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AMERICAS
Pembina Pipeline, a leading oil and natural gas exploration and distribution firm, acquires Kinder Morgan Canada and Cochin US, two of gas pipeline systems of Kinder Morgan, for $3.rbn. The transaction values Kinder Morgan Canada at approximately $1.7bn, or $11.27 per share and Cochin US at approximately $1.57bn in cash consideration.
"This transaction strengthens the quality of Pembina's adjusted EBITDA, is accretive to adjusted cash flow per share and fits squarely within Pembina's financial guardrails. Combined, these factors give us the confidence to increase our dividend by approximately five percent upon close of the Transaction," Scott Burrows, Pembina Senior Vice President, and CFO.
TD Securities, Latham & Watkins, Bracewell, and Stikeman Elliott are advising Pembina.
Community First Bancshares to acquire ABB Financial Group for $40m.
Community First Bancshares, a bank holding company, agreed to acquire ABB and its wholly-owned bank subsidiary, Affinity Bank, in an all-cash $40m transaction.
"This transaction marks an important milestone for Newton Federal Bank as we continue to position our organization as a premier Atlanta community bank. ABB brings an attractive customer base and an energetic banking team that, combined with our wonderful team at Newton Federal Bank, will offer a best-of-class banking experience for current and prospective customers. Our partnership will also contribute to attracting talented, Atlanta-area bankers to further our growth strategy and reward shareholders with a strong performance." Billy Fortson, Chairman of CFBI.
Banks Street Partners and Luse Gorman advise CFBI. RP Financial and Miller & Martin advise ABB.
Lithium Americas closed the investment in which a subsidiary of Ganfeng Lithium subscribed for newly issued shares of Minera Exar, the holding company for the Caucharí-Olaroz lithium brine project in Jujuy, Argentina.
In consideration for the newly issued shares, Minera Exar has received $160m in cash to continue to fund the Project’s construction activities. Upon closing, Ganfeng Lithium has increased its interest in Caucharí-Olaroz from 37.5% to 50%, with Lithium Americas holding the remaining 50% interest.
"With the Project Investment complete, we have further strengthened our liquidity and expect to release the results of a feasibility study on an expanded initial production capacity for the Project of 40,000 tonnes per annum of battery-grade lithium carbonate in September 2019.” Jon Evans, Lithium Americas President and CEO.
Blair Franklin Capital Partners and Osler Hoskin & Harcourt are advising Lithium Americas.
The US Justice Department sued to block the travel technology firm Sabre's $360m takeover of Farelogix stating that it was a “dominant firm’s attempt to eliminate a disruptive competitor.”
Reuters reported that Sabre planned to close the deal announced in November by Wednesday unless the Justice Department sued. The companies agreed last week to extend the termination date of their acquisition agreement to April 30 to allow time for any Justice Department challenge to be resolved.
“If allowed to proceed, the acquisition would likely result in higher prices, reduced quality, and less innovation for airlines and, ultimately, traveling American consumers,” Makan Delrahim, Head of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.
Hogan Lovells is advising Sabre.
John Laing Group, an active investor and partner behind infrastructure and renewable energy projects, acquires a 30% interest in Ruta del Cacao road project in Colombia for $75m.
Partners in the project are Cintra/Ferrovial, Colpatria and Ashmore. The project involves the development of 236km of road. The acquisition is expected to complete over the coming weeks, subject to customary consents.
"This is an important development for John Laing with Ruta del Cacao representing our first investment in Latin America, a region with a strong pipeline of new opportunities. We are delighted to be involved alongside Cintra/Ferrovial, longstanding partners of ours, and Colpatria and Ashmore, all of which have many years of relevant experience in infrastructure in Colombia." Olivier Brousse, John Laing Chief Executive Officer.
Safelite Group, a leading vehicle glass services and recalibration company, acquires TruRoad Holdings, a provider of on-demand auto glass, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems recalibration and claims services, from CenterOak Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed.
With this acquisition, Safelite will have an increased capacity to expand its national footprint, accelerate growth, and better serve both customers and clients. ADAS recalibrations will be a top priority as best practices, tools, and training are shared.
“We look forward to welcoming our new team members and capturing the many opportunities ahead, as we bring these two well-known and respected organizations together.” Tom Feeney, Safelite Group president, and CEO.
Accel-KKR Credit Partners, a fund managed by leading, technology-focused investment firm Accel-KKR, made an investment in Agilence, a leading provider of data analytics & reporting solutions to the retail and restaurant industries. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The funding will be used to catalyze growth as the business takes advantage of its recent market momentum. This marks the 18th investment for Accel-KKR Credit Partners.
Impartner, the fastest-growing and most-award winning pure-play Partner Relationship Management solutions provider, acquired Amplifinity, the leader in referral partner management software, to help formalize the management of emerging "shadow channel" partners, which are expected to explode in growth in the coming decade. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"This acquisition underscores that emerging partner groups have moved into the mainstream mix for corporations everywhere and need to be managed as such. Traditional and non-traditional partners are the new normal for corporations everywhere, and by bringing our technology together with Impartner's, customers now have a complete toolset to maximize their business relationship with every type of partner and accelerate revenue for everyone." Bill Weissman, Amplifinity CEO.
Tala raises $110m in SoftBank-backed funding round. (FS)
Tala, a Santa Monica-based provider of micro-loans to individuals in the emerging markets, raises $110m in the Series D round which was led by SoftBank Group-backed RPS Ventures.
Tala is known to offer bite-sized loans between $10 to $500.
Argo attracts two Canadian pension funds. (FS)
Argo, a leading energy company with 1,000km of transmission lines attracted two Canadian pension funds. It is rumoured that Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec would be bidding for Argo. The potential deal is expected to be valued at $6bn, including debt.
Bettercom raises $160m from investors. (FS)
US-based online mortgage lender Bettercom, which has active operations in India, has closed its Series C funding round at $160m, bringing the company's total funding to $254m to date, DealStreetAsia reported.
Bettercom claims to have grown 3x y-o-year and is currently funding $375m in mortgages a month. The company is targeting to lend over $4bn in 2019.
"Similar to how Amazon upended the retail industry, Bettercom is digitally disrupting the $15tn mortgage industry through best-in-class technology, a commission-free business model and first-rate customer support," Vishal Garg, Bettercom CEO, and founder.
Avaya is considering an alternative to Mitel merger. (FS)
Telecommunications equipment and software vendor Avaya Holdings is considering an all-cash offer from private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice as an alternative to a potential merger with Mitel Networks.
Avaya has been in talks with Mitel, a privately-held peer, for months about a deal that would value it higher than what private equity firms have offered, but would require Avaya shareholders to accept stock in the combined company.
Now Avaya is seeking to negotiate a sale to CD&R that would allow all its shareholders to cash out and value it at a significant premium to where its shares are trading, even though the headline price would be lower than a deal with Mitel.
Indianola Energy receives $100m equity injection. (FS)
Indianola Energy gathered a $100m equity commitment from members of the management team and Kayne Anderson Energy Fund VIII, a fund managed by Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors.
Indianola is being formed to pursue a new upstream strategy designed to provide both capital and an industry-leading execution team to help producers accelerate value on undeveloped acreage in highly-proven resource plays across North America.
Sequoia-backed PlusAI to raise $200m. (FS)
Sequoia Capital-backed PlusAI is close to raising about $200m in new funds at a valuation of more than $1bn to bankroll its development in autonomous trucks, DealStreetAsia reported.
The self-driving truck startup is working with advisers on the funding round with plans to set up a joint venture with one of the country's largest truck makers FAW Jiefang, a subsidiary of state-owned China FAW Group. Plus.AI is seeking external investors to lead this round of funding, in which existing backers Sequoia and Full Truck Alliance will participate.
EMEA
Reuters reported that Osram is likely to waive an agreement that currently prevents AMS from making a takeover bid, paving the way for the Austrian group to enter the ring against a bid from Bain Capital and The Carlyle Group.
AMS plans to buy Osram in a deal that would value the bigger German lighting group at $4.5bn, trumping a competing bid by Bain Capital and Carlyle Group. To be able to do so, Osram must waive a standstill agreement.
Lazard, Perella Weinberg Partners, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, and Gleiss Lutz are advising Osram. PwC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, HSBC, UBS, Herbst Kinsky, Linklaters, Schellenberg Wittmer, and Brunswick Group are advising AMS. Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Macquarie Group, Kirkland & Ellis, Camarco and FTI are advising Bain and Carlyle.
The defense secretary of UK comforted the founding family of Cobham, saying that the government would look into the concerns over the $4.8bn takeover by Advent International. The Cobham family called for the Government to intervene in the deal earlier this month, arguing that it was not in “the UK’s national interests.”
“I do, of course understand your concerns. Let me assure you that I will look at your concerns and will at all times bear in mind the security and skills needed to best protect this country.” Ben Wallace, UK defense secretary.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan, Rothschild & Co, Allen & Overy, and MHP Communications are advising Cobham. Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Weil Gotshal and Manges, Linklaters and Finsbury are advising Advent. GSO Capital Partners is providing debt financing and is being advised by White & Case.
Berlusconi family-owned Mediaset's shareholder Vivendi plans to vote against the take over of its Spanish business unit. Mediaset investors will gather Sept. 4 to vote on a plan to create a Dutch-registered holding company to house the assets. The plan is overshadowed by a long-simmering conflict between the Berlusconis and Vivendi. The French media group sees the Dutch holding, dubbed Media For Europe, as a move by the family to cement its control over Mediaset.
Banca IMI, Citigroup, and Mediobanca are advising Mediaset. JP Morgan is advising Mediaset Espana.
Capital Dynamics, an independent global private asset management firm, acquired 100% of the equity in a portfolio of four operating wind projects totaling 68MW of generation capacity from Brookfield Renewable Partners, operator of a global publicly-traded renewable power platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.
With this acquisition, Capital Dynamics will become one of the largest independent operators of wind power in Northern Ireland. Brookfield will continue to provide operational support for the Portfolio under a long-term services arrangement, and the four projects will contribute funding for use by local communities.
"This is a significant milestone acquisition for our Clean Energy Infrastructure team and positions us as one of the largest buyers of renewable energy projects in Europe," said Simon Eaves, Managing Director and Head of Capital Dynamics' European Clean Energy Infrastructure team. "This strongly supports our mission of investing in high-quality clean energy assets within our proprietary Responsible Investing scoring framework, R-Eye."
Rolls Royce reviews options for civil nuclear businesses. (FS)
Rolls Royce Holdings is assessing the future of its international civilian nuclear operations. The firm is in advanced talks to dispose of assets worth $242m in two different deals.
Framatome, which is majority-owned by the French energy group EDF, would be acquiring Rolls-Royce's international instrumentation and control division. Rolls-Royce is pursuing parallel talks to sell the rest of its international civil nuclear operations to a US-based private equity firm.
KPMG is advising Rolls Royce on the options.
Guaranty Trust Bank will consider acquisitions outside its home market.
Nigeria's biggest lender by market, which already has offices in 10 countries outside Nigeria, is looking towards East Africa for growth. Guaranty Trust Bank already has operations in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda, and will also consider ways of expanding existing businesses, Bloomberg reported.
Private equity fundraising for Central and Eastern Europe reaches $2bn. (FS)
Buyout funds in CEE raised $1.2bn, while the region's venture capital funds attracted over $554m for the second year in a row, reveals Invest Europe's 2018 Central and Eastern Europe Private Equity Statistics report.
Private equity investment into companies across CEE reached $3bn in 2018, the second-highest amount ever achieved, following 2017's record of $3.8bn.
"The strong levels of private equity fundraising, investment and exit activity in Central and Eastern Europe in 2018 demonstrate that the region continues to develop as an attractive investment destination," Robert Manz, Invest Europe's Central and Eastern Europe Task Force Chair.
Zip, a leading Australian player in the digital retail finance and payments industry, agreed to acquire PartPay, a global installment technology platform, for $42m. Zip said the PartPay deal would provide it with a portable platform, a significant installment player in New Zealand including integration with one of the country’s leading retail groups, The Warehouse Group.
Furthermore, PartPay is set to secure an early-stage, fully operational UK subsidiary supported by a local team that’s “ready to scale.”
Monash Private Capital and Arnold Bloch Leibler are advising Zip. Sturt Capital Partners and Bell Gully are advising Partpay.
Experian, the global information services company, acquired Australia-backed Look Who's Charging, the leading provider of transaction enrichment and categorisation technology to banks. Financial terms were not disclosed.
For Experian, this acquisition represents another step in using advanced data and analytics expertise to remove complexity from the lending process and to access new growth opportunities.
Finsbury advised Experian.
Cloud distributor rhipe and Japan Business Systems, a 29-year-old Microsoft partner, formed a joint venture in Japan. JBS will own 20% of the joint-venture, and will take on responsibility for local personnel, office space, localisation, market knowledge and operational support at launch. rhipe will own the other 80%, taking responsibility for business planning, market launch and back-office operations, as well as use of rhipe's platform for recurring subscription management. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“The announcement of this JV with JBS is a significant step in rhipe’s ongoing expansion," said rhipe chief executive Dominic O'Hanlon.
Morrison & Foerster advised rhipe.
Shell India, a subsidiary of Netherlands-based Royal Dutch Shell, disposes of 10% stake in Mahanagar Gas, a state-owned seller and explorer of CNG and piped-cooking gas for Rs. 770Crore ($107.6m).
Shell sold its stake in the open market after GAIL waived off its first right of refusal.
Singapore molecular diagnostics groups INEX Innovations Exchange and Nova Satra, a pioneer in healthcare analytics, agreed to merge their businesses to create INEX Innovate. The deal is valued at $72m.
The combined company will be focused on addressing the unmet need for faster and more accurate diagnostics testing and precision health care for Asian women. The deal is backed by institutional investors including Genting, Enterprise Singapore, and SNS Holdings.
“We are delighted to launch INEX INNOVATE and will continue to work to empower Asian women in the management of their own health through improved access to rapid, accurate diagnosis and technologies. This merger is a strategic step to expedite that ambition." Kane Black, INEX Innovate CEO.
Leading South Australian disability service organizations Novita and Scosa will merge after members of both organizations voted to facilitate the plan. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The move will bring together the two organizations' complementary service offerings to create a unique disability service for South Australia – a single provider that can offer a continuum of support for people living with disability at all stages of life.
"We explored this merger because, at the outset, we believed it would be beneficial to people living with disability in South Australia. This has now been confirmed not only by due diligence but by the ongoing support this proposal has received from the members, Boards, staff, and families of both organizations." Greg Ward, Novita CEO.
Goldman Sachs seeks approval to acquire a majority stake in China banking JV. (FS)
Goldman Sachs Group sought regulatory approval to buy a majority stake in its investment banking joint venture in China, following rivals including UBS Group and setting the stage for eventually gaining full control.
Goldman has applied to boost its stake in Goldman Sachs Gao Hua Securities to 51% from 33%, a spokesman said. Beijing Gao Hua Securities, controlled by businessman Fang Fenglei and Legend Holdings, currently owns 67% of the JV, which focuses on equity and debt capital markets and mergers advisory.
ITC considers buying a stake in Coffee Day Enterprises.
ITC, India's biggest cigarette maker, considers buying a stake in Coffee Day Enterprises. The maker of Classic and Gold Flake cigarettes has been given access to Coffee Day's assets and financial for due diligence. ITC could be vying with Coca-Cola, which has evaluated India's biggest cafe chain but hasn't made a formal offer, Bloomberg reported.
Humbled Noble Group considers rebuilding its LNG, energy businesses.
Noble Group Holdings plans to rebuild its liquefied natural gas and core energy businesses and develop rare earth as it seeks a new life as a niche, Asia-focused commodity trader, Reuters reported.
"We have enough credit lines to expand the LNG business. In our restructuring, we made sure we had ample credit facilities, so we could build the business that we lost," one senior executive with the company, which took over assets of the under-liquidation Noble Group said.
East Ventures closes sixth fund at $75m. (FS)
Southeast Asian venture capital firm East Ventures announced the close of its sixth fund at $75m, more than double the initial $30m target.
East Ventures' latest fund is backed by high net-worth individuals including Wang Xing, Meituan-Dianping CEO, Eduardo Saverin, Facebook co-founder, and Kaling Lim, Razer co-founder.
"It is important to the ecosystem that the value creation velocity matches with valuation expectations, and this will translate to how our fund performs for our stakeholders — founders, business partners, and LPs. What matters to us is to be known as the best performing fund instead of the biggest fund in Southeast Asia." Willson Cuaca, East Ventures managing partner.
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