Portugal’s Energia de Portugal, an integrated generator, supplier and distributor of electricity, said that it would consider forming a Latin America joint venture with China Three Gorges Corp, a Chinese state-owned power company, if their €9.1bn ($10.9bn) merger agreement fails. The deal was first announced in May 2018. CTG currently holds a 23% stake in EDP.
Lazard, Millennium, Morgan Stanley, Rothschild & Co, UBS, DLA Piper, King & Wood Mallesons and MLGTS advised EDP. BofA Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and Linklaters advised Three Gorges Corp.
Reuters reported that E.ON chief executive Johannes Teyssen said the company has not made any plans for a negative verdict of the planned asset takeover of rival Innogy by EU antitrust regulators. The deal was first announced in March 2018.
“I have not occupied myself with a plan B,” Teyssen said in response to questions during the company’s 2018 earnings news conference in Essen, adding he believed it could be proved that there was no danger of market dominance.
Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Lazard, Hengeler Mueller and Finsbury Hering Schuppene GPG advised Innogy. BNP, PWP, Allen & Overy and Linklaters advised E.ON. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Rothschild & Co and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised RWE, which acts as a seller in this transaction.
3i Infrastructure agreed to invest €220m ($248m) to acquire Joulz Diensten, a leading owner and provider of essential energy infrastructure equipment and services in the Netherlands. Joulz is being purchased from Stedin Holding.
Richard Laing, Chair of 3i Infrastructure, commented: "Joulz is an attractive addition to our portfolio, with a strong established asset base as well as good potential for growth as the Netherlands accelerates its transition to more sustainable energy use."
The Private Clinic Group, a clinic operator and portfolio company of BlueGem Capital Partners, acquired Cosmetic Skin Clinic. The Cosmetic Skin Clinic specializes in cutting-edge non-surgical treatments carried out in a state-of-the-art clinic in Buckinghamshire and a second clinic in Central London. The two companies will be merged. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Emilio Di Spiezio Sardo, Co-Founder and Partner of BlueGem and Sarah Walker, Director of Bluegem, commented: “We are delighted to announce the acquisition of The Cosmetic Skin Clinic by The Private Clinic Group. It is an excellent example of BlueGem’s approach to creating value in our portfolio companies, as we support them both financially and managerially to find the best growth solutions. Today’s acquisition further supports our vision to be the leading consolidator of premium cosmetics clinics in the UK, following previous acquisitions including Hans Place (2009), Regency Medical (2010) and Aurora Clinics (2016). The platform is very well positioned to continue this growth journey, via both organic growth and new buy-and-build opportunities.”
BlueGem and The Private Clinic were advised by EPIC, McDermott Will & Emery, Grant Thornton and Marlborough Partners. The Cosmetic Skin Clinic was advised by Farrer & Co and Glazers.
New World Capital Advisors, the specialist merchant banking and investment firm, invested in IslamicMarkets, a leading financial intelligence, e-learning and investment platform focused on the global Islamic economy. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Adam Sadiq, co-founder of NWCA said: “Despite continued year-on-year growth, the true potential of the Islamic economy has been held back due to a lack of clear, consistent and powerful insights. By creating a gateway for all market participants to research, share and connect on live opportunities, this platform will revolutionize Islamic finance and establish confidence in the market, supporting the fast-growing Islamic Fintech ecosystem”.
Private equity firm Livingbridge invested in marketing agency Brainlabs, which provides a single solution marketing model bringing together technology, biddable agency services and consultancy. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The investment from Livingbridge will support Brainlabs’ acquisitive growth strategy, building a pipeline of merger targets with expertise in SEO, content, production, data, and email to complement its performance marketing capability.
JEGI CLARITY advised Brainlabs. Results International advised Livingbridge.
Raiffeisen considers acquiring Serbian Komercijalna Banka.
Raiffeisen, an Austrian banking group, said that it does not exclude a potential acquisition of Serbian bank Komercijalna Banka. The Serbian bank is currently being privatized as part of a deal between the International Monetary Fund and the Serbian government. Raiffeisen has recently expressed interest in expanding its European markets through mergers or acquisitions.
“You cannot say anything regarding Komercijalna now... you can only say something when the owners decide if there is a (sale) process, and what the process will look like,” Johann Strobl, Raiffeisen CEO, said at a news conference in Vienna.
Nestle shortlists bidders for round two of a hotly contested auction for its skin-health business. (FS)
According to
Bloomberg, Nestle revealed the companies which will participate in the next auction round for its skin-health business. The participants include
L’Oreal, Unilever, The Carlyle Group and a consortium comprising Advent International, KKR, Cinven, EQT and GIC.
The unit being sold is valued at approximately $8-10bn. That value would make the unit the largest acquisition target in Europe this year, surpassing Hellman & Friedman and Blackstone Group’s $5.5bn offer for Germany’s Scout24.
Swiss Rothschilds plan to take Edmond de Rothschild private.
The Rothschild family is planning to take its Swiss banking products provider Edmond de Rothschild private. The family will offer CHF18k ($18k) in cash per share for each of the 2% of shares in the company it does not already own, representing a 7% premium.
The buyout offer follows settlement last year of a dispute among Rothschild cousins over the commercial use of the banking dynasty’s historic family name.
Edmond de Rothschild stock rose by 8% in response to the news.
Prudential said its UK demerger is going according to plan.
Mike Wells, Chief Executive Officer of Prudential said that the company is proceeding according to plan with its demerger of UK unit M&G Prudential. The company said that in preparation for the move it had reorganized its UK and Hong Kong businesses, sold a £12bn ($15.7bn) chunk of its annuity book to Rothesay and started the process of splitting the group’s debt.
“We are making good progress,” said Mr. Wells, adding that there were still a few steps to go including filling out the board of M&G Prudential, securing court approvals and finalizing changes to the balance sheet.
Rescue plan of Alitalia in danger as suitor make demands.
Delta Air Lines, a major United States airline, and easyJet, a British low-cost airline, have set strict conditions for investing in which that could jeopardize a government-led plan to rescue the troubled Italian airline,
Reuters reported.
Alitalia was put under special administration in 2017 after workers rejected the latest in a long line of rescue plans. Delta and easyJet, which have expressed interest in Alitalia, are in talks with another rescuer Ferrovie, a state-owned holding company that manages infrastructure and services on the Italian rail network, but the three investors do not see eye to eye on the structure of the deal.
The British low-cost carrier would be open to taking a stake of 15% in the Italian airline but only if it wins control of certain Alitalia assets. That condition has irritated the three special commissioners in charge of the airline, who fear it could lead to a break-up of the company. At the same time Delta is also planning to take a 15% stake, spending around €100m ($112m) in the proposed €900m ($1bn) rescue plan, but does not want to inject more than that. A participation of 30% or less by the industrial partners, compared with a stake of around 40% Ferrovie was counting on, would force the government to find additional investors, probably among state-controlled companies.
Roman Abramovich sold a $551m stake in Norilsk Nickel.
Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich sold a 1.7% stake in Russian mining company Norilsk Nickel for $551m. The stake was bought by British and Russian investors.
Prior to the sale Abramovich and his partners had a 6.3% stake in Norilsk Nickel, according to the latest information, including 4.2% owned via his Cyprus-based company Crispian. Norilsk Nickel’s biggest shareholders - Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin and Rusal, the world's second-largest aluminum company by primary production output, were blocked from buying shares from Abramovich.
VTB Capital acted as the deal’s arranger.
Biggest shareholder of EssilorLuxottica has no desire to appoint a CEO.
Leonardo Del Vecchio, the top shareholder of the producer of spectacles and lenses EssilorLuxottica, said that he would not insist on his governance nominations for the company, which was created when Italy’s Luxottica and France’s Essilor merged last October. Leonardo Del Vecchio, the founder of Luxottica and the executive chairman of the combined group, had appeared to indicate in November that he wanted his right-hand man Francesco Milleri to get the CEO job, which led to a disagreement with the Essilor side.
Reuters reported that on Wednesday, a spokesman for Del Vecchio said his November comments “shouldn’t be interpreted as his desire to appoint Francesco Milleri as CEO of EssilorLuxottica.” The spokesman added that Del Vecchio, who has 32% of EssilorLuxottica, wanted to transfer some operational functions to Milleri so that he could focus more on strategic matters.
CVC looking to buy a stake in Six Nations rugby championship. (FS)
Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners expressed its interest a acquire a stake in Six Nations, an annual international rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The rumors come after CVC bought a minority shareholding of 27% in England's Premiership Rugby in December. The investment firm is rumored to have offered to acquire a 30% stake in Six Nations.
The deal could be valued at approximately £500m ($657m).
Intensa’s CEO said he has no interest in expanding the company through M&A.
Reuters reported that
Chief Executive Officer of Intesa Sanpaolo, an Italian banking group, Carlo Messina reiterated on Wednesday that Italy’s biggest retail bank was not interested in any merger deal in Italy or abroad.
Keensight Capital closed its fifth growth fund at €1bn hard cap. (FS)
Keensight Capital, a private equity manager dedicated to pan-European Growth Buyout investments, held the first and final closing of its new fund, Keensight V, at the fund’s €1bn ($1.1bn) hard cap, exceeding the fund target of €750m ($845m). The fund was substantially oversubscribed with strong support from existing LPs, as well as new investors from Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia.
Keensight was advised by Park Hill as placement agent.
