On Monday, Alibaba
announced that it would spin off HiChina, its web hosting unit. The
Chinese tech firm was down 8.4%. Also that day, Berkshire Hathaway
said that it would buy back up to $23 billion worth of its shares in
order to support their dwindling price. This comes as a surprise to
many who believed that Berkshire’s $43 billion in cash had been
earmarked for acquisitions. The conglomerate, which has the highest
share price on the market, was up 8%. The following day, RenRen
purchased 56.com, which hosts video content uploaded by users, for
$80 million. The Chinese social networking site finished the day 4.5%
higher.
The other two deals of the week came on Thursday, when Saab
Automobile sold its Spyker Cars unit for $43.5 million to North
Street Capital, a private equity firm. This deal is the latest in a
string of efforts to save Saab. The Swedish car manufacturer was down
1.2%. Also that day, Nationwide Mutual Insurance acquired fellow
insurer Harleysville Group for $1.6 billion. The Pennsylvania-based
firm will be absorbed by Nationwide’s property and casualty unit.
The target was boosted a massive 87% by the bell, reflecting the huge
premium tendered by Nationwide.
