Communications services companies rose amid deal activity.
Verizon Communications shares rose after investment firms Apollo Global Management agreed to pay about $5 billion to acquire Yahoo and AOL from the wireless-telephone carrier company, a move that Wall Street analysts applauded as a necessary exit from digital media businesses whose value Verizon had already written down sharply.
Magazine publisher Meredith agreed to sell its broadcast-television business to local-television rival Gray Television. Meredith said Gray agreed to purchase its business that owns or operates 17 television stations for $2.7 billion in cash, giving Gray more access to some of the largest metropolitan markets.
Amazon.com will take over exclusive video rights for "Thursday Night Football" starting in the 2022-23 season, a year earlier than anticipated, the company and the National Football League said. Meanwhile, deals continued to surface in the Denmark-based Better Collective, which offers tools and media content to help subscribers place more-informed bets, agreed to purchase rival Action Network for $240 million. Last week, DraftKings, a digital entertainment and gaming company, purchased rights to a popular podcast by former ESPN host Dan Le Batard for $50 million. Also in April, gambling company Bally's announced a $2.7 billion merger with online-gaming company Gamesys Group.
Electronics giant Sony Group struck a deal with the online chat startup Discord, which is particularly popular with gamers, a development that came shortly after reports that Discord had halted talks to sell itself to potential suitors including Microsoft.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-03-21 1708ET
