Catch up on the weekend’s top five stories with this list compiled by The Fly: 1. Citrix Systems (CTXS) is close to a deal to be taken private, continuing a spate of big leveraged buyouts, The Wall Street Journal’s Cara Lombardo reported. Elliott Management’s private-equity arm, Evergreen Coast Capital, and Vista Equity Partners are near an agreement to pay $104 a share, or roughly $13 billion, for the software company, the author noted, citing people familiar with the matter. The deal could be announced Monday, the sources said. 2. Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) has kicked off the sales process for its Boots international drugstore unit as fresh buyout companies, including Sycamore Partners, consider bids, Bloomberg’s Aaron Kirchfeld, Dinesh Nair, and Jan-Henrik Foerster report, citing people familiar with the matter. The U.S. company is sending out preliminary information on the business to potential suitors ahead of first-round bids due in the coming weeks, the sources said. Boots, which mostly operates pharmacies in Britain, could be valued at as much as $9.6B in a sale, Bloomberg said. 3. Tesla (TSLA) shares got hammered this past week after the company reported better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings, with the reaction to record profits and an earnings beat leaving investors as well as analysts dazed and confused, Al Root wrote in this week’s edition of Barron’s. It’s the third-worst reaction to any Tesla quarter over the past 11 years, but the other two made more sense because portions of the reported results missed analyst expectations, the author noted. This coming week brings earnings reports from Ford (F) and General Motors (GM), and investors will be watching for how they navigate the chip shortages. Tesla stock, surprisingly, looks like the best bet over the coming months, as chip supplies and 2022 outlooks work themselves out, Root argued. While Tesla shares now trade for about 83 times estimated 2022 earnings – a high multiple -, it also grows the fastest of the bunch by a long shot, the publication added. 4. Sony (SONY) and Marvel’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home” won this weekend’s box office in its seventh outing as moviegoing continued to slow amid surge in COVID cases due to the omicron variant. The super hero movie earned $11M for a domestic total of $735M, the fourth best showing of all time, not adjusted for inflation. Overseas, “No Way Home” surpassed the $1B mark, siting at $1.74B, the sixth best of all time. 5. Wesco (WCC) and Moderna (MRNA) saw positive mentions in this week’s edition of Barron’s.
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