BlackBerry acquired Cylance from PE and VC shareholders for $1.4bn.

EMEA

Several consortia expected to bid for a possible $11.4bn stake in ADP, operator of Paris airports.

Technicolor explores a potential sale.

A consortium of PE funds led a €37m ($42m) investment round for Camel-IDS.

AMERICAS

BlackBerry acquired Cylance from PE and VC shareholders for $1.4bn.

Forest City's Stakeholders approved its $11.4bn acquisition by Brookfield.

Vestar Capital invested in Information Resources.

Sandbox acquired Constructive Media from HIG Capital.

Swander Pace Capital acquired Backerhaus Veit.

PE backed Resource Label acquired Best Label.

Cheap credit is pushing buyout values up to the pre-crisis levels.

Clayton Dubilier & Rice's David's Bridal will file for a bankruptcy.

APAC

KKR wants to raise up to $2bn for its new Asian fund.

Kazakh state pension fund acquired one-third of shares in $450m Kazatoprom IPO.

Latest Deals

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EMEA

Several consortia expected to bid for a possible $11.4bn stake in ADP, operator of Paris airports.

At least three consortiums have been formed to launch multibillion-euro bids for a stake in the operator of Paris Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports, among the first of France’s planned privatizations for 2019.

The French state’s 50.6% stake in airports group Aeroports de Paris is likely to go on the block next year in a deal that could be worth up to $11.4bn.

The possible bidders include Global Infrastructure Partners, Vinci, IFM, Atlantia in addition to global infrastructure investors, Canadian and US pension funds, large European insurers, and Middle Eastern funds.

Technicolor explores a potential sale.

Technicolor SA has been exploring options that include a full or partial sale of the French digital media company, as its set-top box business struggles because of higher prices for memory chips.

Technicolor has been in discussions in recent months with other companies and private equity firms, including Bain Capital, about a sale of the company or a merger with a peer.

Technicolor, which trades on France’s Euronext, has a market value of €503m ($569m).

A consortium of PE funds led a €37m ($42m) investment round for Camel-IDS.

An investment round led by V-Bio Ventures and Gimv, joined by the co-lead investors HealthCap, Novo Seeds, Pontifax and BioMedPartners brought about €37m ($42m).

Camel-IDS, a VUB spin-off company is developing cancer-targeted radio-pharmaceuticals and this financing will allow it to go forward with research.

AMERICAS

BlackBerry acquired Cylance from PE and VC shareholders for $1.4bn.

BlackBerry Limited has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Cylance, an artificial intelligence and cybersecurity leader, for $1.4bn. The sellers are Khosla Ventures, Insight Venture Partners, DFJ Growth, Blackstone and KKR.

“Cylance’s leadership in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity will immediately complement our entire portfolio, UEM and QNX in particular. We believe adding Cylance’s capabilities to our trusted advantages in privacy, secure mobility, and embedded systems will make BlackBerry Spark indispensable to realizing the Enterprise of Things.” John Chen, BlackBerry Executive Chairman and CEO.

BlackBerry was advised by Morrison & Foerster.

Forest City's Stakeholders approved its $11.4bn acquisition by Brookfield.

Brookfield Asset Management and Forest City Realty Trust have entered into a definitive agreement under which a Brookfield real estate investment fund will acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Forest City for $25.35 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at $11.4bn. The purchase price represents a premium of 26.6% over Forest City's closing share price of $20.03 on June 15, 2018.

“Forest City has created a high-quality portfolio of operating and development assets over its 100-year history. We look forward to creating further value in these great assets on behalf of our limited partners.” Brian Kingston, Brookfield Property Group CEO.

Forest City was advised by Lazard, Goldman Sachs, Sullivan & Cromwell, and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Brookfield was advised by BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays, BMO Capital Markets, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, RBC Capital Markets, The Toronto-Dominion Bank, Moelis & Company, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, and Torys.

Financing will be provided by BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays, BMO Capital Markets, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, RBC Capital Markets and The Toronto-Dominion Bank.

Vestar Capital invested in Information Resources.

New Mountain Capital and Vestar Capital Partners signed a definitive agreement through which Vestar will lead a new investment in Information Resources. Post-transaction, New Mountain and Vestar will jointly govern IRI. Financial terms were not disclosed.

“The IRI management team has a proven track record of partnering with clients to leverage data, technology, and cutting-edge ideas to help achieve better business results. Working with this talented management team, as well as with New Mountain and Vestar, we can continue to realize the strong client impact and value creation potential of this business.” Jeffrey Ansell, IRI Chairman.

Vestar was advised by Kirkland & Ellis. New Mountain and IRI were advised by Evercore, Morgan Stanley, Jefferies, and Fried Frank.

Financing will be provided by Jefferies Financial Group, Nomura Securities and Ares Management.

Sandbox acquired Constructive Media from HIG Capital.

A leading global private equity investment firm with $30bn of equity capital under management, sold its portfolio company Constructive Media, LLC to Sandbox & Co. Financial terms were not disclosed.

CM is one of the largest digital media platforms at the intersection of education and casual gaming. The Company has curated and developed a large selection of highly entertaining thinking games across a range of genres and age groups for desktop and mobile.

“We are excited to join Sandbox and its portfolio of complementary companies.” Greg Barlow, Constructive Media CEO.

The transaction was led by Digital Capital Advisors.

Swander Pace Capital acquired Backerhaus Veit.

A leading private equity firm specializing in investments in consumer products companies, has acquired Backerhaus Veit, a leading producer of artisan, European-style breads, rolls, buns and soft pretzel products for top-tier retail and foodservice customers across North America. Financial terms were not disclosed.

“Backerhaus Veit has built a tremendous business by staying true to the foundations of traditional artisan bread making. The company has built enduring relationships with its customers and suppliers, and it is able to recreate high-quality products derived from old-world recipes, allowing it great success in today’s modern marketplace." Heather Smith Thorne, Swander Pace Capital Managing Director.

PE backed Resource Label acquired Best Label.

Resource Label Group, backed by First Atlantic Capital and TPG Growth, a full-service provider of technology for the packaging industry, acquired Best Label Company, broadening its leading position in the label and packaging industry. Financial terms were not disclosed.

“I am honored that Best Label has joined the Resource Label Group team. Best Label brings a group of talented individuals, a high level of product quality and innovative packaging solutions to our organization. I look forward to working closely with the team to continue to serve our growing customer base across North America.” Mike Apperson, Resource Label Group President & CEO.

Cheap credit is pushing buyout values up to the pre-crisis levels.

Private equity dealmakers are riding high on a wave of cheap debt, pushing buyout values to levels not seen since the financial crisis.

The deals may not yet be quite as large as those in the last buyout bubble that blew up spectacularly a decade ago, such as the $44bn buyout of energy company TXU that ended in one of the biggest bankruptcies on record.

But in one respect at least, 2007 is back: today’s deals are once again fuelled by supersized portions of cheap debt, with few strings attached.

Four leveraged buyouts worth $10bn or more have been announced since the beginning of January, a higher tally than in any year since 2007. The largest was Blackstone’s $17bn acquisition of Thomson Reuters’ financial and risk business, now known as Refinitiv.

In about half of this year’s deals, private equity firms were able to raise debt financing amounting to at least six times the annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of the company they bought.

Clayton Dubilier & Rice's David's Bridal will file for a bankruptcy.

Wedding dress retailer David's Bridal has announced it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, with the company reportedly set to cut its debt load by upward of $400m and keep day-to-day operations open as part of the restructuring.

Clayton Dubilier & Rice bought David's Bridal for a reported $1.1bn in 2012.

APAC

KKR wants to raise up to $2bn for its new Asian fund.

KKR has initiated plans to raise between $1.5bn and $2bn for an infrastructure fund in Asia, marking the buyout shop's first infrastructure vehicle dedicated to the region. The fund will focus on a range of sectors, including telecom, roads and energy, primarily in India and China but also across other Asian countries.

Kazakh state pension fund acquired one-third of shares in $450m Kazatoprom IPO.

Kazakhstan’s state-run pension fund has bought one-third of the shares sold by uranium miner Kazatomprom in its $450m London and Astana initial public offering.

While Kazakhstan has already said the pension fund was an investor in the flotation, the scale of its involvement - not yet publicly disclosed - shows that demand for the offering was to a large extent propped up by the Kazakh state itself.

Kazatomprom, the world’s largest uranium producer, decided to sell only 15% of its stock in the offering after initially saying it was ready to sell up to 25%. It priced the offer at the lower end of the $11.60-15.40 range it gave, which valued the firm at $3bn.

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