Daily Review

China Molybdenum increased its stake to 80% in Tenke Cooper Mine.

 

Zeal shareholders approve Lotto24 deal.

 

Altor backed Transcom signs agreement to acquire TMS connected. (FS)

 

Pula Aviation acquires ASG.

 

RPC Group gives more time for Apollo to make an offer. (FS)

Amundi acquired additional 51% in fintech Anatec.

 

APAC

 

German online classifieds company Scout24 has rejected a €4.7bn ($5.3bn) takeover offer from private equity firms Hellman & Friedman and Blackstone, potentially paving the way for a bidding war.

 

The company said in a statement late on Friday that Hellman & Friedman and Blackstone had submitted a joint bid to Scout 24’s shareholders of €44 ($50) per share - 8% higher than Friday’s closing share price of €40 ($45).

 

“The management board of Scout24 AG has rejected the proposed offer price as inadequate,” the company said. 

 

Speculation about a takeover of Scout24, which was previously owned by Hellman & Friedman, has been rife since December when the Financial Times said U.S. technology-focused buyout firm Silver Lake was expected to be among the bidders looking to acquire Scout24.

 

A British court ruling has indicated that a final regulatory verdict on supermarket operator Sainsbury’s proposed £7.3bn ($9.5bn) takeover of Walmart unit Asda will be delayed until the end of April from early March.

 

Any extension of the final deadline, by up to eight weeks, is a decision for the CMA and would likely not be made public until it publishes its provisional report.

 

“We continue to work constructively with the CMA,” said a spokeswoman for both Sainsbury’s and Asda.

 

Sainsbury was advised by Morgan Stanley, UBS and Brunswick. Walmart was advised by Rothschild & Co.

 

 

Transcom signed an agreement to acquire TMS connected. The transaction is expected to close during February 2019, subject to regulatory approval. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

 

TMS connected is one of the leading customer service providers specialized in the utilities industry in Germany.

 

“Welcoming TMS connected as well as all TMS team members to the Transcom family will not only increase our footprint in the strategically important German market but also within the utilities sector, one of the strongest growing outsourcing industry verticals in Germany and beyond. This will provide an opportunity for both companies to fully capture growth opportunities with current and future clients”, Michael Weinreich, Transcom President & CEO.

Guernsey-based Pula Aviation, has acquired ASG, a Guernsey-based firm which specialises in business and general aviation maintenance, executive ground handling, and the trading of business aircraft.

 

“With two established and successful businesses coming together, we are excited to be creating a new, one-call, privately owned aviation group. We are combining Centreline’s and ASG’s strong entrepreneurial spirit and customer service values and I believe this to be the perfect platform to support Pula Aviation’s ambitious plans for growth.” Centreline’s current CEO, Tanya Raynes, who will become Chair of the new Pula Aviation Services in March.

German gambling company Zeal Network’s shareholders paved the way for the takeover of rival Lotto24 by voting in favour of a capital increase as well as other preconditions.

 

Germany’s antitrust regulator has already approved the deal and Zeal has already secured irrevocable undertakings from shareholders representing 65% of the shares — above the 50% minimum acceptance threshold. Rival Lottoland had tried to scupper the deal and said it was ready to offer up to €76m ($87m) for German lottery business Tipp24 in a move which could have thwarted the restructuring plans of Tipp24’s owner Zeal.

 

In Germany, official lottery tickets are sold on behalf of the state through authorized distributors locally or online, while so-called ‘secondary’ lotteries such as Tipp24 bet on the state lottery numbers but are actually unregulated.

 

After German authorities announced plans to tighten oversight of the secondary sector, Zeal decided to pull out of that business.

 

RPC Group, Europe’s biggest plastics packaging maker, said the deadline for its private equity suitor Apollo Global Management to make a firm offer for the company has been extended to Jan. 23.

 

RPC Group, which first announced the talks in September last year, said the takeover panel granted the extension on the company’s request and that discussions with Apollo are ongoing.

 

RPC Group is advised by Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Evercore, Jefferies & Company, Rothschild & Co and Slaughter & May. 

 

 

 

A.T. Kearney, a leading global management consulting firm, has acquired Cervello, elite business analytics, and data management consultancy. Financial terms were not disclosed.

 

Operating as “Cervello, an A.T. Kearney company,” Cervello’s team of renowned data engineers, data scientists, and developers will work closely with A.T. Kearney client service teams worldwide to power client performance improvement and transformation programs with expert technology consulting agile analytics, and data-driven insights.

 

“Cervello is already helping some of the world’s most respected companies to win with data. Joining forces with A.T. Kearney will exponentially increase our business impact to our current and future clients. First, we will dramatically increase our global reach. Second, we see our strengths as blending remarkably well. Our technology expertise will embed seamlessly within A.T. Kearney’s deep industry expertise. Third, our clients see the value and urgency in this combination of strengths." Scot MacGillivray, Cervello CEO.

Canadian oil producer MEG Energy Corp’s CEO invited his Husky Energy counterpart this month to negotiate a friendly takeover of MEG, but Husky did not follow up, MEG’s vice president of investor relations John Rogers said on Friday.

 

Husky abandoned its bid for MEG on Thursday, saying it could not win sufficient MEG shareholder support after Alberta’s government ordered production cuts to reduce a crude glut.

 

MEG’s chief executive officer, Derek Evans, phoned Husky CEO Rob Peabody in early January and invited him to visit and discuss a possible friendly deal to sell MEG, Rogers said. “We approached them and said, ‘You know with a little bit of negotiation, I’m sure we can find a way out of this,’” Rogers said, recalling MEG’s invitation. “They never got back to us.”

 

MEG was advised by Kingsdale Advisors, BMO Capital Markets and Bennett Jones. Husky was advised by Goldman Sachs and Osler Hoskin & Harcourt.

 

French asset manager Amundi bought the 51% stake it didn’t own in fintech Anatec. Europe’s largest asset manager, which is controlled by French bank Credit Agricole didn’t disclose the amount of the transaction.

 

Anatec, which operates under the WeSave brand, is a digital aggregator of savings and financial advisory services from different providers. The firm will keep its operational and commercial autonomy, Amundi said.

 

"We are delighted to be backed by such a partner like Amundi who will accelerate our development and enable us to better serve our existing customers and reach new customers, especially outside our home market where we can rely on a well-established distribution force," Zakaria Laguel, Amundi CEO.