Arnold Laver & Co. Limited and The National Timber Group, backed by Cairngorm Capital Partners, merged, to create the largest independent timber distribution business in the UK. The new enlarged Group has 52 distribution and processing sites extending from the north of Scotland to London and the South West and over 1300 employees.
“The merger is highly complementary – together, we are able to extend our presence nationwide, pursue further growth and are well positioned to capitalise on the market-leading position we have established." Rob Barclay, The National Timber Group CEO.
The National Timber Group and Cairngorm Capital were advised by PwC, Addleshaw Goddard, CIL, and JLT. Shareholders of Arnold Laver were advised by Rothschild & Co, and DLA Piper.
Financing was provided by PNC Business Credit and HSBC.
QMA, the quantitative equity and global multi-asset solutions manager of PGIM, announced today acquisition of Wadhwani Asset Management, a London-based quantitative macro-focused investment management firm. Upon closing, WAM will become part of the QMA business. The acquisition will bolster QMA’s global build-out efforts, and QMA expects to invest significantly in further developing the WAM business. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The existing WAM investment platform will operate independently of QMA’s investment platform, with WAM founder Dr Sushil Wadhwani continuing to serve as its Chief Investment Officer.
“I am pleased to announce the acquisition of Wadhwani Asset Management and look forward to working with Sushil and his team. Wadhwani Asset Management has significant experience and pedigree in systematic and quantitative macro investing, alongside Sushil’s sterling reputation as an economist, investor, and academic.”Andrew Dyson QMA CEO and Chairman.
Infineon acquires Siltectra from MIG for €124m.
Infineon Technologies AG acquired Siltectra GmbH, a start-up based in Dresden. The start-up has developed an innovative technology (Cold Split) to process crystal material efficiently and with minimal loss of material. Infineon will use the Cold Split technology to split silicon carbide wafers, thus doubling the number of chips out of one wafer. A purchase price of €124m was agreed on with the venture capital investor MIG Fonds, the main shareholder.
“This acquisition will help us expand our excellent portfolio with the new material silicon carbide as well. Our system understanding and our unique know how on thin wafer technology will be ideally complemented by the Cold Split technology and the innovative capacity of Siltectra. Thanks to the Cold Split technology, the higher number of SiC wafers will make the ramp-up of our SiC products much easier, especially regarding further expansion of renewable energies and the increasing adaptation of SiC for use in the drive train of electrical vehicles.” Dr Reinhard Ploss Infineon CEO.
Acquisition of Shire will bring about $963m in fees to advisors.
Banks, law firms and other advisers stand to earn up to $963m in fees from Takeda Pharmaceutical’s $62bn takeover of drugmaker Shire.
The Japanese company expects to spend about $733.4m in fees and expenses in total, while London-listed Shire’s costs will range between $216.5m and $229.5m.
Takeda was advised by Evercore, JP Morgan Chase, and Nomura. Shire was advised by Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley.
LSP raised €750m in 10 months for life sciences innovations.
Specialist life sciences and health care investment group, has raised more than €750m for three different funds over the past ten months to invest in innovative drug development and medical technology companies across Europe.
"We have been delighted by the support we have received from both new and existing investors, I believe that our fundraising success is based on a number of factors: the increased efficiency and maturity of the European VC ecosystem; a shift in big pharma and medtech from an internal R&D to an acquisition-based model; and the performance of our funds”. Dr Rene Kuijten, LSP Managing Partner.
BlaBlaCar made an offer for Ouibus and secured €101m investment.
The long-distance carpooling platform has made an offer to acquire Ouibus, a subsidiary of SNCF and French bus operator. This will allow BlaBlaCar to broaden, for the first time, its mobility offer beyond carpooling.
BlaBlaCar has also announced a €101 million investment involving SNCF and existing BlaBlaCar investors.
“We are excited to consider joining forces with the OuiBus team to enable travellers to find diverse mobility solutions on BlaBlaCar that suit their range of needs. This project supports our ambition to grow a broad mobility offer across Europe, combining cars and buses. The collaboration with SNCF would also be a promising turning point in the development of intermodal and door-to-door mobility, a common ambition which we are uniquely positioned to deliver together." Nicolas Brusson, BlaBlaCar Co-Founder and CEO.
Brookfield Asset Management and CDPQ have reached an agreement whereby Brookfield and CDPQ will acquire 100% of Johnson Controls’ Power Solutions business for approximately $13.2bn. In fiscal 2018, Power Solutions generated $8bn in revenue and $1.68bn in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. The transaction price of $13.2bn represents a multiple of 7.9x trailing twelve month EBITDA.
“We are excited to grow our business with the acquisition of Power Solutions, a global market leader which generates consistent cash flows and profitability. We look forward to partnering with the management team to continue growing this world-class business and build on its track record of innovation.” Cyrus Madon, Brookfield Business Partners CEO.
Brookfield was advised by Barclays, The Bank of Nova Scotia, TD Securities, Davis Polk & Wardwell, Baker McKenzie, Cahill Gordon & Reindel, and Weil, Gotshal & Manges. CDPQ was advised by Kirkland & Ellis.
Financing will be provided by Barclays, Credit Suisse, JPMorgan Chase, BofA Merrill Lynch, BMO Capital Markets, CIBC Capital Markets, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, RBC Capital Markets, The Bank of Nova Scotia and TD Securities.
Da Vinci Capital Invested in DataArt.
Leading emerging markets private equity firm, announced today that it has invested in DataArt, a leading global technology consultancy that designs and develops unique software solutions, to support the company’s growth momentum in key industries. Under the agreement, Da Vinci Capital acquired a substantial, non-controlling interest in DataArt. DataArt operations remain under the control and leadership of the existing DataArt executive management team. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“DataArt’s strong revenue growth is key to our interest in the company. DataArt focuses on providing high-quality engineering services for complex software projects. Da Vinci Capital is excited to partner with DataArt, and we seek to replicate the success of our prior investment in Epam Systems, which completed an IPO on the NYSE in 2012. Our exhaustive due diligence process revealed that DataArt has an exceptionally strong reputation among its clients, partners and industry peers for quality, integrity and performance, which was pivotal in Da Vinci Capital’s decision to invest.” Dennis Fulling, Da Vinci Capital Managing Partner.
Celestica completed acquisition of Impakt Holdings from Graycliff for $329m.
A leader in design, manufacturing and supply chain solutions for the world’s most innovative companies, acquired Impakt Holdings, LLC from Graycliff Partners for $329m. Impakt is a highly-specialised, vertically integrated manufacturer providing manufacturing solutions for leading OEMs in the semiconductor and Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) display industries, as well as other markets requiring complex fabrication services.
“This acquisition is well aligned to our company strategy of growing and diversifying our overall revenue and margin mix through targeted investments and acquisitions. Bringing Impakt’s capabilities into our capital equipment manufacturing business will provide us with new capabilities in the US and South Korea. We welcome the 450 Impakt employees to Celestica, and we look forward to working together to deliver added value to our customers.” Rob Mionis Celestica President and CEO.
Celestica was advised by Moelis & Company, Blake, Cassels & Graydon and Arnold & Porter. Impakt was advised by Stifel and Lincoln International.
Blackstone stands by Saudi Arabia's relationship.
The Saudis have pledged as much as $20bn to help Blackstone build the world's largest infrastructure fund. The infrastructure fund has been a source of Wall Street fascination since it was unveiled during a conference in Riyadh in May 2017.
Blackstone's acceptance of the funds has been called into question since the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
"We’re very much in a long-term business; we have long-term relationships with institutions. We make commitments to them when we take their capital for a decade or more. That is the essence of our business model, and we don’t intend to change that. In this case, obviously, what occurred there was very concerning. But again we’re taking a long-term view." Jon Gray, Blackstone President and COO.
Ratner family does not agree with the $11.4bn sale of Forest City Realty Trust to Brookfield.
Some members of the family feel that the price paid by Brookfield was not fair. Albert Ratner argued that the fair value of Forest City shares was about $37, nearly a 50% premium to the $25.35 share price that Brookfield agreed to pay. He came to that figure based on a 2020 valuation of the company’s individual properties, which were then discounted back to a present value.
“This was not a robust sales process; I believe the responsibility of a company is to protect the interests of long-term shareholders.” Albert Ratner, Forest City former CEO.
WeWork secured an additional $3bn in funding from Japan’s SoftBank.
The latest funding was in the form of a warrant, under which SoftBank will pay WeWork $1.5bn on Jan. 15 and the remaining on April 15.
SoftBank, which runs the world’s biggest private equity fund was in discussions to buy a majority stake in WeWork.
CPPIB emerged as a buyer of $1.7bn Ontario Teachers’ PE portfolio.
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a portfolio of private equity stakes valued at about $1.7bn sold by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.
