-stifel-to-sell-indie-brokerage-unit-to-equitable-advisors/

I am from legacy tsys which global payments ripped apart after acquiring and got rid of alot of americans to give the jobs offshore. This company is about to take over tsys issuing which global payments su-ked dry and is now dumping. From reading these threads, I now have little hope for my friends who are there. They are all hoping the transitions would be positive.

Seeing lots of 2nd tier GoA acquisition players both in the office and some have made it offshore. This is not platform tie back or host opportunities. What GoA assets are on the market? Does the strategy to simplify and improve asset quality make sense?

Hail your ascendant sovereigns—long may they reign.

As of December 1, eDOCS will be officially, legally, and technically integrated into NetDocuments. All current employees will transition to contractor status under a six-month probationary period.
In General, contractor roles don't come with benefits such as 401(k), RRSP, or health coverage; dental, vision, because they are considered self-employed.

This presents significant challenges—particularly for U.S.-based employees, who rely heavily on employer-sponsored healthcare. Canadian employees may be somewhat less affected, though ongoing issues with the public healthcare system and lack of private coverage options still pose concerns.

SLB Ltd., formerly Schlumberger and the world's largest oil field services company, reported that its recent acquisition of Sugar Land's ChampionX Corp. added $579 million in revenue during the third quarter, the company's first full earnings report since completing the deal.

https://coveringkaty.com/news/fort-bend/schlumberger-changes-name-completes-championx-acquisition-re/

After much fanfare, the colossal flop Landmark Life/Truspire has been sold to fly by nighters Malibu Life ? :) wowers. After all of that fanfare that Mutual was going to make hundreds of millions of revene selling annuities, it didn't & flopped & made $5-$10m on the sale before tax. Now, watch Malibu figure out how to make the $$$$ mutual couldn't. Its Simpa Baye's swan song. Time for him to say Baiye Bye !!!!

They just buy competitors and destroy the brand.

https://www.mysanantonio.com/business/article/siete-foods-pepsico-21105726.php

https://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/news/vehement-media/berkshire-hathaway-acquire-occidental-petroleum-112390417.html#google_vignette

It’s also not too far off from closing its major acquisition of Lehigh Valley Health Network, back in August 2024, the latest in a decade-long stream of merger deals that swelled the organization to 32 hospitals. Jefferson had already cut 171 workers in January by outsourcing several back-office functions after the merger, and before, it that had cut around 400 as part of a 2023 restructuring.

https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/providers/jefferson-health-laying-roughly-650-employees-amid-significant-financial-headwinds

Iger has no creativity!

He buys other IPs and cuts jobs to make up the deficit he causes!

As long as he is in charge, no job is safe-except for his of course!!!

With Xerox’s stock trading now at historical lows of just $3.15 (and who knows when it will hit bottom), an acquisition might seem attractive to one or more OEMs. But who would it be?

https://share.google/0ldW7EIeghwEj71ke