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AMERICAS
EU antitrust regulators extended their deadline for a decision on US chipmaker Broadcom's proposed $61bn bid for cloud computing firm VMware by three days to June 26, Reuters reported.
Broadcom Chief Executive Hock Tan sought to convince the European Commission of the merits of the deal at a closed hearing. The company is expected to offer remedies in the coming days.
VMware is advised by Goldman Sachs (led by Sam Britton), JP Morgan, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher (led by Andrew Kaplan and Barbara Becker) and FGS Global (led by Paul Kranhold). Financial advisors are advised by Debevoise & Plimpton (led by Michael Diz) and Sullivan & Cromwell (led by John L. Savva and Alison S. Ressler). Broadcom is advised by Bank of America (led by Ron Eliasek and Kevin Brunner), Barclays (led by Gary Posternack, Richard Hardegree and Laurence Braham), Citigroup (led by Daniel Mallegni and Tyler Dickson), Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley (led by Anthony Armstrong), Wells Fargo Securities, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, O'Melveny & Myers (led by Adit Khorana), Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz (led by Viktor Sapezhnikov, Ronald Chen and David Karp), Brunswick Group and Joele Frank (led by Arielle Rothstein, Tim Ragones and Joele Frank). Financial advisors are advised by Cooley (led by Ben Beerle). Silver Lake is advised by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (led by Atif Azher).
Francisco Partners, a private equity firm, completed the acquisition of Sumo Logic, a cloud-based machine data analytics company, for $1.7bn.
"Since founding Sumo Logic in 2010, we have created a trusted, cloud-native, SaaS analytics platform for observability and security, enabling our customers to transform complexity into insights and accelerate their cloud transformation adoption. Today's announcement represents a compelling outcome for our stockholders. We are delighted at the prospect of partnering with Francisco Partners in the next phase of Sumo Logic's journey," Ramin Sayar, Sumo Logic President and CEO.
Sumo Logic was advised by Morgan Stanley, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Joele Frank (led by Scott Bisang). Morgan Stanley was advised by Cooley (led by Ben Beerle and Rowook Park). Francisco Partners was advised by RBC Capital Markets, Kirkland & Ellis (led by Edward Lee and Chelsea Darnell) and Sloane & Company (led by Whit Clay).
Industrial Opportunity Partners, a private equity firm, completed the acquisition of Harvest Food Group, a manufacturer, supplier, and distributor of frozen foods. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We believe Harvest will be an excellent addition to the IOP portfolio. We're thrilled to support Harvest during its next phase of growth and look forward to bringing IOP's operational discipline and expertise to food manufacturing," Chris Willis, IOP Managing Director.
Harvest Food Group was advised by BMO Capital Markets. IOP was advised by Winston & Strawn. Debt financing was provided by Comerica Bank and Old National Bank.
Private equity firms Bregal Sagemount and FTV Capital completed an investment in Neptune Flood, a digital insurtech platform and private flood insurance provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We are thrilled to be partnering with Sagemount and FTV as we continue to build our business and achieve our mission of making flood insurance more accessible, helping customers better protect their homes and businesses from the devastating effects of flooding. Both Sagemount and FTV have established track records of insurtech growth investments and expertise in scaling technology-enabled businesses, something that set them apart from other investors we saw in the market and made them the ideal partners for our next phase of growth," Trevor Burgess, Neptune President & CEO.
Neptune Flood was advised by Morgan Stanley. Bregal Sagemount and FTV Capital was advised by Howden.
AT&T, a network company and BlackRock, a private equity firm, completed the formation of Gigapower, a fiber services joint venture. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We believe fiber connectivity changes everything. That's why we're already one of the biggest investors in fiber in the United States. The demand for high-speed connectivity is unprecedented, and through this innovative partnership with BlackRock, one of the world's foremost investors in infrastructure, we're able to connect even more people and businesses, accelerating our efforts to help close the digital divide," John Stankey, AT&T CEO.
AT&T was advised by Morgan Stanley.
Entrepreneur and philanthropist Austin Russell offered to acquire a majority stake in Forbes Media, a media, branding and technology company, in an $800m deal.
"We welcome Austin Russell. He is a dynamic entrepreneur and thought leader who has built an industry-leading business from the ground up. His energy and vision will enable Forbes to continue and enhance the excellent work for which we are known," Steve Forbes, Forbes Chairman and Editor-in-Chief.
Daniel Loeb is no longer considering taking SiriusPoint private. (FS)
Billionaire investor Daniel Loeb is no longer exploring a potential acquisition of SiriusPoint, a month after disclosing his interest in taking the insurance firm private.
SiriusPoint in a statement acknowledged the decision to conclude the acquisition talks and said it had made progress over the last seven months to improve underwriting performance, reduce volatility and rebalance its investment portfolio towards high-quality fixed-income assets.
The announcement in April about considering taking SiriusPoint private came less than three years after Loeb agreed to combine his hedge fund's reinsurance business, Third Point Re, with rival Sirius International Insurance Group to form the global specialty insurer, Reuters reported.
Apollo-Backed Riverbed nears a $450m sale to Vector Capital. (FS)
Riverbed Technology, an American information technology company, is in advanced talks to be sold to private equity firm Vector Capital for about $450m, including debt.
The closely held software and networking company, which is backed by Apollo Global Management, is in exclusive talks with Vector and could announce a deal within weeks, Bloomberg reported.
Elon Musk names Linda Yaccarino new Twitter CEO. (People)
Elon Musk has named a new chief executive of Twitter, just over six months after his controversial takeover of the social media company.
The billionaire said Linda Yaccarino, the former head of advertising at NBCUniversal, would oversee business operations at the site, which has been struggling to make money. He said she would start in six weeks, BBC reported.
EMEA
UBS has prioritized integrating Credit Suisse's investment bank and accelerating cost-cutting, while a decision on the future of its Swiss domestic business is expected within months.
UBS's takeover of its ailing rival is due to be completed in the coming weeks, at which point its newly refreshed senior management team will set about overseeing the biggest bank integration project since the financial crisis.
The integrations of Credit Suisse's wealth management and investment arms will follow, while UBS is planning to make a decision over the fate of its domestic business by the end of the summer, according to a person involved in the plans, FT reported.
Nippon Express, a Japanese global logistics services company, agreed to acquire Cargo-Partner, an Austrian global logistics player, for $743m.
"Both organizations will benefit from considerable synergies in global office coverage, an expanded service portfolio, strengthened regional, product and IT know-how, increased scale and others. NX Group will benefit from our strong and extensive network in Central and Eastern Europe that complements NX's existing network in an ideal way, and cargo-partner will jump several leagues in the Intra-Asian and Trans-Pacific trade lanes. cargo-partner will also continue to work with its current global agents' network, strive to expand this section of its business and support it in future with its upgraded platform which is presently under development," Stefan Krauter, Cargo-Partner CEO.
Cargo-Partner is advised by Deloitte, Boston Consulting Group, JP Morgan, ValueAdd, Schoenherr and Deloitte. Nippon Express is advised by MUFG Bank and Morgan Stanley.
H2B2 Electrolysis Technologies, a global green hydrogen platform that provides bespoke integrated solutions across the hydrogen value chain, agreed to go public via a SPAC merger with RMG Acquisition III, a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company, in a $750m deal.
"With the operations that we have underway, we are seeking to strengthen not only the international business that we are currently developing, but our operational capacity worldwide. The business and technological development of H2B2 will be bolstered as a result of this transaction with RMG III, thus making the energy vector of hydrogen key to decarbonization," Anselmo Andrade, H2B2 CEO.
H2B2 is advised by Latham & Watkins and Marlow Insight (led by Marisa Toro). RMG is advised by Cohen & Company Capital Markets, Perez Llorca and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom. Debt financing is provided by BCW Securities and Natixis Partners.
Montefiore Investment, a private equity firm, completed the acquisition of EXA Group, an architecture and project management firm, from Alcedo, a private equity firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We are grateful to Alcedo for their support over the last few years, and look forward to starting this new chapter with Montefiore. We have been impressed by the Montefiore team's ability to understand our issues and propose pragmatic solutions. We are confident that our partnership will accelerate the profitable growth of our group," Giuseppe Polvani, EXA Co-Founder and CEO.
Montefiore Investment was advised by Shearman & Sterling (led by Fabio Fauceglia) and Cicommunication. Debt financing was advised by Eurazeo. Eurazeo was advised by Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe. Alcedo was advised by Lincoln International and Nctm.
ServiceNow, a digital workflow company, agreed to acquire G2K, an artificial intelligence powered platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"ServiceNow is relentlessly focused on co-creating the future of work with our customers. Retail is just the beginning. This acquisition allows ServiceNow to create even greater simplicity and efficiency for our customers' growing needs across any industry, from manufacturing and supply chain to transportation and entertainment," Karel van der Poel, ServiceNow Senior Vice President and General Manager.
ServiceNow is advised by Tidal Partners and Baker McKenzie.
EQT, a global investment organization, agreed to acquire a 60% stake in the mobile and fixed network infrastructure operation of CK Hutchison-backed Wind Tre, a telecommunications company, for €2bn ($2.5bn).
"EQT Infrastructure is excited to partner with CK Hutchison and the Company's management team in this bespoke transaction. We are committed to investing in the continued development of Italy's digital backbone and leveraging the know-how we have developed in this unique transaction to explore similar partnership opportunities globally," Matthias Fackler, EQT Infrastructure Partner and Head of Europe.
CK Hutchison is advised by Morgan Stanley.
First Solar, a manufacturer of solar panels, and a provider of utility-scale PV power plants and supporting services, agreed to acquire Evolar, a perovskite technology company, for $80m.
"With this acquisition, along with our new innovation center in the United States and longstanding commitment to R&D, we are investing not just in First Solar's future, but the future of solar energy. We anticipate that high efficiency tandem PV modules will define the future, speeding up decarbonization by allowing us to convert sunlight into clean electricity more efficiently. This acquisition supplements our existing R&D streams with expertise in thin film semiconductors that complement CadTel. We expect that it will accelerate our efforts to develop tandem technology that continues our commitment to ultra-low carbon, responsibly produced solar," Mark Widmar, First Solar CEO.
GSK to raise $1bn by selling a 2.5% stake in Haleon.
GSK raised $1bn selling a stake in Haleon, the consumer health-care division it spun off as a separate company last year. GSK decided to separate Haleon so it could better focus on its pharma and vaccines business.
The sale represents 2.5% of Haleon's total shares and was conducted via a placing to institutional investors. It lowers GSK's stake in the maker of Sensodyne toothpaste and Tums digestive aids to 10.3%.
The move comes just a few days after Pfizer, which holds about 32% of Haleon, said it is also preparing to sell down its stake in the coming months. The US drug company said the stake in the British company was no longer a strategic asset.
THG ends takeover talks with Apollo Global. (FS)
THG has ended talks with Apollo Global Management about a possible takeover, saying the US private equity group's proposal undervalued the London-listed ecommerce company whose shares have plunged more than 80% since it listed in 2020, FT reported.
In a short statement, Apollo said it did not intend to make an offer for THG. The PE group cannot make a fresh approach for six months unless it has the recommendation of the board or there is an offer from a third party.
"PE firms usually want majority ownership. We've been clear: don't bid if you want 51%, plan to use debt to leverage up, or won't allow existing shareholders to stay invested," Matthew Moulding, THG Founder and CEO.
THG was advised by Jefferies, Barclays, Citigroup and Powerscourt.
Telefonica open to discuss potential fiber deal with Vodafone.
Spanish telecom firm Telefonica is open to discussing potential partnership on fiber networks in Spain with rival Vodafone.
The Spanish company is "open and prepared" to explore potential partnerships with Vodafone "in particular in the case of fiber in Spain if they wanted to progressively turn off their cable," Telefonica's Chief Operating Officer Ángel Vilá said.
Vodafone's recently appointed Chief Executive Margherita Della Valle, is under pressure to shake up the group, which spans over Europe and Africa and whose shares have underperformed, Reuters reported.
Home REIT declines further sale deadline extension to Bluestar Group.
Bluestar claims Home REIT has provided limited due diligence material despite repeated requests. Despite this, Bluestar remains "highly motivated" and "enthusiastic" about a possible offer for the company.
Home REIT's decision not to recommend an extension of the 'put up or shut up' deadline. Bluestar says it is its firm view that it would be in the best interests of shareholders and other Home stakeholders for the board to extend the PUSU deadline and to engage properly with Bluestar on ways to facilitate a streamlined due diligence process. Bluestar considers that the possible offer would attract the support of shareholders. Given the imminence of the deadline, Bluestar is requesting Home REIT shareholders to immediately urge the board to engage properly with Bluestar on the possible offer.
Renault wants to bring other strategic investors to Ampere and Alpine.
Renault wants to attract further investors to its electric vehicle unit Ampere and premium sports brand Alpine, CEO Luca de Meo said.
With the auto industry looking beyond internal combustion engines and demand surging for car connectivity, both requiring massive investments, Renault is building technological and financial partnerships beyond its historic alliance with Nissan.
Nissan and Mitsubishi have indicated they may invest in the electric vehicle unit, which may go public as early as this year, market conditions permitting. The US semiconductor maker has already said it will invest. BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan are among the investment banks slated to work on the planned listing, Reuters reported.
Richemont squashes rumour of sale to LVMH or Kering.
Johann Rupert, the controlling shareholder of Swiss luxury goods conglomerate Richemont, dismissed talk of a takeover by bigger rival LVMH or a combination with Kering.
The billionaire said he was in constant "friendly" dialogue with LVMH Chairman Bernard Arnault, but the Cartier owner has no interest in a deal with the French company and isn't for sale. He referred to the speculation as an "erroneous story."
Rupert also quashed talk of a potential tie-up with Gucci owner Kering. He said investment bankers had pitched a potential deal two years ago. Bloomberg reported.
SoftBank is said to pitch a $10bn IPO of Arm.
SoftBank Group has started testing investor appetite for an initial public offering of British chip designer Arm, which could raise as much as $10bn.
The Japanese conglomerate may launch the share sale in New York as soon as September. The IPO is on course to be the largest globally this year.
Arm last month confidentially filed for a US listing. Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Barclays and Mizuho were named as IPO banks in the filing. A left lead bank hasn't been identified yet. More banks are expected to be added to the line up, Bloomberg reported.
Feralpi invites banks to pitch for IPO role.
Italian steelmaker Feralpi Group is sounding out investment banks to arrange a possible initial public offering. Feralpi's actions come as the European IPO market battles to recover from a slump in activity prompted by last year's sudden rise in interest rates and economic uncertainty.
Reuters reported that Feralpi was working with advisers at Lazard to devise strategic options, including a stock market listing. Banks were subsequently invited to pitch for a role in a share sale.
APAC
Toshiba is working with Japan Industrial Partners to quickly complete a $15.2bn buyout by the private equity firm, as the industrial conglomerate forecast another year of weak earnings, Reuters reported.
"The management team concluded there was an expectation that the transaction would help the company build a stable management base" and "is therefore working with JIP to quickly complete the transaction", Toshiba.
Toshiba is advised by JP Morgan, Mizuho Securities, Nomura, UBS, Morrison & Foerster, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu, Nishimura & Asahi, White & Case and Kekst CNC (led by Jochen Legewie). JIP is advised by Crosspoint Advisors, Davis Polk & Wardwell (led by Ken Lebrun), Hengeler Mueller (led by Thomas Meurer), Shearman & Sterling (led by Derek Kershaw, Simon Letherman and Etienne Gelencser), Slaughter & May (led by Richard Hilton and Edward Fife) and TMI Associates.
Newcrest Mining has extended the exclusivity period by a week for Newmont to complete its due diligence on its $19.5bn final takeover offer for the Australian gold miner, Reuters reported.
The exclusivity period for Newmont's best-and-final offer was set to expire on May 11, has now been extended until May 18.
"Newmont has substantially completed due diligence and Newcrest has agreed to extend Newmont's exclusivity ... on the same terms as previously announced to provide further time for Newmont to complete its due diligence and submit a binding offer," Newcrest.
Newcrest Mining is advised by Gresham, JP Morgan and Herbert Smith Freehills (led by Rodd Levy). Newmont is advised by Bank of America, Centerview Partners, Lazard, King & Wood Mallesons and White & Case.
VinFast, an automotive manufacturer, agreed to go public via a SPAC merger with Black Spade Acquisition, a blank check company, in a $27bn deal.
"VinFast has already demonstrated the ability to quickly reach international markets. The partnership with Black Spade and listing of VinFast in the US represents the perfect capital raising avenue for our future global ambitions and is also an important accomplishment for Vingroup," Madame Thuy Le, VinFast CEO.
VinFast is advised by Chardan. Black Spade is advised by Jones Trading and Davis Polk & Wardwell (led by James C. Lin).
Fairfax India, an investment holding company, agreed to acquire a 10% stake in Bangalore International Airport, an airport operator, from Siemens Financial Services, a financial services provider, for $250m.
"This additional investment in BIAL reinforces our confidence in the continued success and opportunities at BIAL. With the opening of Kempegowda International Airport's Terminal 2, we expect significant growth over the coming years. We have had great support from Siemens through SFS over the past few years and look forward to our continued partnership," Prem Watsa, Fairfax India Chairman.
KKR, a global investment firm, agreed to acquire an additional 20% stake in Seiyu, a nationwide supermarket chain, from Rakuten, a technology conglomerate. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We are pleased to deepen our relationship with Seiyu, an iconic Japanese brand in which we continue to see strong promise. We look forward to unlocking the company's full potential through the continued strategic partnership with Rakuten and Walmart, which brings together our respective expertise in investing behind a company's growth, global best-in-class practices, and thoughtful customer experience. Together, we remain focused on helping Seiyu continue to deliver greater value and convenience to its customers across Japan and maintain its strong growth," Hiro Hirano, KKR CEO of Japan.
Volvo, a Swedish luxury automobile marque, terminated the $126m acquisition of JMC Heavy Duty Vehicle, a Chinese vehicles business.
"Volvo Trucks has a long history of successful business activities in China. We have great opportunities on the Chinese market and we will continue the efforts to develop our presence. Our long-term ambition is to grow our business and continue delivering our high-quality trucks to customers in China, together with our dealer partners in the country," Roger Alm, Volvo Trucks President.
Korean Air expects EU antitrust regulators to issue a formal warning about its bid for Asiana Airlines by the end of May, raising yet another hurdle for a major deal in the aviation industry, Reuters reported.
The European Commission in February opened a full-scale investigation into the acquisition on concerns that it could reduce competition in passenger transport services on four routes between South Korea and Europe.
J&T Express, a global logistics service provider, agreed to acquire Shenzhen Fengwang Information Technology from SF, a delivery services and logistics company, for $170m.
"This acquisition will enhance the integrated service capabilities of J&T Express. This move is expected to foster high-quality development of the industry allowing it to further increase its competitive advantage in the e-commerce delivery sector and contribute to the high-quality development of the industry," J&T Express.
SBI Holdings in talks to take Shinsei Bank private for $1.1bn.
Japanese online financial conglomerate SBI Holdings, plans to take midsize lender SBI Shinsei Bank private through a $1.1bn tender offer. SBI, which currently owns 50.04% of Shinsei, will start the tender offer next week. It plans to pay $20.7 per Shinsei share for $1.14bn in total.
SBI aims to become Japan's fourth-largest banking group. It already owns the country's largest online brokerage, an online bank and an asset manager and has been taking stakes in smaller lenders to create a nationwide network. The take-private deal would also move forward Shinsei's plan to return $2.58bn in public funds its predecessor bank received two decades ago in a bailout from the government, which still owns a 22.98% stake in Shinsei.
SBI Shinsei Bank is advised by Morgan Stanley.
BYJU's going to close a $1bn funding round. (FS)
India edtech firm BYJU's has closed $250m in a fresh funding round from US-based fund manager Davidson Kempner Capital Management and is in talks to close another $750m by the end of the month, DealStreetAsia reported.
The $750m will be secured from a sovereign fund and will be at a flat valuation of $22bn.
Carlyle is weighing entry into private credit market in India. (FS)
Carlyle Group, a priavte equity firm, is in the early stages of exploring an entry into India's private credit market, joining global firms drawn to the area.
Executives from the US private equity investor's Hong Kong office have visited India to understand the country's private lending opportunities in recent months. A decision isn't imminent and plans for a credit strategy in the country may still change.
As part of the deliberations, Carlyle will consider hiring a leader for the potential business and build out a team once it finalizes its strategy, Bloomberg reported.
FWD Group weighs $800m pre-IPO round.
FWD Group Holdings, an insurance brokerage firm, is weighing a private funding round as the Asian insurer's long-planned initial public offering is set to be delayed again amid weak market conditions.
Hong Kong billionaire Richard Li's firm has about $800m in commitments for a pre-IPO round that could take place as early as June. FWD is contemplating the round in lieu of proceeding in the near term with an IPO in the Asian financial hub, given the performance of recent first-time share sales.
The size of the pre-IPO round hasn't been confirmed and they could raise more than the initial committed amount. FWD still plans to move ahead with an IPO when the market improves, Bloomberg reported.
Horizon Construction Development aims to raise up to $223m in HK IPO.
Shanghai-based construction services provider Horizon Construction Development filed for an IPO aiming to raise up to $223m in a Hong Kong listing by May 25.
The listing follows a spin-off of the company from financial services provider Far East Horizon. Far East Horizon will retain a 71.7% stake in Horizon Construction.
The IPO consists of a public offering in Hong Kong and an international offering, with a total of 364.7m shares at a maximum offer price of $0.6 per share.
Horizon Construction has picked Huatai, Citigroup, and DBS Bank to work on its listing, DealStreetAsia reported.
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