Joanna Piacenza

By Joanna Piacenza Top Stories Kraft Heinz Co. has a new CEO amid its struggle to boost sales in the slow-growing food industry: Anheuser-Busch InBev veteran Miguel Patricio, who will replace Bernardo Hees when he steps down on June 30 after six years with the company and two years as chief executive. Patricio aims to make […]

By Joanna Piacenza Top Stories AT&T Inc.’s WarnerMedia is withdrawing as a partner in OpenAP, a coalition of networks aimed at offering more comprehensive audience numbers to advertisers by combining data from Nielsen, Comscore and others. A WarnerMedia ad sales rep said in a statement that the company’s “advanced advertising strategy has evolved.” (The Hollywood Reporter) […]

By Joanna Piacenza Week in Review Legal matters Sears Holdings Corp. is suing former CEO Eddie Lampert and a number of previous board members – including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin – for allegedly stealing billions from the retailer.  Two separate class-action complaints have been filed against Lyft Inc., with investors claiming the ride-booking company overstated its […]

By Joanna Piacenza Top Stories American Media Inc. has found a buyer for the National Enquirer: James Cohen, CEO of Hudson News, who is purchasing the tabloid, along with two other sister publications, for $100 million. (The Washington Post) Sears Holdings Corp. is suing former CEO Eddie Lampert and a number of previous board members — […]

By Joanna Piacenza Top Stories Pinterest Inc. set its shares at $19 each, for a $12.7 billion valuation, just above its last private fund-raising round valuation of $12 billion. Shares of the digital pin board company will start trading today on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PINS. (The New York Times) Ahead […]

By Joanna Piacenza Top Stories Marquee Brands LLC purchased Martha Stewart’s brand empire, which includes home furnishings and kitchenware lines, for $215 million, $140 million less than what Sequential Brands Group Inc. bought it for in 2015. Sequential, which also owns celebrity brands such as Jessica Simpson and Ellen Tracy, had been looking to sell Stewart’s […]

By Joanna Piacenza Top Stories Walmart Inc. is partnering with Kidbox Inc. to offer clothes for babies, girls and boys as the retail giant moves to grow its apparel business with its first apparel subscription box. Consumers can buy as many as six Kidbox-curated boxes from Walmart.com per year — one for each season plus back […]

By Joanna Piacenza Top Stories Publicis Groupe SA has acquired data intelligence company Epsilon for an estimated $4.4 billion, the largest deal in the holding group’s 93-year history and the latest example of the advertising industry’s increasing reliance on consumer data. In July 2018, rival Interpublic Group of Companies Inc. bought database marketing firm Acxiom for […]

By Joanna Piacenza Top Stories At long last, The Walt Disney Co.’s Disney+ streaming service has a price tag and a launch date: $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year, available on smart TVs, browsers and game consoles on Nov. 12. The entertainment giant’s slate of new programming for its service includes series based on Marvel […]

By Joanna Piacenza Top Stories American Media Inc. is selling The National Enquirer along with a number of its other tabloid titles, reportedly over “intense pressure” from the company’s controlling shareholder Chatham Asset Management to part ways with the scandal-hungry tabloid over concerns with the tabloid business overall and the Enquirer specifically. Responding to reporting, American […]