Here are some business headlines you may have missed:
Subway is being sold to Roark Capital the owners of Arby's and Jimmy Johns
Shein invest in Forever21 and Forver21 takes stake in Shein
Max streaming service (formerly HBOmax) is launching CNN News Streaming service within it's service platform (correction)
we will continue to update this as news develops
While the Playboy group drops to near $100m valuation we can't help but hold out hope for some type of turnaround. With a brand name such as Playboy there has to be room for success. In all reality Playboy should consider selling to RCI Hospitality (RICK) which has a long list of strip clubs around the country under numerous different names. The benefit for RCI would be to rebrand every club as a Playboy Club and have instant name recognition. Along with RCI's attempts at an online platform and the strides that Playboy has already made. Although Playboy needs to recognize that not everyone is really "bunny" quality or "cover" worthy.
The stock of AMC jumped this week on rumors Amazon was looking at bidding for the company. Most likely these are just rumors to prop up the stock but in actuality it could be a smart play for Amazon. Whether it would pass regulation standards is another story. But should Amazon actually acquire AMC they should immediately partner with Hasbro to set up a toy/collectible store in every AMC theater a la Cracker Barrel. That way they could instantaneously sell toys, products and collectables from the movies. People had a "right now" mentality and having a store built in can satisfy people who want movie items right away as part of the movie experience.
Two companies making moves recently include the WWE and Playboy Group. No they are not doing a collaboration together, although they should, and despite the next Monday Night RAW being labeled as RAW XXX which celebrates their 30 year anniversary. Several social media accounts recommend that you do NOT search RAW XXX without adding WWE to the search, it will end well for you. On a much more serious note, with the return of Vince McMahon to the company he has unilaterally edited company by-laws to allow him to make sole decisions for the company, including a complete sale without shareholder approval. This is a serious blow to shareholders who now have no say it what happens to WWE (symbol WWE) in the future.
Playboy group on the other hand is doing it by the book. They have formed a joint venture in China to expand their brand. Holding a controlling interest in the jv with an independent board overseeing the new jv company. Great things continue for the Playboy Group (symbol PLBY).
Revlon appears to be going into bankruptcy yet again. We believe this is at least the second but could be wrong about that. Quite a few cosmetic companies have struggled in recent years. But it appears they may have options ready for a quick out. Revlon has been negotiating with creditors recently and there appears to be buyout interest as well albeit from a foreign conglomerate. Reliance Industries in India is rumored to be interested. However if this company is going to finally turn around, especially under new ownership or leadership it needs to be someone like Authentic Brands group (ABG). They know how to turn things around just look at what they are doing with the Sports Illustrated brand. It's amazing!
When it comes to investing it can be fun but it is serious especially when you lose money so you must do your research to learn and study what you invest in.
Many of times we will speculate or fantasize about possible business combinations or what we would simply like to see happen. This is all for fun and not meant to be a recommendation about what you should or should not invest in.
Let's start with our first test case. We have been watching Beyond Meat (BYND) for quite some time now. We believe in the concept and look forward to the many new products they will eventual produce. As of late the stock is really struggling. There is more and more competition coming every year and supply chain may be hindering them right now but the brand recognition and product partnerships are off to a solid start. People need to recognize it is meat and protein. Too many people, especially in the news, still refer to products as "fake meat: and that is simply not true. It's a different form of meat/protein. Regardless our thoughts on this stock would be a merger with Hain Celestial Group (HAIN) or even a buyout by Campbells Soup (CPB). Campbells is still absorbing previous snack acquisitions but it would be reasonable for them to expand more into the plant based category. Heck CPB could probably work a three way deal and pick up both BYND and HAIN if the price is right. And right now both stock are down while CPB released good earnings recently.
BobsAllBusiness
Welcome to our new blog BobsAllBusiness where we focus on the business news of the day and what is happening in the business world in general.
One of the main reasons we wanted to create this blog is because there is not enough regular business news out there that can help you make money. We subscribed to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) for many years and discovered over time that it became too political. There was less and less business news that you could use and definitely not much to help you make money.
Our focus is on publicly traded companies and we list stock symbols so you can follow along. DO the research! We are not brokers and do not recommend you buy or sell anything. Rather we want to inform the general public on news events and things that are happening in the world of corporations.
