Willis Towers Watson, a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company, is to acquire TRANZACT, a direct-to-consumer health care organization that links individuals to US insurance carriers, from private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, for $1.2bn.
John Haley, CEO of Willis Towers Watson, said, “We are delighted to announce the acquisition of TRANZACT which represents a significant growth opportunity in the direct-to-consumer US health care space and speaks to Willis Towers Watson’s renewed focus on strategic M&A opportunities. This deal will accelerate our direct-to-consumer strategy and help create an end-to-end consumer acquisition platform.”
Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Weil Gotshal and Manges are advising Willis Towers Watson. JP Morgan and Debevoise & Plimpton are advising TRANZACT and Clayton Dubilier & Rice. Sullivan & Cromwell advised Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Kellogg Company, an American multinational food-manufacturing company, sold Keebler Cookies and related businesses to Ferrero, the third-largest company in the global chocolate confectionery market, for $1.3bn.
"This divestiture is yet another action we have taken to reshape and focus our portfolio, which will lead to reduced complexity, more targeted investment, and better growth," said Steve Cahillane, Kellogg's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Divesting these great brands wasn't an easy decision, but we are pleased that they are transitioning to an outstanding company with a portfolio in which they will receive the focus and resources to grow."
JP Morgan and Davis Polk advised Ferrero. Evercore, Goldman Sachs and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz advised Kellogg.
Cresco Labs, a leading US cannabis company, is to acquire Origin House, a growing cannabis brands and distribution company, for C$1.1bn ($823m). Under the terms of the agreement, holders of common shares of Origin House will receive 0.8428 subordinate voting shares of Cresco Labs for each Origin House share.
“The acquisition of Origin House is another example of our focused and disciplined approach to creating a meaningful presence in key cannabis markets through excellence in brand development and distribution,” said Cresco Labs CEO and Co-founder Charlie Bachtell. “It establishes Cresco Labs as the leading multi-state operator with one of the largest distribution platforms in California, which is projected to be a $7.7bn cannabis market in 2022 by Arcview Market Research/BDS Analytics."
Cormark Securities and Norton Rose Fulbright are advising Origin House. Canaccord Genuity and Bennett Jones are advising Cresco Labs.
Cable One, an American Internet and cable service provider, agreed to acquire Fidelity Communications, a family-owned cable operator, for $526m in cash.
“We are thrilled to welcome Fidelity associates and customers to the Cable ONE family,” said Julie Laulis, President and CEO of Cable ONE. “Fidelity is a fantastic geographical, cultural and business fit. Its operating philosophy and customer-centric focus are similar to our own. That, coupled with future growth opportunities within or near our existing footprint, make this an exciting acquisition.”
Cravath Swaine & Moore is advising Cable One.
Investment firm JAB Holdings is looking to take a majority stake in Coty, an American based multinational beauty company. The company extended its $1.7bn tender offer for a 60% stake to April 15.
To secure board approval for the tender offer, JAB agreed to a standstill agreement that means it cannot buy more than an additional 9% of Coty in the three years after the deal.
Centerview, Richards Layton and Finger and Sidley Austin are advising Coty. Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom is advising JAB. BNP Paribas, HSBC and UniCredit provide debt financing.
One Equity Partners-backed OMNI Environmental, a provider of cost-effective environmental services to energy producers, acquired Force Environmental Solutions, an independent provider of environmental equipment, transportation and services to energy producers in the northeast US. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“This acquisition reflects OEP ability to partner closely with OMNI’s management team and identify attractive growth opportunities,” said OEP Senior Managing Director J.B. Cherry. “Together, we have charted an ambitious plan to identify compelling and complementary businesses to acquire and expand OMNI’s operations into geographically important regions. OMNI’s strengths as an established, well-capitalized provider of comprehensive environment solutions will position Force for continued growth and success.”
3i Group, a multinational private equity and venture capital company based in London, made a growth investment in Regional Rail, a company operating short-line railroads in Delaware, New York, and Pennsylvania. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Rob Collins, Managing Partner, 3i North American Infrastructure, commented: “This is an exciting opportunity to partner with an established management team as we seek to put additional capital to work in North American rail infrastructure. The North American transportation market is rapidly evolving and Regional Rail is well positioned to benefit from those changes with future acquisitions.”
Mill Point Capital, a middle-market private equity firm, partnered with management to acquire Kemp Technologies, a leading provider of load balancer and application delivery controller. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Craig Adler, an Executive Partner with Mill Point, said: “Kemp is one of the most respected names in application delivery, and is at the cutting edge of distributed computing network architecture. We believe Kemp is positioned for further success given its ever-growing suite of high-performance load balancer and ADC products and services, as well as its true platform ubiquity that supports enterprises of every size and workload requirement.”
Shares of Lyft dropped below IPO price on the second day of trading.
Shares of Lyft dropped below their IPO price just one day after the firm listed on the New York Stock Exchange. They fell as much 11.7% to $69.12 on Monday, 4% short of their $72 listing price.
Derek Glynn, an analyst at Consumer Edge Research, said: “Following years of significant improvement, we believe market share gains and revenue growth are poised to slow as competitive pressures mount in the ride-sharing industry.”
Publicis looks to acquire Epsilon from Alliance Data Systems for up to $5bn.
French advertising group Publicis entered negotiations to acquire Alliance Data System’s Epsilon marketing unit in a deal worth up to $5bn. Epsilon would strengthen Publicis’ presence in the United States, where it competes with Omnicom, Interpublic and WPP.
“The group’s governing bodies feel an obligation to study any possibility to strengthen its position thanks to assets that could fit the group’s strategy and bring an enhanced service to the group’s clients while reinforcing its competitiveness for the future,” Publicis said in a statement.
Novartis to acquire research assets of IFM for $310m.
Novartis, a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company, agreed to acquire some research assets of Boston-based inflammation specialist IFM Therapeutics for $310m. The deal could eventually reach nearly $1.6bn, IFM said, should its portfolio meet certain milestones.
“These programs complement the existing Novartis pipeline of anti-inflammatory medicines,” said Novartis, adding studies have shown IFM Tre’s molecules can selectively suppress disease-causing inflammation while allowing the rest of the immune system to continue normal operations.
Warren Equity-backed Meridian Waste acquired WCT’s hauling assets. (FS)
Warren Equity-backed Meridian Waste, an integrated, non-hazardous solid waste services company, acquired hauling assets of Waste Corporation of Tennessee. The assets include vehicles, containers and customer contracts. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“Adding rolling stock and collection operations to our Knoxville market will allow us to internalize waste into our Class III disposal sites at Riverside Landfill and Poplar View Landfill,” said Wally Hall, CEO of Meridian Waste. “Now that we are vertically integrated in the Knoxville market, we look forward to providing a full-service solution to our customer base, and our new customers can be confident that we will provide uninterrupted service post-acquisition.”
Hull Street Energy acquired Bayswater and Jamaica Bay stations from NextEra Energy. (FS)
Hull Street Energy, a Maryland-based investment company, acquired Bayswater and Jamaica Bay natural gas-fired electric generating stations from NextEra Energy. The two plants are in Far Rockaway, New York and provide approximately 110 megawatts of power generation capacity to the region. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Through this acquisition, the firm will be able to help support the state, local community and other stakeholders integrate new variable renewable energy resources and meet regional reliability standards, as New York works to achieve its goal of supplying half of its electricity needs from clean renewable energy resources by 2030.
Troutman Sanders and Hogan Lovells advised Hull Street Energy.
One Equity Partners raised $1.1bn for its new fund. (FS)
Private equity company One Equity Partners raised about $1.1bn for its seventh flagship fund, according to an SEC filing. The New York-based firm, which spun out of JP Morgan in 2015, has been seeking at least $1.8bn for the vehicle. The middle-market firm typically makes buyout investments in the healthcare, industrial and tech industries in North America and Europe.
Toast raised $250m in a financing round. (FS)
Toast, a provider of restaurant management software, raised $250m at a $2.7bn valuation in a round led by venture capital firms TCV and Tiger Global. Bessemer Venture Partners, T. Rowe Price and other investors also participated. The Boston-based company previously raised $115m with a $1.4bn valuation last July, more than ten times higher than its valuation two years earlier.
