Global Payments, a leading worldwide provider of payment technology and software solutions, agreed to acquire and merge with Total System Services, a United States credit card processor, merchant acquirer and bank credit card issuer, in a $21.5bn deal. Under the terms of the merger agreement, TSYS shareholders will receive 0.8101 Global Payments shares for each share of TSYS common stock. This reflects a price per share of $119.86 for each share of TSYS common stock, and an approximately 20% premium to TSYS’ unaffected common share price as of the close of business on May 23, 2019.
“In this exciting merger of equals, our new company will truly be a payments powerhouse that is perfectly poised to lead the industry in delivering merchant, issuer and consumer payments technology, solutions and service to our customers,” said M. Troy Woods, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of TSYS. “Our companies share common values, a strong culture of putting people first, and a relentless commitment to doing the right thing, making this combination the perfect fit. The entire TSYS team is proud to link arms with Global Payments, and we look forward to leading the market as the preeminent payment solutions provider.”
Goldman Sachs, Greenhill & Co and King & Spalding are advising TSYS. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz are advising Global Payments. Bank of America Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan are also providing debt financing and being advised by Sullivan & Cromwell.
Occidental, a hydrocarbon exploration firm which recently won the bidding war to acquire peer Anadarko for $58bn, said it would sell off some of Anadarko’s assets and focus on optimizing and integrating the assets it keeps. The acquisition quadrupled Occidental’s debt to $40bn. Chief Executive Vicki Hollub said that the most likely sale prospects are Anadarko’s offshore assets in the Gulf of Mexico and its pipeline business.
Anadarko was advised by Evercore, Goldman Sachs, Vinson & Elkins and Wachtell Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Occidental was advised by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, and Cravath, Swaine & Moore.
2U, a leader in education technology, completed its $750m acquisition of Trilogy Education, a workforce accelerator that prepares adult learners for high-growth careers in the digital economy. Trilogy partners with top universities and leading companies to provide in-person and online skills-based training programs in coding, data analytics, UX/UI, and cybersecurity that bridge regional hiring gaps in more than 50 cities around the globe. Trilogy was sold by Macquarie, Highland Capital Partners, City Light Capital, Exceed Capital Partners, Rethink Education and private investors. The deal was announced in April.
"We expect the addition of Trilogy to accelerate our path to $1bn in revenue by one year from 2022 to 2021," 2U Co-Founder and CEO Christopher "Chip" Paucek said. "Increasingly, universities are attempting to add practical, technical skills to their degrees. We simply future-proof the degree by adding this type of technical competency."
Morgan Stanley, Cooley and Fortis Advisors advised Trilogy Education. Citigroup and Latham & Watkins advised 2U. Owl Rock Capital Partners provided debt financing.
Authentic Brands, a New York City-based brand management company, acquired Sports Illustrated, an American sports magazine, from Meredith, an American media conglomerate, for $110m. Through this acquisition, ABG forges a strategic partnership with diversified media powerhouse Meredith to build a global platform that converges the worlds of sports, culture and entertainment.
“This strategic partnership brings a new approach to media brand development, and we’re excited to leverage Meredith and ABG’s respective strengths to enhance and build upon Sports Illustrated’s undeniable value,” said John Zieser, Chief Development Officer of Meredith. “We will also combine our world-class media platform and consumer audience with ABG’s brand development, marketing and licensing expertise to develop other media-driven opportunities across the company’s portfolio.”
Cooley and Houlihan Lokey are advising Meredith. Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison is advising Authentic Brands.
FirstService Corporation, a North American leader in the essential outsourced property services sector, acquired Colodaro-based Global Restoration Services, the second largest commercial and large loss property restoration firm in North America, for $505m. The firm was sold by Delos Capital.
“Global Restoration is a significant transaction for FirstService, providing an excellent strategic fit and strong cultural alignment,” said Scott Patterson, CEO of FirstService. “With its scale, leading market position and operational excellence, the Company offers a unique opportunity to accelerate our growth in the massive property restoration industry. Global Restoration’s expertise is highly complementary to our Paul Davis franchise system, enhancing our ability to deliver seamless, full-service capabilities to every customer segment in the industry."
Houlihan Lokey and Goodwin Proctor advised Global Restoration Services. Ferrante & Associates and Fogler Rubinoff advised FirstService.
Kinderhook-backed Gold Medal Group, a waste management company, acquired EarthTech Contracting, a Woodbine, NJ-based provider of trash and recycling collection services. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“We are excited about the expansion of our operations in the Southern New Jersey market through the acquisition of Earthtech,” said Mike Schmidt, Executive Vice President of Gold Medal. “This acquisition not only provides us with a better ability to service our growing customer base in the region, but it also helps us to diversify our revenue stream and realizes significant efficiency improvements.”
Kirkland & Ellis and Potters & Della Pietra are advising Kinderhook.
Private equity firm L2 Capital Partners acquired Jurassic Quest, the largest dinosaur-themed exhibition in the United States. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Connor McMahan, Principal, who led the transaction for L2, said: “The opportunity to partner with a company such as JQ is rare in that its market leadership and demonstrated value proposition are distinct amongst its peers. We have collected an extraordinary group of Board members and advisors that will help guide JQ’s very talented management team in executing on its tangible path to organic growth at home in the US and abroad.”
Statesman Corporate Finance advised Jurassic Quest. Capitala Group provided debt financing.
Ares Management, a publicly traded, global alternative asset manager, acquired a minority stake in Volery Capital Partners, a private equity firm that provides growth equity and strategic support to leading investment managers. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“We are thrilled to be in business with Ares, a market leader that shares our strategic vision and will expand the breadth of our firm’s capabilities,” said Emanuel Citron, a Managing Partner of Volery. “The partnership will be instrumental in helping Volery work with top-performing management teams to accelerate their efforts to achieve new levels of economic performance, growth and measurable impact.”
Purpose Financial, an independent financial services company, agreed to acquire CreditGenie, a Canadian technology company that aims to disrupt the point-of-sale financing experience for merchants and consumers. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“Purpose is singularly focused on driving innovation in Canada’s financial services industry. CreditGenie, with its innovative point-of-sale financing solution, represents a natural extension of our Banking Solutions platform,” said Som Seif, Chief Executive Officer of Purpose.
Fieldex Exploration, a Canadian mineral exploration firm, is set to acquire Copeland Biosciences, a cannabis pharma company, in a reverse takeover transaction. Copeland Biosciences will also undertake private placement of subscription receipts at $0.30 for aggregate gross proceeds of a minimum $2m and a maximum of $6m. Upon the deal closure, Fieldex will be listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange and will be renamed Copeland Biosciences Corp.
Centre Partners-backed Golding Farms Foods, a leading national manufacturer of private label and branded sauce and condiment products, acquired Arcobasso Foods, a leading manufacturer of refrigerated dressings, sauces and beverage mixers. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Arcobasso Foods is a special company with long-standing relationships and commitments to customers, suppliers, employees and the St. Louis community," stated John Frostad, CEO of Golding Farms. "The addition of Arcobasso will meaningfully expand Golding Farms' manufacturing footprint, creating a specialty sauce and condiment platform capable of serving customers in almost every geography and trade channel. We are pleased to welcome the Arcobasso team to Golding Farms."
Private equity firm Vopne Capital invested in Sun Valley, California-based Coronado Manufacturing, a maker of precision-machined components for the aerospace industry. No financial terms were disclosed.
“Coronado Manufacturing has a 60-year track record of operational excellence, as demonstrated by the company’s product quality, long-standing customer relationships and AS9100 certification,” said Jim Bloom, Managing Partner at Vopne, who joins Coronado’s board of directors. “We are excited about the opportunity to continue Coronado’s success into the future.”
Versa Capital acquired Alex Apparel Group, a leading designer and wholesaler of better- and moderate-priced social dresses and separates, from private equity firm Atlantic Street Capital. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Colleen Kelly, Chief Executive Officer of Alex Apparel, said: “We are excited to partner with Versa to continue the strong trajectory of our business. Versa provides us with the tools and resources to advance our strategy underpinned by our longstanding commitment to providing women with high quality classic-social eveningwear that accentuates their beauty.”
Private equity investment firms Francisco Partners and IGP Capital co-invested in LiveU, the leader in live IP video solutions. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We are extremely excited to be partnering with LiveU as the company enters the next chapter of its growth story," said Eran Gorev, Senior Operating Partner at Francisco Partners. "LiveU is already recognized as the industry leader, and we look forward to partnering with IGP Capital and LiveU's management team to further enhance the company's solutions, grow the customer base and advance its strategic goals."
Goldman Sachs advised Francisco Partners.
Intuit, a business and financial software company, agreed to acquire Silicon Valley-based Origami Logic, the makers of an advanced data integration, ingestion, and analytics platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“As we enter our next chapter of transformation, having a strong data architecture lies at the heart of Intuit’s strategy to deliver valuable insights to our customers," said Sasan Goodarzi, Intuit's chief executive officer. “This acquisition will accelerate Intuit’s ability to organize, understand, and use data to deliver personalized insights that help customers quickly achieve success and build confidence whenever they use Intuit products.”
GIC and Bain Capital sold a stake in Genpact for $362m. (FS)
Private equity firm Bain Capital and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC sold 10m shares of Genpact, a professional services firm headquartered in New York City, for about $362m, as investors continue to lower their holdings in the company. The shares represent about 5% of Genpact's equity. Bain and GIC had together infused about $1bn in Genpact in 2012. The private equity firm had invested around $850m in the company while GIC accounted for the remaining amount.
“The selling shareholders are offering approximately 27% of Genpact’s shares they beneficially own,” Genpact said in a statement.
Brazil Supreme Court halted Petrobras’ asset divestments.
Reuters reported that a Brazilian Supreme Court judge issued an injunction suspending some major divestments by Petroleo Brasileiro, a semi-public Brazilian multinational corporation in the petroleum industry. The decision calls for the suspension of the sale of Petrobras’ TAG pipeline unit and eight of the companies’ refineries, as well as the sale of its Araucaria Nitrogenos fertilizer unit.
Petrobras said in a statement on Monday it will study the decision and take action to defend its interests and those of its investors. It stressed the importance of its divestment plans to reduce its indebtedness.
Accel-KKR to raise $2.6bn for its new fund. (FS)
Tech-focused private equity firm Accel-KKR has set a $2.6bn target for its sixth flagship fund, according to an SEC filing. Headquartered in Menlo Park, Accel-KKR raised $1.3bn for its fifth flagship effort in 2015. The firm has invested in more than 100 companies since its founding in 2000.
Silver Lake raised $2.5bn for its credit/structured equity fund. (FS)
Silver Lake, an American private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout and growth capital investments in technology, technology-enabled and related industries, collected around $2.5bn for its first-ever credit and structured equity fund, which makes non-control investments in tech companies.
SpaceX raised an additional $704m in funding. (FS)
SpaceX, private American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company founded by celebrity billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, raised an additional $704m across two previously declared rounds. Both rounds have now raised a combined total of $1bn since January. With the new funding, SpaceX now holds an estimated $31.5bn valuation, with previous investors such as Sherpa Capital, Alphabet and Founders Fund adding to their stakes in the company.
Robinhood Markets to raise $200m in upcoming financing round. (FS)
Robinhood Markets, a US-based financial services company headquartered in Menlo Park, California, is looking to raise $200m in an upcoming financing round, which is to value the company at $7-8bn. The cash infusion is coming from existing investors. The funding talks are ongoing and the company’s valuation could climb to as much as $10bn in a subsequent round.
