Acquisitions

A few years ago, Countrywide Financial Corp. was not only the nation's biggest home lender but also highly regarded -- an "apple pie" company, as a former marketer for the Calabasas lender recalls. Linked more recently with high-risk loans, co-founder Angelo R. Mozilo's huge paydays and FBI investigations, the Countrywide name became "too toxic to resuscitate," as another expert puts it -- and a liability for Bank of America Corp., which snatched it up last year as it neared collapse.

The sale of IndyMac Federal Bank was concluded Thursday, and the new owners wasted no time in ditching its tainted name. Starting today, IndyMac is OneWest Bank. The Pasadena bank's new owners, organized under OneWest Bank Group, bought the bank's $20.7 billion in loans and other assets for $16 billion. That includes $9 billion in financing from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Federal Home Loan Bank. For IndyMac customers it will be business as usual.

The makers of Sunny D, long known as a children's drink, are looking to reach a more mature and health-minded consumer -- and they're going to use a West Los Angeles drink maker to do it. Beverages Holdings purchased Bossa Nova Beverage Group Inc. Wednesday for an undisclosed amount, said Lloyd Greif, chief executive of Greif & Co., the Los Angeles investment-banking firm that represented Bossa Nova in the transaction. Bossa Nova is best known for its acai juice drink.

Many Sundance Film Festival movies left this year's gathering without a distributor, but indie film pioneer Harvey Weinstein is alleging that one of the festival's most acclaimed movies -- "Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire" -- actually was sold twice. In three lawsuits filed Wednesday in New York against the film's sales agent, Cinetic Media, Lionsgate Films and the film's producers, Weinstein Co.

Walt Disney Co.'s romance with Marvel Entertainment began last February when Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger first brought up the idea of an acquisition during an otherwise innocuous business meeting with Marvel film chief David Maisel. In June, Iger made his intentions clear and the two companies embarked on a nearly three-month-long series of negotiations that involved four in-person meetings, numerous phone discussions and an intense back-and-forth over price that culminated in the $4-billion deal announced Aug. 31. The timeline of the negotiations that led to the acquisition, along with other details of the agreement, were disclosed Tuesday in a regulatory filing from Disney that led with its public offer of up to $2.12 billion in stock to help fund the deal.

Blockbuster Inc. shares rose 17% after the founder of the Hollywood Video chain took a 5.7% equity stake in the world's biggest video-rental chain and expressed confidence that the Dallas company could meet its obligations. Wattles Capital Management acquired 4.84 million shares of Blockbuster, while HKW Trust, which Mark Wattles controls, bought 2 million, according to a regulatory filing Monday. Blockbuster shares, which declined 68% last year, jumped 11 cents to 76 cents.

Amazon.com Inc. makes its money as an online retailer. So why would it want a company that rents DVDs? Officially, it doesn't -- or at least it isn't talking about it. But an Amazon purchase of DVD rental king Netflix Inc. has been the subject of on-again, off-again rumors on Wall Street, and that speculation Monday sent Netflix shares up 7%. Although neither company would comment on the speculation, some analysts think it isn't that far-fetched.

San Francisco investment firm Golden Gate Capital has won the bankruptcy auction for the Eddie Bauer chain with a $286-million offer, besting several liquidators with a plan to keep open most of the outdoor-clothing retailer's 370 stores in the U.S. and Canada. Eddie Bauer Holdings Inc., based in Bellevue, Wash., attracted several bidders, including liquidators Great American Group, Hilco Consumer Capital and Gordon Bros. Group, as well as Iconix Brand Group Inc., which owns Rocawear clothing.

After two decades as owner of one of America's storied broadcasters, and five years operating a fabled movie studio, General Electric Co. appears ready to take a smaller part in show business. The industrial giant, maker of jet engines and wind turbines, is in talks to have cable TV leader Comcast Corp. assume management of NBC Universal, which includes NBC; more than 10 cable channels including Bravo, MSNBC and USA Network; the Universal Pictures movie studio; and the Universal Studios theme parks.

Stunted by the nation's credit freeze, troubled OptiSolar Inc. of Hayward, Calif., has agreed to sell its portfolio of unfinished solar farms to one of the hottest firms in the solar industry. First Solar Inc. said Monday that it would pay OptiSolar $400 million in First Solar stock to buy the outstanding projects, which the Tempe, Ariz., company intends to complete. The portfolio includes a planned 550-megawatt facility in San Luis Obispo County known as the Topaz Solar Farm.