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AMERICAS
Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications pushed back the deadline to close their merger again to February 17, 2023, after a Canadian government minister said he needs more time to decide if he will approve the deal, Bloomberg reported.
The $15.5bn deal, announced nearly two years ago, had an original deadline of last June, which then was moved to January 31. The Federal Court of Appeal rejected arguments by Canada's antitrust watchdog to block it, ending a monthslong legal battle.
Shaw is advised by CIBC World Markets, TD Securities, Burnet Duckworth & Palmer (led by Grant A. Zawalsky), Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg (led by Brett Seifred and Vincent A. Mercier), Dentons (led by Bill Gilliland and William Jenkins) and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz (led by Mark Stagliano and Adam Emmerich). Financial advisors are advised by Osler Hoskin & Harcourt. Rogers is advised by Bank of America, Barclays, Cravath Swaine & Moore (led by Joseph D. Zavaglia, Michael S. Goldman, Andrew C. Elken, and Erik Tavzel), Goodmans (led by Dale Lastman), and Torys (led by Richard Willoughby). Financial advisors are advised by Davis Polk & Wardwell, Latham & Watkins, and McCarthy Tetrault (led by Richard Higa).
Helios Technologies, a provider of highly engineered motion control and electronic controls technology, completed the acquisition of Schultes Precision Manufacturing, a provider of manufacturing precision machined components and assemblies. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Schultes is an excellent bolt-on flywheel acquisition to add to our Hydraulics segment. It brings process technology and know-how that advances our ability to serve our customers with a broader product and solutions portfolio. It also expands and diversifies our markets and continues to optimize our manufacturing and operating footprint. Schultes is yet another strong standalone business with a healthy margin profile that fits perfectly into our Hydraulics business. This transaction is another milestone that further validates that we are making great progress against our augmented strategy and long-term goals," Josef Matosevic, Helios President and CEO.
Mitel, a provider of business communications services, agreed to acquire Unify, unified communications and collaboration and communication and collaboration services businesses, from Atos, a digital transformation provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"The UC industry today holds significant opportunities to grow through M&A, aligning well with Mitel's strategy and expertise. The addition of Unify's portfolio, partners, and talent would significantly expand Mitel's scale and offerings, enabling us together to offer customers even greater choice and flexibility throughout the lifecycle of their business communications," Tarun Loomba, Mitel President and CEO.
Atos is advised by Rothschild & Co.
Marqeta, a global modern card issuing platform, agreed to acquire Power Finance, a financial services company, for $275m.
"Companies like ours were made possible because of the path Marqeta blazed in modern card issuing, demonstrating the possibilities in payments with flexible and modern payment infrastructure. At Power, we built a full-stack, cloud-native credit card issuance platform, and by becoming a part of Marqeta, we have the ability now to bring this innovation to a much larger market at global scale," Randy Fernando, Power Finance Co-Founder and CEO.
ARCH Ventures, a venture capital firm, and General Catalyst, an investment company, led a $203m Series A round in Paradigm, a healthcare technology company, with participation from F-Prime Capital, GV, LUX Capital, Mubadala Capital, Magnetic Ventures, and BrightEdge.
"The clinical research and drug development process is failing the very people it's meant to serve. Patients who might be best served with participation in a clinical trial often can't get access or aren't offered access to trials, research departments are chronically overburdened with significant barriers to entry created by trial complexity, and as a result sponsors' study timelines continue to lengthen at higher cost. The system is broken, and the human cost of inaction is unacceptable. Paradigm is reimagining the entire drug development paradigm by upending the status quo and focusing on equitable access to clinical research at scale from the start," Kent Thoelke, Paradigm CEO.
Patria Investments-backed Lavoro, an agricultural input retailer, agreed to acquire Cromo Química, an agrochemical company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We expect that partnering with Latin America's largest ag inputs retailer will foster our growth. With this alliance, we have a clear vision of our expansion plan for the coming years, with new product launches, governance structuring, and market access," Josir Neuls, Cromo Química CEO.
Saint-Gobain, a building materials provider, completed the acquisition of Termica San Luis, a stone wool insulation provider in Argentina. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The acquisition allows Saint-Gobain to strengthen its presence in the insulation market, enhancing its range of solutions for customers thanks to the combination of its position in glass wool insulation with that of Termica San Luis in stone wool.
LVMH and L'Oréal are among the suitors for a stake in Aesop.
LVMH and L'Oréal are among the luxury consumer companies weighing offers for a stake in Aesop that may value the high-end cosmetics brand at $2bn or more, Bloomberg reported. Japanese beauty group Shiseido is also studying a potential bid for an interest in Aesop.
Aesop is owned by Brazilian cosmetics maker Natura & Co, working with Bank of America and Morgan Stanley as it explores the sale of a stake in the business.
Bed Bath & Beyond falters to find a buyer in bankruptcy.
Efforts of Bed Bath & Beyond, a nationwide chain of retail stores, to find a buyer in bankruptcy have stalled, potentially putting the retailer on a path toward liquidation as it faces a Chapter 11 filing, Bloomberg reported.
The retailer is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection imminently, likely without a bidder for assets, including its Buy Buy Baby brand, which some view as its most valuable chain.
Tritium Partners secures $684m for a third growth-focused private equity fund. (FS)
Tritium Partners, a private equity firm investing in growth companies in the lower middle market, announced it held a final closing on its third fund, Tritium III, with $684m of committed capital. The fund exceeds its target and represents a nearly 50% increase over Tritium's 2019 second fund.
"We are extremely excited to have received such strong support from current Tritium investors and are proud of the new investors we have added. Tritium's limited partners share our belief that growth-focused investing in the lower middle market offers opportunities for those willing to do the hard work required to scale businesses with great potential," Philip Siegel, Tritium Managing Partner and Co-Founder.
EMEA
Timken, a global industrial company, agreed to acquire Nadella Group, a manufacturer of linear guides, telescopic rails, actuators and systems, and other specialized industrial motion solutions, from ICG, an asset management, and private equity firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Nadella will complement and scale our linear motion product portfolio and deliver strong synergies with our Rollon business. Timken executive vice president and president of industrial motion. Nadella's differentiated solutions are custom engineered for premium applications in attractive and growing market sectors, including medical, food and beverage, packaging, and automation. We also see significant growth opportunities for Nadella products in North America as part of Timken," Christopher A. Coughlin, Timken Executive Vice President.
Timken is advised by Jones Day (led by Leon N. Ferera). Nadella is advised by Alvarez & Marsal, Houlihan Lokey, and DLA Piper.
Audi, an automobile company, completed the acquisition of a minority stake in Sauber Motorsport, a Swiss motorsport engineering company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Audi is the best strategic partner for the Sauber Group. It is clear that we share values and a vision, and we look forward to achieving our common goals in a strong and successful partnership," Finn Rausing, Sauber Chairman.
Audi was advised by Citigroup.
GLIL, an alternative investment fund, completed the acquisition of a 25% stake in M6toll, an operator of a mile toll road across the United Kingdom, from IFM Investors, an investment management services provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We are delighted to form a partnership with IFM and Aleatica, two experienced infrastructure investors with proven sustainability credentials. For GLIL Investors, the M6toll offers long-term, asset-backed cash flows and further diversifies the portfolio into road infrastructure, an essential part of UK economic growth," Lee Belfield, GLIL Investment Lead.
GLIL was advised by Credit Agricole.
German football body said ready to renew media rights deal talks.
Bloomberg reported that Germany's professional football body is getting ready to restart talks with private equity firms about selling a package of media rights.
Deutsche Fussball Liga is likely to agree on the resumption of discussions about the sale of a stake in a new subsidiary housing broadcast rights at a regular meeting in early February. DFL is considering including both its domestic and international rights in any deal.
UK's discounted bluechips are potential M&A targets.
Bloomberg reported that high-profile British companies are potential takeover targets in 2023, with low equity valuations and a weak pound making them attractive to bidders. London-listed stocks remain cheap even after outperforming during the past 12 months, with the MSCI UK Index trading near a 35% discount to global peers — well below its 15-year average of 18%.
"We would not be shocked to see a big name in the oil and gas or mining sectors subject to a bid, with companies like BP trading at a significant discount to their US peers," Michael Stiasny, M&G Head of Equities.
Shell overhauls business units after new CEO takes over.
Shell's new chief moved to overhaul the energy major's core business units just a month after taking the helm, Bloomberg reported.
Shell will combine its integrated gas and upstream divisions and merge its downstream and renewables units. It's the second significant announcement a week after CEO Wael Sawan launched a strategic review of the company's struggling European home-energy retail unit.
Buyout firm convergence raises $296m Africa tech fund. (FS)
Buyout firm Convergence Partners raised $296m to buy African technology assets, Bloomberg reported.
The capital raise, one of the first private equity funds secured for sub-Saharan Africa this year, will bring the total funds under management at Convergence to about $600m. The new money is mainly from previous investors, development agencies, and pension funds in the US, UK, Europe, and Africa.
Sammy Kayello to step down as MENA head. (People)
Morgan Stanley's regional head for the Middle East and North Africa, Sammy Kayello, is stepping down. However, he will remain with the business as a senior adviser at the Wall Street bank, Reuters reported.
Morgan Stanley's chief executive for Saudi Arabia, Abdulaziz Alajaji, and the bank's head of investment banking for MENA, Patrick Delivanis, will succeed Kayello as regional co-heads of MENA. Alajaji and Delivanis will keep their existing roles and take on their expanded responsibilities.
Bayer investor calls for swift replacement of CEO. (People)
Bayer investor Deka has called for CEO Werner Baumann to be replaced ahead of his scheduled departure, adding to mounting pressure on the German drugmaker, Reuters reported.
"Bayer needs a new strategic positioning, which cannot be credibly accomplished under Werner Baumann," Ingo Speich, Deka Head of Sustainability and Corporate Governance.
Unilever names former Heinz executive as CEO. (People)
Unilever appointed Hein Schumacher to replace Alan Jope as chief executive in July in a move welcomed by investors, including board member and activist shareholder Nelson Peltz, Reuters reported.
Schumacher rejoined Unilever in October last year as a non-executive director and is currently the chief of the Dutch dairy business FrieslandCampina.
APAC
Frasers Property, a multinational company that develops, owns, and manages a diverse, integrated portfolio of properties, agreed to acquire a 50% stake in Gold Ridge, an operator of suburban retail mall NEX, from Mercatus, an investor, owner, and manager of real estate, for S$653m ($496m).
"Retail is one of the five asset classes in Frasers Property's multinational portfolio. This investment in NEX further strengthens our focus in the suburban retail segment where we already have an established platform and strong capabilities," Soon Su Lin, Frasers Property CEO.
Frasers Property is advised by Citigate Dewe Rogerson (led by Chia Hui Kheng). Mercatus is advised by JP Morgan.
Adani's $2.5bn share sale faces crucial day after the rout.
Gautam Adani faces a critical day on Monday with his flagship company's $2.5bn share sale's second day of bidding overshadowed by a $48bn rout in the Indian billionaire's stocks sparked by a US short seller's report.
Seven listed companies belonging to the Adani conglomerate, Asia's richest man leads, saw sharp falls in their values after the Hindenburg Research report flagged concerns about high debt levels and the use of tax havens, Reuters reported.
Adani gets backing as UAE royals buy $400m in a share sale. (FS)
Abu Dhabi's International Holding will invest about $400m in Adani Enterprises' follow-on share sale, saying it was confident in Indian billionaire Gautam Adani's business empire even after almost $70bn was wiped off its market value, Bloomberg reported.
The funding from IHC, controlled by a key emirate's royal family member, will represent about 16% of the offering and follows an almost $2bn investment in Adani's companies last year.
"Our interest in Adani Group is driven by our confidence and belief in the fundamentals of Adani Enterprises. We see a strong potential for growth from a long-term perspective and added value to our shareholders," Syed Basar Shueb, CEO.
Canada's CPPIB invests $205m in IndoSpace's new fund. (FS)
Indian warehouse and parks developer IndoSpace on Monday said the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board would invest $205m in the company's new real estate fund, Reuters reported.
The investment from Canada's biggest pension fund is part of IndoSpace's new fund targeting $600m in equity commitments. CPPIB's latest investment in the Indian property developer will take its partnership with the company to over $1bn in assets.
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