Eurobank, Greece’s third-largest lender, acquired Grivalia Properties, a publicly traded real estate company, from Fairfax Financial, a financial holding company, for €1bn ($1.1bn). The merger creates the best-capitalized bank in Greece, with a total capital ratio at 19%, ready to serve its clients, return to growth and support economic activity in Greece and southeastern Europe.
AXIA Ventures, Bank of America and Potamitis Vekris advised Grivalia. Deutsche Bank, Eurobank Equities, Euroxx Securities and Karatzas & Partners advised Eurobank.
Daikin Industries acquired AHT Group from Bridgepoint for €881m. (FS)
Daikin Industries, a Japanese multinational air conditioning manufacturing company, acquired AHT Group, a leading company in the commercial refrigeration market in Europe, from Bridgepoint, for €881m ($998m).
With this acquisition, Daikin is adding AHT showcases to its wide range of products, services, and solutions based on its air conditioning and refrigeration equipment. This will enable the company to become a one-stop provider offering complete coordination of air conditioning and refrigeration products. This acquisition is also expected to solidify Daikin's business foundation in Europe and promote the full-scale expansion of its refrigeration business in the United States as well as Asia.
Property Finder is a leading real estate classifieds portal in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey. The company will use part of the funds to deliver on its strategy to build innovative products which provide greater transparency, effective data and an overall better experience for property seekers along their real estate journey.
“Property Finder’s focus on building a world-class product for property seekers is generating fantastic momentum across the region,” said Chris Caulkin, Principal and Head of Technology for EMEA at General Atlantic. “We are thrilled to partner with the Property Finder team during this exciting growth phase of the business.”
TAP Advisors advised Property Finder.
Rio Tinto, an Anglo-Australian multinational and one of the world's largest metals and mining corporations, sold its stake in Rössing Uranium Limited, owner of a uranium mine in Namibia, to CNUC, a Chinese Government-owned corporation involved in prospecting, and eventually mining, overseas sources of uranium, for $106.5m. The total consideration comprises an initial cash payment of $6.5m, payable at completion, and a contingent payment of up to $100m.
Rio Tinto chief executive J-S Jacques said: "The sale of our interest in Rössing once again demonstrates our commitment to strengthening our portfolio and focussing on our core assets, which deliver sector-leading returns in the short, medium and long-term."
Värde Partners acquired Impolis. (FS)
Impolis - Sociedade Gestora de Fundos de Investimento Imobiliário is a Portuguese regulated real estate asset manager. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Värde plans to use the platform to invest in Portugal and build its position in the local real estate market. Rental growth combined with low vacancy rates and a shortage of supply, especially for quality office space, has led to a supply-demand imbalance in the Lisbon office space market and contributed to a favorable investment environment.
The acquired real estate portfolio includes business parks, office space and commercial land plot assets in greater Lisbon, and has a gross asset value of €186.6m ($210m).
Deutsche Telecom gets EU approval for Dutch Tele2 acquisition.
Deutsche Telecom is rumoured to have obtained unconditional approval for its acquisition of Tele2’s Dutch business. The EU opened a full-scale investigation into the Deutsche Telekom bid five months ago, concerned that a deal, which reduces the Dutch market to three players from four, would hurt competition and lead to price increases for consumers.
The Commission, which is scheduled to rule on the deal by Nov. 30, and Deutsche Telekom declined to comment.
UK regulators concerned by PayPal, iZettle merger.
The Competition and Markets Authority is currently investigating the $2.2bn takeover of Swedish mobile payments company iZettle. After completing its Phase 1 investigation, the CMA has found that PayPal could face insufficient competition in the UK after acquiring its market-leading rival. The finding raises concerns that the merger could result in customers, which include small and medium-sized businesses, paying higher prices or receiving a lower quality service.
Andrea Gomes da Silva, CMA Executive Director, said: “Payment services markets are evolving so it’s particularly important to look to the future when we assess competition and the effects of mergers on customers. While iZettle is a relatively recent entrant to payment services, it has already established a market-leading position in mobile point of sale devices and was well-placed to compete against PayPal in other emerging markets. That’s why we are concerned that PayPal’s takeover could lead to higher prices or reduce the quality of the services available to customers."
EU approves HSH Nordbank takeover. (FS)
EU state aid regulators approved the sale of German lender HSH Nordbank to J.C. Flowers, BAWAG, Cerberus, Goldentree and Centaurus Capital, saying the sale did not involve public support.
“On the basis of the new private owner’s business plan, HSH can become a viable market player, continuing to support economic development in Germany,” European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.
Credit Agricole not interested in buying Commerzbank.
Credit Agricole is not planning to acquire German peer Commerzbank, the chief executive of the French bank told daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
“We are not targeting Commerzbank. Our set-up is large and complete enough to grow organically and above all with partners,” Philippe Brassac told the paper’s Monday edition. “We want to become a real European bank. In Italy and France we are already a universal bank, but not yet in Germany, the largest economy in the European Union.”
Mr. Brassac added that the bank is currently fully focused on organic growth.
Rheinmetall looks to acquire its rival, Krauss-Maffei.
Rheinmetall, the tenth-largest European defence contractor, is looking to buy its rival, Krauss-Maffei, a manufacturer of injection molding machines. “Rheinmetall AG confirms talks with Wegmann Unternehmens-Holding GmbH & Co. KG regarding the possible acquisition of its stake in KMW + Nexter Defense Systems N.V., and therefore an indirect acquisition of Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co. KG,” the company said.
Rheinmetall will analyze and review the possibility of such a transaction, the company said, adding that the transaction depends on a variety of political, economic and regulatory factors.
Shares in Rheinmetall rose up to 6.5% following the announcement.
Tages is to buy Glennmont’s Italian solar power plants. (FS)
Tages is in exclusive talks to buy the Italian solar power plants put on sale by clean energy investor Glennmont Partners. The talks are to last up to 15 days. The Glennmont portfolio comprises three plants with a capacity of 85 MW. A2A and Erg Group are also bidding for the portfolio, which could be worth around €350m ($397m).
Glennmont, which has 285 MW of wind farms in Italy, is being advised by Rothschild and Orrick.
WPP Plc is merging its two ad agencies.
WPP is merging its famous JWT agency with its digital outfit Wunderman in the most high-profile move by the world’s biggest advertising group to simplify its business, according to a Reuters report.
“Wunderman Thompson is a formidable combination, bringing together the capabilities our clients are demanding – award-winning creativity alongside deep expertise in technology, data and commerce,” WPP CEO Mark Read said.
The new agency, with 20k staff in 90 markets, will be run by Mel Edwards, CEO of Wunderman, while Tamara Ingram, head of JWT, will become chairman.
Bayer ponders sale of its consumer brands.
Bayer will discuss selling certain consumer health brands at a supervisory board meeting this week and will also review options for its animal health division. The company is looking to bolster its financial resources after the $63bn takeover of Monsanto. Standard & Poor’s cut Bayer’s credit rating to triple-B in the wake of the Monsanto deal and Bayer said it would reduce debt to return to a single A rating over the long term.
The company has not yet hired any investment banks to explore options for the animal health business. Bayer’s in-house M&A specialists are looking into the sale of the consumer health assets. Analysts at Jefferies and Bernstein have said the animal health business could fetch €6-7bn ($7.9bn).
Bayer declined to comment.
Sovereign Capital looks to sell Partnerships in Children’s Services for up to £100m. (FS)
Potential buyers of Partnerships in Children’s Services, which provides foster care for about 1,100 children, include Stirling Square Capital Partners, which owns the largest independent provider, the National Fostering Agency; Graphite Capital, which owns foster agency Compass Community, and the Priory, owned by the US healthcare company Acadia. The sale would follow that of the UK’s second-largest independent provider of foster care, Foster Care Associates, which houses 2,400 children and was bought by private equity group CapVest for an undisclosed sum this month.
Sovereign Capital Partners hired Clearwater International to assist with the sale.
