Deal of the Week

Kurt Simon, JPMorgan's global head of M&A, spends his days chatting with bosses of the world's biggest companies, fighting off corporate raiders like Carl Icahn and striking deals with the help of colleagues including Jamie Dimon. Simon shares his tales of a career that began during the Liars Poker era at Salomon Brothers on this episode of ``Deal of the Week.'' Plus, Bloomberg reporter Sarah Frier explains to host Alex Sherman why there seems to be a new rumor about Twitter getting sold each and every week.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Carlyle Group's revision of its deal for Symantec Corp.'s Veritas last week made waves throughout the leveraged buyout industry. Bankers, lawyers and private equity partners are wondering whether other transactions, such as Vista Equity Partners' $6.5 billion acquisition of Solera Holdings Inc., may be rewritten with a lower price. Ropes & Gray partner Steven Rutkovsky explains why the market for deals with a lot of debt has suddenly become somewhat weak. In addition, Bloomberg reporters David Welch and Jennifer Surane take apart Johnson Controls's proposed takeover of Tyco International -- the latest deal that allows a company to shed its U.S. corporate citizenship in search of lower taxes overseas.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When the biggest companies prepare to announce mergers and acquisitions, they frequently hire specialized public relations firms. Steve Lipin, who heads the M&A practice at Brunswick Group, talks about what happens when M&A stories leak, how he handles anxious clients and how he helps companies such as Anheuser-Busch, Pfizer and Pepsi explain to both investors and reporters why they're buying and selling businesses. Plus, Bloomberg media reporter Gerry Smith tells us why Univision, known for its Spanish-language television, is buying a large stake in The Onion, the satirical news group. Deal of the Week host Alex Sherman and Smith also share their favorite Onion headlines.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we look at M&A through the lens of private equity, a $3 trillion-plus industry behind many of today's corporate takeovers. Our guest is Paul Levy, who since 1988 has led JLL Partners, a New York leveraged buyout firm. Levy, who's had a ringside seat for private equity's explosive growth and evolution, talks about the highs and lows of his colorful career. Even as he slams the buyout world's obsession with short-term profits, he stoutly defends it against the accusation that it slashes jobs and strips value from companies. We also examine the three-way merger talks involving Nexstar, Meredith and Media General.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

(Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg's three U.S. M&A reporters, Ed Hammond, Matt Monks and Alex Sherman, talk shop about their careers and shed light on the misperceptions about why sources talk and how they break stories. If you've ever been interested in how M&A news leaks, you'll want to listen to their conversation. Hammond also talks about this week's biggest deal news, and a story he helped break, Shire Plc's bid to acquire Baxalta Inc. for more than $32 billion.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

(Bloomberg) -- Intralinks doesn't own a crystal ball, yet the company says its proprietary technology comes close to predicting the future for mergers and acquisitions. Companies use Intralinks to conduct due diligence on potential M&A targets. That means Intralinks has information on what sort of deals are coming about six months before they're announced. Intralinks' Matt Porzio joins Alex Sherman to spill the beans on what kind of deals we'll see in the first half of 2016. Plus, Bloomberg's Aaron Kirchfeld helped break the news on China National Chemical Corp.'s revised bid to acquire Swiss pesticide-maker Syngenta, valued at more than $35 billion. He explains why that deal -- or one between Syngenta and Monsanto Co. -- will probably happen in the coming weeks.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Greenhill & Co. Chief Executive Officer Scott Bok joins Alex to talk about his firm's decision to go public a decade ago and why he prefers to work on the corporate side amid the rise of activist investors such as Bill Ackman and Nelson Peltz. That's not all: Jeff McCracken, Bloomberg's managing editor for global MNA, rejoins the show after a two-week hiatus to discuss the latest megamerger in a year of megamergers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

(Bloomberg) – Bloomberg Gadfly columnist Brooke Sutherland joins Alex Sherman for a peek into the future of mergers after a record-setting year for M&A that spanned the globe and crossed every industry. What's next following a year that saw the biggest-ever deals for drugs, food and beer? Brooke lays out her top five predictions -– and some of the names may surprise you.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

(Bloomberg) -- Rob Townsend, who co-chairs the global M&A business at Morrison & Foerster, has some gloomy news for folks chomping at the bit for more tech mergers: We may already have reached the peak. Townsend, who spent time in Tokyo working with billionaire Masayoshi Son, weighs in on whether the tech slowdown signals a slump in mergers overall. Some deals may be alive, though. We also grill Bloomberg's London-based Manuel Baigorri on his scoop that Orange SA might be considering a merger with other European telecom companies such as Telecom Italia SpA.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

(Bloomberg) -- In this episode, Alex and Global M&A Managing Editor McCracken discuss the largest deal of the year and the biggest health care deal ever, Pfizer Inc. and Allergan Plc's $160 billion merger. They ponder whether the deal, constructed so that Pfizer will pay lower taxes by domiciling in Ireland, opens the door for more so-called inversions just as the U.S. Treasury tries to crack down on them. Frank Aquila, a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell, joins Alex and Jeff to compare M&A in the 1980s with the present day, crediting companies and their advisers for doing smarter deals now, while regretting one particular merger that never got done.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.