Suntory's Deal for Jim Beam
Suntory, known for producing Japan's first whiskey, has agreed to acquire the maker of Jim Beam and Maker's Mark bourbons, among other spirits, for $13.6 billion, DealBook reports. Including the assumption of debt, the deal is valued at $16 billion. Suntory is offering Jim Beam shareholders $83.50 a share in cash, 25 percent above the company's closing price on Friday.
According to the deal, announced on Monday, Matthew J. Shattock, Jim Beam's president and chief executive, and the current management team will continue to lead the business out of its headquarters outside Chicago.
BANK OF AMERICA SAYS TAKE A DAY OFF | Bank of America Merrill Lynch is trying to make life a little easier for its junior bankers, saying its youngest employees should take four days off a month, on the weekend. Though this may seem like a punishment to those not accustomed to the soul-crushing Wall Street schedule, which often entails working into the early morning, pulling all-nighters, and working on weekends, the announcement comes as a small relief to the analysts and associates at the investment bank, William Alden and Sydney Ember report in DealBook.
Mr. Alden and Ms. Ember write: 'The effort, coming after a review of several months, is the latest sign that Wall Street banks are taking a critical look at the hard-charging culture of these jobs, which are often seen as steppingstones to higher-ranking positions with better salaries (and, eventually, weekends off).'
Bank of America follows other investment banks, including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, who have taken steps toward making life more enjoyable for young bankers.
At the same time, investment banks are also reconsidering their summer internship programs, The Wall Street Journal reports. One former intern at Barclays described what he called 'toilet naps,' where summer interns would hide in bathroom stalls and fall asleep for however long they could.
'WOLF' WINS | Leonardo DiCaprio won best actor in a comedy for his part in 'The Wolf of Wall Street' at the 2014 Golden Globes on Sunday night.
SPARRING AT SAC INSIDER TRADING TRIAL | The trial of Mathew Martoma, a former SAC Capital Advisors hedge fund manager accused of insider trading, kicked off on Friday with harsh words from both sides, Alexandra Stevenson writes in DealBook.
A federal prosecutor claimed in his opening statement that Mr. Martoma 'corrupted' doctors to gain an 'illegal edge' that helped SAC avoid losses and generate profits of $276 million at the height of the financial crisis. Mr. Martoma's lawyer then countered that the government's case was 'riddled with inconsistencies.'
The opening of the trial was also a reunion of sorts, Matthew Goldstein and Ben Protess write in DealBook. Mr. Martoma was expelled from Harvard Law School for faking his transcript in May 1999, the same month that his prosecutor, Arlo Devlin-Brown, was preparing to graduate from the law school.
REGULATORS BACK DOWN ON LEVERAGE RATIO | Global banking regulators bowed to pressure from banks on Sunday, lowering the level of capital that banks would be required to hold against their loans when new rules go into effect in 2018, Reuters reports. The level, called the leverage ratio, is part of the Basel III accord aimed at reducing banks' balance sheet risk.
'The final calibration, and any further adjustments to the definition, will be completed by 2017,' the Basel Committee for Banking Supervision said in a statement.
ON THE AGENDA | The North American International Auto Show begins Monday in Detroit. Dennis P. Lockhart, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, gives a speech on the economic outlook in Atlanta. Glenn Hutchins, the co-founder of the private equity firm Silverlake Partners, is on CNBC at 7 a.m.
AFTER SCANDAL, MCKINSEY'S CULTURE FACES SHIFT | Dominic Barton, the global managing director of the consulting firm McKinsey & Company, is on a mission, Anita Raghavan writes in The New York Times. After insider trading charges felled some of the firm's top brass, and as the Securities and Exchange Commission continues to crack down on such activity, Mr. Barton is trying to prevent another disgrace by implementing policies intended to curb dishonest personal investment.
But not everyone has accepted Mr. Barton's rules, especially his employees in Europe, who are not subject to the same regulations as those in the United States. Some have called his policies 'childish' and accused him of operating a 'nanny state.' Still, many within the firm are praising the rules, which some say vault McKinsey to the forefront of the industry, which does not face the same personal investment regulations as banks.
'We needed more safety moats around the castle,' Mr. Barton said. 'We have this values/trust culture. I get that. Now we have a little more edge.'
OVERSTOCK C.E.O. TO NEW YORK: STEP UP BITCOIN GAME | On Thursday, Overstock.com, the online discount retailer, began accepting Bitcoin for purchases, and on Friday, Patrick M. Bryne, the company's chief executive, started tweeting about the virtual currency's success (h/t Wired Magazine). 'After 21 hours on @overstock.com, we've had 780 #Bitcoin orders that accounted for $124,000 in sales. Wow!' he posted on Twitter at 11:38 a.m. on Friday. Later that day, he called the venture a 'huge success: 840 orders, $130,000 in sales.'
According to one of Mr. Byrne's posts, the most-purchased items were sheets, mobile phone cases, flash drives and bath towels. The states with the most purchases were California, Texas, Florida and Washington. 'I think NY needs to up its game,' Mr. Byrne tweeted on Friday night.
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