Berry Global considers counter-bid to Apollo’s £4.7bn RPC Group offer. (FS)
US-based Berry Global Group announced it was considering a possible cash offer for RPC Group, rivalling its former parent Apollo Global Management's £4.7bn ($6.2bn) offer to buy the British packaging maker. Berry Global requested Europe's biggest plastic packaging maker for diligence information. The Board of RPC confirmed that it would engage with Berry in accordance with its obligations and to advance discussions in the interests of delivering the best value to shareholders.
Apollo's offer of 782 pence per share represented a premium of 15.6% to RPC's closing price on Sept. 7, the last trading day before the offer period began. Aviva Investors, which owns a 1.93% stake in RPC said that it does not agree with the terms of Apollo's offer.
Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo are advisors to Berry. Deutsche Bank, Jefferies & Company, Credit Suisse, Evercore, Rothschild & Co, Slaughter & May and FTI Consulting are advisors to RPC Group. BNP Paribas, Barclays, Citigroup, HSBC, Davis Polk & Wardwell, Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, Sullivan & Cromwell and Maitland are advisors to Apollo Global Management.
Evergrande-backed NEVS acquired 20% stake in Koenigsegg.
NEVS is making a capital injection of €150m ($172m), thereby taking a 20% minority stake in Koenigsegg's parent company. Koenigsegg Automotive is a globally leading producer of exclusive hypercars based in Sweden.
"Koenigsegg is an enticing company developing advanced cars with unique technology and with a customer base that is one of a kind. To be able to expand our investment in the Swedish automotive industry through a company that we know and have an established relationship with is an important step for us. We have both competencies and facilities to support Koenigsegg on their journey forward, something we look very much forward to", says Kai Johan Jiang, Chairman of the Board of Directors at NEVS.
Additionally, the parties are forming a joint venture to expand into new market segments where NEVS is contributing $150m in starting capital for a 65% stake and Koenigsegg obtains 35% by contributing primarily with intellectual property, technology licenses, and product design.
HSBC is acting as financial adviser to Koenigsegg.
The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic has acquired EWE Turkey Holding and its group of companies, which manages the operations of the German energy company EWE in Turkey. Financial terms were not disclosed.
SOCAR has been supplying natural gas to the Turkish market for the last 12 years and began expanding its operations this year through the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline, a major joint project between Turkey and Azerbaijan. The acquisition of EWE Turkey will enhance the value of the natural gas distribution sector and create favorable conditions for SOCAR to access the end customer market in Turkey directly.
"The purchase of this natural gas distribution business will complete our investment chain in Turkey, creating additional value for Azerbaijan and Turkey," said Rovnag Abdullayev, President of SOCAR.
The acquisition process will be finalized after the approval by the Competition Authority and other related organizations.
The Coca-Cola Company acquired Nigeria's juice maker Chi.
The Coca-Cola Company completed its acquisition of Chi in Nigeria. Coca-Cola first announced a minority investment in Chi three years ago and, as planned, has now acquired full ownership of the company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Chi is recognized in West Africa as an innovative, fast-growing leader in expanding beverage categories, including juices, value-added dairy and iced tea. The company produces juice under the Chivita brand and value-added dairy under the Hollandia brand, among many other products. Coca-Cola acquired a 40% stake in Chi in 2016 from Tropical General Investments Group, the holding company for Chi. Juices and value-added dairy categories rank among the fastest-growing beverage segments in Nigeria and Africa.
"Coca-Cola is continuing to evolve as a total beverage company, and Chi's diverse range of beverages perfectly complements our existing portfolio, enabling us to accelerate expansion into new categories and grow our business in Africa," said Peter Njonjo, president of the West Africa business unit of Coca-Cola.
Ring Automotive has agreed to the sale of its operations to OSRAM, a global lighting manufacturer. Ring Automotive is a highly regarded brand in the specialist areas of Lighting, Inspection and Power Management for passenger and light commercial vehicles. Financial terms were not disclosed.
George Skalski, Managing Director of Ring Automotive, said, "We look forward to working alongside OSRAM and believe that the transaction is very positive news for all of our colleagues and customers. The acquisition secures continued investment in the business, which will support our future growth plans and our leading-edge product innovation."
Deutsche Bank considers merger with Commerzbank as the last resort.
Deutsche Bank is expecting a government-brokered merger with rival Commerzbank by mid-year if efforts to restructure the lender fall short of targets, according to Reuters. Such a deal may become the only option if the bank's performance does not improve in the first three months of 2019.
Merger speculation has heated up under Germany's finance minister Olaf Scholz, who has spoken out in favor of strong banks in Germany and whose team has met frequently with executives of Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank and major shareholders.
WPP to sell 49% stake in consulting firm Richard Attias & Associates to the founder.
WPP agreed to sell its stake in RAA as the advertising firm looks to focus on its core businesses, RAA spokeswoman said, adding that the decision was mutual and the two companies look forward to future collaboration. WPP spokesman Richard Oldworth confirmed that the firm has agreed to sell its minority stake in RAA back to existing shareholders.
ArcelorMittal's bid to buy a stake in Bosnian iron ore mine rejected.
ArcelorMittal's application to bid for the Bosnian government's stake in the Ljubija iron ore mine has been rejected over procedural issues. The government of Bosnia's autonomous Serb Republic has a 64.9% stake in the Ljubija ore mine, which has been put up for sale through the region's bourse at a starting price of BAM69m ($40m). Small investment funds own the remaining stake.
The group said it had submitted the necessary documentation, but its nominated company was rejected as a qualified buyer by the region's Investment and Development Bank, which gave no reason for its decision.
"ArcelorMittal is disappointed with today's decision of the Investment and Development Bank that jeopardizes the long-term future of mining in the Prijedor area," the group said in the statement.
Germany Software can spend up to €1.5bn on acquisitions.
German business software firm Software can spend €1-1.5bn ($1.1-1.7bn) on acquisitions, said CEO Sanjay Brahmawar, as he seeks to drive growth in data integration and the industrial internet. Brahmawar, a former IBM executive, has launched a strategy overhaul and plans new investments this year to revitalize the 50-year-old company.
NIC Bank & Commercial Bank of Africa in merger talks.
The NIC Group and Commercial Bank of Africa have announced that they are engaged in talks regarding a potential merger of the two financial institutions. The lenders are eyeing "successful conclusion" of discussions on the merger and obtaining relevant approvals from shareholders of the two entities and regulatory authorities.
If successful, the planned merger of the midsized NIC Bank and the tier one CBA Bank would create one of the largest financial services groups in the region.
"The boards believe that combining the business of two highly profitable entities would create enhanced capacity through capital consolidation and strong liquidity to capture strategic growth opportunities," they said in a joint statement.
Blackstone to acquire the controlling interest in Tallgrass Energy for $3.3bn. (FS)
Tallgrass Energy and Blackstone entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of the membership interests in TGE's general partner Tallgrass Energy GP, as well as an approximately 44% economic interest in Tallgrass, for total cash consideration of approximately $3.3bn. Affiliates of GIC, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, will be a minority investor in the transaction. The closing of the transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions and is expected within the first quarter of 2019.
"Tallgrass is managed by an exceptional team that has an outstanding track record of commercial, operational and financial success," said Sean Klimczak, Global Head of Infrastructure at Blackstone. "This transaction represents a rare opportunity to invest in a large-scale U.S. midstream infrastructure platform that connects high-production supply basins to key markets and is underpinned by long-term contracts. We are excited to partner with and to support the established Tallgrass management team over the long term as they execute on their robust backlog of attractive growth projects."
Baker Botts acted as legal advisor to Tallgrass. Citigroup acted as the financial advisor, and Vinson & Elkins acted as the legal advisor to Blackstone on the transaction. Sidley Austin acted as the legal advisor to GIC.
CACI International to acquire LGS Innovations from Madison Dearborn and CoVant Management for $750m. (FS)
Madison Dearborn Partners and CoVant Management signed a definitive agreement to sell LGS Innovations, a leading provider of command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance and cyber products and solutions to the U.S. Intelligence Community and U.S. Department of Defense, to CACI International for $750m.
"We want to acknowledge the outstanding strategic execution of the LGS team during our ownership, and the important contributions they have made to their customers' missions," said Joseph Kampf, Chairman of LGS Innovations and Chairman & CEO at CoVant. "They are well-positioned to continue delivering innovative technology solutions for our national security as a part of CACI."
Kirkland & Ellis and Crowell & Moring acted as legal advisors, and BofA Merrill Lynch acted as financial advisor to LGS Innovations.
United Natural Foods sues Goldman Sachs & BofA over acquisition advice.
Grocery distributing company United Natural Foods filed a lawsuit against Goldman Sachs and Bank of America Merrill Lynch claiming the investment banks put their financial interests ahead of the company's when they advised it on a multi-billion acquisition last year. United claims in the lawsuit that Goldman Sachs committed a breach of contract and fraud, and that the firm improperly extracted around $200m for the advisory and financing services it gave United.
United Natural Foods announced plans to acquire distributor Supervalu in July 2018 in a deal valued at $2.9bn.
CBS is considering growth via M&A.
According to CNBC reports, the CBS board has decided the company needs to get bigger, but merging with Viacom is not enough for Shari Redstone, Vice Chair of CBS and Viacom and Co-Founder of Advancit Capital, who has voting control of both companies. If the CBS-Viacom deal gets done, Redstone's National Amusements would like to move quickly with a second deal. Discovery Communications is said to be interested in selling to CBS or a combined CBS-Viacom. Redstone is open to the idea, but would also consider buying other companies, including Sony Pictures and MGM.
No talks have taken place between CBS and Discovery.
