Insights | Meridian Research Group | Page 24

Mergers & Acquisitions

Omnicom/Interpublic

Various news outlets, including the New York Times, Bloomberg, and Reuters reported last week that the companies and FTC are in discussions over a consent decree intended to prevent the combined company from boycotting media companies due to their political content. This news comes on the heels of reports that the FTC has requested information...

The Senate yesterday passed stablecoin legislation on a 68-30 vote, with the support of 18 Democrats. The House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) has passed both a stablecoin and broader crypto market structure bill in recent weeks. The House Agriculture Committee also passed the market structure bill. HFSC Chair Hill (R-AR) has to-date...

Energy, Healthcare, Macro

Last night, the Senate Finance Committee (SFC) released its draft contribution to the reconciliation bill, covering taxes and Medicaid. Notably, the SFC draft is more aggressive than the House version of the bill in cutting Medicaid, takes a slightly more moderate approach to the House’s cuts to IRA clean energy credits, and extends the SALT cap...

Mergers & Acquisitions

Salesforce/Informatica

Per the terms of the Merger Agreement (MA), the companies are set to file HSR by June 25, 2025. Recent clearances of several high-profile deals, as well as DOJ Deputy AG (DAAG) Bill Rinner’s remarks last week that competitively neutral deals should not be the subject of a “regulatory review tax” could bode well for Salesforce/Informatica’s...

NIH funding has seen some increased visibility as an issue in recent days, with the release of the White House’s formal FY26 budget proposal – which calls for cutting NIH’s funding by ~$18b (~40%) from FY25 levels – and NIH Direct Bhattacharya testifying before the Senate Appropriations Health Subcommittee regarding the President’s budget and...

Tech / Media / Telecom

Rural Broadband (BEAD)

Last Friday, the Commerce Department/NTIA announced a new process for determining how the $42.5b in funding from the BEAD rural broadband program will be distributed. The new rubric for distributing funds eliminates the Biden administration’s emphasis on fiber, as well as various other requirements (e.g., labor, availability of a low-cost plan,...