Dunkin Donuts’ New CEO; Overwatch Inks ESPN Deal; Broadcom Acquires CA

The Water Coolest

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THE HEADLINES

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TIME TO MAKE THE DONUTS

Nigel Travis, the CEO of Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins is stepping down after 9 years at the helm of the New England staple.

Replacing Travis will be no munchkin-sized feat, as the Chief Executive helped build DD into the more than 20K location donut empire that it is today. Dunkin’ feels they’ve found their guy, however, in former McDonald’s executive David Hoffmann. Hoffmann got his first taste of the donut world back in 2016 and has been climbing the sugar glazed ranks ever since.

The Hoff is the President of Dunkin’ Donuts US and was the mastermind behind Dunkin’s $2 afternoon snack menu, and innovative products like donut fries. Gee, wonder where he got that idea.

Water Cooler Talking Point: “A changing of the guard like this in New England is the equivalent of The Vatican electing a new pope. Mr. Hoffmann better come to play: he’s got Ronald McDonald sized shoes to fill.”

 

(OVER)WATCH OUT

Disney signed a deal with Activision Blizzard entertainment to broadcast live competition of its wildly popular game Overwatch on ESPN … in primetime. And did we mention that as part of the agreement the Grand Finals will air on ABC?

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

eSports is on the verge of being a $1B industry and games like Fortnite and Dota are increasing the reach of the most popular leagues.

Water Cooler Talking Point: “The worst part? I can’t even blame my failed eSports career on a lack of God-given talent.”

 

THE BROAD LESS TRAVELED

Broadcom plans to acquire CA Technologies for $18.9B. An expansion into enterprise software is out of Broadcom’s comfort zone considering they specialize in semiconductors, but rest assured, there are “synergies.”

Broadcom will pay $44.50 per share for the software maker, a 20% premium over Wednesday’s closing price.

It’s safe to assume that Broadcom still has a bad taste left in its mouth after Uncle Sam extinguished its hopes of a $117B hostile bid for Qualcomm. Some consolation prize.

Water Cooler Talking Point: “Should there be any hiccups along the way it will be interesting to see which party reacts with ‘have you tried logging off and restarting’ first?”

 


IN OTHER NEWS

 

  • Papa John has resigned as chairman of his namesake pizza joint after apologizing for using the n-word on a conference call.ts six-year high this past May, achieving the Feds target of 2%.
  • Comcast and Fox are more or less divorced parents trying to outdo each other in the gift giving department during the first Christmas as a broken home. Hours after Fox raised its bid for Sky to $32.5B, Comcast announced a $34B all-cash offer.
  • Sears will lay off 200 more employees, mostly at its HQ, meaning that the beleaguered retailer is being managed by CEO Eddie Lampert, two janitors, and the FedEx guy …
  • Tim Hortons, the preferred coffee shop of our neighbors to the north, plans to open 1.5k stores in … China. You read that right. This should go about as well as Waffle House expanding to India.
  • AT&T will take a stake in the mysterious but well-funded AR startup, Magic Leap, just weeks after closing massive deals for Time Warner (ever heard of it?) and AppNexus. Terms of the deal are unavailable but the investment will secure AT&T exclusive rights to Magic Leap’s network, content, and devices.

 

The Water Coolest is a daily business newsletter consisting of business news, financial advice, and unfiltered commentary. Delivered fresh in your inbox every morning so you're ready to snap necks and cash checks. Written by Tyler Morrin, AJ Glagolev, Nick Ellis, and Ian Barto.