Daily Review

Private equity firms Blackstone and Hellman & Friedmann secured a 9.7% stake in Scout24 just two days before the deadline to win majority support for the €5.7bn ($6.4bn) takeover of the firm. Scout24 operates digital marketplaces specializing in the real estate and automotive sectors in Germany and other European countries. The deal was announced in January. The purchase price represents a 27% premium to Scout24’s last closing.

Citigroup, Morgan & Stanley, Allen & Overy and Gleiss Lutz are advising Scout24. JP Morgan, EY, Freshfields and Latham & Watkins are advising Blackstone and Hellman & Friedmann. JP Morgan is providing debt financing and being advised by Linklaters.

 

Vodafone agreed to provide Telefonica Deutschland, a provider of broadband, landline and mobile telecommunications in Germany, with access to its high-speed broadband network to try to help secure approval for its acquisition of Liberty Global’s cable business in Germany and eastern Europe. The deal with Liberty Global was announced in May 2018. The European Commission set a July 9 deadline for deciding whether to approve the acquisition.

“By adding fast cable connections, we now have access to an extensive infrastructure portfolio and can offer to even more O2 customers attractive broadband products – including internet-based TV with O2 TV – for better value for money,” Telefónica Deutschland Chief Executive Markus Haas said.

Vodafone is advised by EY, Morgan Stanley, Robey Warshaw, UBS, Hengeler Mueller, Lakatos Koves and Partners, Slaughter & May, Maitland and CNC/JKL. Liberty Global is advised by Goldman Sachs, LionTree Advisors, CMS, Freshfields, Shearman & Sterling and Citigate Dewe Rogerson.

 

Schroders, the fourth largest shareholder of Provident with a 14.6% stake, said it would reject Non-Standard Finance’s £1.3bn ($1.7bn) hostile takeover bid, accusing NSF and some of Provident’s largest shareholders of trying to force through a deal against the interest of minority investors.

This makes it impossible for NSF to reach the 90% shareholder approval it was aiming for to complete the takeover.

Barclays, JP Morgan, Jefferies and Brunswick Group are advising Provident. Deutsche Bank, Ondra Partners, Shore Capital, Slaughter & May and Maitland are advising NSF.

 

Lufthansa, the largest German airline, offered to acquire Condor, a German leisure airline based in Frankfurt, from Thomas Cook Group, a British global travel company. The deal comes with an option to acquire the remaining airlines of the British travel group. Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said it was unlikely a single buyer could acquire all Thomas Cook airlines due to antitrust regulations. Financial terms were not disclosed.

 

Italian publisher GEDI is not satisfied with a binding bid submitted by Italian infrastructure fund F2i for its 30%-owned broadcasting unit Persidera, Reuters reported. GEDI believed F2i’s bid, worth approximately €250m ($279m) for the whole of Persidera, could be improved. The offer was made on May 2. GEDI’s approval is needed for the deal to go ahead.

 

Severstal, a Russian company mainly operating in the steel and mining industry, agreed to sell Mini-Mill Balakovo, a steel mill in Russia, to Abinsk Electric Steel Works, a steel bars manufacturer, for $215m. The transaction is expected to complete in the first half of 2019 following the receipt of approvals and other standard conditions.

Alexander Shevelev, CEO of Severstal, commented: “Following the sale of Mini-Mill Balakovo, we plan to focus on developing steel production at our main asset, the Cherepovets Steel Mill. We are confident that this will enable us to streamline our internal processes to execute our updated strategic priorities successfully. We are committed to providing our customers with integrated solutions and increasing our production of high value-added products.”

Citigroup is advising Severstal.

 

Kesko, a Finnish retailing conglomerate, agreed to acquire Heinon Tukku, a Finnish food retailer and wholesaler, from Tukkuheino and private individuals. Heinon Tukku will complement Kespro’s current service offering and network, especially in the greater Helsinki region, also enabling significant synergies. Financial terms were not disclosed.

”Heinon Tukku is in good shape and has a good reputation. We considered it important that ownership of the company would remain in Finland, and we trust that Kesko will be a good owner for Heinon Tukku. Kespro’s responsible and customer-oriented way of working made the decision easier for us,” said Petri Heino, Managing Director of Tukkuheino.

Krogerus is advising Tukkuheino.

 

Proofpoint, a leading next-generation cybersecurity and compliance company, agreed to acquire Meta Networks, an innovator in zero trust network access, for $120m. With this acquisition, Proofpoint will strengthen its cloud-based architecture and people-centric security platform, enabling customers to better protect their people and the applications and data they access beyond the traditional perimeter. The agreement is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2019.

“As cyber attacks primarily target people, and organizations continue to move their infrastructure to the cloud, the compromise of a single user all too often leads to a full enterprise breach. Limiting employee and contractor access to only authorized resources, rather than the entire corporate network, is a critical control in a people-centric security model,” said Proofpoint CEO Gary Steele. “By combining Meta Networks’ innovative zero trust network access technology with our people-centric security capabilities, Proofpoint will make it far simpler for enterprises to precisely control employee and contractor access to on-premises, cloud, and consumer applications. We are thrilled to welcome Meta Networks employees to the Proofpoint team.”

 

Bowmark Capital-backed Instant Group, a global leader in independent flexible workspace solutions, acquired Incendium Consulting, an independent corporate real estate consultancy. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Instant Chief Executive, Tim Rodber, said: Bringing Instant and Incendium together gives clients access to independent market-leading consultancy, world-class data and delivery options that transform their approach to the workplace in what is a truly distinct offer in the market."

 

RSK Group, an integrated environmental, engineering and technical services consultancy, acquired Biocensus, an ecological consultancy and Consents Solutions, a wayleave business. Financial terms were not disclosed.

“Biocensus and Consents Solutions are two fantastic businesses with their clients’ needs at their hearts,” said RSK’s founder and chief executive officer Alan Ryder. “Biocensus’s team of passionate ecologists offers a pragmatic and high-quality ecological resource and helps clients to achieve their development objectives. Consents Solutions is an established and renowned service provider within the energy sector with a proven track record of delivery. Both businesses will extend RSK’s service offering, so I am delighted to welcome them aboard.”

 

Private equity firm KJK Management completed the acquisition of Slovenia-based Elan, one of the world's leading sporting goods companies. The deal was announced in December 2018. Financial terms were not disclosed.

 

Kustaa Äimä, the founder and senior partner at KJK, stated: "We are delighted to have closed the purchase of Elan after nine months of work. We believe that Elan's relentless focus on its customers makes its products highly relevant to consumers, thereby making Elan highly competitive on the world stage."

 

Odvetniki Selih & partnerji advised KJK Management. Rojs, Peljhan, Prelesnik & partnerji and Freitag & Co advised the sellers.

 

Engineering, environment and design consultancy Sweco Power UK acquired MLM Group, one of the largest, privately-owned engineering, environmental and building control consultancies in the UK. Financial terms were not disclosed.

 

Max Joy, president of Sweco UK, said: “This acquisition marks the start of an exciting new chapter in our UK growth story. The combination of Sweco and MLM Group’s expertise in transport, buildings and environmental engineering will enhance our value proposition to customers while opening up new opportunities in key markets."

 

Reuters reported that Cellnex, one of the main operators of wireless telecommunications and broadcasting infrastructures in Europe, agreed to acquire mobile towers in France, Italy and Switzerland from French tycoon Xavier Niel for €2.7bn ($3bn). The deal by Mr. Niel, considered a maverick in France’s telecoms sector, follows a similar one by French rival Bouygues Telecom in 2017 under which it sold about 3k mobile sites to Cellnex for €900m ($1bn).

For Spanish towers group Cellnex, the acquisitions of thousands of new sites in the three countries allow it to extend its reach in Europe, where it has grown considerably over the past few years and is now seen as a key player in a potential consolidation of the telecoms infrastructure market.

 

Societe Generale Chief Executive Officer Frédéric Oudéa told the Financial Times that he believes mergers between big European lenders “make sense” and are likely to start once the “fundamental obstacles” to consolidation of the sector are lifted. He added that the consolidation impeded by national regulations on capital and liquidity, as well as a different legal framework for bankruptcy laws in different countries across the bloc. Mr. Oudéa thinks consolidation will start once the eurozone banking union is completed.

UniCredit to further reduce its stake in FinecoBank.

Italy’s biggest bank UniCredit is looking to further reduce its stake in online banking unit FinecoBank, a prized asset whose sale would help to buttress the group’s financial strength. UniCredit currently holds a 35% stake in the unit, which has a total valuation of $2.7bn.

UniCredit CEO Jean Pierre Mustier started reducing the bank’s stake in Fineco upon his arrival at UniCredit in mid-2016 with a mandate to beef up the lender’s capital strength and turn it around. Mustier sold a 10% stake in Fineco for €328m ($367m) in July 2016 and a further 20% for €552m ($617m) in October of the same year.

 

The Benetton family increased its stake in Assicurazioni Generali to 4%, the Italian insurer’s Chairman Gabriele Galateri said. Depending on market conditions the holding could grow to as much as 5%. Other major Generali shareholders are Milan-based banking group Mediobanca, with a 12.9% stake, and Italian entrepreneurs Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone and Leonardo Del Vecchio with 5% and 4.9% respectively.

 

 

Canada’s Bombardier, a multinational aerospace and transportation company, is to sell a wing component manufacturing plant in Morocco. The plant will continue to supply Bombardier after a sale. Moroccan Industry Minister Moulay Hafid Elalamy said the buyer would be disclosed in about three weeks.

Bombardier is aiming to unite its corporate and regional jet units into one aviation division as part of a shake-up. It plans to also sell plants in Belfast and Casablanca.

 

Indonesia’s ride-hailing firm GOJEK and Allianz X, the digital investment arm of global insurance group Allianz backed SafeBoda, a Ugandan-based bike-hailing start-up, in a Series B financing round. Financial terms were not disclosed.

“Our investment in SafeBoda underlines our continued commitment to growth markets. We are excited to participate in the development of ride-hailing ecosystems in Africa,” said Oliver Ullrich, Corporate Development Director at Allianz X.