Real estate funds managed by Blackstone acquired Dream Global Real Estate Investment Trust, an owner and operator of a diversified high-quality portfolio of office and industrial properties located in key markets in Western Europe with a focus on Germany and the Netherlands, for $4.7bn. The cash consideration of $16.79 per unit represents a significant premium of 18.5% to the closing price of Dream Global Units on the TSX on September 13, 2019, and will represent a total return for 2019 of 47%.
"This transaction is the culmination of the tremendous growth that Dream Global has achieved since its 2011 IPO. At a time when the Western European real estate market is becoming increasingly competitive, this transaction provides premium value to unitholders. Upon completion of the transaction, Dream Global will have increased its equity market capitalization by nearly eight times and will have delivered total annualized returns of 15% to our unitholders, since inception, which exceed both the Canadian and European REIT benchmarks by approximately 60% and are competitive against the best-managed real estate private equity funds and pension funds globally, over the same time period." Detlef Bierbaum, Chairman of Dream Global's board of trustees.
National Bank of Canada, TD Securities, Goodmans, Greenberg Traurig and Osler Hoskin & Harcourt are advising Dream Global REIT. BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, RBC Capital Markets, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett are advising Blackstone.
Mosaic Acquisition Corp, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company formed by Fortress Investment Group, acquired and merged with Vivint Smart Home, a leading smart home technology company, in a $5.6bn deal. Blackstone and Fortress Investment Group, Vivint's current stakeholders, will invest in the combined company.
"We are excited to partner with Mosaic to unlock the next chapter of the Vivint growth story. We remain committed to our mission of redefining the home experience through intelligently designed, cloud-enabled solutions delivered to every home by people who care. Just as it was in 1999 when I founded this business, to today where we are a multi-billion-dollar enterprise, our customers remain our focus. As the smart home market rapidly expands globally, Vivint is in the early stage of a massive opportunity and is ready to create the future of how we live and interact with our homes." Todd Pedersen, Founder and CEO of Vivint.
Blackstone Capital Markets, Evercore, JP Morgan and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett advised Vivint Smart Home. Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, RBC Capital Markets and Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison advised Mosaic Acquisition. Fried Frank advised Fortress Investment Group.
Energy Transfer, which owns and operates one of the largest and most diversified portfolios of energy assets in the United States, agreed to acquire SemGroup, which transports oil, natural gas and other products across North America, for $5bn. The merger consideration consists of $6.80 in cash and 0.7275 of an ET common unit for each outstanding share of Class A Common Stock of SemGroup, or 40% cash and 60% equity. This represents a 65% premium to the closing price of SemGroup shares as of September 13, 2019.
The transaction, which is expected to have no material impact on credit metrics, increases Energy Transfer’s portion of fee-based cash flows from fixed-fee contracts and is expected to be immediately accretive to distributable cash flow per common unit. Also, beyond the equity issued for the transaction, no common equity issuances are expected.
Jefferies & Company and Kirkland & Ellis advised SemGroup. Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Latham & Watkins advised Energy Transfer.
Lundbeck, a Danish international pharmaceutical company, agreed to acquire Alder BioPharmaceuticals, a pharmaceutical development company based in Bothell, Washington, for $2bn. The consideration represents a 79% premium to Alder's share price based on the closing price on September 13, 2019.
"Alder is an excellent strategic fit for 'Lundbeck's focused expertise in brain diseases and organizational capabilities. This transaction flows from our strategic intent to Expand and Invest to Grow. Migraine prevention is an attractive indication for us that leverages our specialized commercial expertise in delivering medicines for brain diseases. We expect the global launch of eptinezumab for the preventive treatment of migraine, as well as the further potential development of the product in additional indications, to accelerate 'Lundbeck's growth in the coming years." Deborah Dunsire, President and CEO of Lundbeck.
Centerview Partners, Cooley and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom advised Alder BioPharmaceuticals. MTS Health Partners, PJT Partners and Baker McKenzie advised Lundbeck.
Winnebago Industries, a leading outdoor lifestyle product manufacturer, agreed to acquire Newmar Corporation, a leading manufacturer of Class A and Super C motorized recreation vehicles, for $270m.
“Winnebago Industries has a deep heritage in the RV industry, and we are excited about the opportunity to join its portfolio of premium outdoor lifestyle brands. We look forward to working with the Winnebago Industries team to further enhance our growth trajectory, share best practices across our business, and continue delivering an incomparable product experience for our dealers and customers.” Newmar’s President, Matthew Miller.
Goldman Sachs and Faegre Baker Daniels are advising Winnebago Industries.
Spectrum Equity, a leading growth equity firm investing in the information economy, invested in Datassential, the leading provider of data, intelligence and market research to the foodservice industry. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"The Datassential team has built an innovative product suite that its customers love. The company is positioned to capitalize on the vast opportunity ahead by expanding its industry-leading service approach to new areas in food, as well as around the world." Jeff Haywood, Managing Director of Spectrum Equity.
Intrepid Advisors and Sklar Kirsh advised Datassential. Latham & Watkins advised Spectrum Equity.
Element AI, a global developer of artificial intelligence-powered software solutions, raised $151m in Series B funding round. New investors include the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, a long-term institutional investor, McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm and owner of advanced analytics company QuantumBlack, and Gouvernement du Québec, as well as returning Series A investors, including DCVC (Data Collective), Hanwha Asset Management, BDC Capital, Real Ventures and many others.
“Operationalizing AI is currently the industry’s toughest challenge, and few companies have been successful at taking proofs-of-concept out of the lab, imbedding them strategically in their operations, and delivering actual business impact. We are proud to be working with our new partners, who understand this challenge well, and to leverage each other’s expertise in taking AI solutions to market.” Element AI CEO Jean-François Gagné.
Allen & Company advised Element AI.
Trilantic-backed Taymax Group, one of the largest Planet Fitness franchisees, acquired Southfit, which serves close to 75k members and employs a staff of approximately 230 across 14 fitness clubs in the Jacksonville, Florida and southeastern Georgia regions. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"The addition of Southfit to the Taymax platform demonstrates our firm commitment to bringing a non-intimidating, high-value, low-price fitness experience to more members across the United States and beyond. The acquisition adds to our growing presence in the Southeastern United States, along with our already existing clubs in Tennessee and Alabama." Tim Kelleher, co-founder and CEO of Taymax.
MFA Companies and Gravel & Shea advised Southfit. Kirkland & Ellis advised Taymax.
Arcline Investment Management, a growth-oriented private equity firm with $1.5bn of capital under management, acquired a majority interest in Akron Biotechnology, a leading supplier of cGMP-compliant products and services critical for the production of advanced therapy medicinal products, including cell therapies, gene therapies and engineered tissues. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We recognize that the cell and gene therapy industry has reached a critical juncture. With so many therapy developers progressing through advanced stages of clinical development, the demand for cGMP-grade materials will increase dramatically in the near future. We are delighted to partner with Arcline to substantially expand Akron's capacity to meet this growing demand for the benefit of the entire regenerative medicine industry and the patients it serves," Dr. Claudia Zylberberg, Akron Founder and CEO.
Joele Frank advised Arcline.
The Riverside Company invested in Affinitiv, a portfolio company of CIP Capital and a provider of marketing and technology services to automotive manufacturers and dealerships. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We are thrilled to partner with CIP Capital to help the Affinitiv and AutoLoop teams integrate their offerings and provide an even more comprehensive product portfolio for their clients. Affinitiv and AutoLoop combine two leaders in the industry, being the only fully integrated end-to-end solution available in the market." Riverside Partner Jeffrey Gordon.
Qualcomm, an American multinational semiconductor and telecommunications equipment company, acquired remaining interest in RF360 Holdings, a joint venture it formed with TDK Corporation, for $3.1bn.
This acquisition is the final step to formally bring in-house more than 20 years of expertise in RFFE filtering. Qualcomm Technologies now has one of the broadest portfolios of RFFE products, including integrated and discrete micro-acoustic components utilizing RFFE filter technologies such as BAW, SAW, TC-SAW, as well as Thin Film SAW, all of which are core to developing and producing filters, duplexers, multiplexers for discrete, power amplifiers and diversity modules, as well as n-plexers and extractors for the very complex front end necessary for today's leading mobile phones and connected devices.
Hunter Douglas, the world market leader in window coverings and a major manufacturer of architectural products, sold its Metal Trading business to a Management Group under the leadership of its long-time President George Ribet. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The business had 2018 sales of $640m which were not consolidated with Hunter Douglas' sales and has 35 employees. The business will be continued unchanged.
Wedbush, one of the nation’s leading diversified financial services firms, agreed to acquire assets of Decker & Co, a leading independent US-based specialist brokerage covering the Asian Markets. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“Headquartered here in Los Angeles, Wedbush has a front row seat to the growing importance of Trans-Pacific collaboration. Our new Decker & Co. group will provide clients on both sides of the Pacific with bespoke services in capital markets and wealth management. We are thrilled to partner with Mark and his team.” Gary Wedbush, Co-President of Wedbush Securities.
Games technology company Improbable acquired US-based games studio Midwinter Entertainment, the developers of the upcoming online action-shooter ‘Scavengers.’ Financial terms were not disclosed.
“I’ve been hugely excited by Midwinter and Scavengers since the first time I talked to Josh. The game development talent at our studios is world-class and is showing us the way when it comes to using SpatialOS to build and iterate on game worlds quickly to introduce groundbreaking games to market. We are very excited by Scavengers and its potential - but also equally thrilled to see how Josh and his team work alongside our global game studios to build solutions and features that help transform the experience of game development for our customers in the future.” Herman Narula, CEO and co-founder of Improbable.
Hub International, a leading global insurance brokerage and financial services firm, acquired assets of Virginia-based Washington Financial Group, a nationally recognized, award-winning leader providing innovative employer plan and wealth management services. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Our vast network of clients is asking for help, not only with managing the plans but also helping their employees reach better outcomes. WFG has demonstrated leadership and a commitment to excellence in driving better solutions not just for employers, but for hard-working employees as well. Joe, Jeff and their team are a great fit for Hub. They truly are leaders in the space." David Reich, National President, Hub Retirement and Private Wealth
