Mergers and Acquisitions

Hedge-fund titan John Paulson is reportedly the mysterious bidder that topped a bid for the famed piano maker from Kohlberg, which has officially backed out of the bidding war.

A person familiar with the matter says Bank of America has agreed to pay between $16 billion and $17 billion to settle an investigation into its sale of mortgage-backed securities before the financial crisis.

Fiat exercised a third option to increase its stake in Chrysler, while the Italian car maker continues to spar with VEBA over the valuation of shares.

The tie-up between West Coast lenders Umpqua and Sterling highlights the risk of mergers that involve companies with strong corporate cultures. 

The $2 billion transaction is one of the largest banking deals of 2013 and creates the largest West Coast community bank.

A deal involving Pinnacle Entertainment is the latest example of a casino company separating its gambling operations from its real estate to generate cash.

American Realty Capital Properties will sell most of its multi-tenant shopping centers to a Blackstone affiliate for $1.98 billion, ending plans to spin off the division.

Blackstone Group LP and Carlyle Group LP are making a joint bid for NCR Corp.

After peaking in 2007, deal activity is finally starting to reach pre-recession levels in Africa, according to a new report by investment adviser RisCura. 

The acquisition will make Fidelity National the largest title insurance, mortgage technology and mortgage service provider in the U.S.

Dollar Tree Inc. plans to sell 330 stores to private-equity firm Sycamore Partners, addressing regulatory concerns related to its planned merger with Family Dollar Stores.

Investment giant KKR inked a deal to buy Singaporean packaging company Goodpack on Tuesday for $1.1 billion.

Blackstone and Goldman Sachs’s private equity arm unveiled a deal worth $975 million to acquire data and software provider Ipreo from private-equity firm KKR.

Johnson & Johnson signed off on a $4 billion bid from private-equity giant Carlyle Group to acquire the blue-chip company’s blood-testing business.

Japan’s Fast Retailing reportedly walked away from talks to buy private-equity owned J. Crew after buyout negotiations became public.

A group of investors led by Cerberus Capital Management scored a deal to buy Safeway for about $9.2 billion, beating out rival grocery store chain Kroger.

Tyco inked a deal to sell its South Korean fire and security business to private equity firm Carlyle Group on Monday for $1.85 billion in cash.

J. Crew is reportedly in talks to sell itself to Japan’s Fast Retailing for as much as $5 billion even as the retailer explores a potential IPO.

The specialty chemicals maker agreed to sell its water technologies business to private investment firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice on Tuesday in a deal valued at $1.8 billion.

Johnson & Johnson received a $4.15 billion offer to sell its slow-growing ortho-clinical diagnostics business to private-equity firm Carlyle Group.