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AMERICAS
US chipmaker Broadcom is seeking European Union antitrust approval for its $72bn bid for cloud computing company VMware, Reuters reported. The EU competition watchdog will decide by December 20 whether to clear the deal. It can open a four-month investigation if it has serious concerns.
"We are confident that this deal does not present any competition issues and look forward to working with the European Commission throughout this process," Broadcom.
VMware is advised by Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher (led by Barbara Becker and Andrew Kaplan) and FGS Global (led by Paul Kranhold). Financial advisors are advised by Debevoise & Plimpton (led by Jennifer Chu and William Regner) and Sullivan & Cromwell (led by Alison S. Ressler and John L. Savva). Broadcom is advised by Bank of America, Barclays, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo Securities, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, O'Melveny & Myers (led by Adit Khorana), Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz (led by David Karp, Ronald Chen and Viktor Sapezhnikov), Brunswick Group and Joele Frank (led by Joele Frank). Financial advisors are advised by Cooley (led by Ben Beerle). Silver Lake is advised by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett (led by Atif Azher).
Centerbridge, a global, multi-strategy private investment firm, and Bridgeport, a private investment firm, completed the acquisition of Computer Services, a provider of end-to-end fintech and regtech solutions, for $1.6bn.
“As a private company, our goal is to grow organically and expand our product portfolio to best serve the financial services industry. We believe Centerbridge and Bridgeport will support our goals for innovation and share in our commitment to employee satisfaction, community engagement and customer service. We are pleased to have partners that can provide insight and resources to help CSI continue to grow and evolve our capabilities to better serve our customers,” David Culbertson, CSI CEO and President.
Steel Partners Holdings terminated the acquisition of Steel Connect.
Steel Partners Holdings, a diversified holding company, terminated the acquisition of Steel Connect, a supply chain management services provider.
As a result of the termination, Steel Connect will not become a wholly owned subsidiary of Steel Partners and will remain a publicly traded company on NASDAQ under the symbol “STCN”.
The Estée Lauder Companies, an American multinational cosmetics company, agreed to acquire TOM FORD, a luxury fashion house founded by designer Tom Ford in 2005, for $2.8bn.
"We are incredibly proud of the success TOM FORD BEAUTY has achieved in luxury fragrance and makeup and its dedication to creating desirable, high-quality products for discerning consumers around the world. As an owned brand, this strategic acquisition will unlock new opportunities and fortify our growth plans for TOM FORD BEAUTY. It will also further help to propel our momentum in the promising category of luxury beauty for the long-term, while reaffirming our commitment to being the leading pure player in global prestige beauty," Fabrizio Freda, The Estée Lauder Companies President and CEO.
TOM FORD is advised by Goldman Sachs and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom (led by Ann Beth Stebbins). Estée Lauder is advised by Perella Weinberg Partners and Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison.
Majic Wheels, a holding company that operates through its subsidiary companies focused on disruptive industries such as Fintech, Insurtech, software development, and crypto exchange platform, agreed to go public via a SPAC merger with OceanTech Acquisitions I, a special purpose acquisition company, in a $333m deal.
“We are delighted to partner with OceanTech as we continue to grow and make waves in the burgeoning blockchain and Web 3 space. Majic Wheels is truly at an inflection point. Our business strategy and our clear and laser-focused vision has paved the way for Majic Wheels to take advantage of new growth opportunities in our fast-growing industry,” Jeffrey Coats, Majic Wheels Executive Chairman & Chief Strategy Officer.
Majic Wheels is advised by Norton Rose Fulbright. OceanTech is advised by Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough and The Equity Group.
AstraZeneca-backed Alexion, an American pharmaceutical company, completed the acquisition of LogicBio Therapeutics, a genomic medicine company, for $68m.
The acquisition creates an opportunity to accelerate Alexion’s growth in genomic medicines through unique technology, an experienced rare disease R&D team, and expertise in pre-clinical development. Frederic Chereau, CEO of LogicBio, will join Alexion as Senior Vice President, Strategy and Business Development.
British American Tobacco, a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products, completed the $57m investment in Charlotte's Web, a provider of innovative hemp extract wellness products.
"This Investment will provide Charlotte's Web with funding that we anticipate will help unlock deeper and broader research and development that is key to our continued innovation, global footprint, and the advancement of our intellectual property portfolio," Jacques Tortoroli, Charlotte's Web CEO.
Charlotte's Web was advised by Lazard and DLA Piper. BAT was advised by Jones Day (led by Randi Lesnick).
Ermenegildo Zegna Group, an Italian luxury fashion house, agreed to acquire operations of the TOM FORD fashion business necessary to perform its obligations as licensee. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Zegna Group’s ambition is to position TOM FORD among the most respected and successful luxury fashion brands, leveraging the Zegna Group’s platform and capitalizing on the uniqueness of the TOM FORD brand.
LS Power, a development, investment and operating company focused on the North American power and energy infrastructure sector, agreed to acquire a portfolio of 42 run-of-river hydro facilities from Hull Street Energy, a capital market company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"With the addition of this large, geographically diverse, run-of-river hydroelectric portfolio, combined with our existing energy transition platforms, LS Power continues to lead the effort to develop a cleaner, more reliable, and more affordable energy ecosystem," Paul Segal, LS Power CEO.
LS Power is advised by BMO Capital Markets, Scotiabank and Milbank.
Yuga Labs, a web3 company, completed the acquisition of WENEW, an NFT startup. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Figge, Beeple, and the WENEW team have found a way to create a captivating serialized story for web3, while also managing to tap into the passion people have for their digital avatars and customization. Storytelling and world-building are foundational at Yuga and I'm thrilled that we get to work with the creative mind hive at WENEW in a much more robust way. The possibilities of what we can do together are endless," Greg Solano, Yuga Labs Co-Founder.
Achieve Partners, a private equity firm based in New York, completed the acquisition of MasteryPrep, a Baton Rouge-based education tech startup. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"At a time when end-of-course exams are becoming table stakes for high school graduation and accountability, too many students – especially those in under-resourced communities – are still struggling with the severe learning loss caused by the pandemic. MasteryPrep was founded on the belief that with the right support, all students can graduate high school and continue on to postsecondary education. Achieve's backing will enable us to accelerate that mission at a time when new approaches to boost student achievement have never been more important," Craig Gehring, MasteryPrep CEO and Founder.
Choreo, a company that provides investment advisory services, agreed to acquire Cherry Bekaert Wealth Management, an asset management company, from Cherry Bekaert, a financial services provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"This is just the start of our partnership with Cherry Bekaert. Both of our firms live at the intersection of wealth, financial, tax and estate planning. Together we believe we can do an even better job of choreographing our clients' lives. We're elated to welcome our new teammates," Larry Miles, Choreo CEO.
San Francisco Equity Partners, a private equity firm, completed the acquisition of a majority stake in DGS Retail, a provider of décor, signage, fixtures, displays and other critical products. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“DGS has an impressive track record of growth built on strong, long-term relationships with a large and diverse base of national and regional customers. The DGS team has built a broad set of capabilities through both organic growth and synergistic acquisitions, which enable the company to compete and win in a large and extremely fragmented market,” David Mannix, SFEP Partner.
SFEP was advised by Blueshirt Group (led by Jeff Fox).
Kriya Therapeutics, a fully integrated gene therapy company, completed the acquisition of Redpin Therapeutics, a privately held biotechnology company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“Redpin has a built a breakthrough, validated chemogenetics approach that could have significant potential in the targeted treatment of neurological disorders. Kriya Therapeutics is the perfect company to take this leading ion channel-based platform forward and deliver an effective treatment option for patients. We look forward to working with the Kriya team to progress these unique targeted therapies to patients in need as rapidly as possible,” Elma Hawkins, Redpin Therapeutics President, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder.
Redpin was advised by Consilium Strategic Communications (led by Amber Fennell).
Generation Investment Management, a financial services and investment management firm, led a $135m Series D round in WEKA, the global data platform provider for next-generation workloads, with participation from 10D, Atreides Management, Celesta Capital, Gemini Israel Ventures, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Hitachi Ventures, Key1 Capital, Lumir Ventures, Micron Ventures, Mirae Asset Capital, MoreTech Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, NVIDIA, Qualcomm Ventures, and Samsung Catalyst Fund.
The new funding will enable the company's continued investment in developing the WEKA® Data Platform to expand its features and cloud integrations, support new use cases, and accelerate the delivery of innovative solutions to its customers. It will also allow WEKA to reach profitability, fuel significant global expansion, and rapidly scale its cloud, customer success, sales, marketing, operations, and human resources teams.
Ara Partners, a private equity firm, completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Lincoln Terminals, a renewable fuel logistics and infrastructure provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We strongly believe that renewable fuels are critical to accelerate decarbonization of the industrial sector. We have been incredibly impressed with Lincoln's depth of knowledge and experience in renewable fuel infrastructure, and we are thrilled to partner with Larry, Josh and their team to capitalize on the many opportunities that exist in this evolving market," George Yong, Ara Partners Partner and Co-Head of Infrastructure.
SpaceX in talks to raise funds that could value it more than $150bn. (FS)
Elon Musk's SpaceX is in talks to raise a funding round that values the rocket launch and satellite company to more than $150bn, Bloomberg reported.
The transaction being discussed represents a jump from the $125bn valuation the company commanded earlier this year. Terms including the price haven't been finalized and could still change.
Carlyle might acquire Heritage. (FS)
Carlyle Group is in talks about putting together an acquisition offer for Heritage Provider Network, an US urgent care group that has been exploring a sale at a valuation of between $8bn to $10bn.
There is no certainty that a Carlyle-led bid will materialize or that will be attractive enough to clinch a deal with HPN's controlling shareholder Richard Merkin, who is also the company's founder and chief executive.
Elliott completed the acquisition of a 1.5% stake in Clarivate for $94m. (FS)
Elliott Investment Management disclosed a new stake in analytics company Clarivate amid a wave of take-private transactions in the information services sector, Bloomberg reported.
The Florida-based hedge fund said it owned a 1.5% stake in the company, without giving any other details about the nature of the investment. The stake is valued at about $94m, although Elliott often bolsters its positions in companies that it invests in through derivatives.
GTCR seeks $9.5bn for newest main buyout fund. (FS)
Chicago-based firm GTCR is targeting $9.5bn for GTCR Fund XIV, which will take control positions in companies across the healthcare, business services, financial services and technology industries.
The buyout manager is looking to raise a fund that is nearly 27% larger than its predecessor as more institutional investors wrestle with overallocation to private equity.
CAI closes Climate Adaptive Infrastructure Fund at $825m. (FS)
Climate Adaptive Infrastructure, an investment firm that targets control investments in large-scale, low-carbon real assets in the clean energy, water, and urban infrastructure sectors, closed its inaugural fund, Climate Adaptive Infrastructure Fund, raising more than $825m in equity.
The fund attracted an institutional set of global limited partners comprised of endowments, foundations, insurance firms, pensions and superannuation funds, and fund of funds, in addition to prominent family offices and high net-worth individuals.
Energy Impact Partners raises $485m to back clean-energy technologies. (FS)
Energy Impact Partners raised $485m for a new fund to invest in technologies that help reduce carbon emissions, including corporate capital from companies such as software giant Microsoft, pipeline operator Williams and electric utility Duke Energy.
The New York venture-investment firm exceeded its $350m target for EIP Deep Decarbonization Frontier Fund I.
MassMutual Ventures launches $100m climate technology fund. (FS)
MassMutual Ventures launched a new $100m fund to invest in early and growth-stage companies across the US in the climate technology sector, MMV Climate Tech Fund.
"Climate change represents a challenge to the world economy of unprecedented urgency and scale, leaving no industry or business process unaffected. Meeting this challenge will require an equally unprecedented level of commercial ingenuity and innovation. We believe there is a growing investment opportunity to support the companies and founders who are building solutions to mitigate, measure and manage climate change. MMV's investment capabilities, access to fund and founder networks and early-stage business expertise will enable the next generation of climate innovators to scale over time while creating a more sustainable future," Karl Beinkampen, MMV Managing Director, MMV Climate Technology Fund Co-Lead.
Ex-Calpers, Alaska Permanent CIO Russell Read joins 10X Capital. (FS, People)
Russell Read, the former chief investment officer of California Public Employees' Retirement System, the Alaska Permanent Fund and Gulf Investment, has joined 10X Capital as CIO, Bloomberg reported.
Read, who's joining the firm's executive committee, will oversee 10X's global investment strategy and report to founder and Chief Executive Officer Hans Thomas.
EMEA
Peninsula Capital, a private equity firm, completed the investment in MC2 Saint Barth, an Italian holiday wear group. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Peninsula Capital said it aims to develop MC2's business, initially focused on beachwear, to fashion for all seasons and open new shops abroad, mainly in the US, Middle East and Asia.
Cordiant Digital, a specialist investment fund, completed the acquisition of Emitel, an operator of terrestrial radio and television infrastructure, from Astatine Investment Partners, a private equity firm, for $460m.
"In Cordiant we have an investor bringing both a long investment horizon and significant industry expertise; as such it can deploy capital, insight and patience to support us in our medium- and long-term growth plans in broadcasting and become an even more significant provider of outsourced digital infrastructure. We look forward to working with the Cordiant Digital team," Andrzej J. Kozlowski, Emitel CEO.
H.I.G. Capital, a global private equity investment firm, agreed to acquire a majority stake in Onis Visa, an operator at European level in the design, assembly and sale of generating sets and motor pumps. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"The investment by H.I.G. represents a fundamental step for the future of our Group, and will allow an expansion of the commercial strategy to further expand our presence in international markets, as well as the acquisition of companies with synergic businesses," Marco Barro, Onis Visa Co-CEO.
OptiGroup, a European business-to-business distributor of business essentials, agreed to acquire Pamark, a full-service distributor of facility supplies, horeca and medical supplies. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We look forward to adding Pamark to OptiGroup as it will further improve our presence in the Nordic region. The acquisition of Pamark is also in line with OptiGroup's strategy to develop the business portfolio towards leading positions in the highly attractive European B2B distribution market," Sören Gaardboe, OptiGroup President and CEO.
Sohar International Bank, a banking company, agreed to merge with HSBC Oman, a financial holding.
All assets and liabilities of HSBC Oman will be transferred to Sohar International.
BDT Capital, a private equity firm, agreed to acquire a minority stake in Exxyte, a global provider of high-tech facilities. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Our clear focus on high-tech industries is paying off. Due to the favorable market outlook and Exyte's focus on semiconductors and batteries, biopharma and life sciences, and data centers, we are well positioned in our markets and successfully on our "Pathway to Ten". This year, too, we will exceed our forecasts with targeted sales of around $7.25bn, putting us closer to our goal of reaching $10.3bn in sales in 2027. With our successful ongoing projects and significant project pipeline, we are well positioned for future profitable growth. I am pleased that BDT is convinced of Exyte's potential and prospects and will accompany us on our journey," Wolfgang Büchele, Exyte CEO.
General Atlantic seeks more control of Kahoot! (FS)
Growth equity investor General Atlantic is exploring ways to boost its control of Norwegian educational technology company Kahoot!, Bloomberg reported.
The investment firm, which signed a deal in September to become Kahoot's largest shareholder, is in the early stages of studying options that may include a potential bid to buy out the company's other investors.
Novartis weigh sales of ophthalmology and respiratory units. (FS)
Novartis is weighing sales of non-core assets as it seeks to raise money to invest in cutting-edge medicines, Bloomberg reported.
The Swiss pharmaceutical giant is in the early stages of considering options for its ophthalmology and respiratory units. Some private equity firms are already studying the businesses. The ophthalmology business alone could fetch about $5bn.
Empower's stock price rose after IPO.
Emirates Central Cooling Systems rose in its Dubai debut following an initial public offering that attracted $34bn in orders, underscoring the continued appetite for listings in the oil-rich Gulf, Bloomberg reported.
Empower, as the district cooling firm is known, jumped as much as 9% to $0.39, valuing it at about $4bn. The shares later pared some gains to trade up 2.3%
APAC
Havas Group, a French multinational advertising and public relations company, completed the acquisition of Bastion Brands, an independent health communications agency. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Bastion Brands is recognized for delivering significant and meaningful results for its strong client base of leading pharmaceutical companies across the world. Adding its capabilities to our global Havas Health & You network will provide specialized health communications for both that region and our clients globally. Bastion Brands also complements fast growth within our health PR business Red Havas in Australia, and we're thrilled to officially welcome the Bastion Brands team to our Group," Yannick Bolloré, Havas Group Chairman and CEO.
Rohm might invest $2.1bn in the JIP-led $15.8bn Toshiba acquisition. (FS)
Japanese chipmaker Rohm said it was considering joining a consortium led by private equity fund Japan Industrial Partners to buy out Toshiba, as JIP works to consolidate its proposal, Reuters reported.
Kyoto-based Rohm planned to invest up to about $2.1bn in the proposed $15.8bn acquisition of Toshiba.
GIC spent $4bn in APAC real estate in 2022. (FS)
Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC has become APAC's top real estate spender this year, with $4bn of investments so far. Chinese e-commerce major JD.com stood a distant second with $3bn worth of property deals in the region year-to-date, DealStreetAsia reported.
China's state-owned CITIC Group ranked third, while South Korean real asset manager IGIS Asset Management and Australia-based Charter Hall Group were placed fourth and fifth, respectively.
Tencent distributes $20bn Meituan shares as dividends.
Tencent Holdings pledged to distribute the majority of its shares in meal delivery giant Meituan to investors, as China's social media leader ramps up plans to reduce its extensive holdings across the world's largest internet industry, Bloomberg reported.
Tencent, which had announced plans to pare its stake in online retailer JD.com, will dole out more than 958m Class B stock in Meituan as a special dividend to existing shareholders. Tencent announced the move as it reported revenue shrank for the second straight quarter, underscoring the extent to which China's worsening economy is hurting its biggest private corporations.
SoftBank plans to sell a $215m stake in Paytm.
SoftBank Group will sell shares worth $215m in Indian e-payments giant Paytm's parent through a block deal, Reuters reported.
The news comes a day after the lock-in period for investors in Paytm's November 2021 initial public offering closed. Shares of the company settled 4% lower on Wednesday, after touching a five-month low.
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