S&P Global Market Intelligence provides a wrap-up of U.S. media and communications deal announcements and completions from Dec. 19 to Dec. 23.
* Japan's TDK Corp agreed to buy Invensense Inc, a producer of motion sensors for Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., in an all-cash deal worth $1.3 billion. The Japanese electronics company said Dec. 21 that it will pay $13 per share to buy all of InvenSense. The buyout will be completed through the merger of a newly created unit of TDK with InvenSense, making the U.S.-based firm a wholly owned subsidiary of TDK. The transaction is subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed in the second quarter of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2018.
* Sacramento, Calif.-based newspaper company McClatchy Co. is expanding its footprint on the east coast with the acquisition of The (Durham, N.C.) Herald-Sun from Paxton Media Group, according to a Dec. 21 statement. The acquisition includes the North Carolina paper's digital assets. McClatchy's other newspapers in the state include The Charlotte Observer and The News and Observer in Raleigh. It also owns several South Carolina newspapers: The Beaufort Gazette, The State in Columbia, The Island Packet in Hilton Head, The Sun News in Myrtle Beach and The Herald in Rock Hill.
* AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. closed its acquisition of Carmike Cinemas Inc. for about $1.1 billion, including the assumption of Carmike debt, to become the largest theater exhibitor in the U.S., Europe and the world. The company said Dec. 21 that it closed the deal by merging its wholly owned subsidiary with and into Carmike, which is now a wholly owned subsidiary of AMC. Carmike stockholders could elect to receive either $33.06 in cash or 1.0819 AMC shares for each Carmike share they owned, subject to an overall allocation with 70% of Carmike shares exchanged for cash and 30% exchanged for AMC shares.
* Autobytel Inc. agreed to sell its specialty finance leads product to Internet Brands Inc. The total consideration for the SFL product includes $3.2 million of cash, as well as additional transition licensing income totaling $1.6 million over a period of five years, the company said Dec. 20. The deal is expected to close Dec. 31, subject to customary closing conditions. Jeff Coats, the president and CEO of Autobytel, said the deal is expected to help the company further "dedicate time and resources" to the company's core vehicle lead and click products.
* As expected, Tribune Media Co. inked an agreement to sell substantially all of its digital and data business operations, comprised of Gracenote video, music and sports, to Nielsen Holdings for $560 million in cash. Tribune Media expects to receive about $500 million in after-tax proceeds from the transaction, the majority of which will be used to repay existing debt with the rest to be reinvested in the business. The company expects the deal to close during the first quarter of 2017. Tribune Media said Dec. 20 that it will retain ownership of the business-to-consumer websites, Covers.com and ProSportsDaily.com. Nielsen will operate Gracenote as a business unit, which will continue to function from its headquarters in Emeryville, Calif. Gracenote will join global performance management company's Watch segment.
* American Tower Corp. is partnering with PGGM to buy FPS Towers in France via their ATC Europe joint venture. The deal's equity portion will be funded by American Tower and the Dutch pension fund manager in proportion to their stakes in the venture. The debt portion will be funded by American Tower. The deal is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2017. FPS Towers has about 2,400 wireless tower sites in operation across France.