Tara Lachapelle, Columnist

Warning: Risky Megamergers Ahead

The Trump factor adds more uncertainty about whether the deals get done, plus there's a lot more potential downside if they don't.

January 5, 2018 at 6:37 PM UTC

By Tara Lachapelle

Tara Lachapelle is a former Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering entertainment, telecommunications and deals.

1515177201_GettyImages-89255819 — Photographer: Jamie Squire/Getty Images

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Somewhere between the squabble over whose "nuclear button" is bigger, the "bomb cyclone" and the fire and fury surrounding a tell-all book on the Trump presidency, this week delivered an important lesson for Wall Street about the messy, fickle times in which we're all living. Investors in 21st Century Fox Inc., Aetna Inc., Time Warner Inc. and their megadealing ilk might want to pay attention.

A puny corporate takeover that few people beyond billionaire Jack Ma cared much about was just served a death blow by the Trump administration. The damage is pretty much confined to MoneyGram International Inc. shareholders (more than 20 percent of which are hedge funds). But the deal's undoing speaks volumes about the amplified risk in betting on transactions that are being kicked up to various government regulatory bodies under Trump -- especially high-profile, super-sized ones like Walt Disney Co.'s $66 billion offer to buy most of Fox and CVS Health Corp.'s $77 billion deal for Aetna.