AMERICAS
Cboe Global Markets, an exchange holding company, agreed to acquire MATCHNow, a provider of equities alternative trading system, from Virtu Financial, a provider of financial services. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2020, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
"MATCHNow offers an innovative equities platform, pioneering spirit and customer-first approach that are complementary with Cboe's equities business. This is a highly strategic acquisition that enables us to expand into a new key geography and strengthens our position as a global leader in providing innovative solutions and technology to enhance our customers' trading experience. With our US and European presence covering many of the world's largest equities marketplaces, we are excited to enter the Canadian market," Ed Tilly, Cboe Global Markets Chairman, President and CEO.
Virtu Financial is advised by RBC Capital Markets and Borden Ladner Gervais.
Huntsman, an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of chemical products, completed the acquisition of CVC Thermoset Specialties, a North American specialty chemical manufacturer serving the industrial composites, adhesives and coatings markets, from Emerald Performance Materials, a manufacturer of fine & speciality chemicals, for $300m.
"This acquisition provides unique technology, cost efficiency, an expanded customer base, and greater shareholder value. We look forward to continuing to expand through transactions such as this," Peter Huntsman, Huntsman Chairman, President and CEO.
Huntsman was advised by Kirkland & Ellis.
Genstar Capital-backed Prometheus Group, a global provider of asset management operations and optimization software, agreed to acquire VIZIYA, a developer of enterprise asset management software, from Quarterhill, a Canadian public technology holding company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Prometheus is one of the rare companies that are able to grow and expand during this challenging time. It is encouraging that Genstar's approach to helping its portfolio companies source and complete add-on acquisitions can be successful in this environment. Genstar is excited to continue to support Prometheus in the combination of these two strong companies. Eric and his team are continuing to build this business and create an even stronger company that provides its customers with an enhanced set of solutions," Eli Weiss, Genstar Capital Managing Director.
Prometheus Group is advised by Chris Tofalli.
Koch Industries, an American multinational corporation, agreed to invest $200m in Amherst's single-family rental business.
The deal will boost Amherst's capacity for buying houses to $2bn, based on a roughly 80% loan-to-value ratio. The deal could also provide synergies between Amherst and Koch's consumer and building products arm, which includes manufacturers of carpeting, glass, insulation, shingles, wallboard and lighting systems. Amherst, which operates roughly 22k homes, could use Koch products when renovating homes or use the relationship to build a supply chain for developing purpose-built rental homes.
American Institutes for Research, a behavioural and social science research organization, completed the acquisition of IMPAQ, a global policy research and analytics firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"I look forward to working with the outstanding staff of both organizations as we continue our mission-focused work and champion the use of evidence to build a better, more equitable world," David Myers, AIR President and CEO.
Adams Resources & Energy, a crude oil, natural gas and liquid chemical products company, agreed to acquire CTL Transportation, a liquid bulk chemical carrier, from Comcar Industries, a transportation and logistics company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We are pleased to enter into this strategic transaction given its key benefits on multiple fronts. The acquisition will allow us to grow the size of Service Transport's collective fleet of both tractors and trailers by more than 50%, as well as expand our operating footprint into four new important markets. Finally, the transaction offers a compelling valuation for our shareholders and will be immediately accretive to earnings," Kevin J. Roycraft, Adams CEO.
Nasdaq considers tightening listing rules.
Nasdaq is set to unveil new restrictions on IPOs, a move that will make it harder for some Chinese companies to debut on its stock exchange, Reuters reported. While Nasdaq will not cite Chinese companies specifically in the changes, the move is being driven mainly by concerns about some of the Chinese IPO hopefuls' lack of accounting transparency and close ties to powerful insiders.
At a time of escalating tensions between the United States and China over trade, technology and the spread of the novel coronavirus, Nasdaq's new curbs on Chinese IPOs represent the latest flashpoint in the financial relationship between the world's two largest economies.
Dyal Capital eyes fund to buy NBA team stakes. (FS)
The National Basketball Association enlisted Dyal Capital Partners to raise a vehicle that will acquire minority interests in teams in the league, part of a growing effort by owners to capitalize on the soaring valuation of pro-sports organizations, according to Bloomberg.
The firm plans to hire sports investing professionals to aid the effort, but it's unclear how much money it will seek to raise.
Moderna seeks to raise $1.3bn through a share sale. (FS)
Moderna plans to raise as much as $1.3bn through a sale of shares to fund manufacturing of a coronavirus vaccine seen as one of the frontrunners in the race for immunization against the widening pandemic.
The US biotechnology firm will sell 17.6m shares priced at $76 apiece.
Morgan Stanley is the sole book-running manager for the offering that allows underwriters to buy an additional 2.6m shares.
Capital Returns Management asked Watford to sell itself. (FS)
Capital Returns Management, an investment firm, asked Watford Holdings to hire an investment bank and consider selling itself as the reinsurer’s stock has lost more than half of its value since January and lags its peers.
"The best course of action, I suspect is for the company to be sold, possibly to a runoff specialist, or alternatively, to forgo its ratings and self administer its runoff," Ronald Bobman, Capital Returns Management Principal.
Daniel Kretinsky discloses a stake in Foot Locker. (FS)
Daniel Kretinsky, the Czech billionaire who invested in Macy’s earlier this month, disclosed that he also bought shares in another beaten-down US retailer Foot Locker.
Kretinsky’s Vesa Equity Investment acquired 6% of the company’s common shares. His stake in the New York-based sneaker store chain has a current market value of about $169m.
JP Morgan names new investment banking heads. (People)
Financial News reported that JP Morgan named new heads across its mergers and acquisitions, equity capital markets and leveraged finance team.
Guillermo Baygual, who co-heads the bank's coverage of various industries for its investment bank in EMEA, has also been named co-head of M&A for the region alongside Dwayne Lysaght. In ECM, Aloke Gupte and Alex Watkins will become co-heads of EMEA.
In the US, the bank has named Marco Caggiano and Chris Roop as co-heads of North American M&A and Jared Kaye and John Purcell as co-heads of its advisory business for financial institutions in the region.
BDT Capital raises $9.1bn for its largest private equity fund. (FS)
Chicago-based investment firm BDT Capital Partners raised c. $9.1bn in total capital commitments for its third private equity fund, BDT Capital Partners Fund 3 LP. The fund has a mandate to invest in family-owned and entrepreneurial businesses.
BDT Capital was advised by Cravath Swaine & Moore.
EIG Global Energy Partners raised $1.1bn for its new fund. (FS)
EIG Global Energy Partners announced the successful final close of EIG Global Project Fund V with total commitments of $1.1bn, nearly 50% higher than the fund's $750m target. EIG also raised an additional $1.5bn of commitments in the form of separately managed accounts that will invest alongside GPF V.
"We are pleased to close GPF V with continued support from our sophisticated global investor base. Our fundraising success in the current environment is a strong testament to our investors' enduring trust in our ability to identify and execute on attractive opportunities across the global energy and infrastructure value chain. Capital is oxygen to the energy industry, and GPF V is poised to help meet the robust capital demand for energy and infrastructure projects. In a time of tremendous upheaval, our proven capital-raising and origination capabilities and our global platform position us well for the future," R. Blair Thomas, EIG CEO.
EIG was advised by Kirkland & Ellis.
Cowen Healthcare raised $493m for the third fund. (FS)
Cowen Healthcare Investments, a private healthcare investment strategy within the investment management division of Cowen, completed fundraising for Cowen Healthcare Investments III with $493m, $93m above the fund’s original target. CHI received commitments from existing and new investors, including institutional investors, family offices, and high net worth individuals.
“Investing in premier life sciences companies could not be more critical than it is today. We are extremely optimistic about the prospects of this industry to address urgent, unmet medical needs, and in doing so to transform the lives of patients and their families. We feel privileged to be able to partner with exceptional management teams and like-minded investors to help build the next generation of world-class, innovative healthcare companies," Kevin Raidy, CHI Managing Partner.
EMEA
TowerBrook Capital Partners, an international investment management firm, completed a €100m ($109m) investment in CarTrawler, a B2B provider of car rental and mobility solutions.
"We welcome the opportunity to support a business that employs hundreds of people and provides a valuable service to the travel industry. The lockdown measures implemented in response to Covid-19 have presented enormous challenges, even for well managed and attractively positioned companies like CarTrawler. However, the company's value proposition is, if anything, even more relevant post-Covid-19 than before. CarTrawler's management, breadth of relationships and positioning provide an excellent platform to serve its customers and achieve its long-term growth ambitions as the travel market recovers," Gordon Holmes, TowerBrook Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer.
CarTrawler was advised by Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Liberty Corporate Finance, PJT Partners, Kirkland & Ellis, McCann FitzGerald and Powerscourt. Towerbrook is advised by Alvarez & Marsal, Boston Consulting Group, Morgan Stanley, Matheson, Sidley Austin and Brunswick Group.
The board of directors of Georgia Capital agreed on the terms of the recommended tender offer for Georgia Healthcare Group, a provider of healthcare services and medical insurance. Under the terms of the offer, GHG shareholders will receive one Georgia Capital share for every 5 GHG shares held.
"I am pleased to announce the Offer for Georgia Healthcare Group Shares. The board believes Georgia Healthcare Group represents an attractive and unique opportunity to participate in the continued profitable growth of the healthcare sector in Georgia. We believe an investment in Georgia Capital is an attractive way for Georgia Healthcare Group investors to retain exposure to the Georgian healthcare sector, while also gaining exposure to the wider Georgian economy and having the opportunity to participate in further growth and share in the significant benefits of an enlarged Georgia Capital," Irakli Gilauri, Georgia Capital Chair and CEO.
Georgia Capital is advised by Numis Securities and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. GHG is advised by Investec and Baker McKenzie.
Sunrise Communications and Salt Mobile, two Swiss telecommunications providers, agreed to form a $3.1bn joint venture. The company will be named Swiss Open Fiber and will provide broadband connectivity services through an FTTH platform.
"We are excited to embark on this joint venture which will accelerate ultrafast broadband connectivity and significantly improve fiber penetration in Switzerland relative to other European countries. This platform is open and transparent to the market, and we are extremely happy to have secured Marc Furrer, the most distinguished expert in the domestic market, to chair Swiss Open Fiber," André Krause, Sunrise CEO.
Sunrise Communication is advised by Morgan Stanley. Salt Mobile is advised by Lazard.
"This investment during these uncertain times is proof of the fantastic job our teams have done. It validates the strength of our vision for the next 5 years and extends our global leadership in experience analytics at a time when these capabilities are critical to all businesses. We have the ambition to accelerate the world's digital transformation, by unlocking a full understanding of online behaviors," Jonathan Cherki, Contentsquare Founder and CEO.
Contentsquare was advised by Wildfire PR.
Dutch bank NIBC agreed to pay its 2019 dividend to its proposed buyer, The Blackstone Group, before the deal settles, in order to remove one hurdle to the proposed $1.5bn takeover.
NIBC said in April it would delay payment of its 2019 final dividend amid the coronavirus outbreak, following guidance from the Dutch Central Bank. That prompted Blackstone to warn that the special purpose company it had set up for the intended offer for NIBC might not have sufficient funding to complete the acquisition. Blackstone also said regulatory hang-ups could jeopardize the deal.
Thyssenkrupp considers selling a big part of its steel business.
Thyssenkrupp could sell most of its steelmaking division, its CEO said, marking a historic reversal in strategy for the German conglomerate. The steel business, the second-biggest in Europe by sales, is reeling from weakening demand, cheap Chinese imports and a botched attempt to merge it with the European division of Tata Steel, a deal blocked on antitrust concerns. Shares in Thyssenkrupp have lost nearly two-thirds of their value over the past 12 months after a raft of profit warnings and due to dwindling investor confidence.
"Nothing is off-limits anymore. We are drawing on the full range of options. That means all forms of consolidation are being looked at, including mergers, takeovers, us acquiring peers, and us developing the unit independently," Martina Merz, Thyssenkrupp CEO.
Advent-backed Cobham considers sale of Axell. (FS)
Its previous customers have included the developers of the Shard, the City skyscraper; Dubai's Burj Khlaifa and underground transport systems in Beijing and Singapore.
KKR-backed Casual Dining Group set to appoint administrators. (FS)
PE News reported that KKR-backed Casual Dining Group, the owner of Café Rouge, Las Iguanas and Bella Italia, is preparing to call in administrators as the restaurant industry reels from the coronavirus pandemic.
The notice of intent has been filed to protect the company and its employees from potential legal action, including by landlords, while the group reviews the detail of the government advice and formulates a plan, a CDG spokesperson said.
DBAG closes new fund at €1.1bn. (FS)
Deutsche Beteiligungs closed the fundraising for DBAG Fund VIII, with over €1.1bn ($1.2bn) in commitments. New investors have been accepted in recent weeks following the first round of subscriptions in December 2019. The volume raised slightly exceeded the company's original target.
"The new fund will secure our financial capacity to act for many years to come – which is particularly advantageous in the current market situation," Torsten Grede, DBAG CEO.
Actera raises over $650m so far for latest fund targeting $1.25bn. (FS)
PE News reported that Turkish private equity firm Actera Group raised $659m for its third fund. The firm has been on the road since launching the buyout fund in 2018 with a target of $1.25bn.
Actera is seeking to raise a dollar-denominated fund in a turbulent period for the country, when the lira has been particularly vulnerable. Earlier this month, the Turkish lira slid to its lowest level in two years, holding back international investors.
Sony, a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, offered to acquire all remaining shares in Sony Financial Holdings, a holding company for Sony's financial services business, for $3.7bn.
The deal will allow the Japanese electronics and entertainment giant to strengthen its presence in the fintech field to compete with global tech majors.
Sony Financial Holdings is advised by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. Sony is advised by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Plutus Consulting, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu and Oh-Ebashi.
Adaptas Solutions, a provider of mass spectrometry and analytical instrument contract design and manufacturing, completed the acquisition of L3Harris' Applied Kilovolts and Analytical Instrumentation business. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We are excited to complete the addition of these highly strategic assets which immediately expand our mass spectrometer component offerings and further establish Adaptas as a leading provider of components, subassemblies, and contract manufacturing to the global analytical instrumentation market. With the CeraMAXTM and Applied Kilovolts business units now a part of Adaptas, we look forward to continuing our commitment to driving market-leading innovation in the mass spectrometry market and to begin leveraging our new manufacturing presence in Europe to best support global OEM customers," Jay Ray, Adaptas Solutions President and CEO.
Nomura plans new growth from private equity, private debt and startups. (FS)
Nomura, Japan's biggest brokerage and investment bank, is seeking new growth in private equity, private debt and infrastructure, as well as in offerings of digital bonds and security tokens, aiming to diversify revenue after quarterly earnings took a battering from the coronavirus pandemic.
"To achieve sustainable growth, I have to take Nomura to a different dimension. How do we get there? Strengthening our expansion from public to private is the strategy," Kentaro Okuda, Nomura Chief Executive.
InterGlobe Enterprises pulls out of Virgin Australia bid. (FS)
IndiGo promoter Rahul Bhatia-controlled InterGlobe Enterprises has not made it to the final list of bidders for Virgin Australia Holdings.
Bain Capital, BGH Capital, US-based private equity fund Indigo Partners and Cyrus Capital Partners were the four potential bidders shortlisted by the administrators of Virgin Australia, DealStreetAsia reported.
Fidelity International to set up China mutual fund unit. (FS)
Fidelity International, the US asset management giant, applied to set up a wholly-owned mutual fund unit in China, taking a significant step toward tapping the country’s retail fund market. Fidelity applied to China’s securities regulator after Beijing scrapped foreign ownership caps in the mutual fund sector on April 1.
“The application for a mutual fund license is an important milestone in our China strategy,” Daisy Ho, Fidelity International China President.
Kookmin considers acquiring a controlling stake in Bank Bukopin. (FS)
Kookmin Bank, a South Korean bank, plans to take a controlling stake in Bank Bukopin, Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority said in a statement, noting the mid-sized lender needed to strengthen its capital and liquidity. OJK added that it backed the plan, but it still required to meet regulatory requirements.
The regulator did not provide financial details or specify whether Kookmin would acquire the stake from existing shareholders or if Bukopin would issue new shares.
MBK Partners raised $6.5bn for its fifth North Asia buyout fund. (FS)
MBK Partners, a North Asia-focused private equity firm, closed its fifth buyout fund at its $6.5bn hard cap, DealStreetAsia reported. Over 80 limited partners were said to have committed to the vehicle.
MBK Partners Fund V had earlier secured capital commitments from US pension funds including Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System, Virginia Retirement System, San Francisco City & Country Employees’ Retirement System, New Jersey State Investment Council, Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association, Texas Employees Retirement System and Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund.
CDH Investments raised $824m for venture and growth capital unit. (FS)
CDH Investments, a Chinese alternative investment specialist, announced that its venture and growth capital unit, CDH Venture and Growth Capital, raked in about $824m for an RMB fund and a USD fund, DealStreetAsia reported.
Minor seeks $782m in funding.
Thailand's Minor International, which operates brands such as Marriott and Four Seasons, plans to raise a total of $782m through perpetual bonds, a rights issue and 3-year warrants.
"Amidst the adverse impact on its operations from the global Covid-19 pandemic, Minor International is taking a proactive approach to ensure its ability to service its obligations and to maintain its commitment to the quality of the balance sheet," Minor International spokesperson.
|
