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AMERICAS
To win takeover approval, Rogers Communications, a telecom provider, presented documents to a tribunal that show Canada's second-largest telecom company Telus attempted to sabotage Rogers' $15.5bn deal to buy Shaw Communications, a Canadian telecommunications company.
Challenging Canadian regulators' rejection of the deal on antitrust grounds, Rogers may seek to argue that Telus wanted to kill the acquisition because it would increase cellphone competition, benefiting Canadians. The hearing at the competition tribunal will determine whether the Rogers-Shaw merger will lessen competition in Canada's telecom sector.
Canada's antitrust authority has blocked Rogers' planned deal to buy Shaw because it will lessen competition in Canada, where wireless rates are among the highest in the world. The competition tribunal hearing is set to continue for four weeks, Reuters reported.
Rogers is advised by Bank of America, Barclays, Cravath Swaine & Moore, Goodmans and Torys (led by Richard Willoughby). Financial advisors are advised by Davis Polk & Wardwell, Latham & Watkins and McCarthy Tetrault (led by Richard Higa). Shaw is advised by CIBC World Markets, TD Securities, Burnet Duckworth & Palmer, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg (led by Vincent A. Mercier and Brett Seifred), Dentons (led by William Jenkins and Bill Gilliland) and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz (led by Adam Emmerich and Mark Stagliano). Financial advisors are advised by Osler Hoskin & Harcourt.
Activist investor Ancora Holdings Group said Ritchie Bros' $7.3bn buyout deal for US-based vehicle marketplace IAA was a "poorly structured sweetheart deal," and it will push for better terms.
Ancora said the cash-and-stock deal, which includes about $1bn of debt, "puts leadership's interests ahead of shareholders' best interests," in a letter to IAA's board. The deal, which Ritchie Bros announced last week, was in the making for many years but gained Momentum earlier this year after Ancora pushed IAA to replace its Chief Executive John Kett or sell itself, Reuters reported.
However, the investor, one of IAA's largest shareholders with about 4% stake, is now questioning the sales process and the absence of a go-shop period wherein the IAA board can seek other offers.
IAA is advised by JP Morgan, Blake Cassels & Graydon, Cooley and ICR (led by Farah Soi). JP Morgan is advised by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (led by Caroline Gottschalk and Jakob Rendtorff). Ritchie Bros is advised by Evercore, Goldman Sachs, Guggenheim Partners, RBC Capital Markets, Goodwin Procter (led by Stuart Cable, Lisa Haddad, Jean Lee and Mark Opper), McCarthy Tetrault, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom (led by Gregg Noel) and Joele Frank (led by Daniel Katcher and Joele Frank).
Insight Partners-backed CommerceHub, a commerce network connecting supply, demand, and delivery, completed the acquisition of ChannelAdvisor, a provider of cloud-based e-commerce solutions, for $664m. Investors that participated in this transaction include GTCR, Sycamore Partners, and Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
"CommerceHub and ChannelAdvisor have both established themselves as leading solutions for different segments of online retailers and brands. By coming together, we can provide an even broader network, enabling our combined customers to grow their businesses by discovering new products, new brands, and new channels," Bryan Dove, CommerceHub CEO.
ChannelAdvisor was advised by Robert W Baird and Cooley. CommerceHub was advised by District Capital Partners, Stifel, Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison (led by David Tarr) and Willkie Farr & Gallagher (led by Matthew Guercio and Erin Kinney). Debt financing was provided by Golub Capital and Sixth Street Partners. Debt providers are advised by Latham & Watkins. GTCR and Sycamore Partners were advised by Kirkland & Ellis. Goldman Sachs Asset Management was advised by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (led by Katherine Krause).
BlackRock, an American multi-national investment company, agreed to acquire Jupiter Power, an energy infrastructure company focused on the development, ownership, and optimization of energy storage resources, from EnCap Investments, a provider of growth capital to independent energy companies. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Jupiter has focused on proprietary data-driven approaches to large scale, stand-alone energy storage projects designed to meet the growing need for grid support and renewables integration driven by the energy transition.
BlackRock is advised by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. EnCap Investments is advised by Lazard, White & Case, Prosek Partners (led by Philip Walters) and Redbird Communications (led by Meredith Howard).
Kelso & Company-backed Emtec, a contractor in the building service sector, completed the acquisition of a majority stake in DEFINITION 6, a customer experience agency. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“We have identified ideal partners in Kelso and Emtec, and we look forward to combining our complementary skillsets with Emtec to provide new and innovative solutions to our current and future customers. The expanded resources of the broader organization will help us accelerate our growth trajectory and drive continued professional development opportunities for our employees. We are pleased to partner with an organization like Emtec which shares a similar culture and passion for delivering exemplary customer and employee experiences,” Jeff Katz, D6 CEO.
DEFINITION 6 was advised by Madison Alley Global Ventures and DLA Piper. Kelso & Company was advised by Canaccord Genuity, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and Profile Advisors (led by Rich Myers).
TAG Companies, an asset management firm, went public via a SPAC merger with AGBA Acquisition, a blank cheque company, in a $555m.
"A successful SPAC needs to be thoughtful about all phases of the SPAC life-cycle, from target search, diligence, post combination value-add through to public market stakeholder management. Our mission at AGBA is to partner with fundamentally attractive enterprises as they journey into the US public markets and create sustainable value for shareholders. We are extremely honored to become associated with OnePlatform Holdings Limited and TAG Asia Capital Holdings Limited, companies with an accomplished management team, as they develop innovative financial products and services to address customers' evolving needs. We look forward to working together to complete the business combination," Gordon Lee, AGBA CEO.
AGBA was advised by Loeb & Loeb. TAG Companies was advised by Dechert.
Altus Power, an independent developer, owner, and operator of commercial-scale solar facilities, completed the acquisition of 88MW operating solar assets, from D. E. Shaw Renewable Investments, a capital market company, for $220m.
"We are excited to bring these new long-term customer relationships and operating assets to our portfolio of C&I solar and storage assets. We welcome the opportunity to serve customers in new markets, including Pennsylvania, Indiana, Arizona, and Nevada, as well as to grow our footprint in existing markets. Altus Power will continue to focus on expanding our customer base as well as profitably increasing the size of our portfolio of commercial-scale assets by leveraging our specific expertise of executing both development and operating opportunities," Gregg Felton, Altus Power Co-CEO.
Altus Power was advised by ICR (led by Cory Ziskind). D. E. Shaw Renewable Investments was advised by King & Spalding (led by Jonathan Melmed).
Wellington Management, an investment management company, led a $115m Series B funding round in MBX Biosciences, a developer of pre-clinical biotechnology drugs, with participation from RA Capital Management, Norwest Venture Partners, Frazier Life Sciences, New Enterprise Associates and OrbiMed.
"MBX has grown tremendously as a company since closing our Series A two years ago, including bringing our lead program MBX 2109 into the clinic, achieving proof of mechanism, and now starting the multiple ascending dose portion of our Phase 1 trial. With the support of these leading healthcare investors, we look forward to further advancing our Precision Endocrine Peptides as part of our goal to improve outcomes and quality of life for patients with endocrine disorders," Kent Hawryluk, MBX Biosciences President and CEO.
MBX Biosciences was advised by Evoke Canale (led by Ian Stone) and Westwicke (led by Robert Uhl).
Alpha Dhabi Holding, a firm engaged in the provision of construction services, completed the acquisition of a 25% stake in Gordon Technologies, a manufacturer of measurement-while-drilling technology products. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We have experienced significant growth and have a strong track record of delivering outstanding services across the United States, and we look forward to working with Alpha Dhabi to catalyze our growth further and expand internationally into the Middle East market. We believe this represents a great opportunity to generate further value as we grow and provide our proprietary technology services to what is one of the core oil and gas markets globally," Terry Frith, Gordon Founder & CEO.
Gordon Technologies was advised by FMI Capital Advisors and Reed Smith.
CitiusTech, a healthcare technology and consulting services provider, completed the acquisition of Wilco Source, a provider of Salesforce consulting and implementation services for healthcare and life sciences companies. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Evolving healthcare models highlight the need for exceptional patient and member experience and care at every step of their journey, driven by meaningful and actionable insights. Wilco Source will strengthen CitiusTech's offerings in these areas and will give our clients a unified approach to building patient-centric operating models, enabling them to accelerate digital innovation. We are thrilled to welcome Wilco Source to the CitiusTech family," Bhaskar Sambasivan, CitiusTech CEO.
CitiusTech was advised by Archetype Agency. CitiusTech and Wilco Source were advised by J. Sagar Associates.
Opn, an one-stop payments solutions company, completed the acquisition of MerchantE, an end-to-end payments and commerce platform, from Integrum, an investment firm focused on partnering with technology-enabled services companies. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"While we continue to see tremendous opportunity to continue building and growing the MerchantE platform, we and our management team partners believe that joining with Opn presents a compelling opportunity to accelerate the Company's growth and realize unique synergies. Given current market conditions and having made substantial progress against our value creation plan, we determined that this is the right time to exit our investment in MerchantE," Ursula Burns and Tagar Olson, Integrum co-founders.
One Equity Partners-backed Momentum Manufacturing Group, a North American metal manufacturing services provider, completed the acquisition of Evans Industries, a producer of mission-critical components for the semiconductor and medical end markets, and Little Enterprises, a precision machining services provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We are proud to have supported MMG in the transformative acquisitions of Evans and Little, which were completed in the first year of our investment. The acquisitions expand Momentum's capabilities, increase the company's exposure to mission-critical end markets, and add nearly 160 skilled team members," Charlie Cole, One Equity Partners Principal.
One Equity Partners was advised by Stanton PRM.
Electricity Generating Public Company, an electric utility holding company, agreed to acquire a 49% stake in Rhode Island State Energy Center, a 609MW natural gas-fired combined-cycle power plant in Johnston, Rhode Island. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"This acquisition further builds upon EGCO Group's presence in the US power market. RISEC is located adjacent to the load centers of Boston and Providence and is a critical facility for providing ISO New England grid stability services and optionality for future energy transition initiatives, including the potential for co-located Battery Energy Storage and the co-firing of hydrogen in its combustion turbine units. This is aligned with EGCO Group's "Cleaner, Smarter and Stronger to Drive Sustainable Growth" business direction, which targets carbon neutral by 2050. EGCO Group anticipates there are a number of business synergies that will come from the RISEC joint venture, including additional investment opportunities in other high-quality gas and renewable projects in the US market in the coming years," Thepparat Theppitak, EGCO Group President.
RISEC is advised by Barclays.
ORI Capital, a venture capital firm, Longitude Capital, a healthcare venture capital firm, and Decheng Capital, an investment firm that provides capital and strategic support to early stage life science companies, led a $120m Series E funding round in CG Oncology, an oncolytic immunotherapy company, with particpation from RA Capital Management, Acorn Bioventures, Malin Corporation, Ally Bridge Group and Sirona Capital.
“We have strong conviction in CG Oncology which continues to generate compelling data to develop potential bladder-sparing innovative therapeutics for patients suffering from bladder cancer. We’ve been strong supporters of the CG Oncology team from an early stage by leading the Series C round, and we are particularly proud to co-lead this round with Longitude Capital and Decheng Capital, as we see tremendous potential for CG0070 to be a game changer for patients with NMIBC,” Simone Song, ORI Capital Founder and Senior Partner.
CG Oncology was advised by KKH Advisors (led by Kimberly Ha).
Empire Southwest, an authorized Cat dealer for heavy equipment and power systems, agreed to acquire Cashman Equipment, a highest-rated Cat equipment dealers. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“We have tremendous respect and admiration for MaryKaye Cashman and her team. Cashman is a very high performing dealership that has been dedicated to their people, customers, and communities for generations. We are honored and humbled by the trust MaryKaye and Caterpillar have placed in us. Like Empire, the Cashman organization is full of amazing men and women who are committed to making things better. I’m confident that the new combined team will take the business in both service territories to new levels of client success by building on the industry-leading strengths of both dealerships,” Jeff Whiteman, Empire President and CEO.
AutoNation, a provider of personalized transportation services, agreed to acquire TrueCar, an automotive digital marketplace. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We believe that TrueCar, with its leading digital marketplace, is well positioned to enhance the digital car buying experience and provide personal transportation solutions that are easy, transparent, and Customer-centric. We also believe the investment will strengthen the relationship between our companies and provides an opportunity for closer commercial collaboration with TrueCar in the future," Mike Manley, AutoNation CEO.
Bennett Goodman’s Hunter Point, ADQ buy stake in Vistria Group. (FS)
Bennett Goodman’s Hunter Point Capital and Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ acquired a stake in Vistria Group, an investment firm which aims to advance social change through the companies it backs.
The Chicago-based firm intends to use proceeds from the transaction to fund growth and expand ownership among senior employees, said Kip Kirkpatrick, the firm’s co-chief executive officer alongside Marty Nesbitt. The deal represents a stake of less than 20% in Vistria, Bloomberg reported.
Incitec Pivot soars on offers for US ammonia plant.
Australia's top fertiliser maker Incitec Pivot received a number of potential buyout offers for its US ammonia manufacturing facility, sending its shares up more than 10%.
Incitec, however, warned the sale option for the facility in Waggaman, Louisiana could delay its plans to demerge its explosives manufacturing business, Dyno Nobel, by up to a year.
JP Morgan to grow in buyout financing after rivals lost billions.
JP Morgan is on the hunt for buyouts to lend to and is hoping to gain market share in leveraged financing after avoiding the dozens of clunkers that have cost competitors billions of dollars, Bloomberg reported.
Executives across JP Morgan made a decision last year to cut back on risk in leveraged finance, a choice that surprised customers and competitors. That decision helped the bank avoid losing money from big buyouts like Citrix Systems and Twitter and now gives it more capacity to pivot.
Private equity funds tap exotic loans for liquidity as deals ebb. (FS)
Private equity firms are increasingly turning to an unconventional type of debt to shore up portfolio companies as surging interest rates and declining valuations make it harder to sell assets, fund distributions and raise money for new investments.
So-called NAV loans, which allow firms to borrow against a pool of portfolio companies within a fund, are gaining in popularity, with more traditional financing options drying up, Bloomberg reported.
Waterfall Asset Management appoints co-CIOs. (FS, People)
Waterfall Asset Management has promoted Patrick Lo and Brian Rebello to co-chief investment officers. Waterfall is a global alternative investment manager focused on specialty finance opportunities within asset-backed credit, whole loans, real assets, and private equity. LIntelo and Rebello are both partners of the firm.
Lo has over 17 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Waterfall in 2006, he worked as an analyst at Citigroup Global Markets, focusing on origination, structuring, and financing of various asset classes of ABS. Rebello has over 22 years of industry experience. Prior to joining Waterfall in 2010, he was a portfolio manager at Aberdeen Asset Management.
Metrika, a private equity firm based in Milan, completed the acquisition of a majority stake in SEFO, a company active in the production and marketing of high-end components and accessories for professional and racing motorcycles. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"With Metrika, we want to mark the beginning of a new and further phase of growth and consolidation thanks to the strong industrial vocation of the Fund and the attention it has shown towards those non-traditional market approaches that they have allowed us to grow solidly in recent years," Luca Fornaini, SEFO CEO.
Following the issuance by the employee representative bodies of their opinion on the proposed combination between Eutelsat, a satellite operator, and OneWeb, a broadband connectivity provider, has approved the transaction. Consequently, Eutelsat and the main shareholders of OneWeb signed, on November 14, 2022, the final combination agreement.
Completion of the transaction remains subject to the customary conditions precedent, particularly the approval by the relevant regulatory authorities. Given the currently expected timetable for review by these authorities, the Extraordinary General Meeting of Eutelsat shareholders called to approve the transaction is now expected to be held in the second or third quarter of 2023. This possible change from the initially announced timetable should have no significant impact on the combined entity's financial outlook released in connection with the proposed combination.
Becketts Bidco, a consortium comprising Luxembourg-based private equity firm Astorg and London-based private equity firm Epiris, has secured all necessary regulatory approvals for its £1.66bn acquisition of Euromoney, a business and financial information company.
The London-based global business-to-business information-services company made the report saying that "all of the conditions relating to the regulatory and antitrust approvals have now been satisfied." The scheme remains subject to the waiver or satisfaction of the remaining conditions set out in the scheme document, including the sanction of the scheme by the court at the court hearing, which is scheduled for November 22, 2022.
Cathay Industries, a manufacturer and supplier of iron oxide pigments, coatings, and construction-grade iron oxides, agreed to acquire the iron oxide business from Venator, a global manufacturer and marketer of chemical products, for $140m.
"In addition to the recently announced $51m sale-leaseback transaction, we have entered into a definitive agreement to sell our iron oxide business from within our Color Pigments business to Cathay Industries for an enterprise value of $140m. The average EBITDA of this business in 2020 and 2021 proforma adjusted for the impact of the sale-leaseback was $16m. We believe Cathay will be an excellent long-term strategic owner of the business going forward. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the first quarter in 2023," Simon Turner, Venator President and CEO.
Venator is advised by Citigroup and Latham & Watkins. Cathay Industries is advised by UBS and White & Case.
Rheinmetall, an international technology firm specializing in security and mobility, agreed to acquire Expal Systems, a globally renowned ammunition maker, from Maxam, a manufacturer of civil explosives and initiation systems, for €1.2bn.
In making this acquisition, Rheinmetall seeks to sustainably bolster its core weapon, ammunition, and fuel business, with increased spare production capacity and an expanded product portfolio as the prime focal points. The acquisition provides Rheinmetall with swift access to significantly greater capacity. Given the significant demand increase from numerous nations, Rheinmetall wants to position itself as firmly as possible to address the anticipated inflow of new requests for tender for ammunition purchases.
Despature Family, a family in the textile industry, offered to acquire the remaining 36% stake in Somfy, an engineering services company, for $1.42bn. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Present since 1984 alongside the management, the Despature family, as reference shareholders, has been an important support for the growth of SOMFY, enabling the group to become a world leader, innovative and efficient. This enhanced shareholder stability would allow the teams to be fully focused on pursuing the transformation underway, the satisfaction of our customers and the opportunities to be seized," Pierre Ribeiro, SOMFY Managing Director.
Somfy is advised by Shan Strategic Communications.
Gonet & Cie, a Swiss private bank, agreed to merge with Arab Bank, a commercial banking firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Gonet & Cie is an ideal partner to strengthen our presence in Switzerland, given its Swiss DNA and its brand awareness locally. This partnership is a unique opportunity to reach ambitious growth targets in a Swiss Private Banking market which is changing rapidly. Our two banks will keep growing and, together, will constitute a unique banking group with a particularly wide offering," Serge Robin, Arab Bank CEO.
Apollo, a private equity firm, agreed to acquire the securitized products group from Credit Suisse, a provider of banking services. Closing of the transaction is expected in the first half of 2023. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Apollo is expected to hire the majority of the SPG team and will receive customary transitional services from Credit Suisse following the closing of the transaction to maintain a seamless experience for clients.
Lam Research, a global supplier of innovative wafer fabrication equipment and services to the semiconductor industry, completed the acquisition of Semsysco, a global provider of wet processing semiconductor equipment, from Gruenwald Equity, a private equity firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"The strategic acquisition of SEMSYSCO furthers our commitment to help chipmakers address their emerging technology challenges, adding deep capabilities in advanced substrates and packaging processes. With innovative offerings and leading-edge research and development in packaging, Lam is well-positioned to support our customers as they scale to future chiplet-based technologies," Tim Archer, Lam Research president and CEO.
Rodolphe Saade expands hunt for media assets.
French shipping billionaire Rodolphe Saade is seeking more media acquisitions after snapping up a regional newspaper and failing to get his hands on a broadcaster.
Saade, whose family-owned container line CMA CGM has its headquarters in the southern port of Marseille, joined the ranks of French billionaires who dominate the country’s media scene after buying the city’s regional daily La Provence a few months ago. The Saade family has a net worth of $16.3bn, Bloomberg reported.
“I am interested in media. I am looking at everything, the subject interests me," Rodolphe Saade.
Saudi Wealth fund weighs IPO of $5n driller ADES. (FS)
Saudi Arabia’s wealth fund is considering an initial public offering of oil and gas driller ADES International by the first half of next year, as it accelerates efforts to raise billions of dollars for new investments, Bloomberg reported.
The Public Investment Fund is looking to hire investment banks for a potential listing and is expected to make a decision as soon as this year. An IPO could value the business, whose clients include Saudi Arabian Oil and Kuwait Oil, at about $5bn.
Isara launches £300m maiden fund. (FS)
Isara, a new specialist investor in the food sector, has launched its debut £300m ($353m) fund, which will focus on improving the efficiency, quality and sustainability of food supply systems across the UK, Ireland and Western Europe.
Isara will invest in food production and distribution businesses, helping to stabilise and transform the existing food ecosystem which is undergoing structural shifts caused by rising inflation, the Covid-19 pandemic, labour supply scarcity, and a growing commitment to sustainability.
Round2 Capital completes first closing of €100m software lending fund. (FS)
European software investment firm Round2 Capital has held the first close of its second software lending fund with €62m ($64m), expanding its total assets-under-management to €115m ($119m).
Round2 Capital is a pan-European software lending firm applying an actively managed revenue-based credit strategy and has invested in more than 25 companies throughout eight European jurisdictions.
APAC
Larsen & Toubro Infotech, a multinational conglomerate company, completed the merger with Mindtree, an information technology services and consulting company, in a $17.7bn deal.
"This merger represents our continued commitment to grow the IT services business in line with our strategic vision. The highly complementary businesses of LTI and Mindtree will make this integration a 'win-win' proposition for our customers, investors, shareholders, and employees," A. M. Naik, LTI Chairman.
Australia's Nitro Software said its board had determined the near AUD500 m ($335m) offer from KKR's Alludo to be superior to an earlier bid from major shareholder Potentia Capital Management.
Nitro has asked its shareholders to back the North-America based Alludo scheme and accept it, on the condition that no new superior offer prevails. The company expects to hold a shareholders meet related to the Alludo offer in March 2023, Reuters reported.
Nitro Software is advised by Cadence Bank (led by Garren Cronin), UBS, Allens and Cato & Clive (led by Clive Mathieson). Alludo is advised by Perella Weinberg Partners and Greenberg Traurig. Potentia Capital is advised by Jarden, Johnson Winter & Slattery (led by James Rozsa) and Domestique (led by Ross Thornton).
Bain Capital, a private investment firm, agreed to acquire Mash Holdings, an apparel maker, for $1.44bn.
"We would like to expand further overseas in the future, centred on China," Mash. The fund believes that there is room for Mash to open new stores in Japan. It is aiming to list Mash in an initial public offering in three to five years. Bain hopes that the company would be worth more as a result of overseas expansion, particularly in China, and the digitization of its operations.
Adani Group, an Indian conglomerate, moved a step closer in its takeover of New Delhi Television, a news broadcaster, with approval from the market regulator to buy an additional 26% stake. On Monday, the Securities and Exchange Board of India showed on its website that it had received final comments on the transaction on November 7, Reuters reported.
According to a stock exchange disclosure from last week, Adani planned to conduct the open offer for a 26% stake in NDTV between November 22 and December 5. It is also set to get another 29.18% stake in the news group by taking over an entity backed by its founders.
Accenture, a global professional services company, agreed to acquire Albert, a Japanese data science company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“ALBERT’s philosophy is to connect the world with data science and co-create new value for a better future. As leading companies across industries are investing heavily in AI, we’re seeing growing demand for the technologies and skills that are the core of our business. By joining Accenture, which excels at addressing its clients' most complex opportunities and issues, our team can drive even more value for clients and accelerate the implementation of AI in society,” akeshi Matsumoto, ALBERT President and CEO.
Buffett takes $5bn stake in TSMC, sparking surge in shares.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway took a stake of about $5bn in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, a sign the legendary investor thinks the world’s leading chipmaker has bottomed out after a selloff of more than $250bn. Shares surged.
The Omaha-based conglomerate acquired about 60m American depository receipts in TSMC in the three months ended September. The Taiwanese company produces semiconductors for clients like Nvidia and Qualcomm and is the exclusive supplier of Apple's custom Silicon chips. Apple remains the most valuable single holding in Berkshire’s portfolio.
Apax, TA, Carlyle make shortlist to acquire 40% Quest Global stake for $1bn. (FS)
Three private equity investors – Apax Partners, TA Associates and Carlyle – have made the shortlist to acquire a significant minority stake in Singapore-based engineering outsourcing firm Quest Global in a $1bn deal that could value the business at around $2.5bn.
And the report cites unnamed sources as revealing that other PE funds could make the cut too, with existing investors Advent International and Bain Capital, which together own around 33% of the company, also looking to monetise their five-year-old investment. Singapore’s investment firm GIC, which owns a small 2-3% stake in the company, may also sell its stake.
UK gives Korean Air and Asiana one week to address merger concerns.
The UK competition regulator said it would launch a more in-depth investigation into Korean Air Lines and Asiana Airlines if the carriers fail to allay concerns their proposed merger would lead to higher prices for passengers and impact cargo operators.
The airlines have until November 21 to submit proposals to address competition concerns, the Competition and Markets Authority said. The CMA then has until November 28 to consider whether to accept in principle or refer the deal for an in-depth phase 2 investigation.
“Korean Air and Asiana Airlines are the two main players on the London to Seoul route and the deal risks UK customers and businesses paying over the odds or receiving a lower quality of service,” Colin Raftery, CMA Senior Mergers Director.
Tech investor Tim Draper sours on China, says it has left the free market.
China is no longer a place to invest and has left "the free market" under President Xi Jinping, said Tim Draper, an early investor in Elon Musk's Tesla and SpaceX. Draper was also an early and prominent investor in Chinese search engine Baidu but he is now turning his attention to Taiwan, home to companies such as TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, Reuters reported.
"I used to be an investor in China. Then I got an early indication that China was going to leave the free market and I decided that that was not a place I wanted to invest," Tim Draper.
VinFast plans US IPO as soon as January.
VinFast, an electric vehicle maker backed by Vietnam’s richest man, is weighing whether to hold its planned initial public offering in the US as soon as January 2023, Bloomberg reported.
The unit of conglomerate Vingroup could raise at least $1bn but it could also be more depending on interest.
Thailand eases rules for foreign exchange operators to encourage innovation.
Thailand will give foreign exchange service providers more flexibility in business to encourage innovation and new technologies, the Bank of Thailand said.
The revision of foreign exchange regulations, which govern commercial banks, money changers and transfer agents, also allows for new types of services and promotes competition, said assistant governor Alisara Mahasandana.
India asks state-owned firms to consider insolvency court to shut units.
India has asked state-owned firms to consider moving the country's insolvency court to shut loss-making units, hoping for speedier resolutions as the government looks to slim down its public sector holdings.
Public sector companies will have to file an insolvency application under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code for the resolution of a loss-making unit within three months of approval from a committee comprising top cabinet ministers, Reuters reported.
JD.Com fintech unit aims to win Beijing approval for HK IPO as soon as year-end.
The fintech arm of Chinese e-commerce firm JD.Com aims to win Beijing regulators' approval to list in Hong Kong as soon as the end of the year, Reuters reported.
JD Technology's initial public offering would be one of the largest listings of Chinese companies in Hong Kong since a sweeping regulatory crackdown started in China two years ago, as part of which scrutiny of capital raising outside mainland China was tightened. The revived IPO plan comes as Chinese authorities have in recent months softened their tone on cracking down on tech companies as they seek to boost an economy that has been hurt by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kotak Investment Advisors raises $500m for new real estate fund. (FS)
India's Kotak Mahindra Group's asset management arm secured a $500m investment from a unit of the UAE-based sovereign wealth fund Abu Dhabi Investment Authority for its $1bn real estate fund. Kotak Investment Advisors has so far raised, managed or advised over $3.3bn under its real estate fund series.
"The new platform is primarily targeted at the significant demand for housing in India, which is driven by sustained economic growth and a shortage of urban housing clusters," Mohamed AlQubaisi, ADIA Real Estate Department Executive Director.
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