Epiris acquired Diamorph from Serendipity Ixora and Latour for SEK1.5bn ($166m). (FS)
Epiris acquired Diamorph, a supplier of advanced material solutions for demanding and safety-critical applications, from Serendipity Ixora, Swedish financial planner, and Latour, industrial holdings firm. Financial terms were not disclosed however, the deal value is rumored to be around SEK1.5bn ($166m).
Charles Elkington, Partner at Epiris, said: “Diamorph is a high-quality business: it has leadership positions in stable markets with strong underlying demand drivers. Beyond this solid base we see an opportunity to achieve a step change in terms of growth by bringing greater focus and ambition to the development of Diamorph’s undoubted strengths in research and development and application engineering.”
Epiris was advised by Roland Berger, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ropes & Gray.
XIO looks to sell Lumenis to CVC for $1bn. (FS)
Lumenis is a veteran Israeli medical device company, which develops, manufactures and markets equipment based on light energy, including lasers, for surgical, ophthalmology and aesthetic applications. The company has annual revenue of about $400m. The $1bn deal, which XIO and CVC are close to reaching, is expected to be announced in the next few weeks. XIO acquired Lumenis in 2015 for $510m.
Schibsted wants to expand through mergers.
The online classified advertising business of Norwegian media group Schibsted seeks to expand via mergers and acquisitions on three continents, the company’s chief executive told Reuters. A split, announced in September, will see Schibsted’s MPI division, which includes brands such as France’s Leboncoin, Brazil’s OLX and Britain’s Shpock listed separately next year.
“MPI will have very good organic growth, but we also now have a ‘license to expand’, which means that we are well positioned to take part in further consolidation, and we will consider acquisitions,” Schibsted Chief Executive Rolv Erik Ryssdal told Reuters in an interview. “MPI will be a very big company in itself. It will be the biggest purely classifieds company in Europe, so I think the company is very well positioned itself to play an active role in the consolidation.”
Generali to pursue aggressive growth plans.
Generali CEO Philippe Donnet designated around €4bn ($4.5bn) for growth as he plans to outpace his European rivals with an aggressive new plan. He promised to increase earnings of the Italian insurer by 6% to 8% a year in the next three years, higher than previous Generali growth and targets set by other insurers.
“We’ll consider any kind of insurance company that would help us to strengthen our market position in European countries and any insurance company that would give us a top three position in a new market,” said Mr. Donnet to the Financial Times.
Most of the expected growth will come from Generali’s operating businesses, where Mr. Donnet plans to cut €200m ($228m) of costs. He is also expecting to cut the company’s interest expense by reducing its debt.
Volkswagen and Broadcom reach patent lawsuit agreement.
According to Reuters, Volkswagen struck a deal with US semiconductor maker Broadcom, ending a billion-dollar patent lawsuit that pitted the carmaker against its supplier. The companies signed an out-of-court settlement. Friday’s court hearing has been canceled.
Der Spiegel first reported in early November that California-based Broadcom had made a patent claim for more than $1bn against Volkswagen and threatened to seek a judicial ban on the production of several car models.
