EMEA
N26 announced $300m funding round from GIC at $2.7bn valuation.
Fortress about to invest in the owner of FC Copenhagen.
AMERICAS
Platte River acquired a controlling stake in Sherrill.
Hellman Friedman closes $16bn Capital Partners IX Fund.
Aurora to raise $500m in a round led by Sequoia.
Fidelity to invest $300m into Bird.
Lampert looks to improve bid to secure Sears from a shutdown.
APAC
Essel Group seeks investment from KKR and AION Capital.
TPG Capital and CICC to build China Synergy investment platform.
PAG launches a new hedge fund platform.
Dignari Capital gathers $447m for its second private credit fund.
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Latest Deals
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EMEA
N26 announced $300m funding round from GIC at $2.7bn valuation.
N26 has announced a $300m Series D funding round led by Insight Venture Partners, valuing N26 at $2.7bn. The round also includes participation from GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, and several existing investors.
The $300m funding represents the largest private equity financing round for a fintech company in Europe in recent years. To date, N26 has raised more than $500m from the world’s most established investors including Tencent, Allianz X, Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures, Li Ka-Shing’s Horizons Ventures, Earlybird Venture Capital, Redalpine Ventures and Greyhound Capital.
"A round the world, millions of people still suffer from bad banking experiences and high fees. With Insight Venture Partners and GIC joining our renowned group of existing investors, N26 has the support of the best investors globally to disrupt one of the largest industries in the world.” Valentin Stalf, N26 CEO and Co-Founder.
Fortress about to invest in the owner of FC Copenhagen.
Fortress Investment expressed interest in buying a 29% stake in Parken Sport & Entertainment, which owns football club FC Copenhagen, from LD Fonde. The investor could reportedly make a takeover offer this week, with a bid that would value the company at up to 1.27bn Danish kroner ($195m).
AMERICAS
KKR and SemGroup acquired Meritage Midstream, an oil & gas producer, from Riverstone for C$600m ($454m). Meritage will be acquired by SemCAMS Midstream, a Canadian midstream infrastructure platform, recently formed by KKR and SemGroup.
“This transaction captures an attractive valuation for our SemCAMS business and accelerates our Canadian strategy in one of North America's premier energy basins. The acquisition of Meritage enables SemCAMS Midstream to expand and optimize its portfolio of assets, broaden its service offerings and create a more attractive Canadian growth platform. In addition, it delivers on our commitment to strengthen our balance sheet. We are pleased to partner with KKR, an industry-leading investor with extensive experience in the energy sector.” Carlin G. Conner, SemGroup Chief Executive Officer.
Meritage Midstream was advised by RBC Capital Markets, Dentons and Vinson & Elkins. Semgroup was advised by CIBC World Markets, Evercore, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher and Osler Hoskin & Harcout. KKR was advised by TD Securities, Simpson Thacher & Barlett and Torys. Riverstone was advised by RBC Capital Markets, Dentons and Vinson & Elkins.
Platte River acquired a controlling stake in Sherrill.
Platte River Equity announced that it has acquired a controlling interest in Sherrill, the largest distributor of arborist tools and equipment in North America. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
“Sherrill’s brand has been synonymous with great customer service and bringing innovative products to market, and we look forward to continuing this long tradition.” Peter W. Calamari, Managing Director of Platte River, said, “We are excited about our partnership with Tripp and the entire Sherrill team. We look forward to working with the Company to expand its distribution and digital marketing capabilities to better serve its trade partners and diverse customer base.” Matt D. Newill, Platte River Vice President.
Platte River was advised by Bartlit Beck. BMO Capital Markets provided financing for the transaction.
Roland Foods, a portfolio company of Vestar Capital Partners, has closed the acquisition of Albert Uster Imports. Financial terms were not disclosed.
AUI has been a leading importer of specialty pastry, bakery, and confectionary products to professional chefs and bakers for 50 years. AUI sources products from more than 150 global suppliers, including exclusive distribution arrangements with best-in-class brands such as Felchlin, HUG, Ponthier, Laderach, and PCB Creation, among others.
“The acquisition of AUI establishes Roland Foods as a leading platform within the specialty foods landscape. This acquisition doubles Roland Foods’ portfolio of unique, hard-to-source specialty products, increases our presence in the growing pastry and confections product lines, and offers us entry into the frozen and refrigerated categories.” James Wagner, Roland Foods CEO.
Roland Foods and Vestar were advised by Kirkland & Ellis and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. AUI was advised by Arnold & Porter.
Hellman Friedman closes $16bn Capital Partners IX Fund.
Hellman Friedman closed, the second largest PE fund and the largest in Hellman & Friedman’s history, surpassing HFCP VIII, a fund that raised approximately $10.9bn.
Hellman & Friedman was represented by Simpson Thacher.
Aurora to raise $500m in a round led by Sequoia.
Sequoia Capital is leading a funding round of at least $500m for Aurora, a self-driving car start-up. Aurora works at the intersection of rigorous engineering and applied machine learning to make the autopilot vehicles.
Fidelity to invest $300m into Bird.
Electric scooter startup Bird is in talks to raise $300m in a round led by Fidelity, per Axios. The new funding would reportedly maintain Bird's current $2bn valuation. Launched in 2017 by former Lyft and Uber executive Travis VanderZanden, the business has already brought in $418m in VC funding.
Most of that fundraising occurred during a very busy 2018 for the Bird, one that included a series of tussles with regulators and a $300m investment led by Sequoia in June. The year ended with Bird denying reports that it was discussing a possible multibillion-dollar takeover with Uber.
Lampert looks to improve bid to save Sears from a shutdown.
Eddie Lampert’s ESL Investments hedge fund raised its bid to keep Sears Holdings in business with an offer of about $5bn that covers severance for workers and bills from its suppliers.
Advisers for the hedge fund crafted a bid that commits ESL to cover more than $40m of existing severance costs, and more for workers hired in a reorganized Sears. Lampert is adding $120m that a bankruptcy court said he needed to post in advance to qualify for an auction set for next week. ESL would pick up tax and supplier bills that Sears incurred during bankruptcy proceedings.
APAC
Essel Group seeks investment from KKR and AION Capital.
Essel Group is in talks with investors to raise as much as $400m in a structured credit transaction. The group will raise funds to refinance a part of the promoter debt which will mature over the next few quarters.
Structured credit transactions typically offer flexible repayment terms compared with bank loans and are often tapped into by borrowers to tide over short-term cash flow issues, which do not allow them to service bank debt at periodic intervals.
TPG Capital and CICC to build China Synergy investment platform.
TPG and CICC Capital, have jointly established the China Synergy platform, designed to carry out cross-border investments on a global scale with a specific focus on China. PE firms did not disclose the size of the platform.
“This represents a powerful opportunity for TPG to expand our presence in the country. The platform is complementary to our existing business and it is a solid step in our journey to build on our offerings to fast-growing Chinese companies at all stages. The China Synergy platform, by promoting China’s industrial development and the internationalization of Chinese enterprises, will play a role in bringing positive social impact to the Chinese economy.” Tim Dattels TPG Capital Asia co-managing partner.
The platform will be advised by a team of seasoned investors including TPG founder and chairman David Bonderman, CICC CEO Mingjian Bi, and senior advisor of CICC and former president of GIC special investments Teh Kok Peng, who will all sit on the steering committee.
PAG launches a new hedge fund platform.
PAG and asset manager Angus Wai have launched a new Asian equity-focused, hedge fund platform, Polymer Capital Management. The hedge fund platform will start trading in the second quarter of 2019.
According to PAG, Polymer aims to generate consistent, low volatility returns by capitalizing on the considerable opportunities in Asian equity markets, by combining the region’s best investment talent with strict risk management tailored for the Asian investment environment’s unique characteristics.
“Polymer will be a unique offering in Asia, one that matches our singular knowledge of local markets with PAG’s best-in-class standards. We feel that the timing is ideal to be launching such an offering, given the significant recent market dislocations and the strong pool of talent currently available in the region,” Wai, PAG CEO.
Dignari Capital gathers $447m for its second private credit fund.
Dignari Capital Partners, a Hong Kong-based private equity fund, has completed raising $447m for its second fund, according to a regulatory filing.
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