AMERICAS
Atlas Holdings, a private investment & equity firm, agreed to acquire LSC Communications, an American multinational commercial printing company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“We entered into this financial restructuring process in April due to the fundamental changes in our industry and to strengthen LSC’s financial position for the future. Through this transaction, we will be able to move ahead with an improved balance sheet and a more sustainable capital structure, enabling LSC to continue investing in our business and building on our strong foundation as a leader in print, mailing and distribution, and office products. With the support of Atlas and the Creditor Group, we will continue serving our customers with the same high standards of quality, reliability and innovation they expect. We look forward to partnering with Atlas in the weeks ahead to achieve a smooth sale process for our employees, customers and other stakeholders,” Thomas J. Quinlan III, LSC Communications’ Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.
LSC Communications is advised by AlixPartners, Ducera Partners, Evercore, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, Sullivan & Cromwell and Joele Frank. Atlas Holdings is advised by Willkie Farr & Gallagher.
Adicet Bio, a pre-clinical stage biotechnology company, completed the merger with resTORbio, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing innovative medicines. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“The closing of this merger transaction marks the beginning of a new chapter for Adicet as a publicly-traded company. We believe that our allogeneic gamma delta T cell approach may provide a unique treatment paradigm by combining the innate anti-tumour response, consistent with natural killer cells, and adaptive anti-tumour response consistent with other populations of T cells, such as alpha-beta T cells. We look forward to progressing multiple programs into the clinic, targeting both haematological and solid tumours," Chen Schor, Adicet President and Chief Executive Officer.
Adicet was advised by Morrison & Foerster. resTORbio was advised by JMP Securities, Goodwin Procter, MacDougall, and Stern IR. JMP Securities was advised by Latham & Watkins.
Lactalis Group, a dairy group, agreed to acquire natural, grated, cultured and specialty cheese businesses of Kraft Heinz, an American food company, for $3.2bn. The proposed transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2021, subject to regulatory review and approval.
“We believe these cheese and dairy businesses will thrive in the hands of a global dairy company like Groupe Lactalis. At the same time, the transaction will enable us to build sustainable competitive advantage in businesses where we have stronger brand equity, greater growth prospects and can use our manufacturing scale and consumer-based platforms approach. This is a great example of agile portfolio management at work,” Miguel Patricio, Kraft Heinz CEO.
Lactalis Group is advised by Perella Weinberg Partners, Dentons and Sard Verbinnen & Co. Kraft Heinz is advised by RBC Capital Markets and Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison.
Black Knight, a provider of integrated software, data and analytics to the mortgage and real estate industries, completed the acquisition of Optimal Blue, a provider of secondary market solutions and actionable data services, from private equity firm GTCR for $1.8bn.
In connection with the acquisition, Black Knight will combine its Compass Analytics business with Optimal Blue in a newly formed entity with minority co-investors Cannae Holdings and Thomas H. Lee Partners. Cannae and THL will each have a 20% ownership interest in the new entity. Black Knight will own 60% of the new entity.
"Our similar business models, which include both subscription-based recurring revenues and significant operating leverage, will be accretive to our key financial metrics and deliver significant shareholder value. The combined strengths of Black Knight and Optimal Blue will also give clients a wider selection of offerings from a single provider that will provide innovation to help transform the industries we serve and will significantly expand Black Knight's ability to greatly advance our clients' objectives, competitiveness and profitability," Anthony Jabbour, Black Knight CEO.
Black Knight was advised by Trasimene Capital and Weil Gotshal and Manges. Optimal Blue was advised by Kirkland & Ellis. Cannae was advised by Solebury Trout.
NorthStar Anesthesia, an anesthesia care provider and manager, completed the acquisition of anesthesia services business of Surgery Partners, a short-stay surgical facility owner and operator. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Today's announcement marks another milestone as Surgery Partners executes on its strategy to focus on its core short-stay surgical business. NorthStar has extensive experience providing patients with premier anesthesia care and an impressive track record of delivering solutions to the hospitals and surgery centers its serves. This transaction represents a terrific outcome for our customers and centers, and we are confident the business is well-positioned for success as part of NorthStar," Eric Evans, Surgery Partners Chief Executive Officer.
NorthStar Anesthesia was advised by Katten Muchin Rosenman and Joele Frank. Surgery Partners was advised by Greenhill & Co and McDermott Will & Emery.
Dominion Diamond Mines, a Canadian mining company, announced that it has approved the $126m bid placed by The Washington Companies, an industrial services provider, to acquire the stakes in the Canadian mining firm.
The bid is subject to a number of conditions, including approval by the court and reaching agreement with the N.W.T. government on security for reclamation.
Dominion Diamond is advised by Evercore, Blake Cassels & Graydon, McDermott Will & Emery and Sard Verbinnen.
Lineage Logistics, the temperature-controlled industrial REIT and logistics solutions provider, has raised $1.6bn in equity from new and existing strategic partners. Participating investors include Oxford Properties Group, BentallGreenOak, D1 Capital Partners, Cohen & Steers, OPTrust, CenterSquare Investment Management, and investment funds managed by Morgan Stanley Tactical Value, among others.
“This significant investment -- from both new and existing investors -- is validation of our business model, our innovative strategy and our plans to continue expanding our footprint as the world’s largest temperature-controlled warehousing and logistics company. As we reimagine the food supply chain and execute on our company purpose to eliminate waste and help feed the world, we remain focused on driving value for our more than 5k customers by operating globally and deploying industry-changing technologies to create efficiencies across our 320 facilities,” Greg Lehmkuhl, Lineage President and CEO.
Lineage Logistics was advised by Eastdil Secured, Morgan Stanley and Latham & Watkins.
GI Partners, a private equity firm, completed the acquisition of Sectigo, a provider of automated digital identity management and web security solutions. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We have known Sectigo for years, and the company represents a highly attractive opportunity to invest in a mission-critical component of the cybersecurity sector. We were drawn to the company's strong growth profile, differentiated market positioning, and industry-leading executive management. We look forward to supporting Bill and his team as they accelerate growth while continuing to deliver operational excellence," David Mace, GI Partners Managing Director.
Sectigo was advised by UBS. GI Partners was advised by Jefferies & Company and Chris Tofalli.
KKR led a $450m Series C investment round in Zwift, am online fitness platform for cyclists and runners. KKR is accompanied by new investors Permira, Zone 5 Ventures and the Amazon Alexa Fund and existing investors including True, Highland Europe, Novator and Causeway Media.
The investment will be used to accelerate the development of Zwift’s core software platform and bring Zwift-designed hardware to market, making Zwift a more immersive and seamless experience for users.
“Zwift is the preeminent digital brand for the global cycling community with a best-in-class product that sits at the intersection of digital health, gaming and at-home fitness. We see tremendous potential ahead as Zwift invests further in its digital and physical products to enhance the experience for its global community of enthusiastic users. This investment fits perfectly with our growth equity strategy of backing leading tech entrepreneurs as they scale globally,” Stephen Shanley, KKR Director.
Zwift was advised by True Communications. KKR was advised by JP Morgan.
Individual FoodService, a distributor of foodservice disposables and janitorial and sanitation products, completed the acquisition of Central Sanitary Supply, a distributor of janitorial, cleaning and facility supplies. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“This is our second acquisition in 7 months, and we continue to make excellent progress building our teams and opening new locations. We remain acquisitive and committed to building the most customer and operator centric growth platform in our industry,” Kenneth Sweder, IFS CEO and Chairman.
Individual FoodService was advised by Edelman.
Altair Engineering, an IT services company, completed the acquisition of Ellexus, an input/output analysis tool provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Altair continues to expand its reach and capabilities for HPC environments to support important modern workloads including for data analytics, AI and ADAS. The acquisition of Ellexus is particularly relevant in these domains as storage aware scheduling for big data applications is critical,” James Scapa, Altair CEO.
Altair was advised by Blueshirt Group.
Catchpoint, an information and technology services company, agreed to acquire Webpagetest, an open-source web performance testing software and services provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“Patrick is a well-known web performance evangelist and a driving force behind several key web performance metrics that better capture the user experience like SpeedIndex. He will play a pivotal role with the Webpagetest community on future developments. We are committed to serving the community with an improved free tool experience and will continue honoring the open-source values of the Webpagetest community," Mehdi Daoudi, Catchpoint CEO.
Catchpoint is advised by Connect Marketing.
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority has disclosed a 5.1% stake in Cheniere Energy, the largest US exporter of liquefied natural gas, for $615m. It’s Cheniere’s fourth-largest shareholder.
Cheniere operates two US LNG export facilities: Corpus Christi in Texas and Sabine Pass in Louisiana.
General Atlantic completed the acquisition of a 16% stake in dLocal Group, Uruguay-based payments company, for $200m.
“Beyond securing unicorn status and becoming one of the highest-valued Latin American financial technology companies supporting global merchants, we are expanding access and helping those in emerging markets connect to ecommerce, building reliable payment technology tailored to specific local needs, constantly improving our products and growing our global footprint,” Sebastian Kanovich, dLocal CEO.
Pure Storage, an IT company that delivers storage-as-a-service, agreed to acquire Portworx, a data services platform enterprises, for $370m.
"As forward-thinking enterprises adopt cloud-native strategies to advance their business, we are thrilled to have the Portworx team and their groundbreaking technology joining us at Pure to expand our success in delivering multi-cloud data services for Kubernetes. This acquisition marks a significant milestone in expanding our Modern Data Experience to cover traditional and cloud-native applications alike," Charles Giancarlo, Pure Storage Chairman and CEO.
D.G. Yuengling & Son, an alcohol brewery, and Molson Coors Beverage Company, a brewery, agreed to form a joint venture to brew and sell the family-owned company's beers outside of the East Coast. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The joint venture between Yuengling and Molson Coors will oversee any new market expansion beyond the 191 year old brewer’s existing 22 state footprint plus any future New England expansion. The partnership is expected to begin by launching in the second half of 2021 and will be governed by a board of directors, consisting evenly of Yuengling and Molson Coors family members and executives.
“We are excited to launch this brewing partnership with the team at Molson Coors. Like Yuengling, Molson Coors has an established commitment to quality and rich history of family brewing excellence. This partnership is a great opportunity for us to grow our distribution footprint for the long-term, while continuing to support our existing markets and the communities in which we operate," Wendy Yuengling, D.G. Yuengling & Son Chief Administrative Officer.
US lawmakers raise questions about proposed Bytedance-Oracle deal.
US lawmakers of both major parties voiced skepticism about a proposed deal between Oracle and China’s Bytedance that appears to stop short of a full sale of Bytedance’s popular social media app TikTok to a US firm as demanded by President Donald Trump, Reuters reported.
Oracle announced it was part of a proposal submitted by Bytedance to the US Treasury Department to serve as "trusted technology provider," to Bytedance, with no further details on the terms of the deal.
Trump has made it clear he wants to see an outright sale of TikTok to a US company, raising questions about the deal’s approval amid concerns that US user data could be passed on to China’s government.
CoreLogic rejects higher buyout bid from Senator Investment, Cannae. (FS)
CoreLogic said that its board of directors has unanimously rejected the increased unsolicited buyout bid from Senator Investment Group and Cannae on day after the higher bid was confirmed.
The property and mortgage information services company said that Senator Investment and Cannae raised the buyout bid to $66 a share from the original bid of $65 a share, which CoreLogic rejected in July. The company said the new bid continues to "significantly undervalue" CoreLogic, fails to address the "serious regulatory concerns" related to a merger and is not in the best interest of shareholders.
TPG nears deal for Preferred Apartment’s student-housing arm. (FS)
Private equity firm TPG is in advanced talks to acquire a student housing portfolio from Preferred Apartment Communities, Bloomberg reported.
The transaction values the eight properties - which serve schools including Florida State University, Baylor University and Arizona State University -- at about $480m.
Preferred Apartment’s shares spiked as much as 7.2% to $6.84 before paring the gains.
Bentley Systems aims for near $5bn IPO valuation.
Bentley Systems said it was aiming for an initial public offering that could value the software developer at about $4.96bn, with selling stockholders cashing out $204m in stock.
Selling stockholders would offer 10.75m shares priced between $17 and $19 per share. Bentley will not receive proceeds from the offering.
The company, which is looking to list its shares on the Nasdaq under the symbol “BSY”, will have a dual-class share structure upon completion of the offering, according to the filing.
Sequoia-backed Snowflake IPO raises $3.36bn in year's biggest US listing. (FS)
Snowflake said that its initial public offering raised $3.36bn after it was priced above the target range in the biggest US listing so far this year, Reuters reported.
The IPO, which was priced at $120 per share, values the cloud-based data warehouse firm at north of $30bn.
San Mateo, California-based Snowflake said it was aiming to sell 28m shares at $100 to $110 per share after its expected pricing was raised from a range of $75 to $85 per share last week. Venture capital firm Sequoia owned an 8.4% stake in the company before the offering.
Former KKR dealmaker's SPAC to raise $500m in US IPO.
A blank check company backed by former KKR dealmaker Jim Momtazee said it plans to raise $500m in its initial public offering, Reuters reported.
The blank check company called Montes Archimedes Acquisition will list about 50m units at an offering price of $10 apiece and the units will consist of Class A common stock and half of one redeemable warrant.
The proposed IPO amount is a placeholder figure set to estimate the registration fee, and the SPAC could eventually raise a higher amount.
Social Capital seeks to raise $500m for latest SPAC.
Social Capital Hedosophia is seeking to raise $500m for its newest blank-check company, Bloomberg reported.
The partnership between Chamath Palihapitiya and Ian Osborne, longtime investors who together have raised three special purpose acquisition companies, has confidentially filed plans with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The vehicle, known as Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings IV, is set to be the fourth in a string of as many as 26 such deals. On a podcast, Palihapitiya said he reserved tickers ranging from “IPOA” through “IPOZ” on the New York Stock Exchange.
EMEA
The UK government is considering attaching conditions on the number of jobs Nvidia will keep in the UK as the part of the proposed $40bn takeover of Arm.
Officials are unlikely to block the $40bn deal. But the conditions are expected to focus on maintaining the about 3k UK staff and keeping the company's headquarters in Cambridge. The UK has the ability to intervene in deals over factors such as national security. It could take as long as two months before the government decides to place any restrictions, Bloomberg reported.
“We are investigating this deal further and ministers have spoken to the relevant companies. Arm makes an important contribution to the UK economy. We want that to continue to be the case,” Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister.
Arm Holdings is advised by Hogan Lovells. Nvidia is advised by Morgan Stanley and Latham & Watkins. SoftBank Vision Fund is advised by Zaoui & Co. SoftBank is advised by Morrison & Foerster and Kekst CNC.
Intersect ENT, a company transforming care for patients with ear, nose and throat conditions to acquire Medical Technologies business of Fiagon, a surgical navigation solutions, for $71m.
“We are excited to join the team at Intersect ENT, an established leader with an advanced therapeutic platform in the large and attractive global ENT market. The combination of Intersect ENT’s compelling product offerings coupled with its deep commercial leadership expertise and impressive sales force offers a unique opportunity for us to jointly leverage our core innovation and commercialization competencies. We look forward to working with the Intersect ENT team to expand market penetration of our instruments and tools globally," Kai Desinger, Fiagon President and CEO.
Intersect ENT is advised by Goldman Sachs, Cooley, and Fieldfisher. Fiagon is advised by Oppenheimer & Co and Morrison & Foerster.
Bitumina Industries, a bitumen company, completed the acquisition of a 49.99% stake in Nynas, a researcher, producer and supplier of bitumen and naphthenic oils, from Neste, an oil refining and marketing company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“We take great pride in having been able to acquire the shares of Neste in Nynas which is a natural expansion in our global industrial bitumen portfolio. We are certain that we can contribute to the successful future of Nynas," Bernd Schmidt, Bitumina Industries Executive Chairman.
Neste was advised by Vinge.
sennder, Europe’s digital freight forwarder, completed the acquisition of European freight business of Uber, which offers vehicles for hire, food delivery, package delivery, couriers, freight transportation, and, through a partnership with Lime, electric bicycle and motorized scooter rental. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“We are immensely proud to have created the leading digital road freight forwarder in Europe, moving more than 50k loads every month across 31 countries. This acquisition strengthens our position as Europe’s number one digital logistics provider. We also look forward to working with Uber Freight to bring further value to both companies’ customers,” David Nothacker, sennder CEO and Co-Founder.
sennder was advised by Taylor
PreZero, the environmental division of the Schwarz Group, agreed to acquire recycling and recovery business operations of Suez Group, a waste management company, for $1.3bn.
For Suez, the disposal announced today represents another major step in the delivery of its asset rotation plan deployed in the scope of Suez 2030 strategy, which aims at positioning the Group as the global, agile, innovative and highly technological leader in environmental services.
"This project marks a major step in the achievement of our SUEZ 2030 strategic plan. This transaction is part of our asset rotation program and values the quality of our business portfolio. I am very excited about the opportunity to accelerate the circular economy with our partners at Schwarz Group as part of the Memorandum of Understanding signed today. We are confident that, within PreZero, these activities and teams will continue to grow for the benefit of the environment," Bertrand Camus, Suez CEO.
Suez is advised by Jones Day.
Accenture agreed to acquire SALT Solutions, which implements and maintains IT systems for production, operations and logistics. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“To win in today’s changing global industry landscape, companies need to excel in Industry 4.0 and put digital at the core of their business. SALT Solutions’ expert knowledge and experience in dynamic digital manufacturing and optimization will significantly deepen Accenture’s shop floor expertise,” Frank Riemensperger, Accenture Chairman, Germany.
CB Insights, a private company with a business analytics platform and global database that provides market intelligence on private companies and investor activities, completed the acquisition of Blockdata, which provides differentiated data and predictive insights on the growing but increasingly complex blockchain and distributed ledger technology ecosystem. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We are incredibly happy to have the Blockdata team join us at this turning point for the DLT space. In the last 8 months, we have seen customer activity around the blockchain accelerate dramatically. It's gone from something that was considered possible or probable to something that is now practical. As clients think about how to employ blockchain technology to drive growth or improve operations, we're excited to equip them with the intelligence they need to make decisions more quickly and confidently," Anand Sanwal, CB Insights CEO and Co-Founder.
TPG Capital in talks to buy LVMH-owned R.M. Williams. (FS)
Private equity giant TPG Capital Management is in talks to buy Australian bootmaker R.M. Williams from French fashion giant Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, Reuters reported.
The US buyout specialist is conducting “late-stage due diligence” and trying to secure financing for a deal that would value the 88-year-old Australian manufacturer at more than $182m.
A sale at the price quoted by the AFR would be a mark-down from the roughly $364m that was widely reported in Australian media as being R.M. Williams’s valuation when LVMH put the asset up for sale in 2019.
Caixabank, Bankia reach merger agreement in principle.
Spanish lenders Bankia and Caixabank called board meetings for Thursday to approve the terms of a proposed merger after reaching an agreement in principle on the deal, Reuters reported.
The lenders’ main shareholders had given their blessing overnight to a merger aimed at creating Spain’s biggest domestic bank.
Macquarie to table bid for Enel stake in Open Fiber.
Macquarie is set to submit a binding offer for all or part of the 50% stake held by utility Enel in Italian broadband network operator Open Fiber, Reuters reported.
Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets’ offer, which is targeting a stake of between 35% and 50%, will be sent to Enel before the utility’s board meeting set for Thursday.
Agder, Glitre eye merger to form third largest hydropower firm in Norway.
Norwegian municipal energy groups Agder Energi and Glitre Energi are exploring a tie-up that would form the country’s third-largest hydroelectric power producer and the number two grid operator, Reuters reported.
Technological change and the electrification of the wider economy are making the energy industry more complex and thus driving consolidation among utilities, Agder and Glitre said.
Merck says it will focus on smaller takeovers.
German drugs and chemicals maker Merck said it would until 2022 focus on cutting its debt from the takeover of electronic materials company Versum and any acquisitions thereafter would likely be smaller ones.
“We don’t rule out large transformative deals as of 2022, yet in view of our strong business portfolio, at present the likelihood is higher that we will complement our businesses through a number of smaller to medium-sized acquisitions after 2022,” Stefan Oschmann, Merck Chief Executive.
Premier Oil in talks with Chrysaor for refinancing alternative. (FS)
Premier Oil said it was in talks with private-equity backed oil producer Chrysaor and several other parties on alternative deals to secure long-term debt refinancing, Reuters reported.
Premier said last month it was seeking $530m in fresh equity, of which existing creditors said they would underwrite $205m in a potential debt-for-equity swap.
The company, with market capitalisation of around $209m and net debt of just under $2bn, needs at least $325m in new equity for its creditors to extend current maturities.
Martin Franklin-led group launches London's first blank cheque IPO of 2020.
Founders of investment firms Mariposa and Viking have launched an initial public offering for a special purpose acquisition company on the London Stock Exchange to raise $750m, a bookrunner said.
Martin Franklin, the London-born founder of Jarden, son Robert and longtime partners James Lillie and Ian Ashken will join forces in the listing that is expected to price on September 18. Viking founder Brian S. Kaufmann is also involved, Reuters reported.
The Harvester Holdings vehicle expects to focus on acquiring an operating company or business with a significant proportion of its activities in North America.
Hensoldt eyes at least $474m in listing proceeds. (FS)
Private equity-owned German defence supplier Hensoldt will rake in at least $474m in its planned initial public offering, the company said.
The former Airbus unit, which buyout group KKR bought in 2016, plans to sell up to 45.81m shares, which includes upsize and greenshoe options.
Total proceeds could reach up to $688m as the number of total shares sold will be lower if the upper end of the $14-19 pricing range is reached. The free float will be 32-44%.
Betalin Therapeutics plans IPO to fund diabetes trials.
Israel’s Betalin Therapeutics is preparing an initial public offering that will value the biotech firm between $150-170m to fund trials for its diabetes treatment, the company’s chief executive said.
Betalin is developing an artificial micro-pancreas that is implanted in the thigh of diabetics to help control the level of sugar in their blood. The system mimics the function of a healthy pancreas by secreting insulin and making daily injections unnecessary, said CEO Nikolai Kunicher.
HIG Capital appoints co-head of infrastructure team. (People)
HIG Capital has hired Andrew Liau to co-lead its infrastructure team alongside Ed Pallesen. Liau will be based in London, with primary day-to-day responsibility for the infrastructure teams’ activity in Europe, while Pallesen will continue to be based in New York with primary focus on the Americas.
Liau has over 20 years of experience in private equity and investment banking. Before joining HIG, he was a Senior Managing Director in the infrastructure group at Ardian, a leading Paris based private equity firm, where he led a number of successful core plus investments. Prior to Ardian, he was a founding member of First State Investments’ European infrastructure team. He began his career at RBC, where he worked on infrastructure financings.
Allegro’s IPO could help lift Warsaw’s economy.
Polish e-commerce platform Allegro’s plans for what could be Warsaw’s a biggest-ever initial public offering should help the country’s stock market cut its reliance on old-economy industries and raise the profile of Polish technology stocks, Bloomberg reported.
Allegro is expected to achieve an equity value of about $13bn, with about 20%-25% of the company to be floated. For Trigon Dom Maklerski analyst Maciej Marcinowski, that should be enough to meet the Warsaw bourse’s criteria for an extraordinary revision of the WIG20 benchmark’s membership, clearing the way for Allegro to displace MBank.
Parma football club poised for sale to Krause family.
The US billionaire Krause family is nearing an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Italian football club Parma, in a move that would make it the latest American investor in Serie A.
A deal valuing the club at more than $118m could be reached by the end of the week, FT reported.
The Krause family would control up to 60% of the group after eclipsing a bid by a Qatari investor. Existing investors, including Italian billionaire Guido Barilla of the eponymous pasta brand, would retain a stake for at least five years.
APAC
IMCD, a global distributor of speciality chemicals and food and pharma ingredients, agreed to acquire Signet Excipients Private, an Indian speciality chemicals distributor. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The transaction will take place in two tranches, with IMCD now acquiring 70% of the share capital from the founders and the remaining 30% by 2024. The closing of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approval, and is expected to take place in the last quarter of 2020.
“As India is the largest supplier of generic medicines globally, it is our ambition for our pharmaceutical business to have a strong presence there. Hence, I am pleased that Signet and IMCD will now join their activities in India, Bangladesh, the Middle East and Africa,” Piet van der Slikke, IMCD CEO.
ShareChat, a media company, completed the acquisition of Hera Pheri Films, a media and content creation company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The acquisition will help ShareChat and Moj, its new short-video platform, strengthen their efforts towards building a better content ecosystem, establishing a stronger creator fraternity, and augmenting their advertising solutions for brands.
“As ShareChat continues on the aggressive growth journey, it is important for us to invest and build capabilities required to sustain growth on a large base. This acquisition will help us build a framework for our creators and nurture them to evolve as influencers on the platform,” Manohar Charan, ShareChat Vice-President.
KKR raises over $11bn in Asia fund. (FS)
Private equity powerhouse KKR & Co has raised over $11bn after the first-close of its fourth Asia-focused fund, its Beijing-based managing director Chris Sun said.
KKR started marketing the new Asia fund towards the end of last year before the Covid-19 pandemic, targeting $12.5bn in what would be the region’s biggest private equity fund, Reuters reported.
ICBC seeks up to $4.4bn in capital deal.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is aiming to raise up to $4.4bn in additional tier one perpetual offshore preference shares, Reuters reported.
The bank, the world’s largest by assets, is speaking to investors and has flagged an initial yield of around 3.95%. ICBC had $4.5trn in total assets at the end of June.
ZTO Express seeks to raise up to $1.55bn in Hong Kong listing.
Chinese delivery group ZTO Express aims to raise up to $1.55bn in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the latest in a series of secondary listings to be carried out in the city this year.
ZTO Express, which is already listed in New York, begins its institutional bookbuild and will sell 45m shares at a maximum price of $34.6 per share, the filings showed.
Walmart's Flipkart eyes overseas listing as early as 2021.
Walmart-controlled Indian e-commerce firm Flipkart is preparing for an initial public offering overseas as early as 2021, which could value the firm up to $50bn, Reuters reported.
Bengaluru-based Flipkart, which vies with players such as Amazon's local unit in India and India's Reliance Industries will be aiming for a valuation in the $45-$50bn range.
PMC asked other major banks for the merger.
India’s fraud-hit PMC Bank has approached other banks over a possible merger even as its efforts to recover funds from a big borrower have been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reported.
Authorities started investigating Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bankfor fraud last year and the Reserve Bank of India took control of it after detecting financial irregularities. Thousands of PMC depositors have been unable to access their deposits for a year as the RBI has capped withdrawals at $1.359.
Blackstone, Partners Group said in race to buy Piramal Glass. (FS)
Blackstone Group and Partners Group are the two remaining bidders vying for a controlling stake in Piramal Enterprises’s glass unit, Bloomberg reported.
The investment firms have progressed to the final round of bidding for India’s Piramal Glass. Billionaire Ajay Piramal’s conglomerate is seeking a valuation of $1bn for the unit from the sale. Piramal could name a winner as soon as October.
Billionaire Lucio Tan’s bank plans $1bn asset sale.
Philippine National Bank is seeking to dispose of three prime properties that it values at about $1bn as early as this year, Bloomberg reported.
The lender owned by billionaire Lucio Tan plans to realize the value of a 10-hectare property along Manila Bay, as well as an office building and a prime lot in the nation’s main financial district in Makati City.
PNB said last week that the board approved a plan on its prime properties to help reduce low-earning assets and improve revenue, and a number of options were being considered.
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