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<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="670351" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Weibo">Weibo</keyword> shares surge as much as 48% on Tuesday following a <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-weibo-chairman-state-firm-120020891.html">Reuters report </a>the Chinese blogging may be taken private. </li><li>Weibo's chairman and an unnamed state firm are working on forming a consortium for the potential deal. </li><li>The consortium is considering a price premium of 80% to 100% to buy out Weibo. </li></ul><p>US-listed shares of <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/wb-stock">Weibo</a> nearly doubled early Tuesday <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-weibo-chairman-state-firm-120020891.html">following a report</a> the Chinese blogging site is in talks to go private in a deal that could set a value of at least $20 billion on the company. </p><p>Charles Chao, Weibo's chairman, and a state investor are discussing a potential deal, according to Reuters, citing two unnamed sources. New Wave, Chao's holding company, is working with an unidentified Shanghai-based state firm to create a consortium for the deal, Reuters said, citing the sources as well as a separate person.</p><p>The consortium is considering a buyout offer of $90-$100 per Weibo share, which would represent a premium of 80%-100% to the $50 average price of the shares over the past month. </p><p>Weibo shares jumped as much as 48% to $80.50 in premarket trade then moved to a gain of 20%. Volume appeared heavy with more than 5 million shares traded compared with an average daily volume of around 1.1 million shares. </p><p>New Wave is the largest shareholder in the company often referred to as <keyword id="2136065" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Chinas-Twitter">China's Twitter</keyword>. A buyout deal could see major shareholder Alibaba Group exiting from its stake in Weibo, said the report. </p><p>Weibo's shares began trading in the US in April 2014 and reached a peak above $142 in February 2018.</p>

Weibo soars 48% on report that China's Twitter may go private

<ul><li><strong><keyword id="10707188" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="keith-gill">Keith Gill</keyword>, also known as <keyword id="10687869" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="roaring-kitty">Roaring Kitty</keyword> on social media channels, is set to testify to <keyword id="1575" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Congress">Congress</keyword> on Thursday.</strong></li><li><strong>Gill gained a cult-like following after he invested $53,000 in <keyword id="363661" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="GameStop">GameStop</keyword> in 2019 and saw that value swell to as much as $48 million.</strong></li><li><strong>Read Gill's opening statement to Congress below.</strong></li><li id="recirc"><a href="https://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/4np/10-things-opening-bell?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingestm=ingest" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Sign</strong><strong> </strong><strong>up</strong><strong> here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell</strong></a><strong>.</strong></li></ul><p>Keith Gill - otherwise known on Twitter and YouTube as Roaring Kitty - is set to testify in front of Congress on Thursday about the <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/gme-stock?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingestgest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GameStop</a> short-squeeze he helped spark. His <a href="https://docs.house.gov/meetings/BA/BA00/20210218/111207/HHRG-117-BA00-Wstate-GillK-20210218.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opening statement</a> was released on Wednesday.</p><p>In the prepared comments, <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/roaring-kitty-gamestop-stock-congress-still-bullish-prepared-remarks-testimony-2021-2-1030094272">Gill says he is still bullish on GameStop stock,</a> despite its <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/gamestop-stock-price-gme-reddit-retail-day-traders-wallstreetbets-citron-2021-1-1029999747?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingestm=ingest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">epic January rally</a> that resulted in a one-week price surge of 1,022% and subsequent 90% decline. </p><p>Gill and the CEOs of Robinhood, <keyword id="334157" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Reddit">Reddit</keyword>, Melvin Capital, and Citadel are <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-watch-gamestop-robinhood-reddit-congress-hearing-testify-thursday-2021-2?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingestgest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">set to testify before Congress</a> on Thursday about the GameStop saga.</p><p>Below is Gill's full opening statement to Congress.</p><p>Thank you Chairwoman Waters, Ranking Member McHenry, members of the Committee.</p><p>Before I go further, I want to be clear about what I am not. I am not a hedge fund. I do not have clients, and I do not provide personalized investment advice for fees or commissions. I am an individual investor. My investment in GameStop and my posts on social media were entirely my own.</p><p>I did not solicit anyone to buy or sell the stock for my own profit. I did not belong to any groups trying to create movements in the stock price. I never had a financial relationship with any hedge fund. I had no information about GameStop except what was public. I did not know any people inside the company, and I never spoke to any insider.</p><p>As an individual investor, I use publicly available information to study the market and the value of specific companies. I consider a complex array of factors and track hundreds of stocks - all in search of market inefficiencies. Like many people, sometimes I post on social media my thoughts and analysis about individual stocks and whether they are correctly valued.</p><p>I did that with GameStop. I believed the company was dramatically undervalued by the market. The prevailing analysis about GameStop's impending doom was simply wrong.</p><p>A little about my background: I grew up in Brockton, Massachusetts. My father was a truck driver, and my mom a registered nurse. I was one of three kids, and the first in my family to earn a four-year college degree when I graduated from Stonehill College in 2009, amid the Great Recession and without a long-term job. My first post-college job was in operations at W.B. Mason, an office supplies company headquartered in my home town of Brockton.</p><p>Between 2010 and 2014, I worked for a family friend at a start-up company in New Hampshire, trying to build a software program that would help investors analyze stocks and offer related research. We also tried to start an investment firm, which dissolved not long after it was created. My salary never exceeded $40,000, but I did learn something about investing. I learned how to do the tedious work of digging through a company's financials and focusing on its real long-term value, not prevailing market sentiment or headlines.</p><p>I married my wife Caroline in 2016, and I found a job working operations and compliance at LexShares. I left that job in March 2017, and for the next two years I was effectively without a job. During that time, I began actively analyzing a wide array of stocks to try to keep and increase our limited savings. It was both a way to make money and an interest that I pursued passionately while I lacked a job.</p><p><em><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-picks-cyclicals-fiscal-stimulus-inflation-rates-ideas-goldman-sachs-2021-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Goldman Sachs says buy these 21 stocks right now before they get a massive boost from further fiscal stimulus</a></em></p><p>In April 2019, I accepted a marketing and financial education job at MassMutual. Caroline and I were both happy about our prospects. I had never made a salary over $100,000 a year before, and I was thrilled just to be working and to have benefits again. My title was Director, Financial Wellness Education. My job was to help develop financial education classes that advisors could present to prospective clients. I never sold securities, and I was not a financial advisor.</p><p>I continued analyzing stocks on my own time and investing my family's funds. In early June of 2019, the price of GameStop's stock declined on worse than expected earnings, and it began trading at a deep discount, below what I thought was its fair value. I was aware from public reports that a well-known investor, Michael Burry, was interested in GameStop. Because I thought the stock was undervalued, I purchased call options on June 7, 2019. I increased my position throughout much of 2019 and 2020, because as I continued to analyze the company and its prospects, I became increasingly confident that the share price was indeed dramatically undervalued.</p><p>Two important factors, based entirely on publicly available information, gave me and many others confidence that GameStop was undervalued in 2019 and 2020. First, the market was underestimating the prospects of GameStop's legacy business and overestimating the likelihood of its going bankrupt. GameStop, the only major retailer dedicated to gaming, has over 60 million members in its loyalty program and continues to maintain a sizable market share within the gaming industry. Its legacy business, comprised primarily of selling physical video games and related equipment within their stores, was likely to generate meaningful cash flow following the release of new gaming consoles in late 2020. I grew up playing videogames and shopping at GameStop, and I'm looking forward to buying a new console at GameStop. I knew the company had an opportunity to reinvigorate this business by improving customer service for gamers, upgrading its online presence, and offering complementary product lines such as PC gaming and accessories.</p><p>Second, I believed - and I continue to believe - that GameStop has the potential to reinvent itself as the ultimate destination for gamers within the thriving $200 billion gaming industry. The new console cycle provides GameStop a unique opportunity to pivot from a traditionally brick-and-mortar mindset toward a technology-driven business that excels in gaming products, experiences and services. By embracing the digital economy, GameStop can pursue new revenues streams including larger gaming catalogs, digital content and community experiences, online trade-ins, streaming services, and Esports. While I may be the only panelist here today who had faith in GameStop, I was hardly the only person who advocated these points or ones like them. Investors including Chewy co-founder Ryan Cohen, whose purchase of GameStop shares and advocacy with the GameStop board helped positively affect the share price in late 2020, publicly expressed similar views.</p><p>I want to pause to note that the investment I made was risky, but I was confident in my analysis, and I was willing to accept the loss if I was proven wrong. My timing was far from perfect, and many of the options contracts I purchased expired worthless because GameStop's stock price remained depressed longer than I expected.</p><p>I've been asked why I decided to share my investment ideas on social media. My investment skills had reached a level where I felt sharing them publicly could help others. I also thought that by sharing my own ideas and accepting critiques, I would be able to identify holes in my analysis. Hedge funds and other Wall Street firms have teams of analysts working together to compile research and critique investment ideas, while individual investors have not had that advantage. Social media platforms like YouTube, Twitter, and <keyword id="9346197" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="wallstreetbets">WallStreetBets</keyword> on Reddit are leveling the playing field. And in a year of quarantines and COVID, engaging with other investors on social media was a safe way to socialize. We had fun.</p><p>The idea that I used social media to promote <keyword id="10591892" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="gamestop-stock">GameStop stock</keyword> to unwitting investors is preposterous. I was abundantly clear that my channel was for educational purposes only, and that my aggressive style of investing was unlikely to be suitable for most folks checking out the channel. Whether other individual investors bought the stock was irrelevant to my thesis - my focus was on the fundamentals of the business. It's worth noting that after five months of streaming, my final stream of 2020 topped out at just ninety-six concurrent viewers, with an average view duration of twenty-five minutes. On Christmas morning I had only 529 subscribers on YouTube, and 550 followers on Twitter. These numbers are tiny. There were rarely more than a few dozen folks on the stream on any night. The reality was people didn't really care about boring, repetitive analysis of GameStop and other stocks, and that was fine. For those of us who did care, the stream provided us an outlet for refining our fundamentals-based thesis. We were able to analyze events in real-time and keep each other honest.</p><p>Ultimately my GameStop investment was a success. But the thing is, I felt that way in December far before the peak, when the stock was at $20 a share. I was so happy to visit my family in Brockton for the holidays and give them the great news - we were millionaires. That money will go such a long way for my family. We had an incredibly difficult 2020. In addition to dealing with COVID, we lost my sister Sara unexpectedly in June. It brought me tremendous joy to share good news with my family for a change. I am grateful to be able to give back to my community and to support my family, most of all my wife Caroline who has stuck with me through very tough times.</p><p>As for what happened in January, others will have to explain it. Threshold lists, order flow, halting purchases - according to the media these all had a material impact on GameStop stock in January. Here's the thing: I've had a bit of experience and even I barely understand these matters. It's alarming how little we know about the inner-workings of the market, and I am thankful that this Committee is examining what happened. I believe an analysis of GameStop's recent price action must start with a discussion of the exorbitant short interest in the stock, as well as an investigation into any potentially manipulative shorting practices and brokers' reported failures to timely deliver shares and settle trades.</p><p>As for what I expect moving forward: GameStop's stock price may have gotten a bit ahead of itself last month, but I'm as bullish as I've ever been on a potential turnaround. In short, I like the stock. And what's stunning is that, as far as I can tell, the market remains oblivious to GameStop's unique opportunity within the gaming industry.</p>

Read famed GameStop trader Roaring Kitty's full prepared testimony for Congress

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>AP Photo/Ng Han Guan</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Chinese internet stocks are tumbling after earnings reports from Weibo (WB) and 58.com (WUBA). </p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">In pre-market trading, Weibo shares are off about 7% and shares of 58.com are down nearly 9%. </span></p>
<p>These tumbles come ahead of the expected IPO of Chinese e-commerce retailer JD.com (JD), which is set to debut on the Nasdaq after its IPO last night <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jdcom-prices-at-19-a-share-2014-5">priced at $9 per share</a>. </p>
<p>Weibo l<span>ast night said it expects Q2 to </span><span>to come in between $74 million and $76 million, below expectations for $77.85 million. Weibo <span>operates a Twitter-like social media platform in China.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">58.com, which operates an online marketplace, <a href="http://ir.58.com/2014-05-21-58-com-Reports-First-Quarter-2014-Unaudited-Financial-Results">reported first quarter profit</a> that fell a penny short of expectations. The company, however, </span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">gave a more upbeat second quarter revenue outlook, projecting</span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"> Q2 revenue of $61 million to $63 million, better than the $57.8 million analysts had been looking for. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">This news also comes ahead of the expected IPO of Alibaba, which filed with the SEC earlier this month. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Other Chinese internet stocks Baidu (BIDU), down 0.4%, and SINA (SINA), down about 4%, are also lower ahead of the bell. </span></p>

Chinese Internet Stocks Are Getting Slammed

<ul><li>A report by InnoVen Capital noted that seven in ten respondents believe that Web 3.0 will be something to watch out for in 2022.</li><li>The report is based on the inputs from several early-stage institutional investors such as 3one4 Capital and Blume Ventures.</li><li>Early stage startups in India raised nearly half a billion dollars in seed and pre-Series A round in 2021.</li></ul>Wb 3.0, software-as-a-service (<keyword id="6395918" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="saas" source="Orion">SaaS</keyword>) and fintech are emerging as the big focus areas for investors in 2022, a recent report by investment firm InnoVen Capital has revealed.<br /><br />The report also noted that close to seven in ten, or 67%, respondents believe that Web 3.0 will be something to watch out for. Six in ten believe that SaaS will also be a top performer this year, while five respondents also have high hopes from the fintech industry.<br /><br />Web 3.0 is the latest version of the Internet that leverages machine learning, artificial intelligence, and blockchain to achieve real-world human communication. <br /><br />Healthtech and Creator Economy are also in the list for sectors to watch out for in 2022. Over 29% — three in ten — respondents have voted for healthtech and 24% of respondents are siding with the creator economy.<br />  <div type="image" title="Web 3.0, SaaS and fintech will be big focus areas for 2022 even though early stage investments are expected to slow down" msid="90819364" hostid="261"></div><br />The report is based on the inputs from several early-stage institutional investors such as 3one4 Capital, Blume Ventures, First Cheque Ventures, Indian Angel Network, India Quotient, Kae Capital, Mumbai Angels, Omnivore, Orios Venture Partners, Waterbridge Ventures, Good Capital, and YourNest Capital. <br /><br />With this being said, five in ten respondents also believe that the early stage funding may see some slow down in the coming years. This will be quite disappointing to see as early stage funding has started to gain momentum over the last one year. <br /><br />“Early-stage investment activity has proven to be resilient in 2021 with bigger transaction sizes at higher valuations and an increase in the number of Angel Syndicates which are all clear indicators of a maturing early-stage ecosystem. Although the market sentiment shows muted hints of slowdown, however, we expect the early-stage funding environment to remain strong,” Tarana Lalwani, partner at InnoVen Capital India, said.<br /><br />Early stage startups in India raised nearly half a billion dollars in seed and pre-Series A round in 2021, compared to $365 million in the last year. The deal size also grew from 243 in 2020 to 316 in 2021. <br /><br />The average deal size in the early stage has also increased from $1.5 million to $1.8 million in this time span. <br />  <div type="image" title="Web 3.0, SaaS and fintech will be big focus areas for 2022 even though early stage investments are expected to slow down" msid="90819383" hostid="261"></div>Bengaluru continues to be the top destination for investors over the last three years, followed by Delhi NCR. According to InnoVen Capital’s latest report, two out of three early-stage investments are raised by startups based in Bengaluru and Delhi NCR. Nearly 12% of all fundings in raised by companies set up in Mumbai. <br /><br />Besides this, Pune and Chennai are among the top five startup cities in India. <br />  <div type="image" title="stage investments are expected to slow down" msid="90819392" hostid="261"></div><br /><strong>SEE ALSO</strong><br /><a class="tout-title-link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/infosys-icici-bank-vedanta-among-stocks-to-watch-out-for-on-april-13/slidelist/90811799.cms">Infosys, ICICI Bank, Vedanta among stocks to watch out for on April 13</a><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/recommended-spectrum-prices-are-backed-by-scientific-calculations-says-trai-chief-vaghela/articleshow/90812587.cms">Recommended spectrum prices are backed by scientific calculations, says Trai chief Vaghela</a><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/retail-inflation-rose-to-6-95-in-march-government-data/articleshow/90802182.cms">Retail inflation rises to 6.95% in March on costlier food items</a><br />

Web 3.0, SaaS and fintech will be big focus areas for 2022 even though early stage investments are expected to slow down

<p>The new "Lord of the Rings" game, "Middle-earth: Shadow of War," is <em>fine</em>. </p><p>Not in the '90s sense, but in the literal sense. It's not a terrible game, and it's not a great game. It's fine.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>WB Games</span></p><p class="caption">It's very pretty at times, but not always.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>I've spent around 15 hours murdering orcs and arguing with the ghost inside of the game's main character. What I've found is an aggressively mechanical game with a nonsensical story that's as fun to play as it is rote. </p><p>These are the highs and lows of "Middle-earth: Shadow of War.</p><p class="tagline">Get the latest Microsoft stock price<a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stock/MSFT-Quote"> here.</a></p>

I played 15 hours of the blockbuster new 'Shadow of War' game - here's what it's like

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://pictures.reuters.com/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&amp;VBID=2C0FCIKED88_8&amp;SMLS=1&amp;RW=1686&amp;RH=949#/SearchResult&amp;VBID=2C0FCIKED88_8&amp;SMLS=1&amp;RW=1686&amp;RH=949&amp;PN=5&amp;POPUPPN=243&amp;POPUPIID=2C04080AHIPEJ">REUTERS/Andy Clark</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div>The mountain resort operator Vail Resorts is buying Canada's Whistler Blackcomb in a deal worth about 1.4 billion Canadian dollars ($1.1 billion).</p><p>Vail will acquire 100% of Whistler Blackcomb's stock, paying shareholders 17.50 Canadian dollars in cash and 0.0975 of Vail Resorts common stock, with a total value of about 36 Canadian dollars per share.</p><p><span>"This relationship will bring greater resources to support our current operations and our ambitious growth plans, including the Renaissance project, the most exciting and transformative investment in </span>Whistler Blackcomb's<span> history," said </span>Dave Brownlie<span>, </span>Whistler Blackcomb's<span> CEO.</span></p><p>Greenhill &amp; Co. advised Whistler Blackcomb on the deal.</p><p>Whistler, which is about 75 miles from Vancouver, was the location of the Nordic events during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.</p><p>Here's the full statement:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">"BROOMFIELD, Colo. and WHISTLER, British Columbia, Aug. 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: MTN) ("Vail Resorts") and Whistler Blackcomb Holdings, Inc. (TSX: WB) ("Whistler Blackcomb") today announced that they have entered into a strategic business combination joining Whistler Blackcomb with Vail Resorts. Under the transaction, Vail Resorts would acquire 100 percent of the stock of Whistler Blackcomb, whose shareholders would receive C$17.50 per share in cash and 0.0975 shares of Vail Resorts common stock, for consideration having a total value of C$36.00 per share. The share exchange ratio is based upon closing stock prices and currency exchange rates as of August 5, 2016 and is subject to a currency exchange rate adjustment, as described below.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">"Combining Whistler Blackcomb with Vail Resorts' portfolio of outstanding resorts provides Whistler Blackcomb with increased financial strength, marketing exposure, guest relationships and broadens the geographic diversity of our company with resorts across the United States, as well as in Australia andCanada. This relationship will bring greater resources to support our current operations and our ambitious growth plans, including the Renaissance project, the most exciting and transformative investment in Whistler Blackcomb's history," said Dave Brownlie, Whistler Blackcomb's chief executive officer.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">"Whistler Blackcomb is one of the most iconic mountain resorts in the world with an incredible history, passionate employees and a strong community. With our combined experience and expertise, together we will build upon the guest experience at Whistler Blackcomb while preserving the unique brand and character of the resort as an iconic Canadian destination for guests around the world. We are delighted to add such a renowned resort to Vail Resorts and look forward to expanding our relationships in the Sea-to-Sky community, British Columbia and Canada," said Rob Katz, chairman and chief executive officer of Vail Resorts.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">Mr. Brownlie added, "As the number one ranked and most visited resort in North America, Whistler Blackcomb has enjoyed tremendous success by delivering an exceptional mountain experience for our passionate and loyal guests - both locally and from around the world.  That's going to continue as we work with our new colleagues at Vail Resorts as well as our employees, local businesses, community and government stakeholders to make Whistler Blackcomb better than ever. We will also continue our discussions with the Squamish and Lil'wat First Nations, on whose traditional lands we operate, regarding a business partnership that will benefit our communities, our province and our company for decades to come. Our board of directors has also been monitoring the unique challenges facing the broader ski industry due to the unpredictability of year-to-year regional weather patterns. Whistler Blackcomb, with its unprecedented acreage of high alpine terrain and Glacier bowls, is well positioned, but by no means immune to these challenges. Partnering with the geographically diversified Vail Resorts and extending its successful Epic Pass products to Whistler Blackcomb are customer-focused ways of securing the long-term future of our resort, our industry and our community."</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">Whistler Blackcomb will nominate one member of its board to the Vail Resorts board of directors, and Dave Brownlie will continue leading Whistler Blackcomb as the resort's chief operating officer and will become a member of the senior leadership team of Vail Resorts' mountain division."</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"> </p><p><em>More to come...</em></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/malcolm-gladwell-revisionist-history-donate-princeton-vassar-bowdoin-tipping-point-outliers-blink-2016-7">MALCOLM GLADWELL: 'Anyone who gives a single dollar to Princeton has completely lost their mind'</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="tlNzV5NDE68LblejgkI-6sByYCuoiDZ7" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

Vail Resorts is buying Whistler Blackcomb in a $1.1 billion deal

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p>Staples is prepared to argue before federal regulators that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/staples-is-buying-office-depot-2015-2">its acquisition of Office Depot</a>, which just last year <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/officemax-and-office-depot-merger-2013-2">acquired Office Max</a>, won't violate on antitrust provisions.</p>
<p>At first glance, it might feel like the merger of three former top office-supply retailers would be pretty close to a monopoly.</p>
<p>But this deal is probably going to be approved. And the buyer's recent launch of the digitized Staples Exchange shows why.</p>
<h3>In a word, Amazon.</h3>
<p>While an Office Depot-Staples-Max would represent a borderline brick-and-mortar monopoly that would make even W.B. Mason quake in his shoes, it won't scare Amazon.com, which has spent years chipping into Staples' revenue stream.</p>
<p>Staples' revenue, same-store sales, and stock performance have been disappointing since the financial crisis as more and more companies turned to the low-cost offerings of online suppliers.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<h3>The market has doubts</h3>
<p>But the market isn't totally sold on the deal, and Office Depot shares still trade well below Staples' <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/staples-is-buying-office-depot-2015-2">proposed</a> buyout price.</p>
<p>Staples offered $11 for Office Depot, and Office Depot is trading at about $9.50 on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Analysts are wondering whether federal regulators will sign off on Staples' proposed $6.3 billion buy of Office Depot - since both companies are already among the top online retailers in the US - and Staples is on the hook for a $250 million termination fee if their big buy is rejected in Washington.</p>
<h3>Like cigarettes, the long-term decline is an argument</h3>
<p>For office-supply retailers, as with a number of other American industries once seemingly immune to decline, long-term secular pressures may be sufficient to bolster their case in Washington. Activist investor Starboard Value used that argument to try to force a combination of Staples and Office Depot, and it appears to have worked for both companies' boards and investors.</p>
<p>Next, being able to successfully argue M&amp;A is necessary to provide solvency and stability to investors and employees alike will factor heavily into regulators' assessments of big deals, from Office Depot to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-worlds-two-biggest-cigarette-makers-just-merged-in-a-25-billion-deal-2014-7">tobacco giant Lorillard</a> to Time Warner Cable.</p>
<p>Recent quarterly numbers showed slipping sales at Staples, and even as Office Depot continues to digest its Office Max deal, reporting better revenue, the company is shuttering stores coast to coast.</p>
<p>Companies like Staples and Office Depot have an advantage as they gear up for Federal Trade Commission and US Department of Justice queries, which other mega M&amp;A players - like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/comcast-to-buy-time-warner-cable-2014-2">Comcast, in its ongoing quest to tuck in Time Warner Cable</a> - can't yet claim.</p>
<p>It's one that could also come into play as other one-time corporate behemoths strategize their integration plans.</p>
<p>With Staples, as with another former industry titan in the US, Reynolds American, now setting up a separate argument before regulators for its Lorillard Inc. buy, a common theme emerges. Each multibillion-dollar titan is seeing demand for its products decline, and it is unlikely either will be fortunate enough for trends to reverse.</p>
<p>For Staples, it's Amazon's increasing dominance in online retail that chips into its top line - not to mention the increasing obsolescence of products like printer ink and paper. For Reynolds, it is the ongoing health and information campaigns in the US that, since the mid-1990s, have hacked at its core user base, as well as skyrocketing tobacco taxation on a state level.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"></div><p></p></div></div> Numerous investors and economists are <a href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/consumer/fl-office-depot-staples-antitrust-20150206-story.html#page=1">arguing</a> against the proposed Staples transaction, fighting activist Starboard Value. Starboard also has built up a position in Office Depot, making it a direct beneficiary to the proposed deal. But with projections of declining revenue, Washington regulators might be more eager to allow major transactions that are accompanied by big job cuts to pass their smell test.</p>
<p>None of this will make Brian Roberts' proposed Time Warner Cable acquisition any more appetizing in D.C. - yet - but if he's not successful in getting his $45 billion deal approved this time around, Comcast may be able to copy other industries' templates in coming years, if Americans continue to cut the cord in favor of streaming options.</p>
<p>Look for other companies in US industries facing similar pressures to pursue arguments similar to Staples' as they try to make the most of what appears to be an increasingly flexible regulatory environment.</p>

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