Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions

Vodafone

18/02/2026 14:58

Adds: Rio Tinto, Cencora, Liberty Global, Vodafone; Updates: Western Digital

Feb 18 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1430 GMT on Wednesday:

** Rio Tinto RIO.L, RIO.AX said it has gained majority control of Canada's Nemaska Lithium, advancing its push to build an integrated lithium business in Quebec. nL4N3ZE118

** Cencora COR.N will sell its subsidiary MWI Animal Health to privately held Covetrus in a deal valuing the unit at $3.5 billion, the companies said, as it aims to narrow its focus on drug distribution. nL4N3ZE0Q4

** Western Digital WDC.O is planning to raise $3.17 billion by selling a part of its stake in flash memory unit Sandisk SNDK.O, which it used to own, as the hard disk drive maker looks to reduce debt. nL4N3ZE0D4

** Virgin Media O2 owners Liberty Global LBTYA.O and Telefonica TEF.MC, along with private equity firm InfraVia, agreed to buy alternative fiber provider Substantial Group for 2 billion pounds ($2.72 billion), aiming to create a scaled challenger to BT Openreach. nL6N3ZE0PX

** Vodafone VOD.L said it would sell its 50% stake in Dutch joint-venture VodafoneZiggo to its partner Liberty Global LBTYA.O for 1 billion euros ($1.18 billion) in cash and a 10% stake in a new enlarged Benelux telecoms group. nL4N3ZE0WS

** Australian steelmaker BlueScope Steel BSL.AX said it was considering a sweetened A$15 billion ($10.62 billion) takeover approach from SGH Ltd SGH.AX and U.S.-based Steel Dynamics STLD.O, but investors remain hesitant a deal will go ahead. nL4N3ZD1QJ

** Danaher DHR.N, a $150 billion U.S. company that makes tools used in developing and testing medicines, on Tuesday agreed to buy Masimo MASI.O for $9.9 billion, expanding in patient-monitoring devices in a surprise move outside its main focus. nL4N3ZD0X5

** Warner Bros Discovery WBD.O on Tuesday rejected Paramount Skydance's PSKY.O latest $30-a-share hostile bid, but gave the rival Hollywood studio seven days to submit a "best and final" offer to top an existing agreement to sell its businesses, including HBO Max and "Harry Potter" franchise to Netflix. nL4N3ZD0PX

 (Compiled by Rajarshi Roy and Pragyan Kalita in Bengaluru)

 ((Pragyan.Kalita@thomsonreuters.com))