Euronext, the leading pan-European exchange, made a €625m ($712m) bid for Oslo Bors, the Norwegian Stock Exchange and national CSD operator, headquartered in Oslo.
This transaction, if completed, would follow Euronext's recent acquisition of the Irish Stock Exchange and would represent another key milestone in the delivery of the group's vision to build a pan-European marketplace offering best-in-class capital markets services.
The Restaurant Group completed the £357m acquisition of Wagamama from PE owenrs. (FS)
Acquisition of Wagamama, a British restaurant chain, serving Asian food based on Japanese cuisine, by The Restaurant Group, a British chain of restaurants and public houses, was first announced on October 30. The firm was sold by Duke Street and Hutton Collins. Bridgepoint, CVC, L Catterton and KKR also made bids for the company.
Wagamama was advised by Goldman Sachs. JP Morgan, Numis Securities, RBC Capital Markets and MHP Communications advised the Restaurant Group. RBC also provided debt financing. Goldman Sachs and Latham & Watkins advised the sellers.
Ant Financial in talks to acquire WorldFirst for $632m.
Ant Financial, the fintech affiliate of Chinese conglomerate Alibaba Group is in advanced talks to acquire WorldFirst, a British company, which provides foreign exchange services to individuals and businesses, according to a Sky News report.
If completed, the deal would represent the most significant foray to date by a Chinese technology company into the UK's fintech sector.
Sun Corp looking to sell Cellebrite for $400m. (FS)
Japan’s Sun Corp, which operates mainly Pachinko related business, information and communication business, is looking to sell a 50% stake in Cellebrite, an Israeli digital intelligence provider. Cellebrite, fully owned by Sun Corp, specializes in forensics and extraction of data from mobile devices.
Potential buyers include Macquarie and KKR.
Rio Tinto to slow down asset disposals.
Jean-Sébastien Jacques, CEO of Rio Tinto Group, an Anglo-Australian multinational and one of the world's largest metals and mining corporations, expects the pace of asset sales to slow next year, claiming that the reshaping of the company’s core assets is close to completion.
“The bulk of divestments are behind us,” said Mr. Jacques who took the helm of Rio in the summer of 2016. “We still have a few assets in the portfolio, which we regard as non-core.”
Over the last two years, Rio Tinto disinvested $11bn worth of assets.
EPH in talks to buy Uniper’s French business.
Central European energy group EPH, majority owned by Czech billionaire investor Daniel Kretinsky, is in negotiations with Uniper, an energy company based in Düsseldorf, Germany, to acquire all of its French assets. Terms of the deal are not disclosed.
Jan Špringl, vice-chairman of EPH’s board, said that the group has entered a partnership with energy major Total to transfer Uniper’s two gas-fired plants to Total once the transaction closes.
