Vestar Capital and New Mountain Capital-backed Information Resources, a provider of innovative solutions and services for consumer, retail and media companies, agreed to merge with Hellman & Friedman-backed The NPD Group, a global provider of market information and advisory services. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We are excited about the prospect of combining our companies to give clients the tools and information they need to succeed amid changing consumer behavior. Both NPD and IRI share similar client-focused, innovative and collaborative cultures, making this combination a natural fit," Karyn Schoenbart, NPD CEO.
The NPD Group is advised by Jefferies & Company, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. Information Resources is advised by Evercore, Goldman Sachs, Guggenheim Partners and Kirkland & Ellis. Vestar Capital is advised by Lambert & Co. New Mountain Capital is advised by Abernathy MacGregor Group. Hellman & Friedman is advised by Finsbury Glover Hering.
Euronav, an independent tanker company, agreed to merge with Frontline, an independent tanker company, in a $4.2bn deal.
"Frontline believes this transaction would form a powerful combination at an exciting point in the cycle. The combination would create a strong platform to further enhance shareholder value for our investors," Lars H. Barstad, Frontline CEO.
Frontline is advised by ABG Sundal Collier, DNB Bank, Allen & Overy, MJM Barristers & Attorneys, Schjodt, Seward & Kissel and KPMG. Euronav is advised by Lazard and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
Aquiline Capital-backed Aspirion, a technology-enabled revenue cycle management healthcare company, completed the merger with ARx, a revenue cycle management company dedicated to improving revenue cycle management financial performance for healthcare providers. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Today's announcement illustrates Aspirion's commitment to broadening our support of US hospital systems' most difficult reimbursements and our execution against our goal of continually expanding our capabilities and reach in this vertical. What most impressed us with ARx was how their clients spoke of the support they received. It was clear that we share very similar values, and they consistently deliver a premium level of service which is so core to all we do. ARx's obsession with providing an experience that clients couldn't find elsewhere and complementary offerings makes this deal align with our strategy," Jason Erdell, Aspirion CEO.
ARx was advised by Brentwood Capital Markets and Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis. Aquiline Capital was advised by Prosek Partners. Aspirion was advised by Grant Thornton, Lockton Companies, Opus Advisory, McDermott Will & Emery and OneDigital.
Citizens Financial, a provider of consumer banking services, completed the acquisition of Investors Bancorp, a provider of banking services, for $3.5bn.
"The acquisition of Investors, following on the heels of the acquisition of HSBC's East Coast branches, further strengthens our formidable franchise in the northeast, together adding roughly one million customers and boosting our near and long-term growth potential. We are confident in our ability to successfully integrate these acquisitions, and to overtime deliver the same attractive offerings to customers and strong financial performance in the New York City metro region and New Jersey as we do in other major metro areas we serve," Bruce Van Saun, Citizens Chairman and CEO.
Investors Bancorp was advised by Keefe Bruyette & Woods, Lazard, Piper Sandler and Luse Gorman. Citizens was advised by Morgan Stanley and Sullivan & Cromwell. Morgan Stanley was advised by Debevoise & Plimpton.
Veritas Capital, a private equity firm, completed the acquisition of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, a learning technology company, for $2.8bn.
"Partnering with Veritas will provide HMH with the opportunity to accelerate our momentum and increase our impact on the four million teachers and 50m students that we support each day. With accelerating billings growth, strong free cash flow and a transformed cost structure, we are at an important inflection point, and the time is right to move into the next phase of our long-term growth strategy alongside a partner that brings significant industry expertise," Jack Lynch, HMH President and CEO.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt was advised by Evercore, Latham & Watkins and WilmerHale. Veritas Capital was advised by Milbank and Sard Verbinnen & Co. Debt financing was provided by Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan and Macquarie Group.
Simpson Manufacturing, a provider of engineered structural connectors and building solutions, completed the acquisition of Etanco, a designer, manufacturer and distributor of fixing and fastening solutions, from ICG, a private equity firm, for $818m.
"Etanco's business of providing reputable, highly engineered technical solutions with a high focus on customer service, align with Simpson's core business model and values, making Etanco an ideal acquisition to support continued growth in our European business," Karen Colonias, Simpson Manufacturing President and CEO.
Etanco was advised by Willkie Farr & Gallagher. Simpson Manufacturing was advised by EC M&A, KPMG, Jones Day and Addo Investor Relations. Debt financing was provided by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Wells Fargo Securities. ICG was advised by Centerview Partners.
Shamrock Capital, a Los Angeles-based investment firm specializing in media, entertainment, communications, and related sectors, completed an $80m investment in EDO, a data, measurement, and analytics software company.
"Over the past 40 years, Shamrock has developed deep expertise in the rapidly evolving media and entertainment industry. As we studied the opportunity in Convergent TV measurement and data, we quickly identified EDO as a strategically differentiated player at the forefront of innovation in a massively valuable global ecosystem. EDO has amassed an impressive network of partners, clients and team members who we believe are reshaping what is possible from Convergent TV measurement, ad performance, and consumer engagement insights. We look forward to working closely with the EDO team on their continued growth," Laura Held, Shamrock Capital Partner.
EDO was advised by Moelis & Co, Cooley and KCSA Strategic Communications. Shamrock Capital was advised by Willkie Farr & Gallagher.
A&M Capital Partners-backed Worldwise, a pet supplies platform, completed the acquisition of Pet Factory, a provider of pet toys. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We are a different business today than we were six months ago, thanks to the continued success of our M&A strategy in bolstering the Worldwise platform with innovative brands, products and production capabilities that meet the highest standards of both quality and safety," Kevin Fick, Worldwise CEO.
Pet Factory was advised by The Peakstone Group and Schoenberg Finkel Beederman Bell Glazer. Worldwise was advised by Kirkland & Ellis and Gaffney Bennett Public Relations.
USD Partners, a firm engaged in energy-related logistics assets, completed the acquisition of the Hardisty South terminal assets from USD Group, an operator of energy infrastructure assets throughout North America, for $75m.
"As we have previously stated, we are very focused on maintaining our momentum in 2022 as we continue to see opportunities for our DRUbit™ by Rail™ network to provide safer and more economic benefits to our customers. The acquisition of Hardisty South is expected to provide the partnership with a growth platform by which it can realize the accretion and additional long-term commitments that our DRUbit™ by Rail™ network is able to provide. Simplifying the Partnership's structure is critical to our growth strategy, and we look forward to sharing more details about our growth opportunities in the future," Dan Borgen, USD CEO.
USD Partners was advised by Jefferies & Company and Sidley Austin. USD Group was advised by Tudor Pickering Holt and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher.
Brookfield Business Partners, a global business services and industrial company, agreed to acquire CDK Global, an automotive retail technology company, for $8.3bn.
"This transaction is an exciting next step for CDK that provides our shareholders with both certainty of value and a meaningful premium. It also allows CDK to continue executing our long-term strategy to connect our industry at every level and create an open and collaborative future. In consultation with our outside advisors, CDK's Board of Directors carefully evaluated a range of strategic and financial alternatives over several months and determined that this transaction is superior to all other available alternatives," Brian Krzanich, CDK Global President and CEO.
CDK Global is advised by Morgan Stanley and Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison. Brookfield is advised by Davis Polk & Wardwell.
Repsol, a Spanish energy and petrochemical company, led a $205m funding round in Enerkem, a provider of low-carbon intensity biofuels and circular chemicals, with participation from Monarch Alternative Capital and Avenue Capital.
"We are pleased to welcome Repsol as a shareholder. Repsol is a global multi-energy supplier that will greatly assist in accelerating the deployment of our technology in new markets. Repsol's equity investment in Enerkem strengthens our position as a leader in the renewable fuels and chemicals sectors and in building a circular economy," Dominique Boies, Enerkem CEO.
Enerkem was advised by JP Morgan.
Private equity firms Oaktree Capital and Veleta Capital formed a joint venture, a premier institutional lending platform for multifamily and commercial real estate assets. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We are excited to partner with Oaktree to create Veleta Capital Partners, the first vertical in a planned series of real estate lending and investment strategies. Short-term, value-add, and opportunistic lending will always be core to Veleta Capital's strategy, and this partnership with Oaktree is a significant step toward our goals of including more comprehensive lending and technology solutions, new verticals, and strategic alliance initiatives. We have already seen the value of combining our experienced team and strategic relationships with Oaktree's access to capital, resources, and expertise, and look forward to the opportunities ahead," Brian Murphy, Veleta Capital Managing Partner and CEO.
Oaktree Capital was advised by Sard Verbinnen & Co.
Bolt, a fiat-to-crypto and payment infrastructure company, agreed to acquire Wyre, a cryptocurrency infrastructure provider, from Ether Capital, a Toronto-based technology company, for $1.5bn.
"This acquisition is the fulfillment of a long-time ambition. When I wrote the draft business plan for Bolt, I had always imagined cryptocurrency at its center. That was 2015, and the idea was a slide on a pitch deck. To think that seven years later, we'd be partnering with Wyre to make that vision a reality is incredible. This acquisition will fast-track our efforts to democratize commerce—and it will serve as a powerful proof point for the union of cryptocurrency and commerce," Ryan Breslow, Bolt Founder and Chairman.
Tiger Global, a private equity firm, led a $350m funding round in Near Protocol, a blockchain company, with participation from Republic Capital, Hashed, FTX Ventures and Dragonfly Capital.
"NEAR is poised to be a leading smart contract blockchain platform, combining first-rate technology with a fast-growing developer ecosystem. We're excited to support NEAR as we ramp up our investments in the digital asset space," John Curtius, Tiger Global Partner.
GIC, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, led a $240m Series D round in Grafana Labs, a provider of open-source software for visualizing operational data, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Coatue, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Lead Edge Capital.
"Grafana Labs is a strong, product-led company that has built a committed customer base and has significant adoption. We are enthusiastic to lead the round, particularly as we've witnessed Grafana Labs' ability to translate a portion of their free adoption into consistent business results. We see significant global interest in Grafana Labs' products and look forward to leveraging GIC's network to support the company's global growth ambitions and drive deeper relationships in APAC over the long term," Choo Yong Cheen, GIC CIO.
A consortium of investors including RRE Ventures, Foundation Capital, Original Capital, VanEck, Circle Ventures, Gaingels and Gold House, led a $200m funding round in Binance.US, a provider of a digital asset exchange and marketplace.
The company intends to use the funds to enhance its spot trading platform, develop a suite of new products and services to be introduced in the near-term, and invest in marketing and consumer education initiatives.
Genius Brands, an entertainment company, completed the acquisition of WOW! Unlimited Media, a Canadian animation and media holding company, for $53m.
"The acquisition of WOW! substantially accelerates the financial growth of Genius Brands, delivering on our promise to shareholders to execute meaningful and accretive acquisitions, as we seek to rapidly consolidate the marketplace and become the foremost producer, broadcaster, and consumer product licensor of high-quality children's entertainment in the world," Andy Heyward, Genius Brands Chairman and CEO.
NetApp, a global, cloud-led, data-centric software company, agreed to acquire Instaclustr, a platform provider of fully managed open-source database, pipeline and workflow applications delivered as a service. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"NetApp has long been a leader in solutions enabling customers to run applications. The acquisition of Instaclustr will combine NetApp's established leadership in continuous storage and compute optimization with Instaclustr's fully-managed database and data pipeline services to give customers a Cloud Operations platform that provides the best and most optimized foundation for their applications in the public clouds and on premises," George Kurian, NetApp CEO.
Midcoast Energy hopes to sell its East Texas pipeline assets for $2bn. (FS)
