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AMERICAS
Anadarko shareholders vote in favor of $57bn Occidental bid.
Shareholders of Anadarko Petroleum Corp, a company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration, voted overwhelmingly in favor of selling the company for $57bn to rival Occidental Petroleum Corp. The deal was announced in April 2019 when Occidental made a counteroffer to Chevron's bid to acquire the firm. Anadarko’s shareholders voted 99% in favor of the deal that gives them $72.34 per share based on Wednesday’s closing price for Occidental.
“We begin our work to integrate our two companies and unlock the significant value of this combination for shareholders,” Occidental Chief Executive Vicki Hollub said in a statement.
Anadarko is advised by Evercore, Goldman Sachs, Vinson & Elkins and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz. Occidental is advised by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and Cravath Swaine & Moore.
Steadfast Apartment REIT, Steadfast Income REIT and Steadfast Apartment REIT III announced that they have entered into definitive merger agreements pursuant to which STAR would acquire SIR and STAR III in separate stock-for-stock, tax-free transactions, creating a combined company with approximately $3.3bn in gross real estate assets. In exchange for each share of SIR and STAR III common stock, SIR and STAR III stockholders will receive 0.5934 and 1.43 shares, respectively, of STAR common stock, which is equivalent to $9.40 per SIR share and $22.65 per STAR III share, based on STAR's most recent estimated value per share of $15.84.
“We believe the strategic merger of these three highly complementary portfolios with similar investment strategies will create an enhanced and diversified portfolio, concentrated in high growth markets,” said Rodney F. Emery, Chairman of STAR, SIR and STAR III. “We believe the enhanced size, scale and prominence of the combined portfolio will greatly improve our access to attractive capital sources, which can be used to drive future growth opportunities and potentially deliver enhanced liquidity options to stockholders.”
Houlihan Lokey and DLA Piper advised Steadfast Apartment REIT III. BMO Capital Markets and Proskauer Rose advised Steadfast Income REIT. Robert A. Stanger & Co, Morrison & Foerster and Venable advised Steadfast Apartment REIT.
Private equity firm Lovell Minnick agreed to sell Worldwide Facilities, a national wholesale insurance brokerage, managing general agency and program manager, to Genstar Capital. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"It has been a privilege to partner with the Worldwide management team over the past four years. We're proud to have supported the Company in executing its strategic goal of becoming a larger, more diversified, top-five insurance wholesaler in the US market," said Spencer Hoffman, a Partner at Lovell Minnick Partners. "We believe Worldwide is well-positioned for continued growth and success as it begins its next chapter of partnership with Genstar."
Marsh Berry & Co and Ropes & Gray are advising Genstar. Morgan Stanley, Waller Helms Advisors and McGuireWoods are advising Lovell Minnick.
Assured Guaranty, the leading financial guaranty insurance company, acquired BlueMountain Capital Management, an alternative asset management firm, for $160m.
“We have been searching for the right asset management platform for over three years, and we found it in BlueMountain, a seasoned asset management firm with a compatible credit culture, complementary market knowledge and the scale to make a material contribution to Assured Guaranty’s profitability,” said Assured Guaranty President and CEO Dominic Frederico.
Barclays and Purrington Moody Weil advised BlueMountain Capital Management. Goldman Sachs, GreensLedge and Mayer Brown advised Assured Guaranty.
Liberty Tax, an American company specializing in the preparation of tax returns for individuals and small businesses, agreed to acquire The Vitamin Shoppe, an omni-channel, specialty retailer of nutritional products based in Secaucus, New Jersey, for $208m. The Vitamin Shoppe shareholders will receive $6.50 per share, which represents a premium of 43% to its closing share price on August 7, 2019.
Sharon Leite, CEO of The Vitamin Shoppe, stated, “Following a careful and disciplined assessment, the board of directors has concluded that the acquisition proposal from Liberty Tax maximizes value for our shareholders. The transaction also delivers long-term benefits to our associates, customers and business partners. It provides an immediate premium to our current shareholders and aligns The Vitamin Shoppe with a partner that shares our strategic vision to unlock the further potential of The Vitamin Shoppe as a leader in health and wellness. We are committed to transforming into an agile, customer-first organization that differentiates our brand through best-in-class quality, innovation and expertise across our products and services.”
Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Kirkland & Ellis are advising The Vitamin Shoppe. Troutman Sanders is advising Liberty Tax.
Qatar Investment Authority, Qatar's state-owned holding company, invested $500m in Oryx Midstream Services, the largest privately-held midstream crude operator in the Permian Basin. QIA acquired a significant stake in Oryx from an affiliate of Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners.
The CEO of QIA, Mansoor Al-Mahmoud, commented: "We believe that Oryx represents a strong midstream platform with tremendous growth potential, and we look forward to working with our new partners at Stonepeak. This acquisition is a further demonstration of QIA's strategy to increase the size of our US portfolio, and to invest more in major infrastructure projects."
White & Case and Citi advised QIA. Sidley Austin advised Stonepeak.
Huntsman, an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of chemical products, agreed to sell its Chemical Intermediates and Surfactants units to Indorama Ventures, one of the world's leading producers in the intermediate petrochemicals industry, for $2.1bn.
Peter Huntsman, Chairman, President and CEO commented: "This transaction further transforms Huntsman's balance sheet and future. It accelerates our ability to expand more in areas both downstream and complementary to our portfolio. This is another milestone in our stated strategy to focus more on our downstream and specialty businesses where we will generate more stable margins and consistent, strong free cash flow. We are committed to retaining our strong investment grade balance sheet, repurchasing our shares, investing in organic research and select capacity expansions and acquiring strategic assets that are accretive to our earnings and create shareholder value.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Kirkland & Ellis advised Huntsman Corp.
Siemens Healthineers, a leading medical equipment manufacturer, acquires Corindus Vascular Robotics, a global technology leader in robotic-assisted vascular interventions, for $1.1bn. Under the terms of the agreement, Siemens Healthineers will acquire all fully diluted shares of Corindus for $4.28 per share in cash or $1.1bn in total.
The transaction is expected to be closed by the end of the calendar year 2019, subject to Corindus shareholder approval, receipt of regulatory approvals, and other customary closing conditions. The Corindus board fully supports the acquisition proposal.
Citigroup and Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft are advising Corindus.
BBVA, a multinational Spanish banking group based in Madrid and Bilbao, sold its Paraguay unit to Banco GNB Paraguay for $270m. The price is subject to the regular adjustments for these kind of transactions between the signing and closing dates of the transaction.
BBVA reiterates its commitment to Latin America and will continue to invest in the region, which is one of the Group’s strategic areas of growth.
Rothschild & Co advised BBVA.
Sprott, an alternative asset manager and a global leader in precious metal and real asset investments, agreed to acquire Tocqueville’s gold strategy asset management business for $50m.
“We are pleased to be acquiring Tocqueville’s gold strategy asset management business,” said Whitney George, President of Sprott. “John Hathaway and his team are among the world’s most respected gold equities managers and we have enjoyed an excellent working relationship during the planning and launch of our joint venture over the past year. This transaction is a natural extension of that partnership, through which John will become a Sprott shareholder. We look forward to working closely together to serve our clients.”
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom is advising Sprott.
Experian, the global information services company, agreed to acquire MyHealthDirect, a US business specializing in digital coordination capabilities for healthcare. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The acquisition will complement Experian's existing strengths in the financial and administrative segment (revenue cycle management) of US healthcare.
Finsbury is advising Experian.
Investment company Hackman Capital Partners acquired The MBS Group, a film and TV studio real estate and production services platform, from The Carlyle Group for $650m.
Michael Hackman, CEO of Hackman Capital Partners, said, “The MBS Group has become the premier platform for content producers around the world and we are thrilled to add the MBS Media Campus to our growing portfolio of studio and media assets. As competition for content continues to increase, we see tremendous opportunities to grow this real estate platform globally with MBS’s experienced and first-rate management team.”
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett is advising Carlyle.
Roper Technologies, a leading diversified technology company, acquires iPipeline, a leading provider of cloud-based software solutions for the life insurance and financial services industries, for $1.6bn.
“iPipeline is a terrific company with clear niche market leadership, a history of strong organic growth, high customer retention, and a management team that will thrive as part of Roper. We look forward to supporting iPipeline as they execute on numerous future growth opportunities while expanding the benefits enjoyed by their large and growing network of carriers, distributors, and agents.” Neil Hunn, Roper President, and CEO.
Versant Ventures, a leading healthcare venture capital firm, sold BlueRock Therapeutics, a privately held US-headquartered biotechnology company, to Bayer, a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition, for up to $600m.
“The BlueRock transaction reinforces our current approach to identifying the most promising new scientific discoveries across multiple geographies,” said Brad Bolzon, Ph.D., managing director and chairman at Versant and BlueRock board director. “As a Canadian, I am particularly proud of the country’s contributions to the creation of a leading cell therapy company focused on therapeutics to reverse degenerative diseases.”
TransDigm Group, a leading global designer, producer and supplier of highly engineered aircraft components, sold Esterline Interface Technologies, a developer and manufacturer of interface solutions serving leading OEMs in the growing medical, commercial, industrial, diagnostics and gaming end markets, to an affiliate of KPS Capital Partners for $190m.
W. Nicholas Howley, TransDigm Executive Chairman commented, "We are pleased to have an agreement for the divestiture of the EIT group of businesses. This is part of our previously communicated plan to evaluate and potentially divest businesses that do not align well with TransDigm's strategy."
Standard Bank, a South African financial services group, sold a 20% stake in ICBC Argentina to ICBC, a Chinese multinational banking company, for $181m.
With the transition of control of ICBCA to ICBC an unqualified success, Standard Bank Group considers that an exit from its investment in ICBCA to realise capital for reinvestment into its African strategy is appropriate.
Canadian Tire Corporation, a Canadian retail company which sells a wide range of automotive, hardware, sports and leisure, and home products, agreed to acquire Canadian unit of Party City, a leading, one-stop shopping destination for party supplies and an expert in seasonal and micro-seasonal celebrations, for $131m.
"Strengthening our marketplace is at the heart of our growth strategy and we are excited to welcome Party City into the Canadian Tire family of companies. We believe the Party City-Canadian Tire partnership will drive more trips, improve our offers in micro seasons, strengthen our connection with millennials and Canadian families and expand the appeal of Triangle Rewards," said Allan MacDonald, EVP, Retail, Canadian Tire Corporation. "With our extensive CTR store network, unparalleled retail capabilities and Party City's unique assortment, we are well-positioned to more than double Party City Canada's business by 2021."
Amdocs, a leading provider of software and services to communications and media companies, acquired TTS Wireless, a privately-owned provider of mobile network engineering services, specializing in network optimization, planning, and software-enabled solutions, for $50m.
“For over twenty years TTS Wireless has been successfully working with leading American operators,” said Lin Weng, TTS Wireless founder and Chief Executive Officer. “Together, TTS Wireless and Amdocs are well positioned to help operators accelerate their 5G journey with our expertise and experience in customer-focused design, delivery and optimization of mobile networks. With our highly-skilled network engineering and software development team joining forces with Amdocs, together we will strengthen the scope and scale of our offerings as we continue to deliver differentiated network services to Amdocs’ global base of service provider customers.”
EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants, a retail property and casualty insurance brokerage and employee benefits consultant, acquires Trumark Insurance & Financial Services, a Brokerage/General Agency specializing in the institutional financial advisory market. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The acquisition will bring Trumark into EPIC's growing Financial Services Practice and will complement the offerings of EPIC's Vanbridge business, which focuses on alternative asset management, corporate and individual high net worth clients, and solving risk-related issues utilizing insurance and alternative capital.
"We are excited about what this acquisition means for our evolving Financial Services Practice," said Mitchell K. Smith, Managing Principal of Vanbridge, an EPIC company. "The addition of Trumark gives EPIC and the Vanbridge business greater depth, scale, and flexibility, allowing our team to further leverage the best-in-class solutions we continue to assemble for the benefit of our clients."
Paytronix Systems, a developer of digital guest experience platform, acquires Open Dining, a leading provider of ordering and delivery for small-to-medium-sized restaurants. Financial terms were not disclosed.
As a result of the acquisition, Open Dining will now be known as Paytronix Order & Delivery, joining a platform that includes Loyalty, CRM, and Stored Value. Paytronix Order & Delivery already has features that are not available with any other platform.
“Paytronix is committed to creating frictionless guest experiences,” said Andrew Robbins, president of Paytronix. “This acquisition broadens our feature set that includes NFC Loyalty, one-to-one promotions, text-to-enroll, and pay-by-mobile."
Trinity Hunt Partners, a growth-oriented middle market private equity firm, acquired WEXCO International, a full-service provider of litigation focused forensic engineering services based in Marina del Rey, California. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“Trinity Hunt is extremely excited to partner with Brad and his team, especially given the alignment of business philosophies and core values between our firms,” said Pete Stein, Partner at Trinity Hunt.
ALS Global, one of the world's largest and most diverse analytical testing services providers, acquired ARJ, a large pharmaceutical testing lab in Mexico. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Broadcom in advanced talks to buy Symantec's enterprise business.
Broadcom, an American designer, developer, manufacturer and global supplier of a broad range of semiconductor and infrastructure software solutions, is in advanced talks to buy Symantec's enterprise business. The deal could be worth about $10bn. Symantec last month walked away from negotiations to sell itself to Broadcom over price disagreements.
Uber created a $6.1bn tax deduction in the Netherlands.
Bloomberg reported that Uber Technologies created a $6.1bn Dutch tax deduction that will help the company reduce a chunk of its global tax bill for years to come in response to a European crackdown on offshore tax havens. San Francisco-based Uber generated the outsized deduction before its initial public offering in May because it moved some of its offshore subsidiaries to different countries as a result of new European Union rules governing multinational companies.
NGL Energy Partners sold Southeast Refined Products Assets to an undisclosed buyer.
NGL Energy Partners, which owns and operates a vertically integrated energy business, sold its Southeast Refined Products Assets to a strategic buyer with substantial assets for estimated proceeds of approximately $300m.
Proceeds from this transaction will be used to reduce outstanding indebtedness of the company.“NGL continues to focus on its core areas where we have competitive strength. These focus areas generate stable and predictable cash flows as we grow our mix of long-term contracted revenues. The sale of TPSL is part of this strategy and a result of the strategic review of the Refined Products business announced earlier this year," stated Mike Krimbill, NGL's CEO.
Venture capital spawns unicorns in Latin America. (FS)
Reuters reported that surging venture capital investment in Latin American startups has financed international expansion across the region and beyond, as business models that do not require large amounts of capital have helped many firms avoid silos common in the region. New venture capital funding in the region quadrupled over two years to a record $2bn in 2018.
Webflow raised $72m in Series A financing round. (FS)
Webflow, a no-code web development platform, raised a $72m Series A round of funding led by Accel. The financing values the company at between $350m and $400m post-money. Boston-based Silversmith Capital, FundersClub, Rainfall Ventures, Draper Associates, and several angel investors also participated in the round. Accel’s Arun Mathew will join the company’s board as part of the financing.
EMEA
Allianz Global Investors, the biggest shareholder of Osram, rejected the $3.8bn takeover offer from private equity firms Bain and Carlyle. AllianzGI, which owns a 9.3% stake, said Osram shares were worth more than had been offered and it was not inclined to accept the bid. AllianzGI’s statement is a setback for Bain and Carlyle, which will want a minimum acceptance of 70% of the outstanding shares when the offer period is expected to conclude on Sept. 5. By last Friday, only 0.9% of shares had accepted.
Perella Weinberg Partners, Lazard, Gleiss Lutz and Freshfields advised Osram. Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Macquarie Group, Camarco, FTI and Kirkland & Ellis advised Bain Capital and Carlyle Group.
Saxo Bank, a Danish investment bank specializing in online trading and investment, completed its €424m ($482m) acquisition of Binckbank, a Dutch online bank. The €6.35 ($7.22) offer price represented a premium of 35% over the closing price of 14 December 2018.
Vincent Germyns, chairman of the BinckBank executive board said: "Merging both companies will help realize important economies of scale. On a term of two to three years, this will of course have consequences for staff. As far as possible these consequences will be met through natural staff turnover. In case of redundancies, a good severance scheme will apply. The executive board, supervisory board and works council support this severance scheme unanimously.”
Lazard, Rothschild & Co, Clifford Chance and NautaDutilh advised BinckBank. EY, JP Morgan and Allen & Overy advised Saxo Bank.
Salesforce, a leading cloud-based service provider, agreed to acquire ClickSoftware, an Israeli software developer, from Francisco Partners for $1.35bn in cash and shares. The acquisition is expected to close during Salesforce's fiscal quarter ending Oct. 31 pending various approvals.
“Francisco Partners provided valuable strategic support, capital, and resources that allowed us to execute on a strong strategic vision,” said Mark Cattini, CEO of ClickSoftware. “They were an exceptional partner for us and worked closely with our team to help improve many aspects of our business and accelerate growth.”
Goldman Sachs and Paul Hastings are advising Francisco Partners.
The Irish High Court has appointed provisional liquidators to the Irish arm of fashion retailer Karen Millen. The company was recently acquired by Boohoo Group, a leading online fashion group.
The group’s financial position had declined in recent years due to falling consumer confidence and changed shopping habits.
Jefferies, Zeus Capital and Buchanan advised Boohoo Group on the acqusition of Karen Millen.
BigHand, a provider of digital dictation software and workflow solutions acquires London-based template management company Iphelion. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The acquisition of Iphelion will enable BigHand to bolster its document creation capability and complement its existing template management solution ‘BigHand Create’.
“The vision for our legal business clear: we want to be the industry leader for our evolving range of solutions. We will continue to build and acquire technology that adds tangible and real business benefits helping our client’s transition to newer and more business-oriented ways of working in a rapidly changing landscape. I’m delighted to welcome Andy and Simon to the BigHand team.” Ian Churchill, BigHand CEO.
Emperia Holding sold Infinite, an IT systems provider, to DialCom24, a fintech company specialized in developing and providing a wide range of financial and payment services for business and individual customers. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“Poland is a strategically important market where Maxima Grupė strengthens its retail positions. With this decision we are focusing on our core business operations – retail, therefore the funds received are planned to be allocated for further development in the country," says Arūnas Zimnickas, the head of Emperia Holding.
CPC Packaging, a French packaging company, acquired Fina Flexible, a Valencian manufacturer of packaging and labels. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"This acquisition will significantly expand our geographic coverage in European markets, since Fina has a consolidated customer base in the food sector in Spain and Western Europe," CPC said.
Elanco and Bayer looking to strike animal health deal next week.
Elanco, a world leader in developing products and services that enhance animal health, wellness and performance, and Bayer, a German multinational pharmaceutical and life sciences company, are aiming to reach a merger agreement as soon as next week. Under the terms of the deal Elanco would acquire Bayer's animal-health unit.
Bayer would get a significant minority stake in Elanco under the deal being discussed. The companies are currently hammering out potential antitrust issues by identifying which businesses they will likely need to sell to gain regulatory approval.
Thyssenkrupp considers selling divisions.
Thyssenkrupp, a German multinational conglomerate with focus on industrial engineering and steel production, is considering selling a range of divisions. The decision came after Thyssenkrupp’s financial results for the quarter revealed it’s continuing to spiral downward as trade disputes and weakening export demand damage Europe’s biggest economy.
“We will not allow a situation to continue where businesses with no clear prospects permanently burn money and destroy value,” the firm's CEO said in an interview.
AngloGold received bids for gold mining assets.
Bloomberg reported that AngloGold, a global gold producer with 21 operations on four continents, received several bids for gold mining assets in Argentina, Mali and South Africa, but acknowledged that it’s been “challenging” to sell in the current market. Discussions are underway with potential buyers, though there’s no timeline for a deal, said Chief Executive Officer Kelvin Dushnisky.
“It’s a more challenging market in terms of divestment, as opposed to years ago, because of speculation on potential assets coming into the market,” Mr. Dushnisky said. “But I am happy to say that for all three processes, we have multiple interested parties in the room.”
PIF considers investing in Bateel. (FS)
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, is negotiating a potential investment in Bateel, a gourmet date producer. If a deal goes through, it could pave the way for Saudi Arabia, which is heavily reliant on oil exports, to expand overseas sales of the fruit. It is among the top three global producers of dates.
Bateel is currently owned by Saudi businessman Ziad Al Sudairy and L Catterton.
Ataer Holding looking to take over British Steel.
FT reported that Ataer Holding, a wholly owned vehicle of Turkish state military retirement scheme Oyak, is in last-minute talks about a takeover of British Steel, a manufacturer of high-quality steel products for use in multiple markets worldwide. The search for a buyer has been under way since British Steel entered insolvency in May, after pleas from its private equity owner Greybull Capital for a state bailout were rejected.
Fawry for Banking & Payment Technology Services stock soars after IPO.
Stock of Fawry for Banking & Payment Technology Services, an Egyptian e-payment firm, rose 29% to trade at EGP8.31 ($0.50) after shares were sold at EGP6.46 ($0.39) in the IPO. The offering represented 36% of Fawry’s share capital and raised about EGP1.6bn ($97m).
Terra Firma Capital abandons Cartonplast deal. (FS)
Terra Firma Capital Partners, a leading private equity firm withdraws from negotiations to buy Cartonplast, a German packaging group.
This canceled deal raises concern over the ability of one of Britain's most prominent financiers to secure fresh acquisitions.
APAC
An Australian gaming regulator said it will review the $1.2bn acquisition of minority stake in Crown Resorts, one of Australia's largest gaming and entertainment groups, by Melco, a developer, owner and operator of casino gaming and entertainment casino resort facilities. The deal was announced in May 2019.
Australia’s New South Wales independent liquor & gaming authority said on Thursday it has ordered Crown and other parties to hand over documents for investigations, adding it will also look into “various matters raised in recent media reports”.
CITIC Capital raised $2.8bn for its fourth China fund. (FS)
CITIC Capital, the flagship alternative investment arm of Chinese financial conglomerate CITIC Group, said it raised $2.8bn in its fourth China buyout fund. The CITIC Capital China Partners IV, the firm’s biggest private equity fund to date, received “strong” interest from a mix of existing and new investors including pension and sovereign wealth funds, insurers and family offices, CITIC Capital said in a statement.
JC Flowers to sell stakes worth $700m in Shinsei Bank. (FS)
JC Flowers, a leading private equity firm, is in advanced talks to dispose of stakes in Shinsei Bank worth of $700m, reducing the stakes to less than 4%.
The share sale will see the fund's founder, J. Christopher Flowers, also sell down his stake in the lender, and exit the bank's board.
GOJEK looking to acquire East Ventures-backed Moka for $100m.
Indonesia's ride-hailing and payments unicorn GOJEK is set to acquire local mobile point-of-sale startup Moka, DealStreetAsia reported.
The deal, which will be a combination of cash and equity, is likely to be worth over $100m.
Toss raised $64m in funding. (FS)
Hong Kong-based Asian equity investment firm Aspex Management led a $64m funding round for South Korean fintech startup Viva Republica, the PayPal-backed creator of financial services platform Toss. Viva Republica said the fresh funding now values the company at $2.2bn, with Toss’ existing investors, including Kleiner Perkins, Altos Ventures, Singapore’s GIC, Sequoia Capital China, Goodwater Capital, and Bessemer Venture Partners participating.
India's Taj Hotel looking to sell assets.
Taj Hotel, a chain of luxury hotels controlled by India’s Tata Group, is looking to sell some assets and avoid owning new properties in an effort to further pare debt, as it braces for a slump in consumer spending.
“We are moving our focus to more management contracts rather than constructing hotels of our own,” CEO Puneet Chhatwal said. “We have no plans to put our legacy and flagship properties under sale and leaseback.”
IFC provided an $87m loan to BIM Land.
DealStreetAsia reported that BIM Land, a Vietnamese property developer, successfully raised $87m long-term financing from the International Finance Corporation, an international financial institution that offers investment, advisory, and asset management services to encourage private-sector development in less developed countries.
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