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AMERICAS
Atlantic Union Bankshares, the holding company for Atlantic Union Bank, agreed to acquire Sandy Spring Bancorp, a bank holding company headquartered in Olney, Maryland, for $1.6bn.
"At our 2018 investor day, I noted that part of our long-term vision was to complete the ‘Golden Crescent’ from Baltimore, through Washington D.C. and Richmond to Hampton Roads and recreate a banking franchise that had not existed since the 1990s. With today’s announcement of our partnership with Sandy Spring, Atlantic Union will create a preeminent regional bank, with Virginia as its linchpin, that spans the lower mid-Atlantic into the Southeast and that is committed to the communities it serves," John C. Asbury, Atlantic Union President and CEO.
Construction Partners, a construction company in Dothan, Alabama, agreed to acquire Lone Star Paving, a pavement company providing paving solutions at a fair price in Texas, for $654m.
"We look forward to joining the CPI team and expanding the Texas platform. CPI and Lone Star share a strong cultural alignment, and we are eager for the growth opportunities available to both companies," Jack Wheeler, Lone Star Founder and CEO.
Lone Star Paving is advised by Wells Fargo Securities and ArentFox Schiff. Construction Partners is advised by Haynes and Boone and Dennard Lascar (led by Ken Dennard).
Acacia Research, which acquires and operates businesses across the industrial, energy and technology sectors, completed the acquisition of Deflecto, a specialty manufacturer of essential products serving the commercial transportation, HVAC and office markets, for $104m.
"We are pleased to add Deflecto to Acacia’s growing portfolio of strategic assets. This acquisition is consistent with the types of opportunities we look for. Deflecto fits in our target size range, sells diversified and necessary goods and has an excellent management team, led by Ross, with a demonstrated track record of operational execution and capital allocation," Martin D. McNulty, Jr., Acacia CEO.
Deflecto was advised by TD Cowen and Vedder Price. Acacia was advised by Baker Botts and Gagnier Communications.
SAS Shipping Agencies Services, an agency services provider, agreed to acquire a 56.47% stake in Wilson Sons, a Brazilian shipping company, from Ocean Wilsons, an investment company based in Bermuda, for BRL4.35bn ($764m).
"I am delighted to announce that, following a comprehensive strategic review of the Company's investment in Wilson Sons, we have reached an agreement for the sale of our holding in Wilson Sons to SAS. This transaction represents the successful realisation of our long-term investment in Wilson Sons, demonstrating our ability to identify opportunities to create significant value for our shareholders," Caroline Foulger, Ocean Wilsons Chair.
Ocean Wilsons is advised by BTG Pactual, Peel Hunt (led by Ed Allsopp), Pinheiro Guimaraes Advogados and Slaughter & May.
General Atlantic, a private equity firm, led a $225m Series B round in Seaport Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company that is advancing novel neuropsychiatric medicines, with participation from T. Rowe Price, Foresite Capital, Invus, Goldman Sachs Alternatives and CPP Investments.
"We are grateful to have the partnership of this incredible group of new and existing investors who share our commitment of delivering better medicines for those suffering from depression, anxiety and other neuropsychiatric disorders. Seaport is advancing novel therapeutics that have proven clinical efficacy but had previously been held back by an issue we can now address with our Glyph platform. This financing enables the important clinical work that brings us another step closer to delivering new medicines to make a difference in the lives of patients and their families," Daphne Zohar, Seaport Therapeutics Founder and CEO.
GardaWorld Security, a security and patrolling services provider, agreed to acquire Stealth Monitoring, a provider of remote live real-time video surveillance security camera monitoring, helping businesses with security solutions. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"With decades of experience in mobile and fixed video monitoring, we see Stealth Monitoring as a highly complementary business to our existing global champion businesses and as an opportunity to establish an unrivaled North American leadership in mobile and fixed video monitoring. We look forward to teaming up with the ambitious experts and operators at Stealth Monitoring who share our entrepreneurial, growth-oriented mindset, laser focus on value creation and desire to innovate and reshape industries," Stephan Crétier, GardaWorld Founder, President and CEO.
MetLife in talks to buy PineBridge's ex-China assets for $1bn-$1.5bn. (FS)
New York-based insurer MetLife is in advanced talks to buy PineBridge Investments' assets outside of China in a deal that could be valued at $1bn to $1.5bn.
The talks are exclusive for assets under management worth about $100bn, Bloomberg reported.
GQG Partners sells BBVA stake over Sabadell hostile bid. (FS)
GQG had decided to sell up by July, having told BBVA's management team that it believed the Sabadell bid would be too time consuming and distracting, while also diluting its exposure to emerging markets.
EnCap Investments closes fund XII at $5.25bn. (FS)
EnCap Investments announced that it has successfully closed EnCap Energy Capital Fund XII with capital commitments of $5.25bn, exceeding its initial target and hitting its hard cap. Inclusive of $1.2bn of co-investment thus far, the firm raised a total of $6.4bn associated with Fund XII. EnCap has a long history of providing growth capital to proven management teams focused on the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry in North America.
Fund XII currently includes investments in twelve portfolio companies, ten of which are managed by teams the firm has successfully partnered with in previous funds.
Disney to name Bob Iger’s successor in early 2026. (People)
Disney said it would name longtime Chief Executive Bob Iger’s replacement in early 2026 and tapped a new board chairman, signs to investors that the company’s succession process is advancing after past turbulence, WSJ reported.
The company said former Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman, who is the chair of its succession committee, would become board chairman on January 2, 2025, succeeding Mark Parker, who plans to resign.
EMEA
JAB, an investment holding company, agreed to acquire an additional stake in JDE Peet’s, an American-Dutch company that owns beverage brands, mostly of coffee, tea and hot chocolate, from Mondelez, an American multinational confectionery, food, holding, beverage and snack food company, for €2.2bn ($2.4bn).
"These transactions represent a major milestone for JDE Peet’s, which is now a more widely held blue chip company. JAB has strong conviction in the resilience of the global coffee sector and the long-term value creation prospects of JDE Peet’s. We are fully committed to remaining an anchor shareholder of the world’s leading pure-play coffee and tea company," Joachim Creus, JAB Managing Partner, Vice Chairman and CEO.
DNB Bank, Norway's largest financial services group, agreed to acquire Carnegie, an investment bank and asset manager in the Nordics, from Altor Equity, a private equity firm, for SEK12bn ($1.1bn).
"Through the acquisition of Carnegie, our goal is to provide even better solutions to our clients. We and Carnegie are realizing our joint ambition to build a leading player across the Nordic region in investment banking, securities brokerage and research, corporate banking, private banking and asset management. Carnegie is a perfect fit, in-line with our strategy, and the Transaction marks a step change in increasing the share of fee related income for DNB as a whole," Kjerstin Braathen, DNB CEO.
DNB Bank is advised by DNB Bank, Morgan Stanley (led by Erik Tregaard) and Mannheimer Swartling.
Nigeria has blocked the sale of Shell's entire onshore and shallow-water oil and gas assets in the Niger Delta, roughly 10 months after the deal was announced, Reuters reported.
In a speech at an event in the capital Abuja, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission CEO Gbenga Komolafe said the Shell deal "could not scale (the) regulatory test," without elaborating.
Clayton Dubilier & Rice, a global investment firm, agreed to acquire a 50% stake in Opella, the consumer healthcare unit of Sanofi, an innovative global healthcare company, for €8bn ($8.7bn).
"This is an exciting opportunity for CD&R to partner with Sanofi, one of the world’s leading healthcare companies, to support Opella’s ambitious management team as it invests in innovation and growth to create a French-headquartered, global consumer healthcare champion. Opella is differentiated by the quality of its brand portfolio and its highly skilled and motivated workforce. We see significant opportunities to enhance Opella’s market leadership by leveraging our deep industry expertise, broad network of operating talents, and capital resources to position the company for accelerated growth. We look forward to supporting both its French operations, including Opella’s critical manufacturing footprint and advanced R&D capabilities, and further developing its global platform to better serve employees, consumers, and patients," Eric Rouzier, CD&R Partner and Head of European Healthcare.
American Express, a global financial services company, agreed to acquire a 50% stake in Swisscard, a financial services company offering all worldwide credit card brands in Switzerland, from UBS, a global financial services company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Swisscard will continue to issue all the other card portfolios it issues under the American Express, Mastercard and Visa licenses, and will continue to operate the American Express acquiring business in Switzerland.
Italy’s Eni looks to sell up to 49% of biomethane unit.
Eni has hired the French investment bank Natixis to search for investors interested in buying a minority stake in Enibioch4in, its biomethane operation, Bloomberg reported.
The Italian energy giant is planning to sell as much as 49% of the division, yet it’s too early for an evaluation and negotiations haven’t started with potential suitors.
Spanish train maker Talgo in rival deal talks after Hungary-backed bid.
A Spanish train maker that the Madrid government wants to keep out of the hands of a Hungarian consortium is in talks over a potential acquisition by a steelmaker from Spain, FT reported.
Talgo, which was drawn into a political storm by a takeover bid backed by Hungary’s illiberal prime minister Viktor Orbán, said that it was negotiating with Sidenor, which is based in the Basque country.
BlackFin Capital Partners closes €1.8bn asset light financial service buyout fund. (FS)
BlackFin Capital Partners, a European financial services sector investment specialist, has held the final close of BlackFin Financial Services Fund IV with €1.8bn ($1.9bn), taking the firm’s total assets under management to $4bn.
The fund, which attracted strong support from institutional investors in Europe (45%), the Americas (45%), and Asia (10%), significantly exceeds an initial €1.5bn ($1.6bn) target, and provides the firm with 80% more capital to deploy than its predecessor €985m ($1bn) Fund III.
APAC
Investcorp AI Acquisition, a blank check company, agreed to merge with Bigtincan, a software development group focused on the sales enablement and engagement market, in a $275m deal.
"This transaction offers tremendous value not just for Bigtincan's shareholders, but also for its customers, employees, and partners. It’s a chance to showcase Australia’s strength in AI innovation, especially in sectors like sales enablement, and position an Australian-born company as a global leader in enterprise software. We’re excited to help Bigtincan take the next step in its journey," Harsh Shethia, IAAC Advisor.
Bigtincan is advised by Henslow, Jett Capital Advisors, A&O Shearman and Gilbert + Tobin. Investcorp AI is advised by Clayton Utz and Winston & Strawn.
DigitalBridge, a global digital infrastructure investment firm, completed the acquisition of a 75.62% stake in Jtower, a Japan-based company mainly engaged in the communications infrastructure sharing business, for JPY70.1bn ($469m).
"We are excited to solidify our investment in JTOWER, a leading player in Japan’s digital infrastructure sector. This strategic investment underscores our confidence in JTOWER’s long-term potential and its critical role in advancing next-generation digital networks. We look forward to collaborating with the JTOWER team to accelerate their growth, expand their presence, and drive enhanced connectivity throughout Japan, while continuing to serve the strategic and operational needs of customers," Justin Chang, DigitalBridge Senior Managing Director and Head of Asia.
Serene Productions agreed to acquire a 50% stake in Dharma Productions, an Indian film production company, for $119m.
The collaboration aims to further transform content creation, distribution, and audience engagement by integrating advanced technologies and pioneering production methods.
Serene Productions is advised by J. Sagar Associates (led by Iqbal Khan).
CA Personal Finance & Mobility, a consumer finance and mobility provider, agreed to acquire a 50% stake in the leasing unit of GAC Group, a large-scale joint-stock automobile enterprise group. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"This transaction reaffirms the importance of our long-standing partnership with GAC group. It will enable us to support together and over the long term the development of the particularly dynamic electric automobile market in China," Stephane Priami, Crédit Agricole Personal Finance & Mobility CEO.
Trustar Capital Partners, a private equity firm, agreed to acquire a 19.23% stake in Fast Food Holdings, a fast-food chain operator, from CITIC, an investment company, for $430m.
Fast Food Holdings owns 52% of the holding company managing McDonald's businesses in mainland China and Hong Kong.
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