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AMERICAS
T-Mobile, a mobile telecommunication company, agreed to acquire wireless operations and select spectrum assets of UScellular, a mobile network operator company, and TDS, an American telecommunications company, for $4.4bn.
"This deal will create opportunity for T-Mobile to bring millions of UScellular customers lower prices and the Un-carrier's superior value on our best-in-class nationwide 5G network, offering much needed choice and more real competition across the wireless industry. Bringing together UScellular's network resources with ours will enable us to fill gaps in connectivity that will create a better experience for all of our customers with more coverage and more capacity. And this is just some of the goodness this deal will bring. This will be a real win for consumers across the US," Mike Sievert, T-Mobile CEO.
T-Mobile is advised by Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Morgan Stanley and DLA Piper. UScellular is advised by PJT Partners, Clifford Chance, Cravath Swaine & Moore and Wilkinson Barker Knauer. TDS is advised by Centerview Partners, Citigroup, TD Securities, Wells Fargo Securities and Sidley Austin.
Vista Outdoor, an American designer, manufacturer, and marketer of outdoor sports and recreation products, announced that the Czechoslovak Group raised its price for Vista's sporting goods business from $1.91bn to $1.96bn.
"This is an important strategic step for our company in creating value through separating our Outdoor Products and Sporting Products segments. The previously announced plan to separate our businesses has positioned us to execute seamlessly on this transaction, which we believe is the best path to maximize value for our stockholders, while better positioning Sporting Products and Outdoor Products for future success," Gary McArthur, Vista Outdoor Interim CEO.
CSG is advised by JP Morgan and Clifford Chance. Vista Outdoor is advised by Moelis & Co, Morgan Stanley, Cravath Swaine & Moore (led by Aaron Gruber), Gibson Dunn & Crutcher (led by Jonathan Layne) and Joele Frank (led by Matthew Sherman).
Riot Platforms, a Bitcoin mining and digital infrastructure company, offered to acquire Bitfarms, a global Bitcoin mining company, for $950m.
"A combination of Bitfarms and Riot would create the premier and largest publicly listed Bitcoin miner globally, with geographically diversified operations well-positioned for long-term growth. We were disappointed to learn that the Bitfarms Board rejected our compelling Proposal without engaging in substantive dialogue with us. While we have long respected Bitfarms’ business and management team, we are confident that Bitfarms’ shareholders will agree that this Proposal represents a significantly more attractive alternative for Bitfarms than its standalone trajectory," Benjamin Yi, Riot Executive Chairman.
Riot Platforms is advised by Citigroup, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg, Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, Longacre Square Partners (led by Dan Zacchei) and Okapi Partners (led by Bruce Goldfarb).
Energy Transfer, which owns and operates one of the largest and most diversified portfolios of energy assets in the United States, agreed to acquire WTG Midstream, a privately held midstream company headquartered in Midland, Texas, from Stonepeak, the Davis Estate and Diamondback Energy for $3.25bn.
WTG’s extensive system processes significant volumes from large cap investment grade producers with firm, long-term contracts and acreage dedications. The addition of WTG assets is expected to provide Energy Transfer with increased access to growing supplies of natural gas and NGL volumes enhancing the partnership’s Permian operations and downstream businesses.
WTG Midstream is advised by Jefferies & Company and Sidley Austin. Energy Transfer is advised by RBC Capital Markets and Vinson & Elkins.
Atlantic Union, the holding company for Atlantic Union Bank, completed the acquisition of American National Bankshares, a multi-state bank holding company, for $417m.
“American National is a high-quality community bank with an exceptional 114-year history, a strong core deposit base and outstanding asset quality. This is a company and leadership team we have long admired and know well, and the relationship between our two banks spans decades. We expect that our combined footprint will bring additional convenience to our customers and position us as an even stronger competitor against the large national, super-regional and smaller community banks. Increasing our presence in Roanoke and entering Southside Virginia will further build out our Virginia franchise and the transaction will also allow us to gain meaningful entry into North Carolina’s attractive Piedmont Triad region and Raleigh. With a more diversified deposit base, expected synergies and enhanced growth market opportunities, we believe the combined franchise will be able to generate a higher level of financial performance for our shareholders,” John C. Asbury, Atlantic Union President and CEO.
American National Bankshares was advised by Keefe Bruyette & Woods (led by Scott Anderson) and Williams Mullen. Atlantic Union was advised by Piper Sandler and Covington & Burling (led by Rusty Conner).
Bernhard Capital Partners, a services and infrastructure-focused private equity management firm, completed the acquisition of Apogee, a government technology solutions provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We are excited to have found a new home for our company and team in Bernhard Capital, a high-quality private equity sponsor that will accelerate Apogee's business strategy and build on our legacy of delivering critical technology solutions to government clients. I am incredibly proud of the entire Apogee team and grateful for their dedication to being a first-class government services business. We are confident that Apogee will have a strong owner in BCP and are excited about the next stage of growth as part of BCP's government services platform," Frank Varga, Apogee CEO.
Apogee was advised by Auxo Partners and growth[period]. Bernhard Capital was advised by Joele Frank (led by Ed Trissel).
Nordson, an innovative precision technology company, agreed to acquire Atrion, a manufacturer of medical devices and components, for $800m.
“Over nearly 15 years, Nordson has built a strong medical portfolio through organic and acquisitive growth. This attractive end market has several long-term secular growth drivers, including aging of the population, increasing healthcare spending and procedures, adopting of minimally-invasive surgical techniques, continuing innovation and medical OEM outsourcing. We have long admired Atrion’s technology portfolio, and today’s announcement represents a step forward in expanding our medical offerings for our customers. Leveraging our NBS Next growth framework and medical business expertise, we see significant operational synergies, while supporting the long-term growth of the business,” Sundaram Nagarajan, Nordson President and CEO.
Atrion is advised by Truist Securities and A&O Shearman. Nordson is advised by Morgan Stanley and Davis Polk & Wardwell.
PrecisionX, a provider of precision metal components and mechanical assemblies, agreed to acquire National Manufacturing, a provider of specialty deep and shallow drawn stamping. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“We believe National is well-positioned at the forefront of the deep and shallow drawn specialty stamping space following decades of providing differentiated technical capabilities and outstanding customer service. We will continue to work to expand our presence in high-growth, technically demanding end markets, including medical and aerospace & defense, through execution of both organic and inorganic growth initiatives,” Matthew Puglisi, CORE Partner.
CORE Industrial Partners is advised by BackBay Communications (led by Jeremy Milner).
TransDigm, a global designer, producer and supplier of highly engineered aircraft components, agreed to acquire Raptor Scientific, a global manufacturer of complex test and measurement solutions primarily serving the aerospace and defense end markets, from L Squared Capital Partners, a private equity firm, for $655m.
"We are excited about the acquisition of Raptor Scientific. The Company's comprehensive proprietary and highly engineered product portfolio of aerospace and defense testing and instrumentation solutions fits well with our value generation strategy. Raptor Scientific's test and measurement solutions are used on a diverse range of new and existing aircraft platforms, and the Company has an outstanding reputation with its customers. As with all TransDigm acquisitions, we expect this acquisition to create equity value in-line with our long-term private equity-like return objectives," Kevin Stein, TransDigm President and CEO.
Adam Neumann ends bid to buy WeWork.
Adam Neumann has ended his bid to re-acquire WeWork as the coworking business he co-founded has chosen to emerge from bankruptcy with an "unrealistic" plan, he told the New York Times Dealbook on May 28.
Earlier this year, Neumann's new real estate venture, Flow Global, had submitted a bid of more than $500m to take over WeWork and its assets, Reuters reported.
"For several months, we tried to work constructively with WeWork to create a strategy that would allow it to thrive," Neumann said in his statement to DealBook.
PayPal is planning an ad business using data on its millions of shoppers.
PayPal hopes to boost its growth by starting an ad network juiced with something it already owns: data on its millions of users, WSJ reported.
The digital payments company plans to build an ad sales business around the reams of data it generates from tracking the purchases as well as the broader spending behaviors of millions of consumers who use its services, which include the more socially-enabled Venmo app.
Novelis targets up to $12.6bn valuation in US IPO.
Novelis, owned by Indian billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla's Hindalco Industries is targeting a valuation of up to $12.6bn in its IPO in the US, Reuters reported.
The US IPO market has shown positive indications of a turnaround in 2024, after two sub par years, on hopes of rate cuts in the second half of the year and a soft landing for the economy.
EQT-backed Waystar seeks as much as $1.04bn in IPO. (FS)
Health care payments software maker Waystar Holding is seeking to raise as much as $1.04bn in an IPO that would be among the year’s biggest, Bloomberg reported.
Waystar, whose backers include EQT and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, is offering 45m shares for $20 to $23 each. Waystar’s investors also include Bain Capital and Francisco Partners and their affiliates, each of which controls 5% or more of the company’s shares, according to its filings.
EMEA
Energy Capital Partners, an American investment firm, agreed to acquire Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure, a sustainable infrastructure company that owns a diversified portfolio of contracted renewable energy, storage, efficient natural gas, electric transmission and water assets, for $2.56bn.
“We expect to continue executing on our growth strategy as a private company with the support of our new partners. ECP has a long track record and expertise in the sustainable infrastructure sector and, together with its global co-investors, will enhance Atlantica’s ability to finance and deliver growth while maintaining our focus on safety, sustainability and value creation,” Santiago Seage, Atlantica CEO.
Atlantica is advised by Citigroup and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom. Energy Capital Partners is advised by Barclays, Morgan Stanley, Latham & Watkins (led by David Kurzweil) and FGS Global (led by Nick Rust). Algonquin is advised by JP Morgan and Weil Gotshal and Manges.
Johnson & Johnson, an American multinational pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical technologies corporation, agreed to acquire Yellow Jersey Therapeutics, which holds assets relating to NM26, an investigational first-in-class bi-specific antibody for the treatment of atopic dermatitis, from Numab Therapeutics, a developer of immunotherapies for inflammation and cancer, for $1.25bn.
“We are thrilled to enter into this agreement with J&J and are confident they will be able to rapidly advance the development of NM26 for patients in need of a better treatment for atopic dermatitis and other conditions,” David Urech, Numab Founder and CEO.
Numab is advised by Centerview Partners, Morgan Stanley, Baker McKenzie, Lyra Strategic Advisory (led by Julia Deutsch) and Meru Advisors (led by Patrick Till).
Bunzl, the specialist international distribution and services group, completed the acquisition of an 80% stake in Nisbets, an omni-channel distributor of catering equipment and consumables, for £339m ($432m).
"The acquisition of Nisbets is an exciting step for Bunzl. Andrew Nisbet has built a high-quality business, with a well-respected management team. The business is complementary to our operations in the catering equipment sector and will enhance our own brand offering and digital capabilities," Frank van Zanten, Bunzl CEO.
Asahi Kasei, a multinational Japanese chemicals company, agreed to acquire Calliditas Therapeutics, a commercial stage biopharmaceutical company, for $1.1bn.
The acceptance period of the offer is expected to commence on or around July 18, 2024 and expire on or around August 30, 2024, subject to any extensions.
ABN AMRO, a Dutch banking company, agreed to acquire Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe, a German private bank, from Fosun International, a Chinese multinational conglomerate holding company, for €672m ($729m).
"I would like to pay tribute to our talented teams, whose efforts have greatly supported the fantastic development of the bank in the last 10 years. The proposed combination with ABN AMRO Germany will strengthen further the position in the market and gives the combined bank more opportunities for growth through even broader products and services to our clients," Michael Bentlage, HAL CEO.
Eficode, an IT service management company, completed the acquisition of Jodocus, the first cloud-native Atlassian Platinum partner in Germany. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Atlassian is moving to the Cloud, and the related know-how is essential to speed up this transition. Jodocus was originally the first Atlassian partner in Germany to focus fully on the Cloud. Their broad expertise in Atlassian tools and cloud migrations helps our customers in their journey to the cloud and complements our mission to build the future of software development," Ilari Nurmi, Eficode CEO.
Royal Mail and Anglo bids face double deadline as UK M&A hits heights.
Bids for two of the UK’s biggest corporate names face a key deadline this week, with Royal Mail’s owner and Anglo American both edging closer to being sold as overseas bidders vie for relatively cheap British companies, FT reported.
UK regulations set a deadline for bidders to make a firm offer or walk away. For both companies, this latest milestone is the end of the day on Wednesday. Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský is in talks to acquire Royal Mail owner International Distribution Services in a £5bn ($6.4bn) deal, while Australian mining group BHP is attempting to seal a £39bn ($50bn) takeover of Anglo American. The offer date can be extended only at the request of the target company.
Troubled Revolution Bars rejects bid from rival Nightcap.
Revolution Bars has rejected a proposed offer from rival Nightcap - describing its bid as "incapable of being delivered", Sky News reported.
The troubled chain, which also runs Revolucion de Cuba and Peach Pubs, launched a sale process and significant restructuring plans last month amid efforts to stay afloat - including £12.5m ($16m) in fundraising and closing 18 venues.
DoValue nears €450m financing accord in Elliott deal. (FS)
Italian financial services specialist DoValue is close to an accord with a pool of banks for about €450m ($489m) in credit facilities, a key step to finalize a combination with Elliott Investment Management’s Gardant servicing unit, Bloomberg reported.
DoValue is in late-stage talks with lenders about the funding, which will include a revolving credit facility of as much as €100m ($108m). The firm plans to use the funds to finance the cash part of Gardant’s purchase price and repay a bond due next year.
Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies acquires $1bn performing senior mortgage loan portfolio from Deutsche Pfandbriefbank. (FS)
Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies acquired a $1bn performing senior mortgage loan portfolio from leading German lender Deutsche Pfandbriefbank. The portfolio of senior mortgage loans was originated by PBB.
"We are excited to acquire this diversified portfolio of performing loans across property sectors and geographies, on behalf of our BREDS investors. We have established ourselves as a trusted counterparty for financial institutions, such as PBB, as they look to optimise their balance sheets. This transaction reflects our expertise, strong relationships, and our ability to deploy scale capital with speed and certainty," Steve Plavin, Blackstone Senior Managing Director.
Saudi Arabia to raise $10bn to $20bn in fresh Aramco stock sale.
Saudi Arabia is likely to announce as soon as this week plans to sell $10bn to $20bn worth of stock in Aramco, its crown jewel and the world’s most valuable oil company, WSJ reported.
The long-awaited offering, if it proceeds, would alleviate near-term pressure on the kingdom to raise funds. Saudi Arabia has a slew of mega projects including a new city and a global airline, all aimed at diversifying the economy beyond oil. The country supersized a $12bn debt sale earlier this year and has transferred billions from its foreign-currency reserves to its sovereign-wealth fund.
Agriculture lender Oxbury strikes £100m deal with UK state bank.
A specialist lender to the agricultural sector has secured a fresh £100m ($127m) loan guarantee from the UK’s economic development bank, Sky News reported.
Oxbury Bank, which focuses on lending to farmers, food producers and the rural economy, has signed a new deal with the British Business Bank that will be announced within days. The new deal includes a feature stipulating that lending activity which meets environmental, social and governance criteria will be eligible for reduced pricing.
Troubled landlord SBB chips away at $5.6bn debt pile. (FS)
Struggling landlord SBB struck a second financing deal with investment firm Castlelake as it seeks to stave off a funding crunch that underscores the still precarious state of Sweden’s commercial real estate industry, Bloomberg reported.
Over the weekend, Samhallsbyggnadsbolaget i Norden said it would get a cash injection of SEK5.7bn ($535m) having created a joint venture with Castlelake that allows it to shift properties off its books in return for cash. The arrangement with the US firm follows similar transactions with Morgan Stanley and Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management.
Edtech firm seeks $515m in Abu Dhabi’s first IPO of 2024.
Abu Dhabi-based Alef Education’s shareholders are looking to raise as much as AED1.89bn ($515m) in an IPO that will be the first in the United Arab Emirates’ capital this year, Bloomberg reported.
The price range was set at AED1.30 ($0.35) to AED1.35 ($0.37) per share. Tech Nova Investment – Sole Proprietorship and Kryptonite Investments are offering 1.4bn shares, or a 20% stake, in the edtech firm.
Nordic Capital’s Sunrise seeks €240m in Frankfurt listing. (FS)
German wheelchair maker Sunrise Medical is looking to raise €240m ($261m) in fresh capital from an IPO in Frankfurt, as the country’s first-time share sale market rebounds, Bloomberg reported.
The company announced its intention to list in the summer with plans to issue new shares to qualified investors. Its shareholder Cidron Liberty Systems, which is controlled by Swedish investment firm Nordic Capital, also plans to sell some existing shares. A listing may value Sunrise Medical at about €2bn ($2.17bn).
McLaren revs up board with appointment of former Rolls-Royce chief. (People)
The British supercar maker McLaren Group has bolstered its board with a trio of appointments including the former boss of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Sky News reported.
Torsten Muller-Otvos was recruited as a non-executive director of the Surrey-based company earlier this month. Chaired by the former Diageo chief Paul Walsh, McLaren has also recruited Pierre-Yves Roussel, chief executive of the American luxury lifestyle brand Tory Burch, and Dennis Nobelius, a former Volvo Cars executive.
APAC
A group of minority holders of life insurer Great Eastern Holdings are resisting the SGD1.4bn ($1bn) takeover bid from OCBC, opening a new front in a longstanding fight between shareholder activists and Singapore’s second-largest lender, Bloomberg reported.
The price is well above the price before the announcement, but some shareholders point to a 30% discount against Great Eastern’s embedded value, a metric that’s been used to value insurance firms elsewhere. By that measure, it is half the valuation the bank used in its last attempt to take full ownership of the company.
OCBC is advised by JP Morgan and Allen & Gledhill.
KKR-SingTel consortium frontrunner to buy $1bn stake in data centre provider. (FS)
A consortium of US firm KKR and Singapore Telecommunications has emerged as the frontrunner to buy a minority stake worth $1bn in one of Asia's biggest data centre providers, Reuters reported.
The potential investment in STT Telemedia Global Data Centres reflects growing interest and demand for data centres across Asia Pacific as nations and companies respond to the boom in artificial intelligence.
Vanke sells headquarters project for $309m. (RE)
China Vanke, a large residential real estate developer in China, sold an unfinished property project once designated as its new headquarters to buyers including a major shareholder, the developer’s latest effort to divest assets and boost liquidity, Bloomberg reported.
Vanke sold the commercial real estate project in Shenzhen, which spans an area of almost three soccer fields, for CNY2.24bn ($309m), according to an auction result posted Monday at a government-backed land trading center. That’s less than the CNY3.1bn ($428m) it paid for the plot in 2017.
Gaw Capital acquires new land to expand data center portfolio. (FS, RE)
Hong Kong private equity real estate firm Gaw Capital Partners acquired a new Japanese property, expanding the company’s data-center portfolio amid an artificial-intelligence boom, Bloomberg reported.
Gaw Capital has acquired an 11k square meter property in Fuchu Intelligent Park, a data-center cluster, expanding its existing stake in the area, according to a company statement Monday. The property, within 30 kilometers of central Tokyo, will double the scale of data centers in the vicinity making it the largest such facility in Fuchu City in terms of information-technology capacity.
NTT Data Group near offer for Malaysia’s GHL Systems.
A unit of Japanese technology group NTT Data Group is buying a majority stake in Malaysian payments firm GHL Systems, Bloomberg reported.
NTT Data Japan has agreed to buy 58.73% of GHL Systems from some existing shareholders for MYR724m ($154m), or MYR1.08 ($0.23) a share in cash. Following the agreement, NTT Data Japan will need to make a mandatory takeover offer to acquire all of the remaining GHL Systems shares.
Vedanta is said to weigh $1bn share sale soon as June.
Indian commodities tycoon Anil Agarwal’s Vedanya is considering a share sale as soon as the coming weeks that could raise as much as INR85bn ($1bn), Bloomberg reported.
Vedanta is working with advisers including Axis Bank subsidiary Axis Capital and Citigroup on the offering. It has started gauging interest from potential investors including Middle Eastern funds.
Hyundai adds more banks for possible record India IPO. (FS)
Hyundai has brought in Kotak Mahindra Bank and Morgan Stanley as advisers on a potential IPO of its India unit as the automaker considers what might be one of the biggest-ever listings in the South Asian country, Bloomberg reported.
The banks join Citigroup, HSBC and JP Morgan Chase as advisers on the IPO, which could raise about $2.5bn for India’s second-biggest carmaker.
TVM Capital raises $250m for Saudi healthcare fund. (FS)
Dubai- and Singapore- headquartered healthcare private equity firm TVM Capital Healthcare had raised $250m for its fund that focuses on investing in Saudi Arabia's healthcare sector, DealStreetAsia reported.
TVM Capital said among the fund's first investments are Riyadh-based post-acute care and rehabilitation clinics chain Baraya Extended Care, and Amsterdam-based wound care company DEBx Medical that is expanding into Saudi Arabia.
Adani plans push into Indian ecommerce and payments.
India’s Adani Group is in talks to expand into e-commerce and payments as the conglomerate builds a digital business to compete with the likes of Google and Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries in the world’s most populous country, FT reported.
The plans come as the group’s politically well-connected founder Gautam Adani seeks to move on from damaging scandals and diversify his empire into fast-growing consumer-facing markets. Adani has become Asia’s second-richest man by amassing a vast infrastructure and logistics network of ports, airports and power.
UBS signals it’s mostly done cutting Asia jobs after merger.
UBS Group's Asia-Pacific president signaled that most of the bank’s job cuts in the region are over as it nears the official completion of its historic merger with Credit Suisse, Bloomberg reported.
“We have optimized most of the positions both in terms of lines of business and the geography,” Edmund Koh, UBS Asia Pacific president.
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