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AMERICAS
Jio Platforms-backed Radisys, an open telecom solutions and services provider, agreed to acquire Mimosa Networks, a communications equipment company, from Airspan, a provider of groundbreaking, disruptive software, for $60m.
“Over the years, our collaboration with Airspan has resulted in groundbreaking architectures for high-speed connectivity for both the end user and for backhaul applications. Acquisition of Mimosa will further accelerate Jio’s innovation and leadership in the production of telecom network products that deliver value to consumers and enterprises across the globe with cost-effective, rapidly deployable fixed and mobile broadband," Mathew Oommen, Jio President.
Radisys is advised by Ernst & Young and Covington & Burling. Airspan is advised by PJT Partners, Cravath Swaine & Moore and Dorsey & Whitney.
ZeroNox, a provider of sustainable, off-highway vehicle electrification, agreed to go public via merger with The Growth for Good Acquisition, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, in a $306m deal.
“Having been raised in the Central Valley of California, Robert and I returned home to build a business that would first and foremost support our community. We are motivated to bring our neighbors – who use off-highway vehicles for work across ranches, farms, and construction sites – high performing, affordable and zero emissions equipment that can help grow their businesses. Simply put, that’s our mission, and we are thrilled to partner with Growth for Good, a SPAC with a social impact and sustainability mission that aligns with our own," Vonn Christenson, ZeroNox CEO.
ZeroNox is advised by Chardan, Loeb & Loeb and Gasthalter & Co (led by Amanda Shpiner). The Growth for Good is advised by Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom (led by Howard Ellin).
Prime Capital, a financial planning provider, completed the acquisition of Cornerstone Comprehensive Wealth Management, an investment advisory firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“Cornerstone is a family-owned and -operated firm that provides comprehensive fiduciary-minded support and services that align well with our core values. Rather than measuring its success against other firms, Cornerstone does so based on the goals of its clients. We believe this is critical to providing top-tier client services and will, in turn, generate organic growth. I’m excited to expand into Nevada and welcome the team at Cornerstone to the PCIA family," Glenn Spencer, Prime Capital Investment Advisors CEO.
Cornerstone was advised by Park Sutton Advisors. Prime Capital was advised by Gregory FCA.
Carsales.com, a company that provides a smooth car buying and selling journey, agreed to acquire an additional 40% stake in WebMotors, an automotive digital marketplace, from Santander Brazil, a subsidiary of the Spanish Santander Group, for $239m.
“We believe that the new format of the agreement will allow us to further expand the volume of car financing made through the portal and to access technological innovation that will certainly result from this partnership. At the same time, it further boosts the development of webmotors due to its proximity to a company that is the best international partner we could have in this segment," Angel Santodomingo, Santander Brasil CFO.
Carsales.com is advised by UBS.
ARC Financial, an energy focused private equity manager, completed a $125m investment in Silfab Solar, a photo-voltaic module manufacturer.
“Silfab is ideally situated to meet North America’s growing appetite for domestically manufactured cutting-edge solar products. ARC remains confident that Silfab will be a driver in clean tech manufacturing and US engineered product innovation. Silfab continues to implement an impressive growth plan built around its unwavering commitment to manufacture high-quality products and its decades of innovation and experience,” Brian Boulanger, ARC CEO.
Bayer plans to spend $1bn on US drug R&D in 2023.
Bayer plans to spend $1bn on drug research and development in the US this year as it works to double its sales in the country by the end of the decade, Bayer's top US pharmaceutical executive said, Reuters reported.
"The company had raised the number of US employees working on marketing for its pharmaceutical business by around 50% over the last three years, and plans to expand on that by another 75% by 2030," Sebastian Guth, Bayer President.
Uber is considering spinning off freight logistics division.
Uber Technologies is exploring whether to spin off its Uber Freight logistics arm in a sale or as a separate publicly traded company to streamline its focus on ride hailing and food delivery, Bloomberg reported.
The company is discussing its options with potential advisers. A decision by Uber on the freight unit isn’t imminent and the company’s plans could change. An IPO is the more likely outcome. If the company lands on an IPO, it may not happen until next year and will depend on market conditions.
DigitalBridge weighs sale of Vantage Data Centers stake. (FS)
DigitalBridge Group, a global digital infrastructure investment firm, is considering the sale of a minority stake in Vantage Data Centers, an IT service management company, a deal that could raise more than $1.5bn for the infrastructure specialist.
US-based DigitalBridge is working with UBS Group to gauge buyer interest. A stake in Vantage Data Centers is likely to draw interest from financial investors and other infrastructure funds, Bloomberg reported.
Lithium Royalty raises $109m in biggest Canadian IPO since May. (FS)
Lithium Royalty raised CAD150m ($109m) in Canada’s biggest initial public offering in 10 months, tapping investor appetite for a slice of the booming battery metals industry, Bloomberg reported.
The Toronto-based company sold 9m shares for CAD17($12.34) apiece in its IPO, within its targeted range of CAD16 ($11.61) to CAD19 ($13.79). This would be the biggest IPO on a Canadian exchange since last May, when Bausch + Lomb was spun off in a dual listing and Dream Residential Real Estate Investment Trust went public.
JP Morgan names Canton Americas ECM head in leadership shuffle. (People)
JP Morgan Chase has named Keith Canton head of Americas equity capital markets as the bank reshuffles the group’s leadership amid a market drought.
Canton, who joined the New York-based firm in 2015, was most recently head of its private capital market business. He replaces Jeff Zajkowski, who has retired, Bloomberg reported.
EMEA
Heineken’s purchase of South Africa’s biggest wine exporter got the final regulatory approval it needed, setting up the Dutch brewer for expansion across the continent.
South Africa’s Competition Tribunal gave the deal with Distell Group the go-ahead with conditions. Shareholder elections are expected in two weeks and the transaction is expected to be implemented from April, Bloomberg reported.
Cinven-backed ETC Group, a distribution, logistics, technical engineering, and product design company, agreed to acquire Amadys, a telecom passive equipment provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“We are excited to be working with ETC in the next stage of Amadys’ development. Since 2016, we have grown almost exponentially, across revenue, employee count and product capabilities. We are looking forward to what we can achieve with ETC’s investment in this new capacity as a combined organisation. As our customers know, the central priority of our business has been the commitment to providing the best end-to-end solutions in the market and that will only continue with ETC,” Hein Wilderjans, Amadys CEO and Co-Founder.
Cinven is advised by FTI Consulting. Amadys is advised by Jefferies & Company.
Informa, a publishing company, agreed to acquire Tarsus, a B2B events and media company, from Charterhouse Capital Partners, for $940m.
"We have long admired the Tarsus business which, like Informa, has been built around major brands in attractive, specialist B2B markets in the growing regions of Asia, China, the Middle East and the Americas," Stephen A. Carter, Informa CEO.
HIG Capital, a global alternative asset investment firm, completed the acquisition of Polygon, a biomedical equipment company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“We have been impressed by Polygon’s track record of continuous growth and resiliency, and we see enormous potential in leveraging our experience to help Polygon maximise its performance. We are proud to partner with Armando Ardesi and his team and believe H.I.G. is the ideal partner to support the management team in the next phase of its growth,” Stefano Giambelli, HIG Capital Managing Director.
HIG Capital was advised by Mediobanca.
Public Power, an electric power company, agreed to acquire Romanian operations business from Enel, a manufacturer and distributor of electricity and gas, for $1.33bn.
“With the sale of all our activities in Romania, we continue to implement the disposal plan that was announced during the presentation of Enel’s 2023-2025 Strategic Plan. We are proud of the results achieved in Romania since we entered the country in 2005 and we recognize the hard work and dedication of our colleagues, who enabled us to become one of Romania’s main integrated energy operators. We are confident that a leading international player such as PPC will continue this success story," Francesco Starace, Enel Group CEO and General Manager.
M&G chief bats away merger speculation.
M&G’s chief executive said the business has what it takes to push ahead as a standalone company amid speculation of a takeover approach from Australian group Macquarie.
M&G is focused on organic growth of the business as he unveiled a new cost-cutting strategy to remove £200m ($236m) of expenses over the next couple of years, FT reported.
BlackRock lures European wealthy with new private equity funds. (FS)
BlackRock is starting two private equity funds targeting wealthy individuals in Europe, as the world’s largest asset manager seeks to tap rising appetite for alternatives among the rich.
The New York-based group expects to raise about €1bn ($1.1bn) or more for the new European Long-Term Investment Funds, said Edwin N. Conway, global head of BlackRock Alternatives. BlackRock previously raised about €1bn for two similar funds, Bloomberg reported.
Dubai money exchange firm Al Ansari to sell 10% stake in IPO.
The family owners of remittances and money exchange firm Al Ansari Financial Services plan to sell a 10% stake in its Dubai initial public offering, marking the emirate’s first listing this year.
Al Ansari will offer 750m shares in the listing. Al Ansari will take orders from retail investors from March 16 to March 23, and institutional investors until March 24. The listing is slated for on or around April 6, Bloomberg reported.
Darktrace hit by tax bill from IPO payouts.
Darktrace's IPO appears to be coming back to haunt them. The cyber security company had to cut its free cash flow guidance due to some unexpectedly higher tax obligations from the vesting of share awards from the listing. Meanwhile, the Chancellor mulls a tax relief on investment spending to boost economic growth.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is considering giving British firms extra tax relief on investment spending as he seeks measures to boost economic growth in his spring budget. Hunt is reviewing a series of potential changes to the UK’s capital-spending allowances to encourage business investment, Bloomberg reported.
APAC
Macquarie Group, an Australian global financial services group, agreed to invest $150m in Orro Group, a digital services provider.
”We were impressed with the quality of the platform, and we think the combination of networking, security and cloud is an exciting proposition and something we haven’t seen before,” Nick Dent, Macquarie Group Associate Director.
KKR, others in race for South Korean PE firm IMM's $1bn stake in AirFirst. (FS)
South Korean’s IMM Private Equity has drawn interest from funds including KKR, MBK Partners and Brookfield Asset Management for a minority stake in local industrial gas company AirFirst which it aims to sell for $1bn.
ADIA nears buying $500m stake in India’s Lenskart. (FS)
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is nearing a deal to acquire a stake in Indian eyewear startup Lenskart Solutions for about $500m, Bloomberg reported.
The Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund is finalizing an agreement to buy a mix of existing Lenskart shares and new equity. The deal, which would value Lenskart at more than $4bn.
Meituan’s billionaire Co-Founder joins China’s AI chatbot rush.
Billionaire Meituan Co-Founder Wang Xing is clambering aboard a global investment wave to create ChatGPT-like AI bots, Bloomberg reported.
Wang, who’s largely stayed out of the limelight in recent years, declared in a WeChat post he’ll join a Series A investment round for fellow Meituan co-founder Wang Huiwen’s AI startup. The billionaire becomes the latest Chinese tech executive to throw his weight behind the quest to top OpenAI’s creation, which has taken the global industry by storm since its November debut.
Byju’s is said to seek $250m in Aakash pre-IPO funding.
Byju’s, an edtech startup, is seeking to raise as much as $250m through the issuance of convertible notes by its tutoring service unit, Bloomberg reported.
Aakash Educational Services, the firm’s tutoring business provider, will issue the notes that will convert into equity at a discount of 20% to the listing price of the unit’s planned initial public offering. Some investors in Byju’s are expected to participate in the round.
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