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AMERICAS
Indigo Partners-backed Frontier Airlines agreed to merge with Spirit Airlines, an ultra-low-cost carrier, in a $6.6bn deal.
"We are thrilled to join forces with Frontier to further democratize air travel. This transaction is centered around creating an aggressive ultra-low fare competitor to serve our Guests even better, expand career opportunities for our Team Members and increase competitive pressure, resulting in more consumer-friendly fares for the flying public. We look forward to uniting our talented teams to shake up the airline industry while also continuing our commitment to excellent Guest service," Ted Christie, Spirit President and CEO.
Frontier is advised by Citigroup, Latham & Watkins and Joele Frank. Spirit is advised by Barclays, Morgan Stanley, Debevoise & Plimpton and Sard Verbinnen & Co. Indigo Partners is advised by Lambert & Co.
Press Ganey, a provider of healthcare performance improvement solutions, agreed to acquire Forsta, a provider of customer experience and market research software, from private equity firms EQT and Verdane. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“This alliance propels Press Ganey into a new future. Our unparalleled excellence in healthcare consulting, and proprietary data and analytics, will soon be infused with even more innovation and speed by Forsta’s world-class experience and research technology platform. I’m beyond thrilled to welcome Forsta to the Press Ganey family. This is a huge leap forward in helping our customers to do their jobs better every day," Patrick T. Ryan, Press Ganey Chairman and CEO.
Forsta is advised by Harvey & Heywood. Press Ganey is advised by McNeely Pigott & Fox Public Relations. EQT and Verdane are advised by Jefferies & Company and Sidley Austin.
An antitrust court in Austria approved with conditions Facebook's purchase of animated images platform Giphy, in a boost for the social media giant after a UK watchdog said the deal should be reversed, Reuters reported.
Those conditions included granting competitors access to Giphy's image library for five years and helping set up "an alternative provider of a GIF library" within seven years.
Giphy is advised by JP Morgan and Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian. Facebook is advised by Latham & Watkins.
Resideo Technologies, a home comfort and security solutions provider, agreed to acquire First Alert, a provider of home safety products, from Newell Brands, a manufacturer, marketer and distributor of consumer and commercial products for $547m.
"The addition of First Alert to the Resideo portfolio provides a highly complementary extension of our existing sensor solutions in the home. Not only does First Alert bring a leading brand and market position in home safety, but its products also occupy a highly strategic position on the ceiling. We see significant operational synergies with First Alert's strength in retail and relationships with leading homebuilders and Resideo's strong partnership with professional contractors and distributors. First Alert advances our strategy of expanding Resideo's presence with contractors and broadening our suite of sensors for the home," Jay Geldmacher, Resideo CEO.
Newell Brands is advised by JP Morgan and Jones Day.
Tailwater Capital and Ares Management-backed Cureton Midstream, a midstream company, completed the acquisition of Gilcrest System from Aka Energy Group, a natural gas midstream company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"This is an exciting opportunity to strategically enhance our operations and footprint in the core of the DJ Basin with the highly complementary Gilcrest System. With this acquisition, we are uniquely suited to serve a growing base of customers and to continue to provide the quality of service that has distinguished Cureton in a competitive market. The Aka team has been great to work with and developed reliable assets with a stellar operations team," Charlie Beecherl, Cureton Midstream President and CEO.
Cureton Midstream was advised by Kirkland and Ellis. Tailwater Capital was advised by Joele Frank.
Compass Diversified-backed Altor Solutions, a designer and manufacturer of custom protective packaging solutions, completed the acquisition of Foam Concepts, a provider of packaging and componentry solutions. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“We are excited for Foam Concepts to join forces with an industry leader like Altor. For over 25 years, we have taken great pride in providing high quality products for our customers and we look forward to continuing to deliver on our customer-driven approach benefiting from Altor’s resources and capabilities," Philip Michaelson and Mark Villamaino, Foam Concepts Co-Owners.
Compass Diversified was advised by Joele Frank and The IGB Group.
Fiserv, a provider of payments and financial services technology, agreed to acquire Finxact, a developer of the cloud-native banking solution, for $650m.
“Joining with Fiserv is a tremendous opportunity for Finxact. We recognize that Finxact’s technology can serve to level up the industry’s delivery infrastructure, and crucially at a time when banking is undergoing transformative changes. We will be better positioned to serve a far greater number of institutions, of all sizes, when combined with the breadth and depth of Fiserv capabilities," Frank Sanchez, Finxact Chairman and CEO.
Fiserv is advised by Sullivan & Cromwell.
ACON Investments-backed Diverzify, a commercial flooring installation and interior services provider, agreed to merge with Shaw Industries-backed flooring services providers Spectra Contract Flooring and ProSpectra Contract Flooring. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We are very excited to bring three of the industry leaders together to create an unrivaled selection of service capabilities and deliver greater customer satisfaction and value. Spectra and ProSpectra, with their market presence and strong reputation for progressive, customer-centric service values, are the only businesses capable of completing our vision for a combined market-leading business," Jordan Zmijewski, Diverzify CEO.
Macellum Capital seeks control of Kohl's board. (FS)
Macellum Capital, an activist investment firm, plans to nominate a slate of directors at Kohl's, an American department store retail chain. The company attempts to take control of the Kohl's board, Bloomberg reported.
"We will do everything in our power to prevent the current board from continuing to chill a normal-course sales process. Fortunately, the slate we plan to nominate in the coming days will be far more aligned, experienced and open minded when it comes to pursuing all paths to maximizing value," Jonathan Duskin, Macellum Managing Partner.
Nokia commits $400m to NGP Capital. (FS)
Nokia, a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics company, commited a $400m to NGP Capital's Fund V.
"A commitment to innovation is an integral part of Nokia's strategy. Sustainable technology leadership requires us to anticipate, shape, and invest in the next technology windows. Our relationship with NGP provides a powerful avenue to explore external opportunities that support the execution of Nokia's vision of the 5G era and beyond," Nishant Batra, Nokia Chief Strategy and Technology Officer.
ACME Capital closes over $300m in commitments for latest venture funds. (FS)
ACME Capital, a venture firm, has closed over $300m in capital commitments for Fund IV and its related Opportunity Fund.
Along with Fund IV, ACME has also deployed $155m in capital through LP co-investment vehicles over the past year. This brings ACME's aggregate capital commitments to $1.5bn.
EMEA
Innovid, a TV advertising delivery and measurement platform, agreed to acquire TVSquared, a measurement and attribution platform for converged TV, for $160m.
“By digitizing cross-platform TV advertising, we believe this combination will give advertisers, across the ecosystem, everything they need to transact at scale. Together, TVSquared and Innovid are at the center of TV’s transformation, meeting the market’s needs for a converged TV measurement alternative," Jo Kinsella, TVSquared President.
Innovid is advised by Crenshaw Communications
Sycamore Partners-backed Pure Fishing, a fishing tackle company, completed the acquisition of Svendsen Sport, a supplier of fishing tackle in Europe, from Maj Equity, a private equity firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“We are proud to add Svendsen Sport, its portfolio of exciting growth brands and its talented people to our team at Pure Fishing. The sport of fishing continues to see strong growth around the world and the acquisition of a company with a proven track record of innovation and brand-building gives us complementary capabilities to position our business for continued success as a global leader in fishing," Harlan Kent, Pure Fishing CEO.
Sycamore Partners was advised by Joele Frank.
Eurazeo, an investment group, and Public Sector Pension Investment Board, a pension investment manager, formed a joint venture.
"Since establishing our real estate division in 2015, Eurazeo has invested almost €900m($1bn) of equity from its balance sheet in real estate opportunities targeting properties and companies with underlying real estate assets across Europe. Exits to date have delivered strong performance and, with our proven track record, we are now looking to invite like-minded third-party partners to invest alongside us in a pan-European opportunistic real estate investment program. We are thrilled to welcome PSP Investments as our first partner in a dedicated hospitality partnership, as part of this program," Renaud Haberkorn, Eurazeo Managing Partner.
PSP Investments was advised by Maitland.
Bumble agreed to acquire Fruitz, a dating app. Financial terms are not disclosed.
"Fruitz is a brand and leadership team that I've been following for years. Julian, Fabrice, and Arnaud are dynamic and brilliant leaders who have built a unique product that has struck a powerful chord with consumers in France and across Europe. By plugging Fruitz into our technology and data science platform, community support, brand and growth marketing, we can accelerate Fruitz's growth," Whitney Wolfe Herd, Bumble Founder and CEO.
Reckitt Benckiser weighs an $8.8bn sale of its baby formula unit.
Reckitt Benckiser, a British multinational consumer goods company, plans to sell its infant nutrition unit, which could be valued at $8.8bn.
The company is reviewing the business globally and has been informally gauging buyer interest in the operations, Bloomberg reported.
3G Capital founders own a $1bn stake in On Holding. (FS)
Two families behind 3G Capital, an investment firm, are major shareholders in an $8.8bn On Holding, a shoemaker owned by Roger Federer, Bloomberg reported.
Marc Lemann, son of 3G Capital founder Jorge Paulo Lemann, and Carlos Alberto Sicupira, a co-creater of 3G Capital, now hold a $1bn combined stake in On Holding.
AkademikerPension ditches Wizz Air over labour rights. (FS)
AkademikerPension, a Danish pension fund, is selling its stake in Wizz Air, a Hungarian ultra-low-cost carrier. The sale comes due to the alleged human and labour rights abuses towards its workers.
The company began to divest its holding, worth more than $3m, after the management meeting, in which they saw no changes in the practice of Wizz Air. The fund said it had sold the shares it directly held in Wizz Air on February 1, and had given its external fund managers until February 8 to do the same.
Advent International and Leonard Green eye acquiring retailer THG. (FS)
THG, known as The Hut Group, a British e-commerce company, is being circled by private equity firms Advent International and Leonard Green for a potential buyout.
Shares leapt 16% following speculation about private equity interest in a Betaville blog post. Compared to its price a year ago, shares in THG have taken a hit of almost 81%.
ADQ-backed Abu Dhabi Ports raises $1.1bn in share sale. (FS)
ADQ-backed Abu Dhabi Ports Group, a premier facilitator of logistics, transport and trade, raised $1.1bn from a share sale. The company also plans to list on the emirate's stock market.
The company offered 1.25bn shares at $0.87 each, Bloomberg reported. ADQ remains majority shareholder with a 75.44% stake in the listed entity. The proceeds will be used to finance growth, allowing Abu Dhabi Ports to accelerate local and international expansion plans.
CIP launches green debt fund seeking to raise $1.1bn. (FS)
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, an investment firm specializing in infrastructure investments, particularly wind power, is launching its first debt fund targeting to raise $1.1bn.
CI Green Credit Fund I will provide private project finance debt with subordinated risk characteristics to renewable projects focusing on solar photovoltaic, offshore wind, biomass, onshore wind, storage and transmission assets.
APAC
Carrier, a provider of building and cold chain solutions, agreed to acquire a majority stake in Toshiba Carrier, a provider of air conditioning solutions, from Toshiba, a Japanese multinational conglomerate. Financial terms are not disclosed.
"Carrier sees significant growth potential in the global VRF, light commercial and heat pump segments and is excited by the opportunity to expand our business through this strategic acquisition. TCC's proven R&D expertise, strong global brand and talented employees will be tremendous additions to Carrier's multi-brand channel strategy. We look forward to offering complementary, high-performance and sustainable solutions to our customers that will help them achieve their environmental goals," Dave Gitlin, Carrier Chairman and CEO.
Singapore bets on niche SPAC listings.
The Singapore Exchange is looking to establish itself as the hub for SPAC, relying on regulatory reform, support from state-owned enterprises, and a digital boom in its backyard, Reuters reported.
SGX will be tested when SPACs seal merger targets within two years, a "de-SPACing" process already weighing on US deals as 100s of SPACS chase targets.
Trifecta raises $200m for maiden equity fund. (FS)
Trifecta Capital, an alternate financing platform for startups, raised $200m for Trifecta Leader Fund-I, a maiden equity fund.
The fund was launched in May 2021 and announced its first close in July 2021. Trifecta Capital added a $50m to the fund.
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