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AMERICAS
VICI Properties, an experiential real estate investment trust, agreed to acquire 100% of JACK Cleveland Casino, located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, and JACK Thistledown Racino, located approximately 10 miles southeast of downtown Cleveland in the city of North Randall, Ohio, from JACK Entertainment for $843m in cash.
“JACK Entertainment looks forward to continuing to operate JACK Cleveland Casino and JACK Thistledown Racino. The combined efforts of our gaming properties, together with the other Cleveland assets operated by our sister companies, including the Cleveland Cavaliers, Avenue Shops at Tower City and the May Company Building, have created a strong connection to the city and allows us to remain heavily committed to the Cleveland area. We have invested more than $700m into JACK Cleveland Casino and JACK Thistledown Racino since the properties opened in 2012. We will continue to invest significant capital into these properties, which will have a lasting positive impact on the city and Cuyahoga County,” Mark Dunkeson, JACK Entertainment Chief Executive Officer.
VICI Properties is advised by Goldman Sachs, Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, and ICR.
Silver Lake-led consortium has invested $319m in Vacasa, North America’s largest vacation rental management platform. Existing investors Riverwood Capital, Level Equity, and NewSpring participated in the capital raise.
With this new financing, Vacasa plans to enhance its industry-leading technology platform further, accelerate expansion into new markets and grow new offerings, including Vacasa Real Estate, which has evolved from an agent network into a robust service model that includes brokerages in key vacation rental markets throughout the country.
“Vacasa has spent the past decade, bringing innovation to the $100bn global vacation rental industry. We believe Vacasa, with its differentiated technology platform that’s already the market leader in North America, has the potential to become a global brand that stands for superior financial returns for homeowners and exceptional experiences for guests,” Joerg Adams, Silver Lake managing director.
Silver Lake is advised by Brunswick Group and Ropes & Gray. JP Morgan and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati are advising Vacasa.
Rockbridge, a Detroit-based private equity firm, completed the acquisition of ProSites, a provider of comprehensive online marketing solutions, from The Riverside Company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"ProSites is our latest investment in the digital marketing space. Dave Rutan and his team have built a market-leading company with a broad portfolio of products that serve local community professionals. We look forward to working with Dave and the company to accelerate the company's growth, increase the range of services it provides and targets new verticals that can benefit from ProSites' services," Kevin Prokop, Rockbridge Managing Partner.
ProSites and Riverside were advised by JEGI and Bowstring Advisors. Riverside was advised by Jones Day and Deloitte. Honigman advised Rockbridge.
John Laing Group, an active investor and partner behind infrastructure and renewable energy projects, completed the acquisition of a 30% interest in Ruta del Cacao road project in Colombia, for $75m.
Partners in the project are Cintra/Ferrovial, Colpatria, and Ashmore. The project involves the development of 236km of road. The acquisition is expected to complete over the coming weeks, subject to customary consents.
"This is an important development for John Laing with Ruta del Cacao representing our first investment in Latin America, a region with a strong pipeline of new opportunities. We are delighted to be involved alongside Cintra/Ferrovial, longstanding partners of ours, and Colpatria and Ashmore, all of which have many years of relevant experience in infrastructure in Colombia." Olivier Brousse, John Laing Chief Executive Officer.
John Laing was advised by Teneo.
NewView Capital, a venture capital firm with participation from Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, a global investment management organization, and Baillie Gifford, an investment management firm, agreed to lead a $200m Series D financing round for Scopely, a company in the fast-growing mobile games space.
Scopely will use this strategic financing to accelerate the company’s M&A and investment strategy, expanding its already diverse portfolio of games across new genres and IP.
"With our business continuing to scale and the durability of our flagship properties, we are more bullish than ever on further expanding our portfolio through M&A. This funding round adds the financial support to pursue large-scale acquisition opportunities,” Walter Driver, Scopely Co-CEO.
Scopely is advised by Sunshine Sachs.
Medecision, an integrated health management solutions provider that supports the health and care, agreed to acquire GSI Health, a SaaS provider of workflow, engagement and compliance solutions, and related services. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Aerial is designed to serve all individuals, no matter how complex their conditions or how challenging their needs, by deploying up-to-the-minute information and guidance to care teams and family members so the best health and wellness outcomes can be achieved. GSI Health has pioneered valuable applications and built exceptional expertise for those who bear the risk for the most complex and challenging members of our country, and we are proud to welcome them, their clients and partners to the Medecision family," Deborah M. Gage, Medecision President, and CEO.
GSI Health is advised by Fairmount Partners.
Renaissance, a provider of pre-K–12 education technology, completed the acquisition of Schoolzilla, a company known for its data-driven dashboards that integrate multiple sources of student data, including attendance, suspensions, course grades. Financial terms were not disclosed.
By adding rich student learning data from Renaissance’s assessment, literacy, and math programs to Schoolzilla’s dashboards, school and district leaders will gain the critical insights needed to evaluate trends in student attendance and achievement, enact change, and improve outcomes for all learners.
“One of our driving beliefs is that students learn better when administrators and teachers have a full picture of learning. Schoolzilla’s ability to aggregate data streams from multiple sources is a perfect fit with our open, interconnected approach to education. Through the current integration between our Star Assessments and Schoolzilla’s dashboards, we’re already providing educators with a true, full-circle view of their students. This acquisition will allow us to further enhance our ability to give education leaders unparalleled insights into progress and performance at the individual, school, and district levels,” Todd Brekhus, Renaissance Chief Product Officer.
OLX Group, a global online marketplace, completed the acquisition of Inmokey, a software system for the real estate market. Financial terms were not disclosed.
By acquiring Inmokey for its operations in Argentina, Ecuador, and Peru, OLX Group consolidates its value proposition in the real estate market focused on the importance and primacy of the user. This way, the Group adds a product validated by thousands of customers who renew their confidence in integral solutions every month.
“This acquisition is very important for us - it will enhance the development of several new tools and the incorporation of new technology, thus opening a door for us to reach new markets,” Ignacio Repetto, Inmokey Co-founder.
SparkPost, an email sending platform, agreed to acquire eDataSouce, a provider of email deliverability solutions and performance insights. Financial terms were not disclosed.
eDataSource’s inbox performance insights and reputation management will help SparkPost deliver the first fully integrated email sending and analytics platform.
“The industry has long accepted a certain level of lost subscribers. However, those stakes are considerably higher based on some of the email provider changes over the last few years. Today, a miss at the sending layer will result in a significant hit to a marketer’s total acquisition costs and can be avoided by making small adjustments. By combining forces, we can now integrate insights with your sending for direct action and measurement. Our two companies coming together solves this problem,” Rich Harris, SparkPost CEO.
Luxer One, the smart locker technology company, completed its acquisition of a mailbox and software company, MailHaven. Financial terms were not disclosed.
This event marks Luxer One's first company acquisition since joining the ASSA ABLOY family of brands in December 2018.
"We've been admirers of MailHaven's technology since they first announced their unique mailbox solution in 2016. This acquisition allows us to expand the Luxer One solutions line-up even further." Arik Levy, Luxer One CEO and Founder.
Allworth Financial, formerly known as Hanson McClain Advisors, completed its acquisition of RAA, a financial planning firm specializing in serving the airline community. Financial terms were nor disclosed.
The acquisition, which remains subject to standard regulatory approvals, will provide an opportunity for RAA to continue to grow in the airline community as well as expand Allworth's national presence.
"We are excited to join the Allworth team and are confident that this strategic partnership will provide RAA with the resources to continue to expand our presence in the airline community, enhance technology, and deliver an exceptional experience to our clients. It was clear from the first meeting that Allworth shares our culture, values, and a relentless focus on adding value to their clients' lives, which made them our ideal partner," John Bentley, RAA Chief Executive Officer.
Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro, completed its acquisition of Tuque Games, a digital game development studio based in Montreal. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"At Wizards, we're continuing our commitment to creating new ways to bring our fan-favorite brands to life. Our unique approach of connecting fans around the tabletop as well as through our expanding portfolio of digital games is redefining what it means to be a games company," Chris Cocks, Wizards of the Coast President.
Brazil’s antitrust agency Cade gave utility Raizen Energia, a joint venture between energy and logistics group Cosan and oil giant Shell, the go-ahead to buy 81% of Cosan Biomassa, which previously owned by Cosan, produces and sells sugarcane bagasse and straw pellets, serving overseas customers who use its products.
According to Cade’s ruling, the deal was approved without restrictions because it will not impinge on the competition.
Virgin Galactic rises before crashing in its market debut.
Richard Branson-backed Virgin Galactic Holdings fetched a valuation of around $2.3bn on its market debut, after shares in the first publicly traded space tourism company popped before fizzling out.
The listing for Branson’s Virgin Galactic is a crucial step for the Brit as he competes with fellow billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos in the burgeoning space tourism market.
JP Morgan to close a fund with over $1bn in commitments. (FS)
JP Morgan has held the final closing of its Lynstone Special Situations Fund, with $1bn in capital raised from a broad set of global investors comprising of pension funds, insurance companies, banks, foundations, endowments, and family offices across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
Lynstone will invest in stressed, distressed and event-driven situations across North American and European private and public credit markets, where underlying assets are discounted due to illiquidity or market disruption and where an event or catalyst has the strong potential to drive a positive total return.
"In the current late-cycle market, we see significant investment opportunities in both the North American and European private credit markets, including providing bespoke solutions to companies in need of liquidity or capital structure solutions," Brad Demong, JP Morgan, Co-CIO Global Special Situations.
KKR raises over $2bn to acquire tech firms. (FS)
KKR has gathered more than $2bn to invest in fast-growing technology companies as it further expands beyond the mega-deals that made its reputation.
The firm is raising its second fund dedicated to growth equity investments in technology, media, and telecommunications, DealStreetAsia reported. The fund, which is expected to close by year’s end, is about triple the size of the debut vehicle: the KKR Next Generation Technology Growth Fund raised $714m in 2016.
United, Avianca and Copa's South American deal to be delayed.
A proposed joint venture between United Airlines, Colombia’s Avianca Holdings, which owns and operates airlines, and Panama’s Copa Holdings, which provides international airline passenger and cargo service, has been delayed due to the potential inclusion of a fourth partner, as well as problems at Avianca, Reuters reported.
United Airlines wants to include Brazil’s Azul, in which it already has a stake, in the planned tie-up with Copa and Avianca, the latest play by a US carrier for a region expected to have significant air-travel growth in coming decades.
Murray Energy to file for bankruptcy.
Murray Energy, the coal producer led by outspoken Trump administration ally Robert Murray, filed for chapter 11 protection, a stark example of coal’s diminished role in the US energy sector.
The eighth coal company to collapse into bankruptcy over the past year, Murray Energy, marks the latest casualty stemming from a decline in demand for coal and competition from cheaper fuels.
TIM consider acquiring Oi's assets.
Brazilian wireless carrier TIM Participações will consider acquiring assets of its struggling rival Oi if they are put up for sale, Reuters reported.
Tim is currently Brazil’s third-largest wireless carrier, and buying Oi’s mobile operation would allow it to gain vital market share and frequencies ownership, expanding its coverage.
“Being the CEO of a publicly-traded carrier, I must check whether or not it creates value to my shareholders once frequencies or backhauls (infrastructure networks) are made available,” Pietro Labriola, TIM Chief Executive Officer.
Alcoa Wants to sell its $250m Texas Ranch. (RE)
The metals giant is looking to jettison as much as $1bn in assets, including the roughly 32k-acre property in Rockdale, Texas, in a push to trim costs. Alcoa is asking $250m for Sandow Lakes Ranch, which comes with wildlife, mineral rights, 14 lakes, and a smelter that once produced aluminum.
Dallas-based real estate company Icon Global Group is representing Alcoa in the sale of the ranch. There are an estimated 20m ton of lignite coal still on the land along with an industrial building and mining property.
"We invite and encourage all expressions of interest; we are in a great position to finalize bids and complete the transaction this year," Bernard Uechtritz, Icon Global founder.
Arabian Oud-led consortium is interested in buying Barneys New York. (FS)
A Saudi and Gulf consortium is seeking to buy luxury retailer Barneys New York, Reuters reported.
The consortium is led by Saudi company Arabian Oud and includes an unidentified “major airline”. The consortium had teamed up with Solitaire Partners to make a bid for Barneys worth in the “area of $270m”.
EMEA
Digital Realty, a real estate investment trust that invests in carrier-neutral data centers and provides colocation and peering services, agreed to acquire Interxion, a European provider of carrier and cloud-neutral colocation data center services, for $8.4bn. Under the terms of the agreement, Interxion shareholders will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 0.7067 Digital Realty shares per Interxion share.
"This strategic and complementary transaction builds upon Digital Realty's established foundation of serving market demand for colocation, scale and hyper-scale requirements in the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific and leverages Interxion's European colocation and interconnection expertise, enhancing the combined company's capabilities to enable customers to solve for the full spectrum of data center requirements across a global platform. The transaction is expected to be accretive to the long-term growth trajectory of the combined organization, and to establish a global platform that we believe will significantly enhance our ability to create long-term value for customers, shareholders and employees of both companies," A. William Stein Digital Realty Chief Executive Officer.
Interxion is advised by Guggenheim Partners, Moelis & Co, Debevoise & Plimpton, Greenberg Traurig, and Joele Frank. Digital Realty is advised by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, Latham & Watkins, and Sard Verbinnen & Co.
US private equity firm Advent International said it had won approval from the European Union, the US, and Finnish regulators for its $5bn acquisition of British defense company Cobham, as it continues to wait for UK approval.
Britain has intervened in the deal on national security grounds, and its regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority, is due to give the results of its investigation on the matter to the business minister.
"Advent continues to be positively engaged with the UK Government to demonstrate its commitment to providing assurances which reflect good custodianship of Cobham," Advent said.
Cobham is advised by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan, Rothschild & Co, Allen & Overy, and MHP Communications. Advent is advised by GSO Capital Partners, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Accura, Linklaters, Weil Gotshal and Manges, White & Case, and Finsbury Hering Schuppene.
Berlin Packaging, a manufacturer and supplier of glass, plastic, and metal containers agreed to acquire Novio Packaging, a packaging solutions distributor. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“Acquiring Novio fully solidifies our European positioning, giving us the ability to help customers of all sizes, including multi-national corporations, across all market segments, grow their bottom lines with our packaging products and services. It provides tremendous cross-selling opportunities, a robust sales pipeline, and a perfect platform for continued European expansion,” Andrew Berlin, Berlin Packaging Chairman, and CEO.
Berlin Packaging is advised by De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. Novio Packaging is advised by Nielen Schuman and Allen & Overy.
Paragon Group completed its acquisition of RR Donnelley & Sons’ European Global Document Solutions business. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The purchase of GDS enriches the operational capabilities of Paragon in the sphere of customer communications and complements existing solutions enabling them to deliver unparalleled services for Paragon’s large multinational global customers with local support in Europe.
“We are delighted to acquire RRD’s GDS European businesses and are pleased to announce that we have also entered into a strategic alliance with RRD, which will expand the offerings both companies provide to clients.” Mr. Crean continued, “We welcome the GDS team to Paragon and look forward to the value and expertise they will add to our full-service range of leading marketing, communications, and technology solutions for our customers.” Patrick Crean, Paragon Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
R.R. Donnelley & Sons was advised by Skadden.
Momenta Ventures, a Digital Industry venture investment firm, agreed to invest in Thingstream, a provider of IoT Connectivity-as-a-Service. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“We are happy to have Momenta Ventures on-board. Their deep industry knowledge about Digital Industry and their commitment to Low Power, Wide Area Networks, is unique. Momenta’s investment in Thingstream is a significant affirmation of our mission to connect the enterprise via LPWAN, unlocking the potential of IoT," Philipp Bolliger, Thingstream CEO.
Thingstream is advised by MUSTARD PR.
Sberbank, a state-owned Russian banking and financial services company, agreed to acquire a 20% minority stake of MF Technologies from Gazprombank for $170m. The agreement will be concluded by the end of 2019, after obtaining all necessary permits from corporate governance bodies and regulators.
Sberbank’s 35% stake in MF Technologies would give it control of one-fifth of the voting rights of Mailru and a 1.8% economic interest in the tech giant. The bank shares and supports the strategy pursued by Mailru. Two mutually reinforcing ecosystems working together to maximize their synergy should create new opportunities for clients.
Lincoln Peak, a private investment firm, agreed to acquire a 27% minority stake in RWC, an investment management firm, from Schroders, an international asset management group. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The deal involves Schroders selling the 41% of RWC, with several individual investors offloading an additional 6% of the business. RWC and its staff are repurchasing the rest of the shares.
“Lincoln Peak is a very attractive partner for us has committed to our organization for the next decade and beyond. Our priority has been to secure a shareholder who supports the commitments we have to our clients and investment teams,” Dan Mannix, RWC Chief Executive.
Saudi Aramco plans to announce start of IPO on November 3. (FS)
Saudi Aramco aims to announce the start of its initial public offering on November 3 after delaying the deal earlier this month to give advisers time to secure cornerstone investors, Reuters reported.
Aramco is looking to float a 1% to 2% stake on the kingdom’s Tadawul market, in what would be one of the largest ever public offerings, worth upwards of $20bn. Saudi Aramco will also start a subscription for investors in its initial public offering on December 4. The oil giant plans to announce the transaction’s price on November 17.
Saudi Arabia signs $15bn worth deal agreements in investment forum. (FS)
Saudi Arabia has signed 23 agreements worth $15bn at its annual investment forum, Reuters reported. The Future Investment Initiative conference, which is now in its third year, aims to attract foreign investment into the kingdom.
Agreements include a $120m investment deal between SAGIA and BRF Brazil Foods and a $700m investment deal between SAGIA and Modular Middle East, both aimed at developing operations within Saudi Arabia.
Brazilian food processor BRF announced an agreement to invest around $120m to build its first chicken processing plant in Saudi Arabia in a bid to strengthen its position in what is considered a key growth market.
“The company estimates the investment amount to be around $120m, which will allow BRF to expand and consolidate its presence in the Saudi market,” BRF said.
EU regulators to look into Fincantieri's Chantiers de l’Atlantique bid.
EU antitrust regulators will open a full-scale investigation into Italian shipyard Fincantieri’s bid for France’s Chantiers de l’Atlantique, which operates as a shipbuilder, concerned the deal would reduce the number of European players, Reuters reported.
The European Commission’s preliminary review will follow up with an in-depth investigation that lasts 90 working days but could stretch to as long as five months depending on circumstances.
Earlier this year, the EU competition enforcer said the deal could significantly harm competition in shipbuilding, in particular, the global cruise ship market.
Fosun to sell Wolverhampton Wanderers stake.
Chinese conglomerate Fosun is attempting to sell a stake in Wolverhampton Wanderers, which operates sports, amusement, and recreation services, as it gauges investor appetite for an eventual public listing of the club as part of a unit containing other sports-related assets that it owns.
The sale, which has been underway for months without attracting a buyer, is intended to determine how such afloat would be received, FT reported.
The club is selling a stake valued at £50m-100m ($64m-128m). The stake would reportedly represent 20% of its equity, valuing Wolves at around £350m ($449m).
“It’s more to test the market, to see the value of Wolves. It’s more about getting the right partner with strategic connections.” Jeff Shi, Club Chairman.
Thomas Cook's Nordic business strikes a deal with the new owner.
The Nordic business of collapsed travel firm Thomas Cook has reached a deal with a buyer, Reuters reported. Thomas Cook Northern Europe said last month that it was looking for new owners. It is a separate legal entity and aims to continue to operate as usual.
Fredrik Henriksson, Thomas Cook Northern Europe/Ving head of communications, said the firm would unveil the buyer on Wednesday, declining to give further details.
APAC
Hillhouse Capital won a bid to acquire a 15% stake in Gree Electric Appliances, China's largest air-conditioner maker, from its government-owned parent Gree Group for $7.5bn.
A review board selected Hillhouse over a consortium led by buyout firm Hopu Investment Management. Hillhouse vowed to maintain Gree Electric's management stability in its offer.
Canaan Creative to file for the $400m IPO.
Canaan Creative, one of China’s biggest bitcoin mining hardware makers, filed to publicly list on the Nasdaq to raise $400m, marking at least its third attempt to do so after previous failed tries in mainland China and Hong Kong.
The Hangzhou-based company, which describes itself as the world’s second-largest bitcoin mining machine designer and maker in its prospectus, said it wanted to use the cash to fund research into artificial intelligence and blockchain research, as well as pay off debts.
The firm tried to list itself in China three years ago through a reverse merger by buying a Shandong-based electric equipment maker and then again filed for a Hong Kong float last year, however, both plans fell through as regulators had doubts about its business model and prospects.
ByteDance denies Hong Kong IPO plans.
ByteDance, which owns short-form video app TikTok, has no immediate plans for an initial public offering in Hong Kong, denying an FT report that said it was looking to list as soon as the first quarter of next year.
“There is absolutely zero truth to the rumors that we plan to list in Hong Kong in Q1,” a spokesman for the company.
Amazon invests $631m in its India business.
Global e-commerce giant Amazon has invested $631m in its Indian units Amazon Seller Services, Amazon Pay, and Amazon Retail, DealStreetAsia reported.
Amazon’s plans on how these three subsidiaries would utilize the latest funds, could not be independently ascertained. The development comes after its rival Flipkart applied for government licenses to set up a new local entity - Flipkart Farmermart - that will focus on food retail in India.
Ola in talks to raise $200m from Microsoft.
Cab hailing platform Ola is set to unveil a new connected car project through a strategic partnership with software major Microsoft, which will also include Microsoft pumping in around $200m into Ola’s parent company ANI Technologies, DealStreetAsia reported.
Microsoft will also acquire around 5% equity in ANI with the current investment.
“The (Ola-Microsoft) partnership will include cloud solutions, a connected vehicle product, and deep tech capabilities focused on future mobility solutions. The tech will also have direct implications with Ola Electric as well,” an Ola representative.
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