AMERICAS
SolGold, an Australian gold and copper mining company, offered to acquire Cornerstone Capital Resources, a Canadian mineral exploration company, for $102m.
"This is an exciting value-enhancing opportunity, providing Cornerstone shareholders with a premium over the current market for their Cornerstone investment and continued participation in a consolidated and much more attractive ownership structure for the world-class copper-gold porphyry Alpala Project in northern Ecuador. In addition to this, Cornerstone shareholders will gain exposure to and the upside of SolGold's extensive additional exploration tenure position throughout Ecuador. We invite Cornerstone investors to be a part of SolGold's ultimate vision to become a major copper-gold mining company in Ecuador where SolGold's award-winning exploration teams have identified a number of priority copper gold targets with similar or better prospects than even Alpala, and are rapidly advancing these," Nick Mather, SolGold CEO.
SolGold is advised by Liberum Capital, Cormark Securities, Hannam & Partners, Peel Hunt, Bennett Jones, HopgoodGanim Lawyers, White & Case, Camarco, Gryphon Advisors and Kingsdale Advisors.
Genworth, a Fortune 500 insurance holding company, and Oceanwide, a privately held, family-owned international financial holding group, agreed to a 15th waiver and agreement of each party's right to terminate the previously announced $2.7bn merger agreement. The 15th waiver extends the previous deadline of June 30, 2020, to no later than September 30, 2020.
"We heard from our stakeholders that they would like greater assurance that the Oceanwide transaction is making progress towards closing. This extension and associated milestones address stakeholders' concerns and provide our Board with the flexibility to execute on our strategic priorities and maximize shareholder value while we continue to work with Oceanwide to close the transaction. We continue to believe the transaction represents the best and most certain value for Genworth's shareholders," Tom McInerney, Genworth President and CEO.
Genworth is advised by Goldman Sachs, Lazard, Richards Layton and Finger, Weil Gotshal and Manges and Willkie Farr & Gallagher. China Oceanwide is advised by Citigroup, Willis Capital Markets & Advisory, Potter Anderson & Corroon and Sullivan & Cromwell.
The Competition and Markets Authority is concerned that, should the proposed $5.4bn purchase by Stryker of Wright Medical go ahead, it would have a negative impact on vulnerable patients in the UK who need ankle replacements.
"The CMA is concerned that this merger and the resulting reduction in competition could lead to worse outcomes for hospitals and patients. The companies are the two major producers of vital medical products for vulnerable people suffering from serious degenerative conditions such as arthritis. Healthy competition in the medical technology market is central to continued innovation and improvements in patient treatments," Joel Bamford, CMA Senior Director.
Wright Medical is advised by Guggenheim Partners, JP Morgan, Ropes & Gray and Stibbe. Guggenheim Partners and JP Morgan are advised by Latham & Watkins. Stryker is advised by Houthoff and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom.
lululemon athletica, an athletic apparel retailer domiciled in Delaware and headquartered in Vancouver, agreed to acquire MIRROR, an in-home fitness company, for $500m.
"In 2019, we detailed our vision to be the experiential brand that ignites a community of people living the sweatlife through sweat, grow and connect. The acquisition of MIRROR is an exciting opportunity to build upon that vision, enhance our digital and interactive capabilities, and deepen our roots in the sweatlife. We look forward to learning from and working with Brynn Putnam and the team at MIRROR to accelerate the growth of personalized in-home fitness," Calvin McDonald, lululemon athletica CEO.
MIRROR is advised by Cooley. lululemon athletica is advised by Barclays, Blake Cassels & Graydon, Fenwick & West, Brunswick Group and ICR.
Healthcare-focused investment firm Concord Health Partners-backed Flexwise Health, a technology-enabled business, completed the merger with Prescience Health, a healthcare software provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Hospitals and regional health systems are facing unprecedented challenges in managing their clinical staffing needs while controlling expenses. With this merger, our goal is to provide an integrated solution that will help facilities reduce premium labor costs without compromising patient care by implementing innovative enterprise float pool capabilities powered by data science," Kevin Godsey, Flexwise Health CEO.
Flexwise Health was advised by Reed Smith.
Integrity Marketing Group, an independent distributor of life and health insurance products, agreed to acquire National Agents Alliance, an insurance marketing organization that recruits life insurance agents across the United States. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"The synergies between The Alliance and Integrity will open many doors. The insurance needs of this country are massive, and the market is still underserved. With Integrity's tools and resources behind us, there is no telling what we can do to help more American families be prepared for major life events," Jim Henson, National Agents Alliance Chief Operations Consultant.
Integrity Marketing is advised by ThomasARTS.
Cineplex, a Canadian entertainment company, struck a deal with lenders for $183m in new financing as it deals with an uncertain future after a failed takeover by Cineworld Group, an operator of cinemas throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland, Bloomberg reported.
Canada's dominant chain of movie theaters said lenders had agreed to relax covenants because of the Covid-19 pandemic, though some of the new money it's borrowing needs to be used to repay existing debt. The company closed all of its venues on March 16, and most remain closed, though it plans to open some outlets in six provinces starting on Friday.
Southwest Bancshares, the bank holding company for The Bank of San Antonio, agreed to merge with Capitol of Texas Bancshares, the bank holding company for The Bank of Austin, and Texas Hill Country Bancshares, the bank holding company for Texas Hill Country Bank. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"These three bank holding companies have many common shareholders and are affiliated with each other. It just made strategic sense for them to combine into one Central Texas banking franchise which covers San Antonio and Austin, the second and third fastest-growing large American cities, respectively, and the Texas Hill Country which also has a strong and growing economic base," J. Bruce Bugg Jr., Southwest Bancshares Chairman, President and CEO.
Cirque du Soleil creditors set to decline TPG Group's proposal. (FS)
Creditors of Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group are set to decline a proposal from TPG Group that would leave them with a 45% stake in the company in exchange for wiping out most of its debt, Bloomberg reported.
Montreal-based cirque filed for protection from creditors in Canada after the coronavirus pandemic forced it to close shows around the world, triggering a fight for control of one of the best-known brands in live performance.
The company said it entered into a so-called stalking horse agreement with its existing shareholders - including TPG, China's Fosun International and Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec - for a $300m injection to help restart the business. That proposal would see a restructured Cirque du Soleil cut its debt to about $250m from $1.6bn in liabilities.
Postmates reborns IPO plans amid Uber takeover interest.
Postmates, an American delivery company, has revived plans for an IPO, Reuters reported. Postmates had struggled to generate the revenue growth required to excite IPO investors, but demand has surged as coronavirus lockdowns have prompted people to turn to online dining and delivery apps.
Postmates has received acquisition offers from other companies, including ride-sharing giant Uber Technologies. A tie-up between Uber and Postmates would hasten the long-awaited consolidation of the heavily loss-making US food delivery market, FT reported.
JP Morgan was leading the Postmates IPO process.
Wirecard North America seeks a buyer.
Wirecard North America, a unit of German payments company Wirecard, said it has put itself up for sale, days after the troubled parent firm filed for insolvency. The US-based unit, which was bought by Wirecard in 2016, said an investment bank is coordinating the sale process, Reuters reported. The unit was formerly known as Citi Prepaid Card Services.
Last week, Wirecard filed for insolvency owing creditors almost $4bn after disclosing a $2.1bn hole in its accounts that its auditor EY said was the result of a sophisticated global fraud.
Netflix to invest $100m in the Black community's financial institutions.
Netflix said it would shift 2% of its cash holdings to banks and credit unions that primarily serve Black communities to improve these financial institutions' ability to offer loans to people and businesses.
Many companies, for example, Nike and its Jordan Brand, have moved to support organizations focused on social justice, education and racial inequality in the wake of nationwide protests sparked by the May 25 killing of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody.
Sculptor raises $2.6bn for the fourth real estate fund. (FS)
Sculptor Capital Management, a global diversified alternative asset management firm, raised $2.6bn for its fourth opportunistic real estate fund, Sculptor Real Estate Fund IV.
The fund includes a diverse group of more than 100 limited partners committed to the fund, including public and private pension plans, financial institutions, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and foundations, and family offices.
Through Sculptor Real Estate Fund IV, Sculptor will invest in real estate and real estate-related assets across North America and Europe.
Summit Partners gathered over $2.2bn for two funds. (FS)
Summit Partners, a growth equity pioneer, has raised new funds to focus on European and venture capital deals, taking advantage of surging demand for vehicles that invest in fast-growing young companies.
The firm completed raising Summit Partners Europe Growth Equity Fund III with $1.23bn, and Summit Partners Venture Capital Fund V with $1bn, PE News reported. Both funds reached their hard caps and were wrapped up in a single closing.
B Capital Group raises $820m for the second fund. (FS)
The Boston Consulting-backed B Capital Group, the venture capital firm started by Raj Ganguly and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, raised $820m for its second fund to invest in growth-stage startups.
The new fund gives the firm $1.44bn in total assets under management. Its first fund raised $360m in 2018, with subsequent rounds closing at $750m in 2019 and $200m in 2020.
Base10 raises $250m for its new fund. (FS)
San Francisco's Base10 Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm investing in the automation of the real economy, closed its sophomore fund on $250m, bringing the firm's assets under management to over $400m.
The firm said the vehicle would invest in companies seeking to address issues like racial, economic and gender inequality. Base10 also announced its VC diversity pledge, underlining the Black-led firm's commitment to inclusion and equality in the industry.
Ex-Google CFO joins Blackstone. (FS, People)
Ex-Morgan Stanley veteran and Google chief financial officer, Ruth Porat, joins Blackstone’s board of directors.
“I first worked closely with Ruth during Blackstone’s IPO and greatly admire her talent and judgment. She possesses a deep understanding of the financial services industry from her years on Wall Street and has had a front row seat in Silicon Valley to the technological revolution that is sweeping the world. Her unique perspective will be a tremendous asset to Blackstone’s board,” Stephen A. Schwarzman, Blackstone Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder.
EMEA
Thyssenkrupp Elevators is increasing the size of the bond and loan package sold to investors to €7.6bn ($8.5bn) on the back of €20bn ($22.5bn) of demand. That allows the group of banks that underwrote the deal to sell a €500m ($562m) piece they had previously planned to hold on their balance sheets, FT reported.
The euro-denominated secured and unsecured bonds are expected to offer a coupon of 4.5% to 4.75% and 6.75% to 7% respectively, lower borrowing costs than indicated last week.
Thyssenkrupp is advised by Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Lazard, Macquarie Group, Nomura, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters, Sullivan & Cromwell. Financial advisors of Thyssenkrupp are advised by White & Case. Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation is advised by Mutter & Kruchen. Cinven is advised by UBS, Yulchon, FTI Consulting and Kekst CNC. Advent is advised by Ramboll, Bain & Co, Ernst & Young, Rothschild & Co, UBS, goetzpartners, Kirkland & Ellis, NautaDutilh, Finsbury and Hering Schuppener. RAG-Stiftung is advised by Allen & Overy. Debt financing is provided by Barclays, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, RBC Capital Markets and UBS.
Perceptive Advisors-backed Arya Sciences Acquisition's shareholders approved the business combination between Arya and Immatics Biotechnologies, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company.
Immatics and Arya began final procedures towards the closing of the business combination and expect the closing to be completed in the coming days.
Immatics is advised by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Kempen, SVB Leerink, CMS, Goodwin Procter, Solebury Trout and Trophic Communications. Arya is advised by Jefferies & Company, Chardan, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek and Kirkland & Ellis.
EU antitrust regulators will decide by August 3 whether to clear Mastercard's bid for part of Scandinavian payments group Nets, Reuters reported.
The EU competition enforcer, which agreed to review the deal following requests from Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Britain, in April said the deal threatens to significantly affect competition in the Nordic area, Europe and Britain.
Nets is advised by Credit Suisse, Bruun & Hjejle, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Kromann Reumert. Mastercard is advised by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Clifford Chance and Wikborg Rein.
Bridgepoint Development Capital completed the investment in Matrix SCM, a managed service provider for the outsourced hiring and management of temporary local government staff in the UK. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"This investment provides us with the firepower to accelerate our growth plans by allowing us to invest in our technology platform and make selective acquisitions to enhance the value we offer to our customers," Mark Pepper, Matrix SCM Director.
Matrix SCM was advised by Mazars Corporate Finance and Squire Patton Boggs. BDC was advised by CIL Management Consultants, BDO, DC Advisory and Ropes & Gray.
The Carlyle Group offered to acquire a 55.8% stake in ENVEA, a manufacturer of ambient, emission and process monitoring systems, for $117m. The offer represents an 8.9% premium to the last closing market price.
"ENVEA's monitoring solutions are sold in over 70 countries. The company has development potential in less equipped regions such as India and China as well as with its blue-chip clients – notably in Europe, thanks to tighter regulation on pollutants worldwide. This proposed deal will give ENVEA more flexibility to implement its long-term strategy, while also limiting the constraints created by Covid-19 development in the near future," ENVEA.
ENVEA is advised by EC M&A and King & Spalding. The Carlyle Group is advised by Rothschild & Co, DLA Piper and Steele and Holt.
The Competition and Markets Authority confirmed that it would refer the £50m ($66m) acquisition of Findel, a supplier of school equipment and resources, to a phase two investigation.
In December 2019, Accrington-based Studio Retail Group, a largest online value retailers, agreed to a deal to sell its Findel Education business to public sector buying organization YPO, owned by The Council of the City of Wakefield.
The companies have informed the CMA that they will not be offering any undertakings to address the concerns and, as a result, a phase two investigate will now be undertaken by the regulator.
Studio Retail Group is advised by Stifel, N+1 Singer and Tulchan Communications.
Apax-backed Tosca, an innovator in reusable packaging and supply chain solutions, agreed to acquire Contraload, a provider of plastic pallet pooling in the United Kingdom and European Union. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Tosca's acquisition of Contraload, a leader in plastic pallet pooling in the United Kingdom and European Union, establishes our combined company as an even stronger partner for our customers globally and allows us to continue to propel the reusable revolution," Eric Frank, Tosca CEO.
Apax Partners is advised by Kekst CNC and Greenbrook. Tosca is advised by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.
Metall Zug Group, a Swiss industrial holding company, completed the spin-off of The V-ZUG Group, a provider of household appliances. Metall Zug continues to hold around 30% of V-ZUG shares and remains an anchor shareholder. Under the spin-off and listing, shareholders of Metall Zug were allocated one registered share of V-ZUG per type A registered share and ten registered shares of V-ZUG Holding per type B registered share.
"Today this transformation process is largely underway or has already been implemented. Key strategic projects such as the vertical factory and investments in platform technologies are well on the way. The V-ZUG Group is also committed to sustainable technologies and production methods in all areas and is aiming to achieve CO2 neutrality at production facilities in Zug by 2021," V-ZUG.
V-ZUG and Metall Zug Group were advised by Zurcher Kantonalbank and Homburger.
Impala, a diversified company in energy, manufacturing, brands and asset management, completed the acquisition of Roger & Gallet, which offers a rich catalogue of fragrance-based products including perfumes, toiletries and skincare, from L'Oreal, a French personal care company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The decision came after L'Oreal's strategic review of the best development options for Roger & Gallet.
L'Oreal was advised by Latham & Watkins.
Cinven considers acquiring a stake in Serie A. (FS)
Cinven, a private equity firm, is considering a bid for a minority stake in Italy's top soccer league, becoming the latest high-profile suitor to emerge after Serie A's exclusive talks with CVC Capital Partners ended, Bloomberg reported.
Private equity firms Advent International and Bain Capital have also been pursuing a stake in Serie A. Any deal would likely see investors buy a minority stake in a league unit that owns its lucrative TV rights. Top officials from the league and its 20 teams are set to meet Tuesday to discuss whether to hire advisers and kick off a fresh bidding process.
London Stock Exchange in talks to acquire a stake in PrimaryBid.
The owner of the London Stock Exchange is in talks to buy a stake in PrimaryBid, an app which pools stock orders from small investors, aggregating them into one substantial application, Sky News reported.
PrimaryBid has become a prominent player in London's equity market in the last few months as major companies have rushed to shore up their balance sheets because of the coronavirus crisis.
PrimaryBid already has a commercial agreement with LSEG, struck last November, which involves the two businesses working together to improve the digital infrastructure required for individual investors to access public share offerings.
SAS secures $1.5bn in rescue financing from its top shareholders.
SAS, a Scandinavian airline, has agreed on a $1.5bn plan with top shareholders including Sweden and Denmark, to shore up its finances against the collapse in air travel during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The plan, also backed by a foundation attached to the business empire of Sweden's Wallenberg family, will secure around $1.3bn in new funding. It is the latest aid package in an industry that has been crippled by travel restrictions and is bracing for a long, slow recovery.
"This is well in line with what we have been thinking we need to get through this, and to restore our funds to something resembling what it was before the crisis," Rickard Gustafson, SAS CEO.
Edcon Holdings seeks bids for Edgars.
Edcon Holdings's administrators extended a deadline for offers for the three main divisions of South Africa's second-largest clothes retailer, whose sales suffered from pandemic restrictions.
Binding offers are now expected in early July. Tuesday was the initial deadline after administrators for the owner of the Edgars and Jet chains put the two retailers up for sale earlier this month, aiming to save some of the company's more than 22k permanent and casual jobs.
Edcon is in a local form of bankruptcy protection after various lockdown to contain the coronavirus in South Africa dried up sources of revenue. The business-rescue team received 15 expressions of interest in parts of the Johannesburg-based business.
Connect Ventures raises $80m for the third seed-stage fund. (FS)
Connect Ventures, the London-based seed VC that was an early investor in Citymapper, Typeform and more recently backed scaling startups such as Curve and TrueLayer, has raised its third fund of $80m.
Backing the new fund is a combination of existing and new limited partners including US-based investor Top Tier Capital Partner, and the UK’s British Patient Capital, Big Society Capital, Isomer Capital, De Agostini, Draper Esprit and Korelya Capital.
APAC
SoftBank-backed Z Holdings, a Japanese internet company, stated that the closure of its merger with Line, a messaging app operator, will be later than October as previously reported due to regulatory approval being delayed by the coronavirus outbreak, Reuters reported.
Z Holdings, formerly known as Yahoo Japan, said there no major issues affecting the deal, with the delay causing timing for a joint tender offer to slip beyond May to June.
Line is advised by JP Morgan, Anderson Mori & Tomotsune and Shearman & Sterling. SoftBank is advised by Mizuho Securities, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. Z Holdings is advised by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Latham & Watkins and Mori Hamada & Matsumoto. Naver is advised by Deutsche Bank, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Kim & Chang and Nishimura & Asahi. Deutsche Bank is advised by Ropes & Gray.
Ventia, a telecommunications, infrastructure and utilities services company, completed the acquisition of Broadspectrum, which provides operations and maintenance, asset management, project and capital management outsourcing and infrastructure development services, from Ferrovial, a Spanish multinational company, for $362m.
"Ventia and Broadspectrum are complementary infrastructure services businesses offering a variety of operational and maintenance services, to a wide range of private sector and government clients and their customers," David Moffatt, Ventia Executive Chairman.
Ventia was advised by Herbert Smith Freehills. Ferrovial was advised by Gilbert + Tobin and Uria Menendez.
NIO, a company operating on China's premium smart electric vehicle market, announced that investors, led by Hefei City Construction and Investment Holding, CMG-SDIC Capital, and Anhui Provincial Emerging Industry Investment, substantially completed the cash injection obligations for the first two instalments of their investments in NIO China.
NIO Anhui, the legal entity of NIO China wholly owned by the company prior to the investments, received from the investors $679m out of the $706m of cash investments for the first two instalments. The remaining $27m of the first instalment would be paid prior to September 30, 2020, by the applicable investor according to the agreed payment schedule.
Warburg-backed Hygeia raised $286m in Hong Kong IPO. (FS)
Hygeia Healthcare, a Chinese oncology healthcare group backed by Warburg Pincus, a US private equity firm, has raised $286m in an IPO on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Hygeia sold 120m shares at a price $2.39 each.
The company, which was started in 2009, had more than 940k patient visits in 2019 among its network hospitals, a 24% increase compared to one year earlier, shows its prospectus.
CapitalBio raised $113m ahead of STAR Market IPO.
CapitalBio Technology, a Chinese life science solutions provider, has secured over $113m in financing ahead of IPO on the STAR Market. The investment will help CapitalBio further consolidate a leading position in the genetic testing and biochip areas.
Its pre-IPO funding was led by Guangzhou Boyi Architectular Design Institute, an architectural design organization backed by Hong Kong-listed property developer Country Garden.
Zero2IPO files for Hong Kong IPO.
Zero2IPO Holdings, a Chinese equity investment services platform, has filed for an IPO in Hong Kong, as the company expects to see no long-term impact from Covid-19 outbreak on China's equity investment services industry.
Zero2IPO, which is one of the most recognized brands in China's equity investment service industry, provides customers like investors, entrepreneurs, growth enterprises and government agencies with industry data services, marketing solutions, consulting and training services.
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