The deal includes a production site in Bahrain with the capacity to produce 66k tonnes of processed cheese per year. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“We are pleased to welcome this successful business into the Arla family. We have an established and growing business in the Middle East and know our consumers and customers well in this part of the world. As such, this deal is an excellent strategic fit for us as it enables us to both expand our branded presence in the cheese category and secure the local production capacity we have been looking for to continue to grow our business.” Tim Ørting Jørgensen, Arla Foods’ International business Executive Vice President.
Parques Reunidos agreed with Tangoing to acquire the German indoor water park Tropical Islands for a total amount of €226m ($257m). This is the largest single-park acquisition in Parques Reunidos’ history. Tropical Islands is the world’s largest indoor water park and rainforest.
The acquisition will be financed with an additional tranche to the Group’s existing syndicated credit facilities with similar conditions to the existing financing. The transaction is expected to be earnings accretive from the year one.
Nomura and Rothschild advised on transaction.
Italy’s UniCredit shelves M&A plans for the next 3-4 years.
Bank’s CEO Jean Pierre Mustier was cited saying that he does not see any merger with another bank until late 2021. This comment puts to rest speculation about a potential tie-up between UniCredit and France's SocieteGenerale. CEO reaffirmed its commitment to building a pan_European commercial bank.
Motherson Sumi and Leoni discussing car wiring merger.
Motherson Sumi is in early-stage talks with German peer Leoni over a possible combination.
Motherson Sumi has been acquisitive in recent years, broadening its range of automotive interior products including rearview mirrors, wiring harnesses, and rubber and plastic components. Its revenue has been growing strongly and reached $10.5 billion in fiscal 2017/18.
Leoni shares dropped 60% this year on the back of stagnant growth and uncertainty over global trade tension. They are 18% up on the news of potential tie up. Leoni is in the midst of restructuring plan that is implemented by New CEO Aldo Kamper.
Salini of Italy and IHI of Japan have bid for Astaldi.
Italian construction group Salini Impregilo and Japan’s IHI Corporation have made non-binding bids for Astaldi's construction business.
Astaldi has filed for court protection in September, being unable to service its debts. Salini’s offer envisaged cooperation with state-lender CDP, Astaldi creditor banks and other Italian partners. IHI’s bid involves a capital increase of around €600m ($681m)
Chrysaor looks for the acquisition of Chevron's North Sea assets.
Private equity-backed oil firm Chrysaor has hired advisers ahead of bid for Chevron’s British North Sea oil and gas fields. Chrysaor has signed up investment banks Jefferies and BMO for the discussions as a deadline for bids approaches before Christmas.
Chevron said earlier this year it was selling its assets in the central North Sea, which are expected to fetch around $1.5bn.
Chrysaor and Chevron are also discussing the sale of part or all of the U.S. group’s 19.4% stake in the BP-operated Clair field, the largest oil field in the British North Sea, which was not initially up for grabs.
The German government keen on Deutsche Bank / Comerzbank merger.
The German government is intensifying efforts to help fix Deutsche Bank, with officials studying ways to make it easier to merge with Commerzbank.
The high-level discussions, which have included Finance Minister Olaf Scholz and Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing, took place. The main topic was the concrete ways the government can assist in a potential combination of country's two largest lenders. The talks included such proposals as law changes to make the steps less costly.
Trussardi close to securing investment from Quattro R. (FS)
The Italian fashion house is nearing a deal with Quattro R, a fund backed by Italy’s state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. The fund is rumored to take an 80% stake through a capital increase of at least €50m ($57m).
AMERICAS
Japan Post acquired an additional 7% stake in Aflac for $2.6bn.
Japan Post Holdings, is planning to invest about $2.6bn in Aflac, aiming to become the largest shareholder in the U.S. insurer. Japan Post, a conglomerate that spans postal delivery, banking, and insurance services, plans to initially acquire a 7 to 8 percent stake in Aflac for about 300bn yen ($2.6bn).
Under the deal, Japan Post can increase its stake to a maximum of 20% in four years.
The transaction, which is expected to be announced this month, will follow the agreement made in 2013 between Japan Post and Aflac which allows Aflac to sell its cancer insurance at Japan Post’s offices across Japan.
Rhone Capital sells Ranpak to One Madison Corporation for $1.1bn. (FS)
One Madison Corporation, a special purpose acquisition company, agreed with Rhône Capital to acquire Ranpak Corporation, the global leader in fiber-based, environmentally sustainable protective packaging solutions. This transaction will introduce Ranpak as a publicly listed company with an anticipated enterprise value of approximately $1,089m.
"We look forward to working closely with the One Madison team to combine their capital allocation expertise and deal-making acumen with our unique asset-light distribution model, track record of innovation, and industry-leading position to expand our customer base, product offering, and geographic reach.” Mark Borseth, Ranpak President and CEO.
One Maddison was advised by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Credit Suisse and Davis Polk & Wardwell. Rhone Capital and Ranpak were advised by Goldman Sachs and Sullivan & Cromwell.
BrightSpring Health Services and PharMerica will join together to become the leading provider of home and community-based health and pharmacy services for medically complex populations. The strategic combination creates a uniquely positioned diversified health care services company with comprehensive care capabilities across clinical, non-clinical and pharmacy services in multiple care settings.
“This transaction provides both significant strategic and day-to-day benefits for the client and patient bases and valued customers of both organizations. With BrightSpring’s daily presence in care settings and PharMerica’s national pharmacy footprint, the combined business will offer existing and new customers expanded access to comprehensive care and pharmacy services, including augmented and clinically focused programs to best serve patients and meet our customers’ needs,” PharMerica Greg Weishar, President and CEO.
Blackstone and KKR seek for the acquisition of Long Beach Terminal for near $1bn. (FS)
Cosco Shipping Holdings sale of a container terminal in Long Beach, California has drawn interest from potential buyers including Blackstone Group and KKR.
EQT Partners and an arm of Macquarie Group have also been studying a deal for the asset. The facility could be valued at $1bn or more, depending on the structure of a deal.
Suitors for the terminal were asked to submit their interest last week.
GE restructures its software unit.
General Electric plans to carve out its digital operations as a separate subsidiary and sell one of its software businesses. The shake-up of GE’s software operations includes an agreement to sell 90% of ServiceMax, which provides support systems for technicians, to Silver Lake.
GE is also setting up its other software businesses as a separate subsidiary, with its own equity structure and board of directors and a new name. The reorganization would make it easier to sell the business, which has annual revenues of about $1.2bn.
Larry Culp, who took over as CEO in October, said in a statement that as an independently operated company, the software business would be best positioned to advance the group’s strategy of focusing on its “core verticals”.
Victoria's Secret owner selling La Senza brand. (FS)
L Brands, holding company of Victoria Secret, said it would sell its luxury lingerie brand La Senza to Regent, a private equity firm culminating lengthy process to sell the loss-making business.
L Brands bought Canadian chain La Senza for about $700m in 2007. The business incurs c. $40m of losses p.a. as a result of stiff competition and changing consumer tastes.
FCC considers ending merger ban among broadcast networks.
The Federal Communications Commission opened a new review of U.S. media ownership rules and is considering whether to end the prohibition on mergers among the four largest broadcast networks.
The FCC said it could reverse the rule that bars a merger among the “Big Four” networks: NBC, owned by Comcast Corp, Walt Disney Co’s ABC, CBS Corp’s CBS or Fox, held by Twenty-First Century Fox.
The FCC noted in a report that broadcast networks are facing significant competition in content creation and cited the billions of dollars that Netflix, Amazon and Alphabet's YouTube are spending on original content.
Jagged Peak to consider bolt-on Permian acquisitions. (FS)
Jagged Peak Energy is considering expanding its footprint in the oil-rich Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
The oil and gas company, with a market value of $2.2bn, is working with an adviser to pursue bolt-on acquisitions. Jagged Peak has several potential targets in mind. Jagged Peak’s largest shareholder is the private equity firm Quantum Energy Partners, which started the company in 2013 with a $400m investment. It now owns 69% of Jagged Peak’s shares.
Cisco in talks to acquire optical chip vendor Luxtera.
Cisco Systems is in talks to acquire optical chip maker Luxtera, beating Intel and Broadcom to the punch for a deal that could reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Negotiations between networking behemoth Cisco and Luxtera are ongoing and private, and there's still a chance the deal may not go through.
Luxtera develops silicon photonics, which integrates fiber optics with silicon electronics. The "fiber to the chip" technology is said to speed data connectivity significantly. The company was founded in 2001. Its president and CEO Greg Young worked for both Broadcom and Intel before joining Luxtera in 2007.
Real Estate arm of Norges Bank is selling NY property. (FS)
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund and one of its partners, TH Real Estate, have agreed to sell a jointly owned property located at 470 Park Avenue South in New York, the real estate investment arm of Norway’s central bank said in a statement on Thursday.
“Norges Bank Real Estate Management will receive $122 million for its 49.9 percent ownership interest,” it added.
The buyer is a partnership of SJP Properties and PGIM Real Estate.
APAC
Liquidators of the collapsed private equity fund Abraaj Group are close to completing the transfer of its credit fund to another investment manager.
NBK Capital Partners, the private equity arm of Kuwait’s biggest bank, will make a nominal payment and could take over management of the Abraaj Global Credit Fund as soon as January.
Abraaj raised about $260m for the fund and had made three investments before it collapsed after allegations of misusing investor money. NBK Capital Partners plans to use the deal as a way to build relationships with new investors ahead of raising a new fund.
Line Corporation acquired cyber-security firm GrayHash.
South Korea-based messaging app Line‘s has acquired local cybersecurity and counter-hacking firm GrayHash as part of the company’s efforts to boost its online security. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Line said GrayHash will be renamed GrayLab, with GrayHash CEO and co-founder Seungjin Lee set to continue leading the company.
Line describes GrayHash as an online security research center that specializes in offensive research and counter-hacking techniques. GrayHash’s clients include those from IT, electronics, games, messenger services, and mobile fields. It is also working with government agencies on various research projects.
“With the acquisition, the Korea-based GrayHash has been tasked with developing and optimizing security solutions for LINE’s services, including messenger, FinTech, the blockchain, and the digital asset exchange,” Line said.
The Australian consumer watchdog warned an A$15bn ($11bn) merger between Vodafone 's Australia arm and TPG Telecom might hurt competition.
The regulator has not stopped the merger but raised concerns over pricing for end customers. A share price of both companies went tumbling, 19% and 21% respectively.
“A mobile market with three major players rather than four is likely to lead to higher prices and less innovative plans for mobile customers,” ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said in the statement. “if TPG remains separate from Vodafone, it appears likely to need to continue to adopt an aggressive pricing strategy.”
The regulator’s decision was surprising because TPG was not a significant competitor in the mobile market and Vodafone did not have any market share in broadband fixed-line services. TPG and Vodafone said in separate statements that they were working with regulators and remained confident the deal could succeed.
The ACCC said it would give a final decision on March 28, 2019.
Thai regulator dismissed Global Power Synergy to buy a stake in Glow Energy.
A Thai regulator on Thursday said it has dismissed Global Power Synergy Corporation’s appeal to buy Glow Energy’s stake from France’s Engie.
“There are two electricity producers in the industrial estate. A merger would leave only one operator, which would reduce competition with significant implications. As such, the rejection of the merger … is in accordance with the law,” Narupat Amornkosit, Energy Regulatory Commission.
Ball Corp, soda can maker to sell its Chinese operations.
Ball Corp plans to sell its manufacturing facilities in China to local ORG Technology for about $225m following an excess supply of beverage cans in the country.
The sale was supposedly unrelated to tariffs on aluminum or trade tensions between the United States and China. Ball’s Chinese cans are not exported abroad.
Goldman Sachs advised Ball.
Luckin Coffee raises $200m, hits $2.2bn valuation. (FS)
Beijing-based Luckin Coffee, the operator of a retail coffee chain in China, has raised $200m in a round led by Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC and China International Capital. Joy Capital and Centrium Capital also participated in the round, which values the company at $2.2 bn.
Luckin Coffee, which was founded just last year, reportedly raised a prior $200m in July at a valuation of $1bn. Touted as a competitor to Starbucks in China, the company has already expanded to more than 1,7k stores across 21 cities in the nation.
|
