Which Industries Will See Consolidation in 2015?

The transcript discusses the challenges in the stock market, focusing on John Malone's influence and the impact of losing Disney rights to Netflix. It analyzes global deal volumes, highlighting transformative deals and CEO confidence. The discussion includes major deals like Pfizer's attempt to buy AstraZeneca and Comcast's deal with Time Warner Cable. The outlook for 2015 is optimistic, with expectations of continued market activity despite challenges like limited private equity involvement and foreign buyer dynamics.

What was one of the main complications in selling Stars?

• John Malone's desire to maintain control

• The company's debt issues

• A lack of interested buyers

• Competition from Netflix

Why are companies engaging in more transformative deals?

• To reduce their workforce

• Because of the high stock market

• To avoid paying taxes

• Due to government incentives

What change in stock behavior is noted in the second section?

• Both target and acquirer stocks going down

• Only acquirer stock going down

• Both target and acquirer stocks going up

• Target stock going down and acquirer stock going up

What was a significant factor in the return of CEO confidence?

• Rising unemployment rates

• Decreasing interest rates

• The end of the Washington shutdown

• Increased government regulations

What is a notable trend in the market as we look towards 2015?

• More activity on the sell side than the buy side

• A decline in CEO confidence

• A decrease in foreign buyer activity

• An increase in deals below $5 billion