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AMERICAS
GTCR to acquire a 55% stake in Worldpay from FIS for $11.7bn. (FS)
GTCR, a private equity firm, agreed to acquire a 55% stake in Worldpay, an American payment processing company, from FIS, a financial services technology company, for $11.7bn.
"We are thrilled to partner with Worldpay and its talented team to drive forward this market leading business. Worldpay has established itself as a leader in the payments sector, and we see strong opportunity to enhance its existing physical, e-commerce and omni-channel presence through additional investment, allowing the business to capitalize on digital payment trends. We look forward to leveraging the strength of the entire organization to build an even better business, positioning Worldpay for sustainable, long-term growth," Collin Roche, GTCR Co-CEO and Managing Director.
GTCR is advised by Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Piper Sandler, Raymond James, TD Cowen, UBS, Wells Fargo Securities, William Blair & Co, Kirkland & Ellis and Paul Hastings. Debt financing is provided by Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, National Association of Realtors, UBS and Wells Fargo Securities. FIS is advised by Centerview Partners, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Latham & Watkins and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz (led by Andrew R. Brownstein, Igor Kirman, and Eric M. Feinstein). Financial advisors are advised by Sullivan & Cromwell (led by Stephen M. Kotran and Melissa Sawyer).
Platinum Equity-backed Solenis completed the acquisition of Diversey for $4.6bn. (FS)
Platinum Equity-backed Solenis an American manufacturer of specialty chemicals, completed the acquisition of Diversey, an American provider of cleaning and hygiene products, for $4.6bn.
"This merger makes Solenis a more diversified company with significantly increased scale, broader global reach and the ability to offer a 'one-stop shop' suite of solutions that meet customer demand and address water management, cleaning and hygiene issues on a global basis. Together, we have a foundation from which we can continue to leverage our strong customer partnerships, leading-edge innovation and value-added services to propel Solenis' aggressive growth trajectory. With continued support from Platinum Equity, we are confident that we will maximize the promising opportunities ahead," John Panichella, Solenis CEO.
Diversey was advised by Centerview Partners, Evercore, JP Morgan, Kirkland & Ellis (led by Christopher Thomas, Sarkis Jebejian and Andrew Struckmeyer)
and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz (led by David A. Katz and Zachary Podolsky). Legal advisors were advised by Sullivan & Cromwell (led by Lee C.Parnes and Stephen M. Kotran). Solenis was advised by Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Piper Sandler, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher (led by Arieh Lanin), Homburger (led by Andreas Müller), Legance (led by Bruno Bartocci), Stikeman Elliott (led by Aaron Vieira) and Willkie Farr & Gallagher (led by Jason Pearl, Cristopher Greer, Jared Fertman, Jennifer Tait and Joshua Deason). Bain Capital was advised by Stanton PRM (led by Charlyn Lusk). Debt financing was provided by Bank of America and Goldman Sachs.
Monster, a beverage company that manufactures energy drinks, agreed to acquire Bang Energy, a brand of energy drinks, from Vital Pharmaceuticals, a pharmaceutical company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Monster will acquire Bang Energy’s performance beverages and related Bang Energy businesses through the purchase of substantially all of Bang Energy’s assets.
Bang Energy is advised by Huron Consulting Group, Rothschild & Co, Berger Singerman, Latham & Watkins and C Street Advisory. Monster is advised by Evercore, Akerman, Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones and PondelWilkinson (led by Roger Pondel).
A US bankruptcy judge allowed SVB Financial Group, owner of bankrupt Silicon Valley Bank, to sell its investment banking business to the division's founder.
Buyers include a group led by the unit's founder and former CEO, Jeff Leerink, and is backed by funds managed by the Baupost Group. The deal includes an equity financing of up to $100m from Baupost along with $30m financing commitment from the Leerink's team , Reuters reported.
Jeff Leerink is advised by Rothschild & Co and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom (led by Dohyun Kim, Howard Ellin and Sven Mickisch). Baupost is advised by Willkie Farr & Gallagher. SVB Financial is advised by Alvarez & Marsal, Centerview Partners, Sullivan & Cromwell (led by Jared M. Fishman) and Joele Frank (led by Jed Repko).
Man Group, an investment management business, agreed to acquire a majority stake in Varagon Capital Partners, a middle market private credit manager, from Aflac, an insurance company, Corebridge Financial, a financial services company, and American International Group, an insurance organization, for $183m.
"This acquisition reflects our long-term strategy to move into new market segments where we can differentiate ourselves with talented, specialised teams. Man Group has built a rich and diversified credit offering to date, and as client demand for credit strategies is increasing, we see a significant growth opportunity in direct lending, particularly against the backdrop of regional banking difficulties in the US. This transaction enhances our ability to provide deep, fundamental credit expertise through a cycle, underpinned by risk management of the highest quality," Eric Burl, Man Group Head of Discretionary.
Varagon is advised by Rothschild & Co, Davis Polk & Wardwell and Gasthalter & Co (led by Amanda Shpiner). Man Group is advised by Wells Fargo Securities, Willkie Farr & Gallagher (led by David Boston and Laura Acker) and FTI Consulting (led by Neil Doyle).
AcBel Polytech, a manufacturer of standard and custom switching power supplies, completed the acquisition of the power conversion division of ABB, a business conglomerate, for $505m.
"We're thrilled to take this step in strengthening our power solution technology together with Power Conversion and to further cultivate a shared culture of innovation, driving even greater value for our customers. We believe that Power Conversion's growing presence with customers in the data center, supercomputing, and EV infrastructure space will also lead to additional opportunities for AcBel's product portfolio," Jerry Hsu, AcBel Chairman.
ADQ, an Abu Dhabi-based investment and holding company, and BMO, a Canadian multinational investment bank, agreed to acquire a minority stake in Sagard, a global multi-strategy alternative asset management firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We are thrilled to welcome ADQ and BMO as strategic partners and to strengthen our relationship further with GWL. These strategic partnerships will significantly accelerate our vision of becoming one of the most respected alternative investment management firms globally," Paul Desmarais III, Sagard Chairman and CEO.
Thermo Fisher Scientific, a supplier of scientific instrumentation, agreed to acquire CorEvitas, a provider of regulatory-grade, real-world evidence for approved medical treatments and therapies, from Audax Private Equity, an investment firm, for $913m.
“The addition of CorEvitas will further advance our capabilities to better serve our pharma and biotech customers and strengthen our value proposition. CorEvitas is an excellent strategic fit for Thermo Fisher and highly complementary to PPD, our leading clinical research business,” Marc N. Casper, Thermo Fisher Chairman, President and CEO.
Bausch + Lomb, a global eye health company, completed the acquisition of Blink, a product line of eye and contact lens drops, from Johnson & Johnson, a pharmaceutical industry company, for $107m.
“There’s a growing need for relieving the symptoms of dry eyes and dry contact lenses, and OTC products are often the first option consumers choose. The addition of Blink expands our robust portfolio of OTC eye care brands, enabling us to provide more choices for consumers and eye care professionals," John Ferris, Bausch + Lomb Executive Vice President.
Avenue Z buys communications startup Bevel for $75m.
Avenue Z has bought Bevel, a communications firm for tech and venture capital, as the newly formed digital marketing company looks to expand through acquisitions. Avenue Z, founded earlier this year by serial entrepreneur Jeffrey Herzog, has paid $75m mostly in cash for Bevel, Bloomberg reported.
It is the first of what could be a slew of acquisitions by Herzog, the digital marketing visionary who was a pre-Google pioneer of search. Herzog is in active expansion mode with Avenue Z and is looking to acquire firms across digital marketing, branding, analytics and technology. Schaefer, whose Bevel has offices in New York, Los Angeles, London and Miami, is Chief Commercial Officer at Avenue Z Network, and also becomes the only female board member of the company’s five-person board. She will remain as CEO of Bevel for the next year.
Altas Partners closes $4bn fund with patient deal approach. (FS)
Altas Partners closed its third PE fund, Altas Partners Holdings III, on $4bn, with backing from some of North America's largest institutional investors. The fund attracted commitments from LPs including Alaska Permanent Fund, which allocated $40m and $50m to its predecessor, and the San Mateo County Employees' Retirement Association, which committed $25m in 2022.
The new fund is a third larger than its $3bn predecessor and will continue Altas' strategy of targeting five to seven businesses to own and grow, as well as continuing its focus on the healthcare, business services and specialized industrial sectors. Altas executes one or two deals a year at anywhere from $400m to $1bn each, and while its holding periods tend to follow PE's typical five to seven years, its fund structure allows for an extension when necessary.
GLP Capital Partners closes China Income Fund VIII at nearly $360m. (FS)
GLP Capital Partners has closed China Income Fund VIII, the latest fund in its flagship onshore income fund series, with equity commitments of about $359m. The capital was raised from a group of five domestic insurance companies, including existing investors in GCP's previous onshore RMB funds, DeelStreetAsia reported.
The CIF VIII portfolio comprises over $690m of core, income-generating modern logistics assets with a total gross floor of 870k m2 located across key logistics hubs, including Shanghai, Guangzhou, Zhongshan, Xiamen, Changsha, and Chengdu. The assets were seeded from GLP's balance sheet and are leased to companies in the manufacturing, logistics, e-commerce, and retail sectors.
Thayer Street raises $275m for the second fund. (FS)
Thayer Street Partners Management, a private investment firm that provides flexible growth capital to tech-enabled financial, real estate, and business services companies, has held the final closing of the Thayer Street Partners Opportunity Fund II with total capital commitments in excess of $275m.
Fund II exceeded its fundraising targets, benefitting from strong support from existing investors in the firm's debut fund, managed accounts, and various co-investment vehicles, as well as a broad base of new and highly regarded limited partners. Thayer Street will invest an initial targeted range of $5m to $50m per transaction with significant scalability.
Insight Partners raises $118m fund to back underrepresented VCs. (FS)
Global tech investor Insight Partners has raised $118m in its second 20/20 Vision Capital fund that aims to invest in venture capital funds led by diverse managers. This new fund expands a strategy Insights first started in 2020, after its own employees pledged $15m of their personal capital to diverse early-stage fund managers.
Like the first fund, which has deployed capital to 14 VC funds led by women, Black, Latinx or LGBTQ managers, Vision Capital II will continue to write single-digit million checks backing managers and provide follow-up capital for their second fund. External limited partners, which contributed the majority of the new 20/20 Vision, include Massachusetts Pensions Reserves Investment Management Board, Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System, and New York State Common Retirement Fund , Reuters reported.
EMEA
Otava, a media company, offered to acquire the remaining 70% stake in Alma Media, a media and digital service business company, for $565m.
The Tender Offer is made in accordance with the terms and conditions of a tender offer document approved by the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority, which was published by Otava on 29 June 2023.
Travel agency Booking to defend ETraveli deal at July 7 EU hearing. (FS)
Online travel agency Booking Holdings will try to convince European Union antitrust regulators to allow its €1.6bn ($1.8bn) acquisition of Sweden's Etraveli Group, despite concerns it could hurt competition. Booking announced its bid for peer Etraveli, owner of the brands Gotogate and Mytrip and operator of airline content distribution services provider TripStack, in November 2021. Etraveli is owned by private equity firm CVC Capital.
CVC Capital is advised by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (led by Sundeep Kapila, Charles Hayes, and Simon Priddis). Booking Holdings is advised by Hengeler Mueller (led by Jens Wenzel).
Swiss Post, the national postal service of Switzerland, completed the acquisition of terreActive, a cybersecurity specialist. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“Swiss Post is a strong partner that optimally supports our growth strategy. We firmly believe that together we can improve our positioning for customers, while providing our staff with an even more attractive working environment,” Marc-Yves Bächli, terreActive Founder.
The Olayan Group, a private equity firm and hotel owner, completed the acquisition of Mandarin Oriental in Barcelona, a 120-room hotel, from Reig Capital Group, a family office that engages in managing the investments, for €240m ($262m).
Mandarin Oriental is expected to continue operating the hotel, which is located on Barcelona’s famed street Passeig de Gràcia. The nine-floor hotel opened in November 2019.
Ryan, a global tax services and software provider, completed the acquisition of Indigo Consulting Group, a research and development tax relief consulting firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“All of us at Indigo are grateful to join Ryan’s R&D tax credits team. Our vast R&D experience and success is a perfect complement to Ryan’s innovation funding practice. By combining our industry expertise with the full suite of tax services at Ryan, we are able to offer our clients in the construction industry additional tax-saving strategies to help their businesses excel,” Peter Kane, Indigo Founder.
UK government believes Thames Water can avoid state takeover.
The UK government believes Thames Water can avoid falling into public ownership as talks continue with investors to raise more than £1bn ($1.27bn). Ministers and officials have been considering contingency plans for the company, including a temporary state takeover, as rising interest rates swell its large debt burden and the need to improve infrastructure requires fresh investment. But the government now thinks Thames Water can raise the funds on its own, Bloomberg reported.
Thames is the UK's largest water company and its difficulties have raised concerns about the industry more broadly. The sector has become politically toxic as water companies have failed to invest enough to keep sewage out of the sea and rivers, and their large debt burdens have raised questions about the merits of privatization.
Borouge surges as Abu Dhabi envisions $30bn chemical giant.
Borouge surged the most in over a year as Abu Dhabi explores an ambitious plan to use the company to create a chemicals and plastics giant worth more than $30bn. Shares of Borouge jumped as much as 9.4% in Abu Dhabi trading July 5, the biggest intraday gain since June 2022. They were up 4.1%, giving the company a market value of about $23bn, Bloomberg reported.
Abu Dhabi and Austria’s OMV are discussing the valuation and ownership structure for a potential merger of Borouge and Borealis. The owners may reach the broad outlines for formal negotiations in the coming weeks. The mooted transaction would dovetail with a wider plan by the United Arab Emirates to attract investment and technology as well as build new industries and manufacturing capabilities. State-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. has been expanding a refining and chemicals hub in Abu Dhabi to find additional outlets for its oil and natural gas production and make the plastics that go into consumer goods.
CAB Payments shares slip after London IPO.
Shares in British money transfer group CAB Payments slipped following an initial public offering in a boost to London's capital markets. CAB Payments, backed by private equity firm Helios Investment Partners, said it had successfully placed shares at £3.35 ($4.28) apiece, raising up to £335m ($426m) in proceeds, Reuters reported.
The IPO comes amid doubts about London's appeal as a capital markets centre following a string of high-profile moves to other bourses by domestic or locally listed firms. Earlier this year, Cambridge-based chipmaker Arm rebuffed a campaign from the British government to list its shares in London, saying it would pursue a flotation on a US exchange.
Notion Capital closes oversubscribed fifth fund at €300m hard cap. (FS)
Notion Capital, a European early-stage venture investor focused on the business software and fintech sectors, has held the final close of its new oversubscribed Notion Capital V fund at its €300m ($326m) hard cap.
The fund, which held its first close last year, has already made several investments including Bound, DataOps, M3ter and Resistant AI. Notion expects to make around 20 core Series A+ investments in total from the fund. Unlike Notion's predecessor vehicles, fund V is Euro denominated and Luxembourg-based, reflecting the firm's increasingly pan-European focus, although it will follow the same investment strategy.
APAC
Multiples Private Equity, a private equity firm, led a $146m round in Veritas Finance, a financial services firm, with participation from IFC, British International Investment, Lok Capital and Avendus.
“Veritas is on a secular compounding journey, and we are excited to partner with an investor like Multiples who has admirable understanding of the financial services space. In addition to Multiples, the current capital raise will also see Avendus FLF, known for backing future leaders, partnering with Veritas. The fresh capital raised will provide significant runway for growth, help deepen our existing offerings and expand into the affordable housing space. We strongly believe these partnerships will further catalyse our mission to serve the underserved," Arulmany Duraisamy, Veritas MD & CEO.
Veritas Finance was advised by Eminence Strategy Consulting and Avendus. Avendus was advised by J. Sagar Associates (led by Sidharrth Shankar).
Tata weighs buying Temasek's stake in pay TV platform. (FS)
Tata Group is considering an offer to buy back a stake in its entertainment content distribution platform from Temasek as the Indian conglomerate weighs postponing Tata Play initial public offering, Bloomberg reported.
Tata Group is contemplating whether to delay the planned Tata Play listing because of market conditions. Instead, Tata Group has started discussions with Temasek around a deal that would give the Singaporean state investor an opportunity for a long-awaited exit from its investment in the platform, formerly known as Tata Sky. Temasek owns about 20% of the content distribution platform. A joint venture between Tata Group and Walt Disney, Twenty-First Century Fox, Tata Play provides pay television via set-top boxes and over-the-top video streaming through its app.
Japan in talks to buy gas from Qatar amid diversification shift.
Japan's natural gas buyers are in talks to agree new supply contracts with Qatar, driven by energy security concerns. Several Japanese companies are in negotiations for deals spanning decades to purchase liquefied natural gas from the producer, which is expanding output, Bloomberg reported.
Reforms to Australia's Safeguard Mechanism that took effect July 1 will have a significant impact on LNG business and import costs for Japan and are accelerating the import-dependent country's efforts to diversify supply sources. The unexpected turnaround in Australia's policy direction has raised concerns in Japan, where the government and companies see impacts on cost scenarios for investments as well as a likely increase in LNG import prices in the long run.
Vietnam's SHB in stake sale talks, could value lender at $2.2bn.
Vietnam's Saigon–Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank is in discussions to bring in a strategic partner that could own up to a 20% stake in the lender. The potential deal could value the Hanoi-based bank at between $2bn and $2.2bn, adding that financial investors and companies that had approached SHB included those from South Korea and Japan, Reuters reported.
SHB, with a market value of $1.7bn, wants to tie up with a long-term foreign investor and also tap into the growing interest from South Korean and Japanese investors in Vietnam's banking sector. SHB is in talks with one financial adviser to explore the discussions to bring in a strategic partner. Deliberations are ongoing and no decisions have been made. The deal was expected to be finalised this year or in early 2024, and will require central bank approval.
China Resources weighing deal for Grifols stake in Shanghai Raas.
China Resources is considering buying a minority stake in Shanghai RAAS Blood Products from Grifols. The companies are in talks about a potential transaction that would help the Spanish blood plasma firm cut its debt load.
Negotiations are ongoing and could still fall apart. Other health-care groups and investment firms have shown interest in acquiring the stake, Bloomberg reported.
Top Asia IPO gainers are in Japan as nation lures global funds.
Japanese initial public offerings may keep luring buyers after having delivered the biggest gains among newly listed Asian shares this year in the world's best-performing equity market. Tokyo's debutants in 2023 are up an average of 75% since their listings, Bloomberg reported.
That's more than any other major Asian market that had at least $1bn raised through IPOs over the period. Looking at the first day of trade alone, newcomers in the city rose 51% on average, the most in five years.
Adani Green weighs raising $1.5bn to fund expansion.
Indian billionaire Gautam Adani's renewable energy unit plans to raise $1.5bn to fund his coal-dependent conglomerate's green diversification following the fallout from a damaging short-seller broadside. Adani Green Energy board approved the plan at a meeting on Thursday and will then seek approval from shareholders, Bloomberg reported.
Shares of Adani Green rose as much as 2.6% in Mumbai after the nod. The company plans to expand its green energy capacity by close to 3 gigawatts this fiscal year, spending around $1.7bn, finance chief Phuntsok Wangyal had said in May. India's renewables sector has been one of the most lucrative sectors for international investors, finding its spot among one of the country's top five industries for overseas funds last year.
Vertex Ventures China closes fifth flagship fund at $390m. (FS)
Vertex Ventures China, the China branch of Singapore's Temasek-backed Vertex Ventures, has reportedly closed its fifth flagship fund with $390m in commitments at a size slightly below its initial target of $400m, DeelStreetAsia reported.
Vertex China, which runs offices in Singapore and China, closed the new fund with commitments from a mix of new and existing partners including asset managers, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, insurance companies, funds-of-funds, and family offices. Tay Choon Chong, the founder and managing partner of Vertex China, put the fund's estimated final close size at over $400m, while shooting for nearly $500m, compared to the predecessor vehicle that raised $275m.
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