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AMERICAS
Biogen narrowly beat out Sanofi to clinch its $7.3bn acquisition of Reata Pharmaceuticals, Bloomberg reported.
An entity identified as “Party A” in a regulatory filing lost the competition for Reata by 50 cents per share after several rounds of bidding. Party A was Sanofi.
HF Sinclair, a petroleum refineries company, agreed to acquire a 52.84% stake in Holly Energy Partners, a provider of petroleum product and crude oil transportation, for $1.44bn.
“We are pleased to announce this strategic transaction which we believe simplifies our corporate structure, reduces costs and further supports the integration and optimization of our portfolio. We expect the transaction to be accretive to earnings per share and available free cash flow within the first twelve months, further supporting our capital allocation strategy of returning excess cash to shareholders," Tim Go, HF Sinclair Chief Executive Officer and President.
Holly Energy is advised by Intrepid Partners, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and Morris Nichols. HF Sinclair is advised by Barclays, Richards Layton and Finger and Vinson & Elkins (led by Alan Bogdanow, Katherine Frank and E. Ramey Layne).
Energy Transfer, a company engaged in natural gas and propane pipeline transport, agreed to merge with Crestwood, a publicly traded master limited partnership that owns and operates midstream assets, in a $7.1bn deal.
"This transaction is also expected to provide benefits to Energy Transfer’s NGL & Refined Products and Crude Oil businesses with the addition of strategically located storage and terminal assets, including approximately 10m barrels of storage capacity, as well as trucking and rail terminals. These systems are anchored by predominantly investment-grade producer customers with firm, long-term contracts, and significant acreage dedications," Energy Transfer.
Align Capital Partners, a private equity firm, completed the investment in Global Guardian, a comprehensive provider of security, medical and travel-related services to a global base of clients. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“Global Guardian’s differentiated model has led to strong client adoption and driven tremendous growth over the past decade. As we planned for future expansion, it was the right time in our Company’s evolution to find a strategic growth investor. Our partnership with ACP will allow for on-going investment in the resources and technology needed to support our clients with the highest degree of care to safeguard their assets from continually evolving global threats," Dale Buckner, Global Guardian Co-Founder and CEO.
Global Guardian was advised by Piper Sandler and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom (led by Richard Oliver). Align Capital was advised by Calfee Halter & Griswold.
Occidental, an international energy company, agreed to acquire Carbon Engineering, a climate solutions company, for $1.1bn.
“We expect the acquisition of Carbon Engineering to deliver our shareholders value through an improved drive for technology innovation and accelerated DAC cost reductions. The technology partnership also adds new revenue streams in the form of technology licensing and royalties. Importantly, the acquisition enables Occidental to catalyze broader development partnerships for DAC deployment in the most capital efficient and valuable way,” Vicki Hollub, Occidental President and CEO.
GM, a company that designs, manufactures, markets, and distributes vehicles and vehicle parts, and sells financial services, led the $60m Series B round in Mitra Future Technologies, a lithium-ion battery materials manufacturing company, with participation from Social Capital, Fontinalis Partners, Earthshot Ventures, The Keffi Group, Boutique Venture Partners, GS Futures, Bricks Capital Management, Zeon Ventures, Scribble VC, WovenEarth Ventures and Bonds Investment Group.
"This is a strategic investment that will further help reinforce GM's efforts in EV batteries, accelerate our work on affordable battery chemistries like LMFP and support our efforts to build a North America-focused battery supply chain. GM is accelerating larger investments in critical subdomains of battery technology, like cell chemistry, components and advanced cell production processes. Mitra Chem's labs, tools and talent will fit well with our own R&D team's work," Gil Golan, GM Vice President of Technology Acceleration Commercialization.
Harford Mutual, an insurance company, completed the merger with ClearPath Mutual, an insurance company. Financial terms were not disclosed
"This is an exciting step forward in Harford Mutual's nearly 181-year-old history. There is a natural synergy between Harford Mutual and Clearpath. Both companies share similar values and missions, and this merger helps both companies achieve their strategic goals of continued state expansion and accelerated growth," Steve Linkous, Harford Mutual President & CEO.
Warburg, Kelso make a bid for Femsa’s $5bn envoy unit. (FS)
Mexican Coca-Cola bottler Femsa is in talks to sell a US packaging and food services business to private equity firms Warburg Pincus and Kelso for about $5bn.
Kelso would do the deal through portfolio company BradyIFS. Femsa shares led gains on the Mexbol index. The stock rose as much as 3.5% in trading in Mexico City in their biggest intraday gain since the end of May, on pace for a record high.
Life insurer Monument Re explores options including a sale.
Monument Re, a buyer of European life insurance portfolios, is exploring strategic options after reporting a drop in its capital ratios last year, Reuters reported.
Citigroup and Fenchurch Advisory are working with the company and its owners on the options, which include a possible sale.
Gilead ties up with Tentarix for cancer, inflammatory disease therapies.
Gilead Sciences it had entered into an agreement with privately held Tentarix Biotherapeutics to develop therapies for cancer and inflammatory diseases.
Tentarix will receive upfront payments and an equity investment totaling $66m from Gilead, which has the option to buy up to three of the drug developer's units for $80m each, Reuters reported.
Sacks Parente Golf becomes 2023’s best IPO with a 624% gain.
Sacks Parente Golf shares skyrocketed 624% in its first day of trading, notching the best initial public offering debut on a US exchange this year, Bloomberg reported.
The company, which makes golf equipment including $400 putters, closed just shy of $29 after pricing its initial public offering of 3.2m shares at $4. The price of those clubs is only slightly less than the Scotty Cameron putter, a rival brand famously used by Tiger Woods throughout his career.
Investors wary of commercial-property risks hold back on loans. (FS)
Lending for commercial real estate in the US has plunged — and it isn’t just banks that are holding back, Bloomberg reported.
Funds affiliated with major investors such as Blackstone, KKR, and Starwood Capital Group also have reduced originations, even as rising interest rates offered the opportunity for fatter returns.
McEwen eyes copper IPO as soon as November for Argentina project.
Canadian mining entrepreneur Rob McEwen said he’s weighing financing options for a copper project in Argentina, with an initial public offering possible as soon as November, Bloomberg reported.
While McEwen Copper is funded into next year as it drills the Los Azules project, it may go public later in 2023 or early 2024 to bankroll a feasibility study. The IPO could be in the range of $100m to $150m, although another private financing round is also an option, McEwen and copper unit chief Michael Meding both said in an interview.
EMEA
Intel, a computer components and related products, and Tower Semiconductors, an Israeli company that manufactures integrated circuits using specialty process technologies, mutually terminated the $5.4bn merger.
"Tower was very excited to join Intel to enable Pat Gelsinger’s vision for Intel’s foundry business. We appreciate the efforts by all parties. During the past 18 months, we’ve made significant technological, operational, and business advancements. We are well positioned to continue to drive our strategic priorities and short-, mid- and long-term tactics with a continued focus on top and bottom-line growth," Russell Ellwanger, Tower Semiconductor CEO.
Maurel & Prom, an oil company specialising in the production of hydrocarbons, agered to acquire Assala Energy, an upstream oil exploration and production company operating in Gabon, from Carlyle, a private equity firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“We want to thank Carlyle for its financial and strategic support throughout Assala’s growth journey, from the initial carve out from Shell in 2017 to the successes of higher production and reserves growth, which were delivered to best practice and international ESG standards by our exceptional team. We also want to thank the Government of Gabon for the support it provided throughout this intensive investment and redevelopment period. We are proud of our accomplishments so far and look forward to our business’s next stage of growth. The combination with M&P will create a great platform, with its business anchored in Gabon and a continued focus on creating value for its employees, local communities, governments and shareholders," David Roux, Assala CEO.
Carlyle is advised by Citigroup and Latham & Watkins. Maurel & Prom is advised by Morgan Stanley.
SSI Strategy, a life sciences consultancy, agreed to acquire NDA Group, a regulatory affairs and drug development consultancy company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“NDA Group is regarded as the premier regulatory consultancy for Life Sciences companies across the US and Europe, and we’re delighted to build upon our longstanding partnership with this combination,” Doug Locke, SSI Strategy Chief Executive Officer.
MTN Group is seeking as many as three more strategic investors in addition to Mastercard for its fintech unit, which the African telecom company values at $5.2bn.
“We are open to selling up to a maximum of 30% of the fintech business. There might be three or maybe even four strategic partners within that," Ralph Mupita, MTN CEO.
MTN is advised by JP Morgan.
Kretinsky to team up with RAG foundation for Steag bid. (FS)
Daniel Kretinsky plans to team up with Germany’s RAG-Stiftung foundation to make an offer for utility Steag, a move that may hand the Czech billionaire an edge over rival bidder Asterion Industrial Partners, Bloomberg reported.
“We can confirm that the RAG-Stiftung is in advanced negotiations to form a consortium with EPH,” RAG-Stiftung.
Silver Lake to explore the sale of tax-free shopping firm Global Blue valued at around $1bn. (FS)
Private equity firm Silver Lake is preparing to explore a sale of Global Blue Group, a company that enables retailers to offer tax-free shopping after receiving expressions of interest from potential acquirers.
The deliberations come as Global Blue recovers from the air travel slump caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, which weighed on duty-free shopping. It still faces headwinds, including price inflation and the prospect of an economic recession in Europe, which the company says it can tackle.
Russian court bans UBS, Credit Suisse from subsidiary disposals.
A Moscow court has banned UBS and its recently-acquired Swiss rival Credit Suisse from disposing of shares in their Russian subsidiaries, court documents showed, after a request from Zenit Bank which is concerned about losing out if they exit Russia, Reuters reported.
Zenit told the court in a statement that it believed the Russian subsidiaries of UBS and Credit Suisse were preparing to terminate their activities in Russia, which would leave it at risk of a loss relating to a loan made in October 2021.
APAC
CITIC Securities, a Chinese full-service investment bank, and Costone, an investment firm, led the $137m Series A round in Jiangsu Guoqiang Singsun Energy Technology, a Chinese developer of advanced tracking technology for intelligent solar plant applications, with participation from CMB International and Zhongtai Ventures.
As a subsidiary of China's Jiangsu Guoqiang Group, the startup claims to have an annual shipment capacity of 45 gigawatts of solar tracker equipment and software. It has delivered products and services to China's five largest state-owned electricity generation groups, with overseas clients across Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.
Hyundai Motor India, a smart mobility solutions provider, agreed to acquire Talegaon Plant from General Motors India, a automotive manufacturing company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"This year is a significant milestone for Hyundai Motor India, as we celebrate 27 years of activity in the market. Demonstrating our dedication to India, earlier this year, HMIL entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to invest INR20k crore ($240) in Tamil Nadu for expanding capacity and establishing an electric vehicle ecosystem. As we reinforce our commitment to ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, we intend to create an advanced manufacturing center for cars made in India in Talegaon, Maharashtra. Our manufacturing operations are scheduled to begin in Talegaon, Maharashtra, in 2025," Unsoo Kim, HMIL Managing Director and CEO.
Samsonite is exploring the possibility of a second listing in US.
Samsonite International is exploring the possibility of a second listing in the US as the luggage maker looks to broaden its investor base.
Such a move could help attract more US investors for the Hong Kong-traded company and provide a new avenue for fundraising. Considerations are at an early stage and the company could choose not to proceed with any deal.
Heeding Beijing's call, law firms tone down China risks in IPO applications.
Law firms in China are scrambling to comply with Beijing's new guidance to tone down the language used to describe China-related business risks in companies' offshore listing documents, Reuters reported.
The moves come after China's securities regulator last month in a closed-door meeting asked domestic law firms to refrain from including negative descriptions of China's policies or its business and legal environment in the IPO prospectuses.
Zhongrong Trust's missed payments trigger fears among Chinese investors. (FS)
Anxious Chinese retail investors are bombarding listed companies with questions about their exposure to Zhongrong International Trust after missed payments by the trust company triggered fears of contagion across the country's financial system.
Investors had submitted more than 100 questions to dozens of Shanghai- and Shenzhen-listed companies via investor relation platforms asking whether they had bought Zhongrong's products, after two listed firms disclosed that they had not received payment on maturing trust products from Zhongrong, Reuters reported.
Temasek weighs $2bn Pavilion Energy asset sale. (FS)
Singapore’s Temasek is considering selling some of Pavilion Energy's assets and seeking a valuation of at least $2bn.
The city-state’s investment firm is working with Barclays on a potential sale that would exclude the gas pipeline business, which Singapore considers a strategic asset. Temasek has started gauging interest from potential buyers for the assets of the liquefied natural gas company.
Indonesia delays plan to invest $20bn in energy transition funds.
Indonesia has pushed back until later this year plans to announce investments from a fund of $20bn pledged by rich countries and global lenders to help speed the transition to cleaner energy sources, Reuters reported.
A coalition of nations led by the United States and Japan has promised to mobilize public and private finance under the Just Energy Transition Partnership.
Alibaba’s DingTalk to split from Cloud business group.
Alibaba Group's work communication and collaboration platform DingTalk will split from the company's cloud division, Reuters reported.
DingTalk would pursue its own IPO in the near future. DingTalk will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alibaba and there would be no impact on its services.
Boeing China appoints new president amid Sino-US tensions. (People)
Boeing named Alvin Liu head of its China unit, picking a Chinese-born representative recently hired from the auto industry as the aircraft maker grapples with a drought in US imports to the crucial aviation market, Reuters reported.
Both Boeing and Airbus now have top executives in China who were born in the country. China accounts for about a quarter of global aircraft imports and its dealings with Boeing have become mired in geopolitical and trade tensions with Washington.
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