| Last week saw one of the biggest mining mergers in over a decade as Anglo American agreed to acquire Teck Resources. On the surface, it seemed as if the companies were bucking the recent trend of conglomerates splitting up. But deals reporter Crystal Tse is here to explain the current M&A landscape. Plus: AI video creators are hooking viewers, a public-health betting crisis, and for whom are those better-for-you snacks? If this email was forwarded to you, click here to sign up. Some senior dealmakers would say that there are almost no new ideas in M&A. The same combinations get explored, discussed and inked before they’re broken up again. That’s the cycle of deals. The bulk-up then breakup thesis has been playing out prominently in the consumer sector. Kraft Heinz, which was formed through a 2015 merger to put the namesake mac and cheese and ketchup under one roof, announced a split this month essentially taking things back to where they began. One of the companies will own the fastest-flourishing global brands, while the other will include slower-growing grocery products such as Oscar Mayer hot dogs and Lunchables. The separation of Kraft Heinz, which doesn’t require shareholder votes, came after a change in appetite from investors who now prefer simplification over diversification. Investors want to build portfolios themselves and prefer that companies focus their operations. The same de-conglomeration played out in Kellogg, which became Kellanova and WK Kellogg before both pieces were acquired.  Kellogg’s world headquarters in Battle Creek, Michigan. Photographer: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images We’ve also seen it in the industrials sector with the three-way split of General Electric and Honeywell, as well as in the technology space where Intel has been hiving off assets, such as its programmable chip business Altera, in a deal that closed today with private equity firm Silver Lake. And in media, there’s the coming divide of Warner Bros. Discovery. The pendulum of corporate decision-making actually swings between diversification and simplification, back and forth. That’s how we get conglomerates in the first place. Of course, some deals end up falling on both sides: Keurig Dr Pepper’s $18 billion deal to buy JDE Peet’s would have formed a beverage giant, and instead it became a two-step acquisition-then-separation transaction where soft drinks and coffee will run as two independent US-listed companies. On the surface, the zero-premium merger between Anglo American and Teck Resources announced last week looks like an outlier. And yet, it’s actually still a story of simplification. Each company has fended off unsolicited takeovers in the past three years from rivals such as BHP and Glencore and had since cleaned up their portfolios of materials. Anglo American, with the added pressure from a very vocal activist investor Elliott Investment Management, had exited platinum mining this year. It’s also in the process of selling coal mines and offloading diamond unit De Beers. What remains in Anglo would be a powerhouse in copper mining after its combination with Teck, which generates most of its revenue from copper—an important component used in the making of electric vehicle batteries. (Copper has always been the proxy of industrialization.) As I said, simplification. Whether it’s breakup or bulk-up, the ultimate beneficiaries are investment bankers. Major banks such as JPMorgan, Bank of America and Citigroup all reported gains in investment banking fees in the third quarter. That also led to a talent grab in the banking world where rainmakers are poached with the enticement of top dollars and guaranteed paydays. The Anglo American-Teck deal could kick off a series of acquisitions as competitors react, either finding a way to derail the deal or exploring other combinations. The fees frenzy continues. | 
