Boots 90亿美元易主、SpaceX拟融资400亿及Paramount-W

FROM BLOOMBERG'S WORLD HEADQUARTERS IN NEW YORK CITY, WE ARE TRACKING THE KEY PLAYERS, THE MAJOR MOVES AND THE CAPITAL FLOWS SHAPING GLOBAL MARKETS. THIS IS "BLOOMBERG EDEALS."

WELCOME TO ANOTHER EPISODE, THE ONLY SHOW DEDICATED TO THE CORPORATE ACTION RESHAPING MARKETS. BOOTS CHANGING HANDS AGAIN. WE WILL BREAK DOWN THE NEARLY $9 BILLION TRANSACTION THAT BROKE HOURS AGO. IN TODAY'S INVESTMENT COMMITTEE, WE DISCUSSED DEALMAKING AS GEOPOLITICS PUTS A SPOTLIGHT ON DEFENSE. AND MY CONVERSATION WITH PRIMERA CO-CEO BRIAN RUDER. LET'S GO NOW TO ONE OF OUR TOP STORIES. THE DEAL FOR BOOTS, THE CANADIAN BRANCH OF THE WESTON FAMILY AGREEING TO BUY BOOTS FOR $8.9 BILLION IN ANOTHER CHANGE OF HANDS FOR THE BRITISH PHARMACY.

THE FAMILY WILL ACQUIRE BOOTS VIA ITS INVESTMENT VEHICLE. BOOTS WAS PREVIOUSLY OWNED BY SYCAMORE. LIANA BAKER JOINS US WITH THE LATEST. I LOVE THIS SAGA BECAUSE IT HAS GONE THROUGH SO MANY ITERATIONS OF M&A. HOW DID WE END UP HERE? LIANA: BOOTS IS BEING SOLD TO THE WESTON FAMILY WHO ARE THE CANADIAN BLUEBLOODS OF BUSINESS. THEY OWN EVERYTHING FROM LUXURY RETAILERS TO A HUGE CANADIAN BRANCH AND ALSO TEAMING UP WITH THE BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY OF CANADA.

ALL THE BIG NAMES IN CANADIAN BUSINESS ARE COMING TOGETHER TO BUY BOOTS. THEY ARE DIVERSIFYING OUTSIDE OF CANADA. DRUGMART HAS REALLY BEEN A HOMERUN FOR THEM. THIS IS AN AREA THEY LOVE. THE FAMILY HAS ANOTHER DEPARTMENT STORE IN THE U.K. THERE'S A LOT OF HERITAGE BUT INTERESTING TO SEE CANADIAN AND U.K. OUTBOUND DEALS. DANI: THE GENESIS OF THIS WAS WALGREENS TRYING TO BUY BOOTS AND THAT DID NOT WORK FOR THEM. LIANA: WALGREENS WAS TAKEN PRIVATE BY SYCAMORE A YEAR AGO IN THE U.S.

AND IT IS COMMON PRIVATE EQUITY PLAY TO BUY A COMPANY, CHANGE IT UP AND DO A BREAKUP. THIS IS AN EARLY WIN FOR SYCAMORE TO OFFLOAD BOOTS WHICH IS ALWAYS SORT OF BEEN THE PLAN. DANI: THANK YOU FOR JOINING US, LIANA BAKER. LET'S GET TO OUR NEXT BIG DEAL. SPACEX AND TALKS WITH BANKS AND INVESTORS TO RAISE $40 BILLION TO BUY CHIPS FROM NVIDIA. IT WOULD BE AMONG THE BIGGEST EVER DEBT FINANCING FOR THE AI BUILD UP. APOLLO, PIMCO BEINGS ARE FOR JOINING THE FINANCING.

JOINING US NOW IS ED LUDLOW. A HUGE AMOUNT OF MONEY BEING THROWN BEHIND THIS EFFORT, WHAT DO WE KNOW? ED: IT IS SPLIT BETWEEN $10 BILLION OF LOANS, $30 BILLION OF INVESTMENT GRADE DEBT AND IT IS CONSISTENT. THE BIG PART OF THE STORY IN SPACEX IPO BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER WAS THE KNOWLEDGE THAT THEY WOULD RETURN TO CAPITAL MARKETS VERY QUICKLY. SPACEX ALREADY MOVED ON DEBT BUT I FOUND YOUR CONVERSATION WITH APOLLO THIS MORNING SUPER INTERESTING.

SPECIFICALLY ON SPACEX. EVERYONE KNOWS WITH A PICTURE IS LONG-TERM. THE CAUSE OF CAPITAL AVAILABLE TO SUPPORT THAT, WHICH INCLUDES CREDIT, IT SEEMS TO BE THERE. THERE IS VERY LITTLE RESERVATION ABOUT SUPPORTING THAT IN SPACEX'S CASE. I KNOW THAT THE WARNING POPPED UP ON THE BLOOMBERG IN TERMS OF FIVE-YEAR, BUT YEAH, THAT IS THE REPORTING. THOSE NAMES YOU MENTIONED ARE IN THE TALKS TO LEAD IT. DANI: I DID TRY TO GET IT OUT OF APOLLO AND HE TOLD ME I WILL NOT TALK ABOUT SPACEX.

THE OTHER THING I WAS FASCINATED IN IS THIS LAWSUIT COMING FROM GROK TO NVIDIA. THIS ONE I WANT TO GET INTO BECAUSE IT IS ONE OF THESE AQUA HIRES WE HAVE SEEN IN THE INDUSTRY. WHAT IS THE PUSHBACK AND IS A SAY ANYTHING BROADLY ABOUT THE METHOD BY WHICH THESE BIG TECH AND AI PLAYERS HAVE BEEN USING? ED: AGAIN, GROQ WITH A Q BECAUSE IN TODAY'S WORLD THIS GETS CONFUSING. WHAT HAPPENED WAS NVIDIA LICENSE THE TECHNOLOGY AND TOOK LEADERSHIP FROM GROQ TO BRING THEM IN HOUSE TO WORK ON A SPECIFIC PLATFORM, WHICH WAS TO TAKE WHAT GROQ DOES AND BRING IT INTO THE SERVER DESIGN OF NVIDIA.

BLOOMBERG'S REPORTING WAS THAT THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT LOOKED AT THIS AND ASKED WAS THIS REALLY AN ACQUISITION? A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE ASKING QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT. THE FIELD IS VERY DYNAMIC. NVIDIA WOULD SAY THE NORMAL TRANSACTION WHERE THEY LICENSE THE TECH TOOK SOME OF THE TALENT. AND GROQ, THE COMPANY CONTINUES TO BE A COMPANY. IT REFLECTS A STORY THAT WAS 18 MONTHS, TO YEARS AGO ABOUT WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN SILICON VALLEY.

ONCE A COMPANY GETS UP AND RUNNING, MAYBE THEY SURVIVE IN A BIGGER ENTITY SO WE SAW THESE HIRES TAKE PLACE. DANI: GREAT TO HAVE YOU ON. PARAMOUNT CLOSING ITS 100 $10 BILLION ACQUISITION OF WARNER BROTHERS DISCOVERY YESTERDAY. COMPLETING ONE OF THE BIGGEST MEDIA MERGERS OF ALL TIME. MICHELLE DAVIS HAS BEEN NONSTOP COVERING THIS AND JOINS US NOW. LASTLY, WE SAID THIS IS PROBABLY THE LAST TIME WE WILL TALK ABOUT IT BUT WE HAVE TO DO ONE FINAL VICTORY LAP.

IT HAS FINALLY CLOSED. NOW WHAT? MICHELLE: I FEEL LIKE THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE INCLUDING US THAT CAN FINALLY MOVE ON WITH THEIR LIVES. THIS IS OBVIOUSLY A DEAL THAT HAD EVERYONE TRANSFIXED, PARALYZED ACROSS NOT ONLY THE MEDIA INDUSTRY BUT ACROSS M&A AND BUSINESS IN GENERAL. THERE ARE A TON OF COMPANIES, NETFLIX AND COMCAST INCLUDED WHO WANTED TO BUY WARNER BROTHERS THAT WERE ABLE TO. YOU CAN SAY THEY MAY HAVE HAD A HOPE THAT UNTIL THE DEAL CLOSED, THERE WERE STILL A LITTLE BIT OF A CHANCE THAT THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO COME IN AND BUY WARNER BROS.

INSTEAD. NOW THAT THAT IS OFF THE TABLE, EVERYONE CAN MOVE ON TO THEIR PLAN B. THERE ARE OTHER COMPANIES THAT ARE SMALLER THAT UNTIL THIS DEAL MOVED OFF OF THE FOREFRONT ARE GOING TO BE ABLE TO SELL NOW BECAUSE THERE WILL BE MORE OXYGEN IN THE ROOM FOR THESE COMPANIES TO DO MORE M&A. IT WILL BE A TIME TO CONTINUE WATCHING THE SPACE BECAUSE WE WILL ONLY SEE MORE M&A SO WE WILL HAVE A LOT MORE TO TALK ABOUT. DANI: THAT HAS TO BE THE CASE FOR NETFLIX SPECIFICALLY.

CONSIDERING AT ONE POINT, THEY THEY WERE LEADER IN THIS FIGHT. THEIR PRONOUNCEMENT TO SHAREHOLDERS THAT THIS WAS NECESSARY, DOES THIS MEAN THEY ARE ALMOST OBLIGATED TO FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO BUY? MICHELLE: IT IS WHAT ANALYSTS AND INVESTORS HAVE SAID. NETFLIX HAS SAID WE WANTED TO BUY WARNER BROTHERS BECAUSE IT WAS THE PERFECT ASSET FOR US AND THERE IS NO GUARANTEE THERE WOULD BE ANYTHING ELSE LIKE THAT FOR US. WE ARE IN AN INDUSTRY OR AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE STREAMING IS UNDER PRESSURE.

THE GROWTH IS NOT WHAT IT USED TO BE. COMPANIES ARE NEEDING TO FIND WAYS TO INCREASE THEIR REVENUE OTHER WAYS. THE OTHER IT THINKS -- INTERESTING THING TO WATCH WILL BE HOW PARAMOUNT NAVIGATES THIS COMBINED COMPANY. A LOT OF HOW THEY DO IT WILL IMPACT THE MOVIE THEATER AND CINEMA OVERALL EXPERIENCE FOR CONSUMERS BUT BECAUSE THEY HAVE PROMISED TO RELEASE 30 MOVIES PER YEAR IN THEATERS. RIGHT NOW, WARNER BROS. AND PARAMOUNT COMBINED DO NOT RELEASE THAT MANY MOVIES TOGETHER.

IT WILL BE INTERESTING TO SEE HOW THEY DO THAT, AND IF THEY CAN PUT OUT GOOD CONTENT. IF THEY DON'T, IT WILL DETER CONSUMERS FROM GOING TO MOVIE THEATERS AND THAT WON'T BE GOOD FOR THE INDUSTRY OVERALL. DANI: IT HAS BEEN GREAT TO FOLLOW THIS STORY ALONGSIDE YOU. THAT IS MICHELLE DAVIS FROM OUR DEALS TEAM. NOW ANOTHER DEAL. CH ROBINSON AGREED TO BUY RXO AT STOCK ENTRY CASH TRANSACTION VALUED AT $5.8 BILLION. IT IS A BET THAT AI WILL IMPROVE EFFICIENCY IN THE BUSINESS.

CH ROBINSON CEO SPOKE ABOUT THE DEAL ON BLOOMBERG.

TAKE THE GLOBAL MULTIMODAL SOLUTIONS THAT WE HAVE IN ROBINSON, AND WE ARE OBVIOUSLY LEADERS IN BROKERAGE IN NORTH AMERICA, BUT WE ALSO HAVE A GLOBAL ARM. YOU COMBINED THAT WITH WHAT RXO BRINGS TO THE TABLE AND THAT IS A STRONG NORTH AMERICA FREIGHT BROKERAGE BUSINESS. IT ALSO HAS LAST MILE, EXPEDITE SERVICES. THESE ARE THINGS WHEN COMBINED THESE TWO ENTITIES TOGETHER, OVER A $25 BILLION LOGISTICS COMPANY THAT WILL REDEFINE THE SPACE.

DANI: COMING UP ON THE SHOW, MY TALK WITH PREMERA CEO BRIAN RUDER. HE SAYS TECH NEEDS TO GET USED TO THESE RATES. THAT IS COMING UP. THIS IS "DEALS." DANI: IN JUST THE PAST MONTH, TECH GIANTS LIKE META AND OPENAI HAVE ANNOUNCED NEW AGENTIC PRODUCTS, NEWS AND JOBLESS RESPECTIVELY. PRESENTING NEW CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR SOFTWARE INVESTORS. I SPOKE WITH THE PREMIRA CO-CEO TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE WHEN IT COMES TO THE RACE AND AI, PRIVATE EQUITY, SOFTWARE AND FINANCE.

BRIAN: I FIND IT VERY INTE