AMERICAS
Goldman Sachs BDC and Goldman Sachs Middle Market Lending, two specialty finance companies, completed the $1bn merger. The transaction resulted in approximately 5.5% accretion to GSBD’s net asset value per share, based on GSBD’s and MMLC’s net asset values as of September 30, 2019. The combined company will continue to trade under the ticker symbol “GSBD” on the New York Stock Exchange.
“We want to thank all of our stakeholders for their support of the transaction, which we believe will deliver significant benefits to the Company," Brendan McGovern, GSBD and MMLC President and CEO.
GS MML was advised by Morgan Stanley and Eversheds Sutherland. Goldman Sachs was advised by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Dechert and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz.
Twilio, an American cloud communications platform, agreed to acquire Segment, a customer data platform, for $3.2bn. The consideration will be paid with Twilio Class A common stock, on a fully diluted and cash-free, debt-free basis.
“Together, Twilio and Segment have an incredible opportunity to build the customer engagement platform of the future. We created Segment to help businesses set themselves apart in the digital age and deliver rich, connected customer experiences built on high-quality data. By joining forces and applying our customer data platform to Twilio’s engagement cloud, we’ll be able to make the entire customer experience seamless from end-to-end," Peter Reinhardt, Segment Co-Founder and CEO.
Segment is advised by Qatalyst Partners and Goodwin Procter. Twilio is advised by Morgan Stanley and Cooley.
AE Industrial-backed Broadtree Partners, a lower-middle market private equity firm, completed the acquisition of Seanair Machine, a manufacturer of precision aerospace components. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"The Nawrockis have created an impressive company, and we look forward to building on a strong foundation. We are also happy to partner with AEI to further accelerate growth and continue to drive excellence in manufacturing and customer service," Johannes Zwick, Broadtree Managing Partner.
Mr. Seanair was advised by Kenneth S. Magida. Broadtree was advised by Moore & VanAllen. AEI was advised by Kirkland & Ellis.
Charlesbank Capital-backed Sound United, an audio equipment maker, completed the acquisition of Bowers & Wilkins, which designs and sells audio equipment for mobiles, automobile, computers and other electronic devices. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“Acquiring Bowers & Wilkins combines its industry-leading acoustic design, engineering and manufacturing expertise in the premium category with Sound United’s scale, technical acumen and consumer reach to ensure Bowers & Wilkins thrives moving forward,” Kevin Duffy, Sound United CEO.
Bowers & Wilkins was advised by Houlihan Lokey and Nicoll PR. Sound United was advised by Max Borges Agency.
Infosys, a provider of digital services and consulting, completed the acquisition of Kaleidoscope Innovation, a full-spectrum product design, development and insights firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"This acquisition further strengthens our digital offerings at the intersection of new software technologies and medical devices - a sector that is expected to witness significant investments and consumerization in the post-Covid era. Our clients will benefit from the combination of Kaleidoscope's strong upstream offerings of product innovation and design, and Infosys' stack of product engineering, validation and commercialization services at a global scale. We are excited to welcome Kaleidoscope Innovation and its leadership team into the Infosys family, as part of Infosys Engineering Services portfolio," Ravi Kumar, Infosys President.
Kaleidoscope Innovation was advised by Spark Capital.
Lockheed Martin, an American aerospace, defense, arms, security, and advanced technologies company, agreed to acquire stake in Integration Innovation, a software and systems engineering company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“We’re proud to be a part of the Lockheed Martin family, as they are a technology authority and employ some of the best and brightest in the industry. We have invested much time and energy into developing strategic solutions at i3. And, we’re finding the need to synergize these offerings with Lockheed Martin is more timely than ever and unlocks the value to our joint customers,” Mike Wicks, Integration Innovation CEO.
Innovation Integration is advised by Houlihan Lokey.
Atos, a European multinational information technology service and consulting company, completed the acquisition of Paladion, a managed detection and response services provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Paladion has been a pioneer in AI-driven managed detection and response services. Our cloud-native AI platform, AIsaac, brings multi-vector threat analytics, auto-containment and incident response orchestration to customers for hybrid cloud and datacenter environments. We are excited to join Atos to advance these capabilities through their R&D in AI, threat, and risk-based analytics," Rajat Mohanty, Paladion CEO.
NEA-backed Paladina Health, a direct primary care provider, agreed to acquire Healthstat, a provider of onsite, near-site, shared and virtual employer-sponsored health centers. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Paladina Health and Healthstat share a common mission and vision to transform healthcare in America, and this integration expands our reach, scale and expertise to pursue our commitment on a truly national level. Both organizations have innovative, data-driven, patient-centric care models that are proven to reduce employer costs while improving health outcomes and employee satisfaction. Combining our companies makes both of us stronger and represents a huge step forward in fixing America's broken healthcare delivery model," Chris Miller, Paladina Health CEO.
Brown & Brown, an insurance brokerage firm, completed the acquisition of Bright & Associates, an independent sales and service organization. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“We learned to work hard and to do what is right. Brown & Brown’s core values are in lockstep with ours at Bright & Associates. Their integrity is the driving force, a natural fit, and a winning combination. With the addition of more resources, innovations, strength, and stability, we believe BBDS will provide enhanced benefits, products, and services for every one of our customers," Jim Bright, Bright & Associates Founder.
Triller considers a deal to go public.
Triller, a budding competitor to popular short-video app TikTok, is in discussions with blank-check acquisition companies about a merger which would take the US social media company public,
Reuters reported.
The deal would come as Triller seeks to capitalize on TikTok's woes US President Donald Trump's administration has ordered TikTok's Chinese parent ByteDance to divest the app, citing concerns that the data of US citizens could be accessible to China’s Communist Party government. TikTok has sued the US government to stave off a ban from US app stores while deal negotiations continue.
Triller is working with investment bank Farvahar Partners as it negotiates a potential deal with a so-called SPAC.
PrimeStone pushes LivaNova to consider options, including divesting parts. (FS)
PrimeStone, an investment firm, is pressing medical device maker LivaNova to consider strategic options including selling parts of its business, refreshing its board and hiring a new finance chief, saying such steps could double its share price,
Reuters reported.
London-based PrimeStone said that years of underperformance required a new strategic direction and that the company should divest its Cardiopulmonary business, sell or close its Heart Valves business, and consider appointing a new board chairman and hiring a new chief financial officer.
EMEA
Allegro raised $2.81bn in the Warsaw Stock Exchange IPO. (FS)
Allegro, a Polish e-commerce platform with over 12.3m active buyers, listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, marking the completion of Poland’s largest ever IPO. The offer price was PLN43 ($11.4) per share, giving the company an implied initial market capitalisation of PLN44bn ($11.6bn).
Allegro raised PLN10.6bn ($2.81bn) from its IPO. The offering consisted of a public offering to the retail investors and institutional investors. The largest selling shareholders were subsidiary companies of private equity funds Cinven, Mid Europa Partners and Permira.
"With our IPO process now complete, we can now look forward to starting Allegro’s next phase of growth as a listed company. The engagement we have seen from institutional and retail investors over recent weeks has been humbling. I’d like to thank each of them for their interaction with us and welcome those who have decided to become shareholders in Allegro," François Nuyts, Allegro Chief Executive Officer.
Allegro was advised by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Lazard, Clifford Chance, Greenberg Traurig, FTI Consulting, NBS Communications and Ernst & Young. Lazard was advised by Allen & Overy. Bank Pekao, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Citigroup, Credit Agricole, Dom Maklerski PKO, Erste Group Bank, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Santander and Raiffeisen provided brokerage services.
Bandwidth, an enterprise cloud communications company, agreed to acquire Voxbone, a Belgian a communication as a service company, from Vitruvian Partners, a European private equity firm, for €446m ($527m).
"We are bringing together leading domestic and international enterprise cloud communications platforms to supercharge global cloud communications for our customers. Bandwidth's deep US presence and Voxbone's world-wide platform across 60+ countries will serve enterprises in countries representing 93% of global GDP. Today's announcement accelerates our international strategy by several years. Our current and future customers will benefit from using a unified software platform, network and team to serve people around the world," David Morken, Bandwidth Co-founder, Chairman and CEO.
Voxbone is advised by Goldman Sachs and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Bandwidth is advised by Morgan Stanley and Latham & Watkins.
Thyssenkrupp considers selling a stake to the German government.
Thyssenkrupp will consider all options, including selling a stake to the German government, in its plans to fix its ailing steel unit,
Reuters reported.
"State participation is one option. But state participation can also be part of other options. One could imagine a combination. What I want is a long-term solution for Thyssenkrupp," Martina Merz, Thyssenkrupp Chief Executive.
ENKRAFT acquired a 1.5% stake in Apollo-backed AGROB. (FS)
Activist fund ENKRAFT has built a stake of more than 1.5% in German real estate firm AGROB Immobilien, criticising the group for failing to raise the firm's value,
Reuters reported.
AGROB, which is 81.4%-owned by funds managed by affiliates of private equity firm Apollo Global Management, has a market capitalisation of $130m, which according to ENKRAFT significantly undervalues the group.
IK Investment Partners in exclusive talks to acquire Ardian-backed Kersia. (FS)
IK Investment Partners has entered exclusive negotiations with Ardian to acquire a majority stake in Kersia, a biosecurity and food safety company the French private equity firm acquired in 2016. Financial details were not disclosed, as the transaction remains subject to the approval of antitrust authorities,
PE News reported.
If concluded, the deal will be the first made through IK’s ninth fund, closed at $3.4bn in May this year. The vehicle typically deploys between $60-$236m per investment in European companies with EV of between $118-591m.
“Kersia has built robust market positions globally, while keeping its customers at the centre of its strategy. We are delighted to have the opportunity to support Kersia and its management team in their growth strategy and consolidation of the biosecurity market,” Dan Soudry, IK managing partner.
Virgin Orbit looks for $1bn valuation in a funding round. (FS)
Virgin Orbit, Richard Branson's satellite-launch business, is looking to raise up to $200m in a funding round that could value it at around $1bn,
WSJ reported.
Branson’s space ventures compete with those of fellow billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos in the commercially led space exploration industry. Virgin Orbit said in August it had hired LionTree Advisors and Perella Weinberg Partners to look at potential financial transactions. Those banks are helping it raise between $150-200m by as early as the end of the year for capital expenditure and to fund satellite launches.
Swedbank Robur launches fund focusing on the energy transition.
Swedbank Robur's Ravarufond was transformed into a new thematic fund with a focus on solar, wind and energy transition. The new fund, Transition Energy, will invest in companies worldwide that will contribute to a future renewable energy system.
"It is important that investors dare to be an active part of sustainable change and support companies and industries in this transition. The ambition is that Transition Energy's composition and global focus will provide a good balance between risk and potential, with portfolio companies that help contribute in driving the energy system in a more sustainable direction," Robert Slorach, Swedbank Robur Portfolio Manager.
Enlight acquires a 372MW wind energy project in Sweden.
Enlight Renewable Energy has completed the transaction to acquire control in a huge wind power generation project in Sweden with a total capacity of 372MW. The project has obtained the main required permits for its construction, which will begin immediately.
The company completed the acquisition of the Björnberget project, one of the largest wind projects in Europe located in central Sweden, with 60 planned wind turbines based on Siemens Gamesa new 5.X technology.
"We would like to thank our partners - Prime Green Energy Fund, RES, who developed the project and will perform its construction works, and Siemens Gamesa who will provide state-of-the-art turbines for the project, for showing their utmost commitment and worked with great intensity until the transaction was completed," Gilad Yavetz, Enlight CEO and Co-founder.
Huya, a game live streaming platform, agreed to merge with DouYu, a Chinese video live streaming service. Each DouYu share will be exchangeable for 7.30 validly issued, fully paid, non-assessable Class A ordinary shares of Huya. Both firms will hold a 50% stake in the combined company. Tencent will additionally acquire c. 2m of Huya shares, subject to conditions.
The board of directors of each of Huya and DouYu, acting upon the unanimous recommendation of the respective special committee, unanimously approved the merger agreement.
DouYu is advised by Morgan Stanley, Davis Polk & Wardwell, Hankun and Ogier. Tencent is advised by Goldman Sachs, Latham & Watkins, Walkers and Zhong Lun Law Firm. Huya is advised by Citigroup, Haiwen & Partners, Maples and Calder and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom.
Private equity firms Pacific Equity Partners and Carlyle, offered to acquire Link Group, an information solutions provider, for $2bn. Perpetual, a 10% shareholder in Link Group, agreed to divest its stake.
The Link Group Board will consider the proposal, including obtaining advice from its financial and legal advisers.
Link Group is advised by Macquarie Group, UBS, Herbert Smith Freehills and GRACosway.
Ptt Oil and Retail Business Public Company, consumer goods firm Durbell, Krungsri Finnovate, a VC division of Krungsri, a bank in Thailand, led the $200m Series D round for Flash Express, a delivery services provider. Among investors were previous backers of Flash Express - Alibaba, Gaorong Capital and Cloud Angel Fund.
“Establishing this alliance with three of Thailand’s biggest business organizations is a monumental step forward for Flash Express to transform the logistics industry. We are also prepared to create and develop new technologies to achieve even greater delivery and logistics efficiency. More importantly we intend to assist SMEs in lowering their investment costs which we believe will provide long-term benefit for the overall Thai economy in the digital era,” Komsan Lee, Flash Express CEO.
Guolian and Sinolink cancel a plan to create a $13bn broker in China.
Guolian Securities's effort to acquire bigger rival Sinolink Securities has ended after the firms couldn’t reach terms to create a $13bn Chinese broker in the consolidating industry,
Bloomberg reported.
Sinolink had agreed to be bought in an all-stock deal announced Sept. 20, but specific details for the combination could not be agreed to, the companies said in separate but identical stock exchange filings.
KONKA Group acquired Beko Changzhou Plant.
KONKA Smart Electrical Appliances acquired Beko Changzhou Plant and entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with Arcelik, the parent company of Beko.
By signing this agreement, both parties agree to share their developments related to systematic washing machine design. This will help make up for KONKA's engineering capacity shortcoming for KONKA drum washing machine manufacturing, facilitate the export of KONKA washing machines to Europe, America and other regions, and further promote the globalization of KONKA white goods and the KONKA brand.
China Creation Ventures closes its second dollar-denominated fund at $300m. (FS)
China Creation Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm, has reached the final closing of its second US dollar-denominated fund for an aggregate of $300m,
DealStreetAsia reported.
The fund is the third launched by CCV since it was established in 2017. CCV’s debut fund, a $200m fund, was launched in July 2018. CCV also has plans to close an RMB fund soon. The latest USD fund received capital commitments from a slew of new limited partners including endowment funds, pension funds, and funds of funds, besides existing investors.
With the fresh fund, CCV will continue to look at early-stage investments in industrial internet, new generation technology, AI, digital healthcare, and new consumption.
CVC-backed Ngern Tid Lor seeks $1bn IPO. (FS)
Ngern Tid Lor, a Thai microfinance company, controlled by Bank of Ayudhya, has picked banks to explore a potential IPO that could raise as much as $1bn,
Bloomberg reported.
The lender and insurance broker is working with Morgan Stanley, Phatra Securities and UBS on preparations for the possible IPO in Bangkok, which could launch as soon as in the first half of next year.
Deliberations are at an early stage and details of the potential offering including size and timeline are subject to change.
CICC launches Shanghai offering.
China International Capital said it will conduct price consultation with investors this week ahead of a Shanghai listing, as the Chinese investment bank seeks fresh capital for expansion,
Reuters reported.
CICC plans to sell up to 458.59m A-shares, or 9.5% of its enlarged capital base, showed a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The offering could be worth roughly $1bn based on the latest price of CICC's Hong Kong-traded stock.
The secondary listing comes as China steps up restructuring its capital markets to fund economic growth and technological innovation amid heightened tension with the United States. Meanwhile, Chinese brokerages face rising competition as the government fully opened the sector to foreign companies.
StarCharge considers an IPO.
StarCharge, Chinese electric-vehicle charging equipment provider, plans to start the process for an IPO, just weeks after completing a Series A fundraising round.
The company, registered as Wanbang Digital Energy, aims to list on a mainland bourse and has hired Guotai Junan Securities Co. to assist, according to a statement dated October 9 on its website. StarCharge last month completed a $125m capital raising led by Schneider Electric and a fund under CICC Capital that attracted investors including Morgan Stanley and CCB International.
