Mergers and acquisitions

After a long period where it seems like no one has bought anything, the markets have seen a flurry of activity lately. Is this a sign of things to come? Not necessarily. Alisa Roth reports.

Health-care conglomerate Abbott Laboratories and document company Xerox shelled out a combined $11 billion to expand their opportunities. Bob Moon reports on what's behind the recent pickup in mergers.

Abbot Laboratories will pay almost $7 billion for the pharmaceutical unit of Belgian company Solvay, a move which will help Abbot diversify its products. Alisa Roth explores this and other big pharma mergers going on lately.

U.S. fund manager BlackRock was given the OK to buy a chunk of assets from major British bank Barclays. The new firm will have $2.8 trillion worth of funds under its belt, making it the world's biggest money manager. Stephen Beard reports.

Kraft Foods is denying it will unload any of its brands to pay for a possible acquisition of Cadbury. Joel Rose reports the candy maker may be holding out for a better bid, or may go it alone.

EBay has reached a deal to sell most of its stake in Internet phone calling company Skype to private investors. Bob Moon reports on how eBay ended up buying something it didn't need or want.

Disney is acquiring Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion, which will give the Mouse House access to superheroes like Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four. Jeremy Hobson reports on how each company benefits.

Disney is paying a healthy $4 billion for Marvel Entertainment. Where will Disney see payback? Bill Radke marvels at the deal with marketing professor Ken Wilbur, who explains why this could indicate a change-up in Disney's strategy.