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AMERICAS
AVROBIO, a biotechnology research firm, agreed to merge with Tectonic Therapeutic, a pre-clinical stage biotechnology company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“We are delighted to merge with AVROBIO at this important time for Tectonic. We are grateful to our investors for their commitment to our mission and to advancing our pipeline of uniquely differentiated molecules. Using biologics to unlock the therapeutic utility of targeting GPCRs which are not optimally drugged by small molecules could result in important advances for patients. GPCRs are central to human biology and are the target of more than 30% of all currently approved drugs. However, many GPCRs remain unexplored and have proven to be challenging targets for drug development. Our GEODeTM platform makes it possible to discover a broad pipeline of biologics addressing some of the most challenging receptors in the class. This transaction enhances our ability to execute on an efficient plan to advance our clinical-stage and potential best-in-class Fc-relaxin fusion protein, TX45, as well as additional assets in our pipeline. We anticipate multiple clinical catalysts over the next three years,” Alise Reicin, Tectonic Therapeutic CEO.
AVROBIO is advised by Houlihan Lokey, TD Cowen, Goodwin Procter, Joele Frank (led by Ed Trissel) and Westwicke (led by Chris Brinzey). Tectonic Therapeutic is advised by Leerink Partners, Piper Sandler, Cooley and MacDougall (led by Karen Sharma).
Exro, a clean technology company that has developed new generation power control electronics that change how the world optimizes energy, agreed to merge with SEA Electric, an automotive and e-mobility technology company, in a $294m deal.
"With OEM contracts in-hand and industrialization underway, SEA Electric will benefit greatly from this business combination. Exro provides the resources, capabilities and automotive systems that will ensure the successful execution of these important contracts, as well as offering complementary and differentiating technology in the form of its Coil Driver and Cell Driver. I am very excited about our combined future," Tony Fairweather, SEA Founder and CEO.
SEA Electric is advised by Canaccord Genuity, Eight Capital, Blake Cassels & Graydon and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher. Exro is advised by National Bank Financial, Dorsey & Whitney and Stikeman Elliott.
Amphenol, a global provider of high-technology interconnect, antenna and sensor solutions, agreed to acquire Carlisle Interconnect Technologies, the harsh environment interconnect solutions business of Carlisle Companies, an American diversified company, for $2bn.
"We are excited to welcome CIT’s approximately 6k talented employees to the Amphenol family. CIT’s highly engineered harsh environment interconnect solutions will allow us to deliver a more comprehensive technology solution for the increasingly complex applications of our customers in harsh environment markets. We look forward to benefiting from this enhanced position with these important customers in the commercial air, defense and industrial markets long into the future. In addition, we are excited by the possibilities created through the combination of Amphenol’s strong operating discipline and CIT’s advanced capabilities. We look forward to working together with CIT’s experienced management team to drive superior operating performance for the business as part of Amphenol," R. Adam Norwitt, Amphenol President and CEO.
Amphenol is advised by Evercore and Latham & Watkins (led by Robert Katz and Charles Ruck). Carlisle is advised by JP Morgan and Kirkland & Ellis.
Trilantic, a private equity firm, agreed to invest in SOFIE Biosciences, a radiopharmacy and contract development and manufacturing organization. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The investment is being made in partnership with SOFIE’s founding team, who will retain a meaningful equity stake and continue to lead the business.
SOFIE Biosciences is advised by Solomon Partners and Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison (led by Jeffrey Marell). Trilantic is advised by William Blair & Co and Kirkland & Ellis.
Summit Partners, a private equity firm, completed the acquisition of CollisionRight, a collision repair operator, from CenterOak Partners, a private equity firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“During CenterOak’s investment, CollisionRight grew revenue six-fold and became the sixth largest collision repair operator in the US. We have a history of developing investment themes and partnering with founders and talented executives to provide first time institutional capital. Alongside management, we invested in the team, operating systems, and growth, and have built a scaled provider with a market leading service offering,” Jason Sutherland, CenterOak Partners Managing Partner.
CollisionRight was advised by Jefferies & Company, Stifel and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher. CenterOak Partners was advised by BackBay Communications (led by Jeremy Milner).
Enpro, an industrial technology company, completed the acquisition of Advanced Micro Instruments, a provider of highly-engineered, application-specific analyzers and sensing technologies that monitor critical parameters to maintain infrastructure integrity, from McNally Capital, a private equity firm, for $210m.
“Acquiring AMI, an industry leader, will build on our strategy to invest in products and technologies that safeguard critical environments in key secular growth markets. AMI’s innovative analyzer and sensor solutions will add to our existing portfolio of critical process technologies in the Sealing Technologies segment, and this acquisition will be an important step forward in expanding our capabilities into compositional analysis. We look forward to welcoming the talented AMI team to the Enpro family of companies and capitalizing on our combined capabilities," Eric Vaillancourt, Enpro President and CEO.
Advanced Micro Instruments was advised by William Blair & Co and Ropes & Gray (led by Timothy Castelli). Enpro was advised by Joele Frank (led by Daniel Katcher).
CDPQ, a pension fund, and SMBC Aviation, an aircraft leasing company, agreed to form Maple Aircraft, an aircraft financing and leasing platform, in a $1.5bn deal.
“Building on CDPQ’s experience in the aircraft financing industry, through this new platform, we will continue to provide flexible financing solutions for airlines to meet their future fleet requirements. We’re delighted to partner with SMBC Aviation Capital, an industry leader with a successful track record, who has demonstrated their commitment to sustainable aviation, to find the best opportunities in the commercial aircraft industry and to achieve attractive risk-adjusted returns over the long term,” Marc Cormier, CDPQ Executive Vice-President and Head of Fixed Income.
FTV Capital, a private equity firm, led a $150m funding in Kore.ai, a chatbots platform, with participation from NVIDIA, Vistara Growth, Sweetwater, NextEquity, Nicola and Beedie.
"We have been working with advanced AI for a decade now – our deep technology expertise and market understanding put us in a prime position to take advantage of the momentum and to do AI right in order to meet growing customer needs. Sitting above the infrastructure layer and LLM chaos, our open approach grants businesses freedom of choice with built-in guardrails for effective AI implementation. As we look to enhance our Gen AI-powered innovations and drive wider adoption across a variety of market segments, we are pleased to have the backing of FTV Capital, a firm that has significant experience in our space and invaluable connections across the enterprise to augment our exciting growth trajectory," Raj Koneru, Kore.ai Founder and CEO.
Kore.ai was advised by Fusion PR.
Gilead Sciences, a biopharmaceutical company, agreed to invest $320m in Arcus Biosciences, a biopharmaceutical company.
“This amendment allows Gilead to accelerate the domvanalimab program and enables Arcus to focus on progressing multiple pipeline assets, including both Gilead-optioned and non-optioned programs. We look forward to strengthening our collaboration as we explore the collective power of our cross-portfolio combinations to help transform how cancer is treated,” Merdad Parsey, Gilead Sciences Chief Medical Officer.
A group of investors, including Hanwha Impact, CPP Investments, Rivas Capital, NGS Super, State of Michigan Retirement System, Flagship Pioneering, and RCM Private Markets, led a $103m funding in Inari Agriculture, a biotechnology research company.
“This fundraise comes at an exciting time for the company, helping to further advance our cutting-edge technologies and enter the commercialization phase – bringing our breakthrough products into the hands of seed customers,” Ponsi Trivisvavet, Inari CEO.
Constellation Quality Health, a healthcare quality consulting organization, completed the acquisition of Workshop Wizard, a public health software program. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"The acquisition of Workshop Wizard marks a strategic step in Constellation Quality Health's growth and a win for health care programs and organizations requiring current and futuristic data capabilities for operational success," Steven Martin, Constellation Quality Health President and CEO.
Nippon Steel says Japan's 3 megabanks plan $16bn loan for US Steel acquisition.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group plan to lend Nippon Steel a combined $16bn for its planned acquisition of US Steel, Reuters reported.
"We have received a commitment letter for a combined $16bn in loans from the three Japanese megabanks on condition that the acquisition goes through," Nippon Steel.
EMEA
Trilantic Europe, a European private equity firm, agreed to acquire a 60% stake in AEROCOMPACT Group, a supplier of solar mounting solutions specializing in the development, production and distribution of substructures for mounting photovoltaic modules. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Our strong growth trajectory since the company was founded around ten years ago shows that there is enormous potential in our products and engineering services. The entry of Trilantic Europe opens up the opportunity to accelerate our growth plan to expand our international market presence and seek potential acquisitions even further. Thanks to the international reach of our new shareholder Trilantic Europe, both in the renewable energy sector and in the capital market, we can pursue this goal with full vigor. We are very pleased about this extremely positive milestone for our company," Mathias Muther, AEROCOMPACT Founder.
AEROCOMPACT Group is advised by Turnkey Finance, William Blair & Co and Clavis Kommunikationsberatung (led by Dieter Bitschnau). Trilantic is advised by Lazard and Citigate Dewe Rogerson (led by Agnes Riousse).
Motor Fuel Group, the UK's largest independent forecourt operator, agreed to acquire 337 Morrisons petrol forecourts from Wm Morrison Supermarkets, the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom, for £2.5bn ($3.2bn).
"As the needs of the customer continue to evolve, Morrisons and MFG's partnership will see us combine our respective expertise and resources to deliver the best value for customers at the pump, in our convenience stores and in our supermarkets. It means Morrisons customers will continue to see a competitive and attractive forecourt offering, including expanded access to EV charging, while also benefitting from greater focus on investment in Morrisons' core food business. We are delighted to have such a strong partner in MFG and look forward to the opportunities a combined MFG and Morrisons forecourt offering will provide," Rami Baitiéh, Morrisons CEO.
Airbus, a European multinational aerospace corporation, completed the acquisition of the remaining 50% stake in its joint venture with OneWeb from Eutelsat, a French satellite operator. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The agreement reflects Eutelsat Group’s ongoing management of its assets with a view to optimizing and monetizing its portfolio as part of its debt reduction efforts.
Activist Clearway buys stake in Italy TV tower firm RAI Way. (FS)
Activist investor Clearway Capital has acquired a minority stake in Italy’s RAI Way, with the aim of brokering a long-discussed merger of the state-backed TV tower operator with a local rival, Bloomberg reported.
Clearway plans to press RAI Way’s board to merge with Milan-based EI Towers. EI Towers is controlled by infrastructure fund F2i, with the Berlusconi family’s MFE-MediaForEurope holding the rest.
Steve Cohen, Marc Lasry Group set to invest billions in PGA Tour. (FS)
The PGA Tour is close to finalizing a historic investment from a US consortium, Bloomberg reported.
The initial investment from Strategic Sports Group could be about $3bn, with an additional tranche from the Saudi Public Investment Fund. The deal could value PGA Tour Enterprises — the for-profit entity created to house the Tour’s commercial interests — at about $12bn.
Britain grants long-term market access for EU investment funds. (FS)
Britain said it would grant long-term market access for EU based investment and money market funds used by UK investors, and without new costly requirements such as mandatory valuation assessments.
Funds listed in Dublin and Luxembourg are widely used by UK investors, but asset managers worried that obtaining long-term post-Brexit access to Britain could come with burdensome new requirements, such as having to re-assess the value of assets in their funds, Reuters reported.
VW joins Renault in pulling back from EV stock offering efforts.
Volkswagen joined Renault in walking back plans to sell shares in electric-vehicle businesses, deterred by slowing EV demand and a brutal market for initial public offerings, Bloomberg reported.
VW has put efforts to seek outside investors for its PowerCo battery unit on the back burner. Renault scrapped the initial public offering of its EV and software business Ampere late Monday.
PC maker Raspberry Pi picks banks for IPO, choosing London over New York.
Personal computer maker Raspberry Pi appointed bankers at Peel Hunt and Jefferies to prepare a London initial public offering, a listing that would be a win for the UK capital after an exodus of companies to the US, Blomberg reported.
"Raspberry Pi is in the early stages of preparing for listing on the London Stock Exchange, looking ahead to when the IPO market reopens," Eben Upton, Raspberry Pi CEO.
Advent looks at options for UK parcel delivery firm Evri. (FS)
Private equity group Advent International is considering options, including a potential sale, for its British parcel delivery service Evri, Reuters reported.
Advent holds a 75% stake in Evri and is working with advisers on its options for the business, which could be valued at around £2bn ($2.55bn) including debt.
Norway wealth fund posts record $213bn profit, driven by tech stocks. (FS)
Norway's $1.6tn sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, reported a record profit of $213bn in 2023, driven by strong returns on its investments in technology stocks. The result compared with a record loss in 2022 of $157bn, Reuters reported.
"Despite high inflation and geopolitical turmoil, the equity market in 2023 was very strong, compared to a weak year in 2022. Technology stocks in particular performed very well," Nicolai Tangen, NBIM CEO.
Two key UBS investors worry about bank's size, regulatory friction.
UBS is forging ahead with its integration of Credit Suisse but two key investors fear the Swiss bank could be on a collision course with regulators because of its size, Reuters reported.
Siemens CEO to get second term after contract ends. (People)
Siemens shareholder and employee representatives want to extend the contract of CEO Roland Busch and offer him a second term in office, Reuters reported.
His contract runs until the end of March 2025 and a formal decision is expected in spring or summer. Investors also support an extension before next week's shareholder meeting.
APAC
KT, Korea’s premier datacenter corporation, led a $124m Series B round in Rebellions, a pioneering AI chipmaker, with participation from Pavilion Capital, Korea Development Bank, Korelya Capital and DG Daiwa Ventures.
The new capital from the investment will empower Rebellions to attract more talents and accelerate the development of Rebel, the company’s next-generation AI chip designed for running Large Language Models with Samsung Electronics.
US lawmakers seek probe into four Chinese firms involved in Ford battery plant.
The chairs of two US House committees asked the Biden administration to investigate four Chinese companies they say are involved in Ford Motor's planned Michigan battery plant, DealStreetAsia reported.
The four Chinese companies have direct ties to the Chinese military, Chinese Communist Party, North Korean government and alleged human rights abuses in China's Xinjiang region. The plant has drawn fire from US lawmakers for its use of technology supplied by Chinese battery maker CATL.
Chinese jewelry chain Zhou Liu Fu considering a Hong Kong IPO.
Zhou Liu Fu Jewelry is considering an initial public offering in Hong Kong as soon as this year, Bloomberg reported.
The Chinese jewelry chain-store operator has held discussions with potential advisers and is close to picking banks for the first-time share sale. A listing could raise a couple of hundred million dollars and value the firm at more than CNY10bn ($1.4bn).
Blackstone's Aadhar Housing Finance targets $600m India IPO. (FS)
Blackstone-owned Indian home loans provider Aadhar Housing Finance is targeting a $600m-650m initial public offering at a valuation of up to $3bn, Reuters reported.
Private equity group Blackstone acquired Aadhar for about $300m in 2019 as it bet on growing demand for affordable housing and financing in India. The IPO attempt is Aadhar's second shot at a listing after a $1bn IPO plan in 2022 was called off amid market volatility that followed the Russia-Ukraine war.
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