AMERICAS
Virtus Investment Partners, a private equity firm, completed the acquisition of Stone Harbor Investment Partners, a premier manager of emerging markets debt, multi-asset credit, global corporates, and other strategies. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We are pleased to add Stone Harbor as an affiliated manager. Their culture and approach is strongly aligned with our core beliefs of providing high-quality, attractive investment strategies and exceptional service to clients," George R. Aylward, Virtus President and CEO.
Stone Harbor was advised by RBC Capital Markets and Morgan Lewis & Bockius. Virtus Investment Partners was advised by Broadhaven Capital Partners and Goodwin Procter.
First Financial, a regional bank headquartered in Cincinnati, completed the acquisition of Summit Funding Group, the fourth largest independent equipment financing platform in the United States, for $121m.
"We are excited about the opportunity to provide our clients with additional services through Summit's extensive leasing capabilities, and we look forward to the growth potential that is created through this acquisition," Archie Brown First Financial President and CEO.
First Financial was advised by Lazard and Squire Patton Boggs. Summit was advised by Keefe Bruyette & Woods and Taft Stettinius & Hollister.
AppLovin, a technology platform, completed the acquisition of MoPub, a company that provides monetization solutions for mobile app publishers, from Twitter, a social networking platform, for $1.05bn.
"This transaction increases our focus and demonstrates confidence in our revenue product roadmap, accelerating our ability to invest in the core products that position Twitter for long-term growth and best serve the public conversation. We thank the incredible teams and customers who have contributed to making MoPub a success within Twitter over the years," Jack Dorsey, Twitter CEO.
AppLovin was advised by Fenwick & West. Twitter was advised by Joele Frank.
EMEA
Mimir, an investment company, agreed to acquire the metal recycling business of Metso Outotec, a mining company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
”We warmly welcome Metso Outotec Metal Recycling to Mimir and look forward to driving growth for this attractive business together with its employees. Metso Outotec Metal Recycling is a typical Mimir investment, being carved-out from a large corporation with leading technology and engineering expertise that positions it among the premium brands in its markets,” Joakim Notö, Mimir Chairman and Managing Partner.
Metso Outotec is advised by SEB Corporate Finance.
GamaLife, a life and wealth consolidation platform, agreed to acquire Italian life and pensions back book of Zurich Insurance, an insurance company. Financial terms are not disclosed.
“Together with Zurich, we believe this transaction represents strong strategic alignment between GamaLife’s focus on sustainable growth and Zurich’s intention to exit legacy business in Italy. We look forward to welcoming Zurich’s customers. Our focus will be to ensure a seamless transition for all local stakeholders and to bring our values of innovation, simplicity and service across the enlarged GamaLife group,” Matteo Castelvetri, GamaLife CEO.
Alpha Dhabi, an UAE-based conglomerate, completed the acquisition of an additional 17% stake in Aldar Properties, a real estate development, management and investment company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“The real estate sector has been witnessing an outstanding recovery during 2021, and demand for residential, commercial, hospitality and logistics units continue to grow as a result of the resilience and agility of the country’s post-pandemic strategy,” Hamad Salem Mohamed Al Ameri, Alpha Dhabi Holding Managing Director and CEO.
Antin plans to sell Lyntia. (FS)
Antin, a French company, plans to put Lyntia, a Spanish optic fibre network, which could be worth up to $4.5bn, for sale in mid-January,
Reuters reported.
Potential buyers are Cellnex, a Spanish cellphone mast operator, and American Tower, a global provider of wireless communications infrastructure and next-generation wireless technologies.
Iveco Group debuts on the Milan stock exchange.
On January 3, 2022, on the Euronext Milan, Italy, trading in shares of Iveco Group, a global automotive company active in the commercial and specialty vehicles, powertrain, and related financial services areas began.
APAC
India's Future Retail asks a New Delhi court to declare arbitration proceedings in Singapore with Amazon.com as illegal, arguing that India's antitrust agency had suspended a 2019 deal used by Amazon to assert rights over Future,
Reuters reported.
In the latest Future Retail filing in New Delhi, the company argues that since the 2019 deal no longer has antitrust approval, it has "no legal existence" in India and Amazon can no longer assert any of its rights.
Hong Kong airport targets raising $4bn in bond deal.
Airport Authority of Hong Kong aims to raise $4bn in a multi-tranche dollar bond offering and has mandated 22 banks to work on the deal, Reuters reported.
Due to the pandemic restrictions, the airport has been hit by an increasing number of flight bans ordered by the Hong Kong government. Raising $4bn will be a major test of investor sentiment.
Evergrande shares suspended, and set to release ‘inside information’.
Shares in Evergrande Group, a property developer, have been suspended from trading on January 3, 2022, pending the release of “inside information”.
The company is struggling to repay more than $300bn in liabilities, including nearly $20bn of international market bonds that were deemed to be in cross-default by ratings firms after missing payments, DealStreetAsia reported.
LG Energy Solution to raise up to $10.8bn.
LG Energy Solution, a Korean battery maker, opened the books to investors to raise up to $10.8bn, Reuters reported.
The shares will be sold in a price range of $216.19 to $252.36 per share to raise between $9.2bn and $10.8bn. The IPO will beat the country's IPO record. The previous South Korean record is held by Samsung Life Insurance's $4.1bn in 2010.
