AMERICAS
Thompson Street Capital Partners, a private equity firm based in St. Louis, completed an investment in Green Mountain Technology, a Memphis-based provider of parcel spend management solutions. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“By continuously solving the most complex challenges confronting mega-volume parcel shippers, GMT has developed a truly differentiated technology platform that drives performance improvements across the parcel ecosystem. We are thrilled to partner with the superb leadership team at GMT to introduce new products, deliver new value to our customers and accelerate the Company’s already outstanding growth,” Craig Albrecht, TSCP Managing Director.
GMT was advised by Madison Park Group. TSCP was advised by Weil Gotshal & Manges.
The IMA Group, a provider of medical, psychological and related evaluations, as well as ancillary services, agreed to acquire PsyBar, a provider of behavioral health, independent medical exams, and other employment-related services. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"No matter what service we bring to our clients, whether it's an IME for a large employer or fitness for duty for a city's police force, our primary goal is to provide clients with programs and services that make a difference for the organization and its people. We look for partners that can help us meet that goal. PsyBar is an ideal fit for our organization, and together we will solidify our position as the premier provider of evaluation services," Mark Weinberger, IMA President.
The IMA Group is advised by Scott Public Relations.
Toyota Motor completed a $400m investment in Pony.ai, a self-driving start-up. The latest fundraising values the three-year-old firm, already backed by Sequoia Capital China and Beijing Kunlun Tech, at slightly more than $3bn.
The investment by Toyota comes at a time when global carmakers, technology firms, start-ups and investors – including Tesla, Alphabet's Waymo and Uber – are pouring capital into developing self-driving vehicles.
Wynnchurch Capital, a middle-market private equity investment firm, completed the acquisition of Pennsylvania Machine Works, a fully integrated manufacturer of high pressure forged fittings and branch connections. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“Penn Machine has built a strong reputation for providing customers with industry-leading service levels across a broad offering of fittings and branch connections. We are excited to partner with Joe and his team to continue the Company’s impressive track record,” Greg Gleason, Wynnchurch Managing Director.
McAfee, the device-to-cloud cybersecurity company, agreed to acquire Light Point Security, a provider of browser isolation. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“Web browsing is one of the most common threat vectors for endpoints to get infected. Adding Light Point Security’s capabilities into our products will create solutions that enable our customers to mitigate web-based threats without impacting user experience. We are constantly working to find ways to help our customers safely adopt the cloud so they enjoy increased productivity without experiencing heightened concerns about cyber-attacks. Light Point Security’s browser isolation capabilities will bolster the McAfee Unified Cloud Edge offering to make it a preferred solution for security-focused businesses without compromising on productivity,” Ash Kulkarni, McAfee EVP and Chief Product Officer, Enterprise Business Group.
INVNT, the global live brand storytelling agency, agreed to acquire Folk Hero, a brand strategy firm that works with global companies, from Calzedonia Group, a retailer of apparel products. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"INVNT’s acquisition of Folk Hero ladders up to our overarching vision to be the best brand storytellers in the world. We recognize that to achieve our vision, we must evolve our offering to meet our clients at whatever stage of the storytelling cycle they need us. At a time when many of the old rules of marketing are changing, we believe that the brands with the best stories, told well, will win. And when our clients win, we win," Kristina McCoobery, INVNT COO.
Daimler-backed RepairSmith, a car repairing solutions provider, is set to acquire CarDash, a car repair, and maintenance service provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"CarDash is a pioneer in delivering concierge car repair; teaming up with industry-leading RepairSmith will empower even more customers with a convenient car repair that comes to them," Yinon Weiss, CarDash CEO.
GFL bets for Canada IPO the third time.
After two failed attempts to go public, waste hauler GFL Environmental filed to sell its shares in Toronto and New York, putting it on track to be one of Canada’s largest ever initial public offerings.
The sale aims to raise about $1.54bn at the top end of the range by offering 73m shares for $20 to $21 each. That would value the company at $6.7bn.
Separately, the company said it plans to sell 14m tangible equity units at $50 apiece concurrent with the IPO for net proceeds of $677m. GFL plans to use net proceeds to pay down debt.
Jamie Dimon says ‘door is open’ for more US bank deals. (FS)
Morgan Stanley’s $13bn takeover of E*Trade means the “door is open” for “more ambitious and aggressive” acquisitions by US banks, Jamie Dimon, said JP Morgan chief executive adding that there were a “lot of reasons” for banks to do deals, FT reported.
The head of America’s biggest bank by assets said his own institution was banned by regulation from buying other US banks but would be “open minded” about other businesses that “make us a better and stronger company”.
Singapore Press Holdings to acquire Canadian senior housing properties for $175m. (RE)
Singapore Press Holdings, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Times Properties, agreed to acquire a portfolio of six senior housing properties in Canada for $175m.
“The acquisition dovetails with the group’s ongoing strategy of expanding asset management business to acquire cash-yielding assets in multiple defensive sectors. The transaction will also help us expand the geographical reach as well as boost our capabilities within the aged care industry,” SPH.
UiPath, a software maker valued last year at $7bn, is getting closer to an initial public offering after helping some of the biggest companies in the US automate routine processes.
Armed with last year’s $568m funding round that gave the New York-based company its multi-billion dollar valuation, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Daniel Dines sees more growth on the cards. The bourse entry may take place as soon as early next year, depending on market conditions and strategic decisions.
“We just started our growth journey in 2016 and if you look at the average age of a company to do an IPO it’s probably 7 years. You have to become a public company at some point to allow your employees to get more liquidity, give them stock options. We are almost there,” Daniel Dines, UiPath Chief Executive Officer.
Iovance Biotherapeutics explores a potential sale.
Iovance Biotherapeutics, a pharmaceutical startup is exploring a sale and held preliminary talks with potential buyers, Bloomberg reported.
Shares of the US-based cancer drug developer soared nearly 30%.
Bob Iger steps down as Walt Disney chief executive. (People)
Bob Iger is stepping down as chief executive of Walt Disney a year after extending his contract, handing day-to-day control of the world’s largest media company to the head of its theme parks business, FT reported.
Bob Chapek, a Disney veteran who has run the parks business since 2015, became chief executive immediately. Mr. Iger, who has been chief executive since 2005, will continue to be executive chairman, setting in train a long leadership transition.
EMEA
The London Stock Exchange Group’s $27bn acquisition of financial data provider Refinitiv is already facing intense scrutiny in Brussels, raising the risk that regulators will subject the blockbuster deal to a much lengthier probe than the companies expected, FT reported.
The companies have yet to notify competition regulators formally of the deal, a step required to start the review of an acquisition. A plan to do so by the start of the month slipped because of the unexpected scrutiny of the deal in the pre-notification phase.
Refinitiv is advised by Canson Capital Partners, Evercore, Jefferies & Company, Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Osler Hoskin & Harcourt, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, and Eterna Partners. LSE is advised by RBC Capital Markets, Oliver Wyman, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Robey Warshaw, Blake Cassels & Graydon, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Herbert Smith Freehills, and Teneo. CPPIB is advised by Weil Gotshal and Manges. Thomson Reuters is advised by Allen & Overy.
Blackstone Group is set to acquire British student accommodation company iQ, from Goldman Sachs' merchant banking unit and medical charity Wellcome Trust for $6bn.
"This deal is a testament to our long-term belief in the UK. British higher education is globally renowned, and we are delighted to invest meaningful capital to support IQ’s further growth,” James Seppala, Blackstone Head of European Real Estate.
iQ is advised by Brunswick Group. Blackstone is advised by Savills, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Gowling WLG, and Kirkland & Ellis. Goldman Sachs and Wellcome Trust are advised by Eastdil Secured, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Jones Day.
Brink’s, the global provider of total cash management, route-based secure logistics and payment solutions, agreed to acquire a majority stake in the cash solutions unit of G4S, a global security and cash management company, for $860m. The acquisition will be financed by cash and debt from the company’s existing credit facility.
“This transaction represents our largest acquisition to date and further demonstrates our disciplined approach to value-added capital allocation. The acquisition of these select G4S cash operations is an excellent strategic fit that provides a strong platform for substantial growth. It positions us to extend our proven Strategy 1.0 organic revenue and operating profit growth initiatives into 14 new markets including cash-intensive, emerging growth markets in Asia and Eastern Europe," Doug Pertz, Brink's President and CEO.
Brink's is advised by Allen & Overy and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. G4S is advised by Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and JP Morgan.
Danone, a French multinational food-products company, is set to acquire a majority stake in Harrogate Water Brands, a manufacturer of bottled water and beverages. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“We are delighted to have found the right partner to take Harrogate Water forward on its journey while respecting and celebrating our history and heritage. We are incredibly proud to become part of the Danone family, and are excited about the benefits this will bring to Harrogate," James Cain, Harrogate Water CEO.
Harrogate Water is advised by Stamford Partners and Mazars UK.
Two investor groups bidding for Thyssenkrupp’s $17bn elevator business are making last-minute tweaks to their binding offers this week and could nudge them higher, Reuters reported.
Two consortia remain in the race: Blackstone, Carlyle, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board are competing against Advent and Cinven, who are supported by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Germany’s RAG Stiftung. Both of them have ave submitted offers with similar levels of debt and 7x EBITDA.
Apache, Pharos Energy among bidders for Shell's Egypt onshore assets.
Royal Dutch Shell’s onshore Egyptian oil and gas assets have drawn interest from Apache, Apex International Energy, Cheiron, and Pharos Energy.
Shell launched a process at the end of November to sell its onshore upstream assets in the Western Desert to focus on expanding its Egyptian offshore gas exploration.
Royal Dutch Shell appointed Citigroup to run the sale, which could fetch around $1bn.
Walmart in talks over a sale of Asda stake.
“Walmart and Asda can confirm that we are currently considering whether there is an opportunity for a third party to invest in Asda, alongside Walmart, in order to support and accelerate the delivery of Asda’s strategy and position Asda for long term success,” Walmart.
Metro Bank scales back expansion plans after $170m loss.
Metro Bank shares lost nearly a fifth of their value after the struggling British lender unveiled plans to cut costs and sell assets in the wake of an accounting scandal.
The bank reported a pretax loss of $170m for the year as it wrote off technology projects, vowed to move back-office jobs to cheaper locations and open fewer branches. Metro said it would focus more on specialty mortgages, small and medium-sized businesses, and unsecured loans.
n11 hires Citi, BofA for a stake sale. (FS)
Dogus Holding and an affiliate of South Korea’s SK Group hired Citigroup and Bank of America Merrill Lynch to weigh options for their Turkish online retailer, including a possible initial public offering.
The joint owners of Istanbul-based n11 are also considering whether to sell a minority stake in the company this year ahead of the IPO. The share sale may happen in 2021 in Istanbul or overseas, some of the people said, asking not to be identified because the talks are private.
Lufthansa and United weigh takeover of TAP.
Lufthansa and United Airlines are considering taking over TAP-Air Portugal, Reuters reported.
TAP, which was partly privatized in 2015, is 50%-owned by the Portuguese state. Private consortium Atlantic Gateway, led by Brazilian-US airline mogul David Neeleman, has a 45% stake. TAP employees hold the remaining 5%.
Lego billionaires take charge after losing $300m on ISS.
The billionaires behind toymaker Lego are seeking greater control of ISS, after shares in the Danish office services firm went into a free fall, Bloomberg reported.
ISS sank 16% at one point, after delivering yet another disappointing set of earnings. With the latest sell-off, ISS has lost over a third of its market value in the past year.
For Kirkbi, which oversees $16bn of Lego wealth for the Kirk Kristiansen family, the 12-month drop represents a loss of about $300m on its 15% stake.
CapitaLand to acquire a freehold business park in UK for $170m. (RE)
Singapore-based real estate developer CapitaLand agreed to acquire a prime freehold business park in the United Kingdom for $170m, boosting its Europe portfolio to about $6.2bn.
In a disclosure to the Singapore Exchange Wednesday, CapitaLand said it will acquire Arlington Business Park in Reading, over 60km west of London. The business park comprises 11 Grade A office buildings totalling about 367k square feet of net lettable area.
APAC
Indonesia wants to merge BRI with two state firms.
Indonesia’s state-owned enterprises minister said the government is looking to merge state-controlled Bank Rakyat Indonesia with two state financial firms in June, but the bank’s CEO said a final decision on that was still pending.
BRI, the country’s largest lender by assets, will be merged with pawnshop chain Pegadaian and Permodalan Nasional Madani, a financing firm focusing on micro-businesses.
“We had a meeting with BRI yesterday, and I want to make sure in June there will be an extraordinary merger between BRI, PNM, and Pegadaian. This is so that there is no overlapping and BRI will be an extraordinary bank. Go buy its shares,” Erick Thohir, SOE Minister.
Jet Air creditors ask court to extend liquidation deadline.
Creditors of Jet Airways India are seeking court action to save the bankrupt carrier from liquidation as a key deadline looms.
Lenders to Mumbai-based Jet Airways plan to request an Indian court extend a mid-March deadline for creditors to agree on a resolution plan or allow the carrier go into liquidation. Potential buyers of the airline are also seeking more time to prepare bids for the company.
Once India’s largest carrier by passengers, Jet Airway’s fall into bankruptcy last year is reflective of the country’s troubled aviation industry, where several players are struggling under piles of debt and cut-throat profit margins. While the bidding deadline for the company has been extended before, the airline could be forced into liquidation if there is a further delay in bids by suitors and the mid-March date is not met, without court action.
Indonesia may invest $1.1bn into Jiwasraya. (FS)
Indonesia may inject c. $1.1bn of capital to the financially embattled life insurer Asuransi Jiwasraya to help the state firm pay off maturing policies.
The capital injection was among four options the government proposed to parliament to help Jiwasraya meet its outstanding obligations to millions of policyholders, said Aria Bima, who chairs parliament’s special committee overseeing issues related to the insurer’s financial troubles.
“We want Jiwasraya to begin to return customers’ money in instalments by the end of March,” Aria Bima, Parliament’s Special Committee Chair.
Air India’s divestment process to spill over into 2021.
Privatization of Air India and stake sale in its subsidiaries for which bids have been invited is set to spill over to 2021 with the government giving more time to investors for clearing doubts on the terms of sale.
The ministry of civil aviation has extended the due date for investors to seek clarifications on the terms of sale up to midnight of March 6, from the earlier deadline of February 11, as per a change notified by the ministry on the information document given to investors.
China-backed BOC International raises $216m in Shanghai IPO. (FS)
BOC International, a financing service company made its trading debut in Shanghai after raising $216m in an initial public offering on the bourse, per a filing with Shanghai Stock Exchange.
Chinese financial solutions provider Guotai Junan Securities, state-owned financial conglomerate Ping An and Ping An Securities are the joint principle underwriters of the deal.
K Partners launches $102m growth fund. (FS)
South Korean venture capital investor Company K Partners, which counts Oscar-winning ‘Parasite’ in its portfolio, launched a $102m fund that seeks to invest in later stages.
Company K Partners seeks to raise up to $123m for the final close of the growth fund, dubbed Company K High Growth Fund.
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