Board of Versum Materials, a leading electronic materials company, recommended the takeover offer made by Merck, a German multinational pharmaceutical, chemical and life sciences company, after the bid was raised to $6.5bn from $5.9bn. Entegris, a manufacturing company which is also bidding for Versum, was notified that it has until April 11 to propose revisions to its offer.
Citigroup, Lazard, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom are advising Versum. Morgan Stanley and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz are advising Entegris. Goldman Sachs, Guggenheim Partners and Sullivan & Cromwell are advising Merck. BNP, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank are providing debt financing to Merck and are being advised by Latham & Watkins.
Capitol Investment Corp IV, a public investment vehicle owned by Mark Ein, is to merge with Nesco, a leading provider of specialty rental equipment to the electric utility, telecom and rail end-markets, currently owned by private equity firm Energy Capital Partners in a $1.1bn deal.
"We work hard to set ourselves apart from other investment vehicles by scouring the world for outstanding companies where our team, and our capital, can be a catalyst to accelerate growth and then we actively engage with the businesses post-merger to help execute the business plan and create substantial long-term shareholder value. Nesco perfectly fits our model as it is uniquely positioned to benefit from the increased demand for its equipment as the result of the significant, consistent growth in infrastructure spending in each of its core end-markets – electric utility transmission and distribution, 5G deployment and rail development," said Mark Ein, Chairman and CEO of Capitol.
Morgan Stanley and Kirkland & Ellis are advising Nesco. Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Graubard Miller and Latham & Watkins are advising Capitol Investment Corp IV.
Apollo-backed CEC Entertainment, a leading operator of a global network of entertainment and dining venues across two complementary brands, Chuck E. Cheese and Peter Piper Pizza, and Leo Holdings Corp, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, announced a merger agreement. This transaction will reintroduce CEC to the equity capital markets as a publicly listed company with an anticipated initial enterprise value of approximately $1.4bn.
Tom Leverton, Chief Executive Officer, CEC Entertainment, said, "I am extremely proud of everything that we have accomplished at CEC, and we are pleased to be seeing significant momentum in recent same-store sales trends. The executive team is eager to work with Leo as we continue to aggressively pursue opportunities in the next stage of our company's evolution. Our future growth plans are based on enhancing the total guest experience, unlocking operational investments, growing and upgrading our venues, and opportunistically pursuing M&A initiatives."
Citigroup and Kirkland & Ellis are advising Leo Holdings Corp. Jefferies and Morgan Lewis & Bockius are advising CEC Entertainment.
Great Hill Partners, a leading growth-oriented private equity firm, is to acquire The Onion and Gizmodo Media Group, a collection of premium digital content producer, from Univision Communications, an American media company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“From our experience across the digital media landscape, we know it is not every day that an attractive suite of digital media assets becomes available with strong brand recognition among consumers and advertisers, and a set of engaged, vertical audiences which together are larger than Vox, BuzzFeed or Vice,” said Chris Gaffney, Managing Partner at Great Hill Partners.
Sidley Austin is advising Great Hill Partners. Morgan Stanley is advising Univision Communications.
2U, a leader in education technology, is to acquire Trilogy Education, a workforce accelerator that prepares adult learners for high-growth careers in the digital economy, for $750m. Trilogy partners with top universities and leading companies to provide in-person and online skills-based training programs in coding, data analytics, UX/UI, and cybersecurity.
"Trilogy Education has built and scaled an incredible business thanks to Dan and his talented team, and we're thrilled to have them join 2U. Their business is a natural strategic fit and growth driver for 2U that will extend our reach across the career curriculum continuum, deepen our relationships with new and existing partners, drive marketing efficiencies, and open a more direct corporate training and enterprise sales channel for the company. We expect the addition of Trilogy to accelerate our path to $1bn in revenue by one year from 2022 to 2021," 2U Co-Founder and CEO Christopher "Chip" Paucek said. "Increasingly, universities are attempting to add practical, technical skills to their degrees. We simply future-proof the degree by adding this type of technical competency."
Citigroup is advising 2U. Morgan Stanley is advising Trilogy Education.
First Interstate Bank, a financial and bank holding company, closed the $181m acquisition of Idaho Independent Bank, an Idaho-based banking company. The deal was announced on October 11, 2018.
“We are excited to join the First Interstate team and look forward to the opportunities and benefits this combination will bring to our clients, employees, and shareholders,” said Jack Gustavel, Executive Chairman and founder of IIB.
Piper Jaffrey and Luse Gorman advised First Interstate Bank. Sandler O’Neill and Witherspoon Kelly advised Idaho Independent Bank.
First Interstate Bank, a financial and bank holding company, closed the $21.5m acquisition of Community First Bank, an Idaho-based bank, for $21.5m. The deal was announced on October 11, 2018.
“Community First Bank has a long-standing history of service excellence and giving back to the community, a tradition we also champion at First Interstate Bank,” said Kevin Riley, First Interstate President and Chief Executive Officer. “In welcoming Community First to the fold, we are not only expanding upon our presence in some of Idaho’s most robust markets, we are building upon a legacy and service philosophy of ‘doing the right thing.’ Culturally, this should allow for a seamless integration of our institutions.”
Piper Jaffrey and Luse Gorman advised First Interstate Bank. D.A. Davidson & Co and Breyer & Associates advised Community First Bank.
Private equity firm Nautic Partners acquired LindFast Solutions Group, a master distributor of specialty fasteners in the North American market. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Chris Pierce, a Managing Director of Nautic, said: “LindFast has a deep, experienced management team and a great culture across the organization. We are thrilled to partner with them to support the company’s organic growth and cross-selling initiatives, as well as to pursue selective acquisitions in LindFast’s fragmented market. Additionally, we’re excited to again be investing in the fastener distribution industry following our previous investment in Endries International, which enabled us to have early conviction on the LindFast opportunity.”
BB&T and Blank Rome advised LindFast. Locke Lord advised Nautic Partners. GSO and Ally Finance provided debt financing.
Foreshore Exploration Partners Corp, a capital pool company, completed the reverse takeover of POSaBit, a financial technology company that delivers blockchain-enabled payment processing and point-of-sale systems for cash-only businesses. The transaction was announced in June 2018.
In connection with the transaction, Foreshore has delisted from the TSX Venture Exchange and has obtained conditional listing approval of the Canadian Securities Exchange for the listing of the company's common shares on the CSE.
Tormont Group advised POSaBIT.
Pinterest set a $15-17 price range for its IPO.
Pinterest, a social media web and mobile application company, set a price range of $15-17 per share for its IPO of 75m shares, valuing it below the $12bn at which the company secured its last fundraising in 2017. At the upper end of its target range, Pinterest could raise $1.3bn in net proceeds at a $11.3bn market valuation.
Pinterest is the second loss-making unicorn to undertake an IPO this year. Transportation company Lyft, which made its debut last week, dropped below its IPO price on the second day of trading as analysts did not see a clear path to profitability. Pinterest recorded revenues of $756m and losses of $63m in 2018.
Dyal Capital Partners raised $7bn for its fourth fund. (FS)
Dyal Capital Partners, a division of Neuberger Berman that buys GP stakes in private equity firms, raised $7bn so far for its fourth flagship fund. The vehicle, a follow-up to a $5.3bn predecessor from 2015, is reportedly still seeking additional commitments. So far Dyal's strategy of buying GP stakes has won holdings in firms such as HGGC, Vista Equity Partners and Silver Lake.
M/C Partners raised $350m for its latest fund. (FS)
Private equity firm M/C Partners closed its latest fund on a $350m hard cap. The company focuses on firms in the growth infrastructure and services segments of the $1tn telecommunications and information technology industries.
“We are very pleased to announce the final closing of Fund VIII. We greatly appreciate the confidence and trust of our investors,” said Jim Wade, Managing Partner of M/C. “This successful fundraising highlights our investors’ enthusiasm for the strength of our team, our differentiated investment strategy and the compelling market opportunity.”
Monument Group and Latham & Watkins advised M/C Partners.
