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AMERICAS
Heritage Bancorp, the parent company of Heritage Bank, agreed to merge into Third Coast Bancshares, a leading relationship-oriented bank and would operate under the Third Coast name. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Post transactions, the combined assets would evaluate to $1.1bn with 12 branches and one loan production office.
“We are thrilled to announce this merger of equals with Heritage. This transaction supplements the organic growth of our Houston footprint and compliments our Texas branch network with a high-quality bank operating in attractive Texas markets. The combined bank will have a presence in three of the four major Texas metropolitan areas and pro forma total assets over $1.1bn. We believe that this is going to be an outstanding combination for our customers, employees and shareholders.” Bart Caraway, Third Coast Chairman, and CEO.
Hillworth Bank Partners and Larry E. Temple are advising Heritage. Stephens and Norton Rose Fulbright are advising Third Coast.
Viper Energy Partners, a limited partnership formed by Diamondback to own, acquire and exploit oil and natural gas properties in North America, agreed to acquire certain mineral and royalty interests from Santa Elena Minerals for $150m.
“Viper’s announced acquisition of primarily Diamondback-operated properties, which will be immediately accretive upon closing, further distinguishes Viper’s business model in the minerals market due to the clear visibility into future development of this acreage. This acquisition is another step in Viper’s strategy to continue to consolidate the fragmented private minerals market in the Permian Basin, both through our normal ground game of smaller deals, as well as larger acquisitions such as this deal announced today. Viper continues to use its size, scale and expertise to accumulate Tier 1 acreage, and we believe there remain significant opportunities ahead for us to continue this consolidation, which will supplement the robust production growth of our existing asset base.” Travis Stice, Chief Executive Officer of Viper’s general partner.
Credit Suisse is advising Viper Energy. Tudor Pickering Holt is advising Santa Elena.
SoftBank led a $250m funding round for QuintoAndar, a Sao Paulo-based real estate leasing platform that is changing the long-term rental marketplace in Brazil.
“QuintoAndar makes it easier for people to quickly find homes and for landlords to better manage their properties,” said Marcelo Claure, CEO of SoftBank Group International, in a prepared statement. “The company is at the center of a global transformation of the real estate industry.”
Morrison & Foerster advised SoftBank.
Spotify, the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service, acquired SoundBetter, a leading global audio production and collaboration marketplace, helping creators worldwide connect and hire top audio professionals. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“As we build out our tools for creators, we want to give them the resources they need to thrive. SoundBetter has the same vision,” said Beckwith Kloss, VP Product, Creator at Spotify. “We're excited that creators can generate income through SoundBetter, as well as benefit from its network of top professionals - from instrumentalists to songwriters to producers - as they perfect their tracks.”
Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom advised Spotify.
A group of investors including Telstra Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, NTT DOCOMO Ventures, BMW iVentures, and ABN AMRO Digital Impact Fund invested $100m in Trifacta, a leading data service software provider.
The funding round also includes additional investment from existing investors including Accel Partners, Cathay Innovation, Google, Greylock Partners, Ignition Partners, and Infosys. The new capital will fuel adoption of Trifacta’s industry-leading data wrangling platform, which provides a modern, self-service approach to cleaning and preparing data. The investment will also accelerate the company’s continued expansion into new geographies, new verticals, and product areas.
"We believe that Trifacta’s data prep solution will be key to accelerating the feedback loop between the hordes of data produced every day and the types of insights and actions taken by large organizations,” Marcus Behrendt, BMW iVentures Partner.
Create Restaurants Holdings, a leading operator of restaurant chains, acquires IL Fornaio, an operator of Italian restaurants in the US, from IFCB Holding for $74m.
This acquisition would enable Create Restaurants to increase its footprint in the restaurant chain business in North America.
Pason Power, a provider of intelligent software for the energy storage market, agreed to merge businesses with Energy Toolbase, an industry-leading software platform that specializes in modeling and proposing the economics of solar and energy storage projects. Financial terms were not disclosed.
These two software and technology leaders will join forces to provide a cohesive suite of project estimating, storage control, and asset monitoring products, enabling solar and energy storage developers to more efficiently develop and deploy projects. The newly combined entity will retain the Energy Toolbase and Pason Power brand names.
“We’re thrilled to be joining forces with the Pason team. We’re both customer-centric organizations that have a shared vision for the future,” said Energy Toolbase Founder and CEO, John Gurski. “Most importantly, we believe that this deal is great news for our customers. We’ll be able to offer them a wider suite of products that empowers them to close energy storage deals with confidence.”
Access Industries, a leading real estate investor, acquires JEA Senior Living, a leading manager of senior housing. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The transaction follows Access Industries’ purchase of 10 senior living communities from JEA and its affiliates in March 2019 in Washington, Oregon, Texas, Tennessee and Indiana.
“JEA has always strived to set the standard for quality memory care, and this partnership with Access Industries will equip us to better care for our current residents while laying the groundwork for expansion,” Cody Erwin, JEA CEO.
Universal Technology Corporation, a leading provider of technical services to space and defense industry, merges with Advanced Core Concepts, a leading provider of aviation lifecycle management services. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“We look forward to working with Joe Sciabica and his exceptional team. The combined company is uniquely positioned to provide full lifecycle support to serve the increasingly complex missions of our customers, as well as provide enhanced training, resources, and career opportunities for our employees.” Trase Travers, ACC CEO.
CarVal Investors' senior management team bought control of CarVal Investors, a leading investment fund firm, from Cargill, a leading agricultural producer. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“Cargill is pleased to sell our interest in CarVal to the senior team that has successfully managed the firm for the past three years,” said Jay Olson, corporate vice president and treasurer of Cargill and chair of the CarVal Board of Directors. “We reached this decision through a collaborative process and are confident that CarVal will thrive as an employee-owned business.”
WeWork considers a dramatic valuation cut in the upcoming IPO.
Reuters reported that WeWork owner The We Company may seek a valuation in its upcoming IPO of between $10bn and $12bn, a dramatic discount to the $47bn valuation it achieved in January.
Were the We Company to press on with the IPO at such a low valuation, it would represent a major turning point in the venture capital industry’s growth over the last decade, which has led to the rise of startups such as Uber Technologies, Snap and Airbnb.
SoftBank deals face troubles in the US.
DealStreet Asia reported that public investors and California lawmakers separately turned down the lights on some of SoftBank's top deals.
First, SoftBank urged WeWork to shelve an IPO after investors recoiled. If WeWork acquiesces, the move will staunch an important source of capital to one of SoftBank’s biggest bets.
Moreover, the California Legislature passed a labor bill that could force gig economy companies to incur substantial new employment costs and dramatically reshape their business models. SoftBank has major investments in the gig economy after it led a $535m round in DoorDash and injected $300m into Wag last year.
EMEA
London Stock Exchange Group rejected the $39.5bn takeover proposal by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, its Asian rival, stating fundamental flaws in the bid. In the rejection letter to HKEX, LSEG stated that the deal value falls substantially short of an appropriate valuation for the takeover, especially compared to the deal value of LSEG's acquisition of Refinitiv.
The Hong Kong company is looking to sweeten the terms of its bid and is open to considering a higher element of cash in its offer, which was made up largely of HKEX shares.
Barclays, RBC Capital Markets, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Robey Warshaw, and Teneo are advising LSEG. Moelis & Co and Headland Consultancy are advising HKEX.
Public Citizen and the American Federation of Teachers are amongst the dozen other advocacy groups and unions who have reached out to Federal Trade Commission to have a close look at the $63bn AbbVie-Allergan deal regarding the 'anticompetitive' history.
The deal would create the fourth-largest pharmaceutical company with strong markets for many drugs at a time when rising prices of many medicines have become a hot political issue.
JP Morgan, Arthur Cox, Slaughter & May, Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, and Sard Verbinnen are advising Allergan. Morgan Stanley, Kirkland & Ellis, McCann FitzGerald, and Davis Polk & Wardwell are advising AbbVie.
Advent International is poised to win the $4.8bn takeover bid for Cobham, a leading aerospace group, as more than 75% of Cobham investors vote for the deal with reluctance since there were no suitable bidders against the offer of Advent.
Earlier this month, the family of the founder of Cobham had taken its fight to block the takeover. Nadine Cobham, the daughter-in-law of the founder Alan Cobham, has written to the top 15 investors arguing the offer “significantly undervalues the turnround of a recapitalized business.”
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan, Rothschild & Co, Allen & Overy, MHP Communications are advising Cobham. GSO Capital Partners, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Linklaters, Weil Gotshal and Manges, White & Case and Finsbury are advising Advent International.
Barrick Gold, a leading Canadian miner, has won the approval from a British court for its $1.2bn takeover of Acacia Mining, an African gold miner.
The approval comes after London-listed Acacia agreed in July to a sweetened offer from its parent Barrick, a deal that raised expectations that Acacia’s long-running tax dispute with the Tanzanian government would finally come to an end.
JP Morgan, RBC Capital Markets, Lazard, RBC Capital Markets, Shearman & Sterling, and Camarco are advising Acacia. Rothschild & Co and Norton Rose Fulbright are advising Barrick.
Private equity fund Qualium invested in Magnolia Web Assurances, an online insurance brokerage company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We were seduced by the admirable management of Magnolia, its record track, its entrepreneurial approach and its visionary spirit. The management team led by Gérald Loobuyck has remarkably developed Magnolia these last years. We are happy to join forces to accelerate the development of the group." Jean Eichenlaub, President of Qualium Investissement.
Cambon Partners and Linklaters advised Magnolia Web Assurances. Ares & Company, Magellan Consulting, PwC and Mayer Brown advised Qualium.
OVO Energy, UK's leading independent energy supplier, agreed to acquire the UK household energy supply business of SSE, a supplier of household utility, for $621m. The acquisition will allow OVO to bring its market-leading energy technology, excellent customer experience, and great value to millions of more customers.
"SSE and OVO are a great fit. They share our values on sustainability and serving customers. They’ve built an excellent team that I’m really looking forward to working with.” Stephen Fitzpatrick, OVO CEO, and Founder.
Barclays and Greentech Capital Advisors are advising Ovo Energy.
RSK Group, a UK environmental, engineering and technical services consultancy, acquired Ecologia Environmental Solutions, an innovative solutions provider for the investigation, assessment and remediation of contaminated land. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Ecologia has previously supported RSK on a range of projects, most recently in Africa and the Dominican Republic. Joining forces will enable RSK to strengthen its internal site remediation resources and equipment, grow its remediation capability and expand into new markets.
“It is a fantastic company that will complement RSK’s existing businesses, such as RemedX. Ecologia’s spill response work and experience in the insurance market will also complement RSK Response and RSK Raw." Alan Ryder, RSK CEO.
Deutsche Beteiligungs, the oldest private equity company in Germany, invested in STG Braunsberg Group, a service provider for the telecommunications sector with a focus on the construction of fiber-optic networks. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“With this transaction, our sector-focused investment strategy once again proves to be effective. Thanks to the sector expertise we have gained since 2013 with investments in the telecommunications sector, we know the growth drivers of the broadband market in general – and of STG’s business in particular – especially well.” Torsten Grede, Spokesman of DBAG’s Board of Management.
Reuters reported that the consortium led by CSA Energie-Infrastruktur Schweiz got 89.22% of shares in Swiss utility Alpiq in its tender offer, which was announced in May 2019. That is unchanged from preliminary results released on Tuesday and just short of the 90% threshold needed to squeeze out minority shareholders.
Activist investor Knight Vinke said last month it wants Alpiq to stop its delisting and the squeezeout of minority shareholders.
EQT's IPO range to come $2.2bn over expectations. (FS)
EQT, a leading European buyout firm set the price of its share in a listing that values the company at $6.1bn-$6.65bn, which is $2.2bn more than the expected valuation.
EQT has disclosed its share price range between $6.5 - $7. The Swedish firm has $44.3bn in assets under management across 19 funds is expected to start trading on the Stockholm Stock Exchange on 24th of September.
“The IPO is a natural step in our development path and gives us the opportunity to continue growing and investing in the EQT platform while maintaining our relentless focus on performance,” Christian Sinding, EQT CEO.
Kone open to co-shareholding in Thyssenkrupp’s elevator business.
Finland’s Kone is open to a co-shareholding structure in a potential deal to merge with Thyssenkrupp’s elevator division, Reuters reported.
Kone could bid for Thyssenkrupp’s elevator division - which the ailing conglomerate has put up for sale - through a mix of cash and shares, which might give Thyssenkrupp a minority stake in the merged entity.
“Clearly, we would welcome Thyssenkrupp as an owner in this new entity and that way share the long-term benefits with us,” Henrik Ehrnrooth, Kone CEO.
Ingka Group to acquire 80% stake in Romanian wind farms.
Ingka Group, the owner and operator of most of the IKEA stores, in advanced talks to acquire an 80% stake in seven Romanian wind farms from Vestas, a leading wind turbine maker, for $151m.
“The 80% stake supports our target to generate as much renewable energy as we consume and the investment brings us one step closer to reaching our 2020 goal,” Krister Mattsson, Ingka Investments head.
Dutch government explores strategic options including a sale for TenneT.
Reuters reported that the Dutch government is exploring options to fund the investment German-Dutch grid company TenneT's needs, including a partial or full sale of the business.
In a letter to parliament, the government said TenneT needs $5.3bn in fresh capital to fund a $38.8bn investment program through 2028.
Its options include selling part or the whole business to private investors, bringing in the German government as a stakeholder, or the Dutch government injecting the money itself.
Greece looking to sell Hellenic Petroleum.
Greece’s privatization agency is considering selling a stake in the country’s biggest oil refiner Hellenic Petroleum. The agency has reviewed the possibility of selling a stake in Hellenic Petroleum via the Athens Stock Exchange but has not decided the exact stake out of its 35% to be sold, according to a Reuters report.
A previous effort by Greece to sell a 50.1% in Hellenic jointly with Paneuropean stalled in April as no binding bids were submitted.
APAC
TPG Capital with Hong Leong, which provides commercial banking and related financial services, agreed to buy 17 Columbia Asia Hospitals in South East Asia for $1.2bn. The buyers will each own 50% of the acquired assets.
Hong Leong and TPG will acquire 17 Columbia Asia Hospitals and one clinic located in Malaysia (12 hospitals), Indonesia (3 hospitals) and Vietnam (2 hospitals and 1 clinic).
“As Asia’s healthcare market continues to grow significantly, we see a compelling opportunity for Columbia Asia Hospitals to expand and scale regionally. Columbia Asia Hospitals provide accessible, affordable, and high-quality care in several countries, operating under one cohesive, recognizable brand. We are excited by the Group's modern and innovative approach and look forward to working closely with Hong Leong and the hospital's management team to continue to grow Columbia Asia Hospitals' footprint across South East Asia.” Tunku Ali Redhauddin, TPG Senior Advisor.
Morgan Stanley is advising Columbia Pacific Management.
Hammer Capital and Tencent Holdings, two leading private equity firms, agreed to acquire Bitauto Holdings, a leading provider of internet content & marketing services, and Yixin Group, a subsidiary of Bitauto which is a leading online automobile finance transaction platform in China, for $1.2bn in cash.
The buyout offer is the latest sign of the Chinese tech giant's determination to plough ahead with further expansion at a time when the Chinese economy is slowing and it is rich with the profits of a decade-long economic boom.
Latham & Watkins is advising Bitauto. Kirkland & Ellis is advising Hammer Capital
Endeavour Drinks, a leading beverage retailer, acquires leading McLaren Vale winery Chapel Hill. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Chapel Hill will become part of the newly formed, Paragon Wine Estates, which will also house Endeavour Drinks’ existing portfolio of premium and regional wine brands.
“Over the past five years, we have enjoyed a very close and successful working relationship with Endeavour Drinks. The team at Chapel Hill now enthusiastically look forward to working with the Endeavour team to continue to enhance the wonderful reputation and pedigree that Chapel Hill has garnered since it was established in 1971.” Michael Fragos, Chapel Hill Chief Winemaker and CEO.
Syndicate Bank stated that its Board of Directors had approved the amalgamation of Syndicate Bank into Canara Bank to form the fourth largest bank in India with combined assets worth $21.4bn and 10.3k branches.
CPPIB and Astra Infra to bid for Malaysian toll road. (FS)
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Astra Infra, a business management consultant in Central Jakarta, partnered to make a bid for PT Lintas Marga Sedaya, the concession holder of a 117km (73 miles) toll road connecting Jakarta to Cirebon in the western part of the Java island. The asset, currently owned by Khazanah Nasional, is valued at approximately $500m.
Inpex looking to expand in Australia.
Reuters reported that Inpex, Japan’s top oil and gas company, is looking to expand in Australia at its Ichthys LNG plant and through potential acquisitions. Inpex completed construction last year on its first LNG project, the $45bn Ichthys LNG project in Darwin at the north end of Australia, and shipped its first LNG cargo last October.
“In Australia our focus is on fully utilizing our Ichthys LNG facilities while creating a solid base for future expansion,” Inpex’s president director for Australia, Hitoshi Okawa said.
India looks to sell Bharat Petroleum.
India is considering a plan to sell Bharat Petroleum, an oil and gas company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, and the nation’s second-largest state refiner and fuel retailer. The government currently holds a 53.3% stake in the firm.
Full Truck Alliance considers an IPO.
SoftBank and Tencent-backed Full Truck Alliance, China's biggest application for Uber and Didi-like truck services, is considering a stock listing, after breaking even from May, defying a sector-wide downturn.
The company's improved financial performance dovetailed with its decision not to follow through on a plan to raise as much as $1bn in a private round, Chief Financial Officer Richard Zhang said.
AllHome launched a $348m IPO.
AllHome, a home improvement retailer, launched a $348m IPO, as Southeast Asian market activity gradually picks up from last year’s depressed levels. The company will use the funds to cut debt and open more stores. The books opened on Friday and will close on Sept. 25.
UBS, CLSA, Credit Suisse, China Bank Capital and PNB Capital are working on the IPO.
Tiger Global and Lightspeed lead a $67m funding in OkCredit. (FS)
Tiger Global and Lightspeed Capital led a $67m funding in Series B round of OkCredit, a Bangalore-based startup that enables small merchants to digitize their bookkeeping.
Harsha Kumar, Partner at Lightspeed India, said: “Lightspeed has been investing in the SME segment in India for years now and we deeply appreciate how complex user acquisition is for this segment. OkCredit represents a rare breed of companies that are discovering digital and viral growth in a market where traditionally, feet-on-street was the only acquisition strategy.”
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