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AMERICAS
Diamondback Energy, an independent oil and natural gas company headquartered in Midland, Texas, completed the acquisition of Endeavor Energy Resources, a privately-held exploration and production company, for $26bn.
“We are pleased to announce the closing of this transformative merger, creating a ‘must own’ North American independent oil company. Today, Diamondback is not only bigger, but better. Our high-quality inventory located in the heart of the Permian Basin gives us the running room to do what we do best: turn rock into cash flow,” Travis Stice, Diamondback Energy Chairman and CEO.
Bunge Global signaled its $8.2bn acquisition of Viterra is inching closer, with the US agribusiness offering to replace debt previously issued by the Glencore-backed firm, Bloomberg reported.
The $1.95bn debt-exchange offer comes after an initial delay to close the deal by August and is a sign the buyout is likely to be completed over the coming months. Regulatory approval is still pending in countries including Canada, where both companies have significant operations.
American media and broadcasting companies Liberty Media and Sirius XM, formed New SiriusXM, a new public company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We have reached an important milestone in Liberty's ownership of SiriusXM. This combination will create value for all stockholders by eliminating the tracking stock structure, enhancing liquidity and allowing former LSXM stockholders to participate directly in the ongoing performance of SiriusXM. SiriusXM commands the largest paid share-of-ear in the car and has proven itself as an incredibly successful and profitable business. We are confident SiriusXM will continue to create value by building on its resilient business model to execute its strategic initiatives. We look forward to remaining meaningfully involved in the business and significant stockholders," Greg Maffei, Liberty President & CEO.
NBT Bancorp, a financial services holding company, agreed to merge with Evans Bancorp, a one-bank holding company, in a $236m deal.
“We are enthusiastic about this opportunity to partner with Evans and are confident it is a high quality and incredibly impactful way to expand NBT’s presence into Western New York. Adding the greater Buffalo and Rochester communities to the markets served by NBT is a natural geographic extension of our footprint in Upstate New York where we have been very active and successful for nearly 170 years. We share strong community banking values with Evans and look forward to working with their experienced team to build on the relationships they have established with their customers, communities and shareholders,” Scott A. Kingsley, NBT President and CEO.
Evans Bancorp is advised by Piper Sandler, Luse Gorman and Kei Advisors (led by Deborah K. Pawlowski). NBT Bancorp is advised by Stephens, Hogan Lovells and Wiggin and Dana.
Thomas H. Lee Partners, an American private equity firm, agreed to acquire a majority stake in AMI, an international hardware and software company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“As we embark on our next stage of growth and innovation, we are confident that THL is the right strategic partner for AMI. THL’s deep expertise in chips and software, and their commitment to the company’s core mission to help our customers scale, make them the right partner. We look forward to working with THL as we continue to provide best-in-class technology and services for those customers,” Sanjoy Maity, AMI CEO.
AMI is advised by Bank of America and Kirkland & Ellis. Thomas H. Lee Partners is advised by Evercore, Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison and Ropes & Gray.
Camden, a commercial banking company, agreed to acquire Northway, a bank holding company, for $87m.
"Camden National and Northway share a similar culture, consistent credit and risk profiles, and deep commitment to the communities we serve. This union will increase our size and scale, and bolster our presence in New Hampshire, which we believe will drive profitability and shareholder value. Our customers, employees, and communities will significantly benefit from broader product offerings, higher lending limits, and an enhanced customer experience," Simon Griffiths, Camden National President and CEO.
Camden is advised by Raymond James and Sullivan & Cromwell (led by Jared M. Fishman). Northway is advised by Performance Trust Capital Partners and Goodwin Procter.
CSC Generation, a multi-brand technology platform known for acquiring and turning retailers into high-performing, digital-first businesses, completed the acquisition of Backcountry, an online specialty retailer for outdoor recreation gear and apparel. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Joining CSC is a significant milestone for us. Our team is enthusiastic about utilizing CSC's expertise and resources to accelerate the Backcountry strategy. We are confident that this acquisition will enable us to expand our market presence and continue delivering outstanding outdoor experiences," Melanie Cox, Backcountry CEO.
Recognize, a private equity firm, completed the investment in Abry Partners-backed Blue Mantis, an IT services provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“Our team is completely aligned with Recognize on key strategic imperatives to unlock value in the next chapter of our growth. Blue Mantis is an acknowledged industry leader with a track record of consistent growth and a well-earned reputation as a trusted advisor to clients requiring guidance in navigating rapid market shifts. With our new partners at Recognize, we look forward to capitalizing on growing demand from clients for our expanding portfolio of managed services, cybersecurity and cloud offerings,” Josh Dinneen, Blue Mantis CEO.
Blue Mantis was advised by Citizens M&A and Kirkland & Ellis. Recognize was advised by Willkie Farr & Gallagher. Debt financing was provided by Crescent Capital Partners.
Renold, a machine industry company, completed the acquisition of MAC Chain, a conveyor chain products manufacturer, for $31m.
"We are delighted that MAC Chain is to join the Renold Group and that not only are we buying an excellent business, but also retaining the services of a very talented group of managers and employees. The acquisition of MAC Chain considerably expands and strengthens our North American Conveyor chain offering," Robert Purcell, Renold CEO.
Renold was advised by Cavendish Corporate Finance, Peel Hunt (led by Mike Bell) and IFC Advisory (led by Tim Metcalfe).
Hikma Pharmaceuticals, a British multinational pharmaceutical company, completed the acquisition of the US finished dosage form business of Xellia Pharmaceuticals, a Copenhagen based specialty company focusing on providing anti-infective treatments and other critical care therapies, for $185m.
"Hikma has grown to become a top-three US supplier of sterile injectable medicines thanks to our strong record of successfully making value-enhancing acquisitions like this one. This acquisition will add significant scale to our US operations and will enhance our US injectable manufacturing capabilities and portfolio by adding complex technologies. I am confident that this transaction will deliver significant future value to our Injectables business, supporting growth over the medium term," Riad Mishlawi, Hikma CEO.
TC Energy's CAD1bn ($737m) deal to sell a minority stake in its Canadian natural gas pipeline system to a consortium of Indigenous communities has been delayed due to a transaction structuring issue, Reuters reported.
The Canadian pipeline operator had said earlier this year it would sell a 5.34% stake in the NGTL system and Foothills assets in western Canada to an Indigenous-owned investment partnership, in a move to reduce its debt and finance new investments.
Alberta Indigenous Opportunities is advised by Stikeman Elliott (led by Leland Corbett).
Altimeter, a technology-focused investment firm, and DST Global, a venture capital and private equity firm, led a $260m Series E in Glean, an AI assistant platform, with participation from Craft Ventures, Sapphire Ventures, and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, and existing investors Coatue, General Catalyst, ICONIQ Growth, IVP, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Sequoia Capital.
“We’re honored to help some of the world’s largest companies adopt AI to transform their businesses. To truly unlock new levels of creativity, productivity, and operational efficiency, AI needs to draw on the full picture of an organization’s knowledge – and it needs to be accessible by everyone. You shouldn’t have to be a prompt engineering expert to find answers, generate content, and automate work with AI,” Arvind Jain, Glean Co-Founder and CEO.
IBM, an American multinational technology company, agreed to acquire Accelalpha, a global Oracle services provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"IBM's client and employee-centric culture and long-established scale and reach in more than 175 countries is a great fit for the next stage of our growth. We're thrilled to bring our expertise in Oracle Cloud solutions and targeted domain and industry knowledge to bear together with IBM's strength in generative AI and hybrid cloud. With Accelalpha's history of being a pioneer in Oracle Cloud and IBM's deep-rooted dedication to innovation that matters, we can further accelerate value creation for our clients," Nat Ganesh, Accelalpha CEO.
Sound Growth Partners, a private equity firm, completed the acquisition of ATEK Access Technologies, an electronic parts supplier. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"ATEK's unique combination of advanced engineering and unparalleled reliability has established it as a trusted partner in mission-critical applications across various sectors. We are thrilled to collaborate with the talented team at ATEK and are eager to support the company's growth in the coming years," Travis Steele, SGP Partner.
UPS, a multinational shipping & receiving and supply chain management company, agreed to acquire Frigo-Trans, complex healthcare logistics providers. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“The fast-paced innovation in the pharmaceutical industry is creating the need to have more integrated cold and frozen supply chains. Frigo-Trans will help deepen our portfolio of solutions for our customers and accelerate our journey to become the number one complex healthcare logistics provider in the world addressing their needs,” Kate Gutmann, UPS EVP and President of International, Healthcare and Supply Chain Solutions.
EMEA
UK antitrust officials are considering whether Carlsberg’s proposed acquisition of Britvic could lessen competition for goods or services in the country, WSJ reported.
Danish brewer Carlsberg—which houses its namesake lager brand as well as Somersby cider and Garage alcopop brands—agreed to buy London-listed soft drinks maker Britvic for £3.3bn ($4.32bn) in July as part of a plan to expand in the nonalcoholic beverage market and reduce reliance on beer sales.
AngloGold Ashanti, an independent and global gold mining company, agreed to acquire Centamin, a gold mining company, for $2.5bn.
"We are delighted to be announcing today's Transaction, which will add a Tier 1 asset to our portfolio. The Transaction is free cash flow accretive in the first full year of production and NAV accretive from day one; it will also offer additional upsides as we leverage our corporate infrastructure and our core competencies in exploration, operations and asset optimisation. We will build on the good work by the Centamin team to realise the significant upside in Centamin. We look forward to welcoming Centamin's employees and shareholders to our group in the coming months," Alberto Calderon, AngloGold Ashanti CEO.
AngloGold Ashanti is advised by Goldman Sachs, Gordon Dyal & Co, Slaughter & May (led by Harry Hecht) and FGS Global (led by Faeth Birch). Centamin is advised by BMO Capital Markets, Bank of America, Norton Rose Fulbright and FTI Consulting (led by Ben Brewerton).
Vista Equity Partners, an investment firm, and Warburg Pincus, a global growth investor, agreed to acquire Redwood Software, an international company providing job scheduling, report distribution and SAP solutions, from Turn/River Capital, a software investment firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Redwood's easy-to-use and highly integrated automation solutions help enterprises automate the critical workflows which power their core commercial and IT operations. We are excited to partner with Redwood and Warburg Pincus to deliver even more customer value and efficiency as the demand for automation solutions capable of spanning multiple data, application and cloud environments continues to accelerate," Steven White, Vista Equity Partners Managing Director.
Redwood Software is advised by Goldman Sachs, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe and Next PR. Warburg Pincus is advised by Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. Vista Equity Partners is advised by Kirkland & Ellis. Turn/River is advised by Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe.
Old Queen Street Ventures, a company owned by British entrepreneur and philanthropist Sir Paul Marshall, completed the acquisition of The Spectator, a weekly British news magazine, for £100m ($131m).
“As a long-term Spectator reader, I am delighted it is joining the OQS stable. The plan is for OQS to make good previous underinvestment in one of the world’s great titles. I am confident that OQS will be a fine custodian, building on the Spectator’s values and successful track record,” Paul Marshall, OQS Media Chairman.
Acosta, a sales and marketing agency, agreed to acquire Dee Set Group, a retail and field marketing services provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We are exceptionally pleased to welcome Dee Set and its talented associates to Acosta Europe and our greater Acosta Group agency collective. The combined and expanded capabilities of these industry-leading agencies add measurable benefits to our valued UK customers and reinforce our role as the industry's foremost global end-to-end sales and marketing agency," Lisa Koth, Acosta CSO and EVP.
Private equity firm CVC sweetens offer for Germany's Schenker. (FS)
CVC is improving its offer for Deutsche Bahn's logistics business Schenker, with the private equity firm asking for a fair assessment of its bid by the German railway's board and supervisory board, Reuters reported.
CVC is guaranteeing Deutsche Bahn at least €1bn ($1.1bn) in the event of a potential future IPO exit, if the German government decides to remain an investor.
Sensor maker Gefran eyes M&A opportunities in Germany and North America.
Gefran, an Italian company specialised in sensors, is looking to take over peers in Germany and North America that have revenues of €10-€20m ($11m-$22m), its Chief Executive Marcello Perini.
The company has "sufficient liquidity to go ahead with buying another company" and does not need to propose a buyback programme as part of any deal, Reuters reported.
UBS weighs wealth tie-up to compete in cutthroat Indian market.
UBS Group is exploring various partnership options for wealth management in India to tackle the intensely competitive environment, Bloomberg reported.
The Swiss bank has held early-stage internal discussions about possibilities including buying a stake in a local firm to form a joint venture. While no decisions have been made so far, the idea is such a tie-up will ease the efforts of growing what is a very small business by extending its reach to the wealthy in India.
UK payments firm Pockit in talks to buy Monese consumer arm.
British payments technology company Pockit is in talks to take control of UK challenger bank Monese’s consumer arm, Reuters reported.
Under the proposed deal Pockit will buy Monese for a nominal sum and inject capital into its direct-to-consumer arm to boost regulatory capital and help finance an integration with Pockit. The talks are advanced but not finalised and may still fall apart.
Apple 'required' to pay Ireland £11bn after illegal state aid case.
The European Court of Justice has ordered Apple to pay £11bn ($13bn) in back taxes to Ireland following the conclusion of a long-running legal fight that the country did not bring, Sky News reported.
The European Commission brought the action in 2016, to the fury of both Apple and Ireland's government, on the grounds that the EU member state had granted Apple unlawful aid through sweetheart tax base deals over 11 years.
Fintech Tycoon Kim weighing takeover of Kazakhstan’s Jusan Bank.
Fintech billionaire Vyacheslav Kim is weighing the purchase of a top Kazakh bank that was acquired with his help by the current owner last year, Bloomberg reported.
If a deal goes ahead, Kim would get control of First Heartland Jusan Bank after buying out Galimzhan Yessenov. There is a chance no agreement will be reached or another strategic investor may be found.
Oaktree alums get €400m of commitments for debut PE Fund. (FS)
Sienna Private Equity, co-founded by former Oaktree Capital managing directors, has secured more than €400m ($442m) of investor commitments as it raises its debut fund, Bloomberg reported.
The fund completed a second closing during the summer with institutional investors and family offices, adding over €125m ($138m) of new commitments to Sienna Private Equity Fund I. Together with the first closing in January and anchor capital provided by Groupe Bruxelles Lambert NV and other co-investments, the total commitments grew to more than €400m ($442m).
APAC
Omers, a pension fund for local government workers, agreed to acquire a minority stake in Interise Trust, an Indian road operator, from Allianz Capital Partners, an investment firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
DBS is said to tap Goldman Sachs to help find insurance partner in India, Taiwan. (FS)
DBS Group is considering forming insurance partnerships in India and Taiwan to expand its services in the region, Bloomberg reported.
The Singapore-based lender is working with Goldman Sachs Group as an adviser on potential bancassurance agreements for those markets.
Apple supplier Jabil to set up South India plant with $238m investment.
Electronic components maker Jabil will set up a manufacturing plant in India's southern state of Tamil Nadu with an investment of about INR20bn ($238m), the state's industries minister, Reuters reported.
US-based Jabil, a supplier to Apple, will base its plant near the city of Trichy as part of an agreement signed in Chicago that will create close to 5k jobs, Tamil Nadu Minister T R B Rajaa.
Korean online lender K Bank plans IPO of up to $732m.
Online lender K Bank has filed for an initial public offering in Seoul that may raise as much as KRW984bn ($732m), in what would be the biggest South Korean listing in almost three years, Bloomberg reported.
The company seeks to sell 82m shares, half of which are new. K Bank is looking to sell them at KRW9k ($6.7) to KRW12k ($8.9) apiece.
Ex-Macquarie banker Raises $1.4bn for distressed-assets fund. (FS)
Former Macquarie Group banker Ben Brazil raised $1.4bn for his firm’s second fund targeting distressed assets globally, Bloomberg reported.
Brazil’s FitzWalter Capital beat an initial target of $1.25bn for the fund, set when it began fundraising in late 2022. The firm now has $2.3bn under management.
Australian data centre operator NEXTDC plans to raise $500m for Asia expansion.
Australian data centre operator NEXTDC said it was looking to raise a total of AUD$750m ($500m) to expand its data centre pipeline in Asia, tapping further into the global artificial intelligence frenzy.
"NEXTDC continues to see opportunity in the growing cloud and Al-led demand for digital infrastructure throughout its core Asian markets, which it believes creates strong tailwinds for NEXTDC", DealStreetAsia reported.
Former Jio exec's growth stage fund Playbook Partners hits first close at $130m. (FS)
Playbook Partners, a growth capital firm founded by a former Reliance Jio executive, said it has marked the first close of its maiden fund at $130m.
The fund, which can grow up to $250m, including a green shoe option, will invest in growth-stage, tech-enabled businesses in large addressable markets that have meaningful scale, healthy operating margins, and high growth, DealStreetAsia reported.
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