AMERICAS
The UK Competition and Markets Authority said that is has started an investigation into Thermo Fisher Scientific's planned $20.9bn acquisition of contract research organisation PPD to see if it would lead to a lessening of competition.
The regulator said that it has set a deadline of December 10 for its phase 1 decision. It has also invited comments from interested parties ahead of a further review with a deadline of November 1.
PPD is advised by JP Morgan and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. JP Morgan is advised by Debevoise & Plimpton. Thermo Fisher is advised by Barclays, Morgan Stanley, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, Cravath Swaine & Moore and Joele Frank. Financial advisors to Thermo Fisher are advised by Ropes & Gray.
Gryphon Investors, a private equity firm, agreed to acquire Metagenics, a nutritional supplement company, from Alticor, an American conglomerate. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Metagenics has a unique position as a leader among nutrition brands recommended by healthcare practitioners across its three core geographic markets. We are excited to invest behind the Metagenics mission, including helping their healthcare practitioner partners to support the health of their patients around the world," Mike Ferry, Gryphon Operating Partner.
Gryphon Investors is advised by Jefferies & Company, PJ Solomon, Kirkland & Ellis and Lambert & Co. Alticor is advised by Nomura, William Hood and Company and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner.
Veritas Capital-backed Guidehouse, a global provider of consulting services to the public sector and commercial markets, completed the acquisition of Macquarie Capital-backed Dovel Technologies, a software solutions creator. Financial terms are not disclosed.
"With the Dovel acquisition now complete, we are thrilled to join forces and welcome our new colleagues to Guidehouse as we combine our technology-first business models and share our strengthened capabilities. Together, we will empower clients through innovative technology and differentiated solutions to help them overcome their most complex challenges," Scott McIntyre, Guidehouse CEO.
Dovel Technologies was advised by Houlihan Lokey, Macquarie Capital and Cooley. Guidehouse was advised by Covington & Burling, Milbank and S&C Public Relations. Veritas was advised by Sard Verbinnen & Co.
White Hat Capital Partners, an investment manager, and Magnetar Capital, a hedge fund, completed a $100m investment in Comtech Telecommunications, a provider of emergency systems and secure wireless communications technologies.
“We are grateful for this significant investment and endorsement of our strategy and team by sophisticated investors with deep technology experience and relationships. As an existing Comtech shareholder with a long-term investment horizon, White Hat understands our Company and the markets we serve. With White Hat’s track record of successfully advising technology companies at key inflection points, and Magnetar’s breadth of experience in the public markets, we are excited to strengthen our relationship with them as we enter this new phase of growth," Fred Kornberg, Comtech Telecommunications Chairman and CEO.
Comtech Telecommunications was advised by Goldman Sachs, Proskauer Rose and Kekst CNC. Magnetar was advised by Willkie Farr & Gallagher. White Hat Capital was advised by Schulte Roth & Zabel.
CDW, an IT solutions provider, agreed to acquire Sirius Computer Solutions, an IT services management company, from Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, a private equity firm, for $2.5bn.
“Today is an exciting day for Sirius. We have long admired CDW and welcome the opportunity to bring our complementary services and solutions capabilities to serve a broader market of customers as a combined company. Sirius and CDW share common values and a performance-driven, customer-focused culture. We look forward to the opportunity to combine Sirius’ considerable talents with CDW’s, and to being part of a larger, stronger organization that will be even better positioned for growth in the evolving IT services and solutions landscape," Joe Mertens, Sirius President & CEO.
CDW is advised by Evercore, Sidley Austin and Sard Verbinnen & Co. CD&R is advised by Guggenheim Partners and Kirkland & Ellis.
Blue Owl Capital, an asset management firm, agreed to acquire Oak Street Real Estate Capital , a private equity real estate firm, for 950m.
"Oak Street has created a market-leading platform in the net lease sector, leveraging the expertise and disciplined underwriting of its investment team to generate very strong returns for its investors. We believe their focus on flexible real estate related financing solutions will be very complementary to our existing Direct Lending and GP solutions capabilities," Marc Lipschultz, Blue Owl Co-Founder and Co-President.
Oak Street is advised by Berkshire Global Advisors and Willkie Farr & Gallagher. Blue Owl is advised by Kirkland & Ellis and Prosek Partners.
First Bancorp, a bank holding company, completed the acquisition of Select Bancorp, the parent company of Select Bank and Trust Company, for $314m.
"We are very pleased with today's announcement that our merger with Select Bancorp is now official. We welcome our new customers, associates, and shareholders to First Bank. Select Bank customers can expect to continue to receive the same high level of service to which they are accustomed. Additionally, Select Bank branches will continue to operate under their current name until a systems conversion of customer accounts, which is scheduled for March 2022, and Select Bank customers should continue to conduct their business with their current Select Bank branches until that time," Richard Moore, First Bancorp CEO.
First Bancorp was advised by Keefe Bruyette & Woods and Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard. Select Bancorp was advised by Raymond James and Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton.
Alleghany Capital, a private equity firm, completed the acquisition of Linesight, a consultancy firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"This is a pivotal point in Linesight's long and successful business history that will enable us to deliver on key components of our strategic plan, particularly expanding into new geographies and broadening our portfolio service offering to better meet clients' needs. The combination of IPS's and Linesight's unique capabilities creates one of the fastest growing architectural, engineering, and construction organizations in the industry. Linesight's skilled teams will continue to provide the same high-quality service to our clients globally and we see enhanced career opportunities for our employees in all our regions. We are energized by the potential of this new business partnership and believe it positions us well to deliver on our ambitious growth aspirations in 2022 and beyond," Paul Boylan, Linesight CEO.
Alleghany Capital was advised by Goodbody and Willkie Farr & Gallagher. Linesight was advised by Capnua and Arthur Cox.
Sandvik, a Swedish multinational engineering company, completed the acquisition of Cambrio, a provider of CAD/CAM software, from Battery Ventures, a global, technology-focused investment firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"This is in line with our strategic focus to grow organically and through acquisitions in the advanced manufacturing space, with special focus on industrial software close to component manufacturing, industrial metrology- and additive manufacturing solutions. Cambrio will enable a broadened customer offering, covering more of the total manufacturing value chain," Stefan Widing, Sandvik President and CEO.
Sandvik was advised by JP Morgan.
Fiserv, a provider of payments and financial services technology solutions, agreed to acquire BentoBox, a digital marketing and commerce platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“Joining Fiserv is a transformational step for BentoBox. BentoBox is committed to elevating every interaction between restaurants and their guests. Together with Fiserv, we look forward to rapidly growing our omnichannel capabilities with exceptional digital experiences for restaurants and their customers," Krystle Mobayeni, BentoBox Co-Founder and CEO.
Fiserv is advised by Joele Frank.
Coatue, a hedge fund sponsor, led a $425m Series D round in Deel, a remote hiring company. Additional investors included Altimeter Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, the YC Continuity Fund, Spark Capital, Greenbay Ventures and Neo.
"We had been tracking Deel since 2020 and were impressed by Alex and Shuo’s vision. As we learned more about Deel, we became excited by their increased and impressive scale and believe we are in the early innings of what the team is capable of," Rahul Kishore, Coatue Senior Managing Director.
Saks Fifth Avenue's e-commerce unit eyes IPO with $6bn valuation.
E-commerce unit of Saks Fifth Avenue, an American luxury department store chain, is interviewing potential underwriters this week for an IPO that could take place in the first half of 2022, targeting a $6bn valuation, Bloomberg reported.
The planned IPO would be the second step of the agreement this year after separating the e-commerce business.
Informatica eyes $9bn valuation in stock market return.
Informatica, an enterprise software developer, is seeking a valuation at $9bn in its return to the stock market. Shares will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “INFA”.
The company will sell 29m shares priced between $29 and $32 per share. The IPO will rake in $928m in proceeds, Reuters reported.
Informatica is advised by Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan.
Compass Digital Acquisition announces pricing of $200m IPO.
Compass Digital Acquisition, a blank check company, priced its IPO of 20m units at $10 per unit, which are expected to be listed on the Nasdaq and trade under the ticker symbol "CDAQU" beginning on October 15, 2021.
Each unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.5 per share, BusinessWire reported.
Compass Digital is advised by Citigroup, JP Morgan and Ladenburg Thalmann.
Leonard Green-backed Milan Laser files for US IPO. (FS)
Leonard Green-backed Milan Laser, the laser hair removal chain, filed for an IPO, showing a profit this year after its revenue more than doubled. Milan Laser plans to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MLAN, Bloomberg reported.
The company listed the size of the offering as $100m. The company expected to be valued at around $1bn in an IPO.
Milan Laser is advised by Goldman Sachs and Jefferies & Company.
Hertz files to list shares on Nasdaq in wake of bankruptcy exit.
Hertz Global Holdings, a car rental company, is planning to list its shares on Nasdaq, since the company exited bankruptcy in June and has been trading over the counter.
The company, in a filing Friday, listed the size of the offering as $100m, a placeholder that will likely change. Some of its shareholders plan to sell shares as part of the offering, Bloomberg reported.
Hertz is advised by Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley.
EMEA
Aristocrat Leisure, a supplier of premier gaming content and technology, agreed to acquire Playtech, an online gambling software supplier, for £2.1bn ($2.9bn).
"This transaction marks an exciting opportunity in the next stage of growth for Playtech, and delivers significant benefits to our stakeholders, including our customers, our shareholders and our incredibly talented people. This deal has the potential to enhance our distribution, our capacity to build new and deeper relationships with partners, and bolsters our technological capabilities. The combination of our two companies builds one of the largest B2B gaming platforms in the world, with the people, infrastructure and expertise to provide our customers with a truly best-in-class offer across all areas of gaming and sports betting," Mor Weizer, Playtech CEO.
Playtech is advised by Goodbody, Jefferies & Company, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner and Headland Consultancy. Aristocrat Leisure is advised by Goldman Sachs, Allens, Linklaters and Finsbury Glover Hering.
Silver Lake, a private equity firm, agreed to acquire a 9.85% stake in Euroclear, an asset manager, from Intercontinental Exchange, a financial services company, for $822m.
“We are thrilled to become a shareholder of Euroclear. We have been highly impressed by the company’s achievements over the years, continuously strengthening Euroclear’s positioning as a global leader in vital post-trade, collateral management, fund management and data services as well as the company’s crucial importance overall to the efficient functioning of financial markets in Europe and around the world. As a leading technology investor, we look forward to contributing to Euroclear’s future growth, which is more than ever driven by innovation,” Christian Lucas, Silver Lake Co-Head.
Silver Lake is advised by Lazard, Loyens & Loeff, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Edelman. ICE is advised by Moelis & Co and Stibbe.
BICO, a bioconvergence startup that designs and supplies technologies and services to enhance biology research, completed the acquisition of QInstruments, a biotechnology company in Jena, Germany, for $71m.
“QInstruments leads the industry by developing beautiful, customer centric, sample preparation tools and technologies that is impacting major research areas and making a difference in the results the customers can achieve. The Acquisition is in line with BICO’s commercial, Bio Convergence strategy, complementing BICO’s product offering through sample preparation by mixing solutions for advanced liquid handling robots and workflows. QInstruments’ innovative product portfolio for mixing solutions for advanced liquid handling can be seamless integrated in our existing workflows and in addition, we also see great potential in integrating QInstruments’ technology in new instruments,” Erik Gatenholm, BICO CEO and Co-Founder.
BICO was advised by Ebner Stolz and Hengeler Mueller.
British retailers EG Group and Asda terminate the $1.02bn acquisition of Asda's petrol station business from TDR Capital, a private equity firm.
Asda remains confident that it will continue to derive synergy benefits from its strategic alliance with EG through key initiatives already underway, including the development of plans to introduce foodservice at Asda locations and the expansion of Asda’s convenience offering, where both companies have confirmed their intention to roll-out the Asda On the Move proposition across EG’s UK forecourts.
Flex, a manufacturing partner, agreed to acquire Anord Mardix, a company specializing in critical power distribution, from Bertram Capital, a private equity firm, for $540m.
"Anord Mardix primarily markets critical power directly to data center operators. By joining Flex, we will be able to build out Anord Mardix's comprehensive range of end-to-end power systems for critical data facilities, leveraging Flex's expertise and efficiencies in advanced manufacturing and global supply chain. We look forward to being a part of Flex and expanding our abilities to provide quality data center solutions to our customers," James Peacock, Anord Mardix Managing Director.
GIC, a private equity firm, agreed to acquire a 30% stake in CETIN Group, a telecommunications infrastructure provider, from PPF Group, a private equity firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“When we entered the telecommunications sector almost eight years ago, we said that PPF wanted to offer state-of-the-art services to the European market. We are proud to partner with GIC, a major and respected international investor renowned for its unparalleled ability to identify value in stable assets capable of generating solid long-term returns,” Ladislav Bartoníček, PPF Group CEO.
Monte Paschi sale could cost Italian taxpayers another $6bn.
Italy is in talks to invest at least €5bn ($5.6bn) into Banca Monte Paschi di Siena, an Italian bank, ahead of a sale of the troubled lender to UniCredit, Bloomberg reported.
The finance ministry, which controls Monte Paschi, is considering a cash infusion for the Tuscan bank through a rights offering that would allow minority shareholders to opt-out of the increase.
Hungarian Government to make a $4.6bn takeover bid for Budapest Airport.
A consortium led by Hungary’s government has offered about $4.6 bn for full control of Budapest Airport, Bloomberg reported.
The latest bid, after an earlier one this year was rejected as undervaluing the hub, is being considered by the airport’s owners. Although a final decision has yet to be taken, the owners will probably be inclined to sell at that price and a deal may be concluded before general elections, likely to take place in April.
National Express is given more time to bid for Stagecoach.
National Express, a British transport group, is given more time until November 16, 2021, to make a firm offer for takeover target Stagecoach, a Scottish transport group.
Talks were underway about National Express acquiring Stagecoach in an all-share deal valuing it at about £445m ($611m) on September 21, 2021, and the previous deadline had been set for October 19, 2021.
Siemens prepares separation of large drive business.
Siemens, a German multinational conglomerate and a focused technology corporation, is preparing a separation of its large drive applications business, which produces heavy-duty electrical drive systems for ships, mines and rolling mills.
"We have now decided to carve out the LDA activities into separate legal entities. We want to give this business additional autonomy and entrepreneurial freedom so that it can focus more sharply on its markets and customers," Siemens.
Volvo Cars sets IPO price range, seeking up to $23bn valuation.
Geely-owned Volvo Cars' IPO would be priced within a range of SEK53 ($6.15) to SEK68 ($7.89) per share, valuing the company up to $23bn.
Volvo Cars planned to raise $2.9bn through an IPO and list its shares on the Nasdaq Stockholm stock exchange, Reuters reported.
Softline sets IPO price range, valued up to $1.93bn.
Softline, a Russian IT company, has set the price range for its IPO at between $7.5 and $10.5 per global depositary receipt (GDR), valuing the firm at up to $1.93bn.
Softline plans to raise around $400m by selling newly issued ordinary shares in the IPO on the London Stock Exchange with a secondary listing in Moscow, Reuters reported.
Fertiglobe set to price Abu Dhabi IPO at top end of price range
Fertiglobe Holding's IPO is set to price at the top end of an initial range, raising as much as $830m in what will be Abu Dhabi's third-largest listing.
ADNOC and OCI NV may sell shares in Fertiglobe at $0.72 each. The initial range was set at $0.66 to $0.72 each and attracted enough demand to cover the books at the top end on the first day, Bloomberg reported.
APAC
Sydney Airport Holding maintained intention to recommend securityholders to vote in favour of an $17.4bn takeover offer from an infrastructure investor group, as the four-week due diligence period has now ended.
Sydney Airport added that it continued to negotiate the relevant transaction documents with a view to the parties seeking their respective internal approvals over the coming weeks, Reuters reported.
Sydney Airport is advised by Barrenjoey Capital Partners, UBS and Allens. IFM Investors is advised by Herbert Smith Freehills
POSCO, a steel-making company, offered to acquire Senex, an energy company, for $605m.
The Senex Board believes it is in the best interests of its shareholders to continue to engage with POSCO International and will assess any proposal received on its merits. There is no certainty that discussions between POSCO International and Senex will result in any binding agreement on a transaction.
Senex Energy is advised by Macquarie Capital, Rothschild & Co, Clayton Utz, and Domestique.
Private equity firms DigitalBridge and Columbia Capital, agreed to acquire Singaporean and Hong Kong operations of Superloop, a connectivity services provider, for $104m.
“We are excited to announce our first fiber investment in the Asia Pacific region. Additionally, it is a terrific opportunity to partner with two leading industry players, investing alongside the experienced team at Columbia Capital and entering a long-term strategic partnership with Superloop to capitalize on the significant growth in network demand we see ahead," Justin Chang, DigitalBridge Managing Director.
DigitalBridge is advised by Joele Frank.
Chinese Wagas weighing sale.
Wagas, a healthy food and bakery chain, is exploring a sale amid interest from potential investors, Bloomberg reported.
The company is working with a financial adviser to help find a buyer. A sale could value Wagas at $500m-$600m.
India pushing to get LIC IPO done on time.
The government is pushing to get the IPO of state-backed Life Insurance, an Indian statutory insurance and investment corporation, across the line by March, 2022.
"We are pushing to have it done. The problem is not that we don't want it or we are pussyfooting on it now, it is more a question of doing the due process," Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister.
Vitalbridge Capital secures $275m for its second USD fund. (FS)
Vitalbridge Capital, an investment firm, has closed its second USD-denominated fund, securing a total of $275m in capital commitment.
The fund has seen the participation of both existing and new limited partners, including fund-of-funds, family offices, insurance groups, and foundations, DealStreetAsia reported
Richland Capital closes third RMB fund at $109m. (FS)
Richland Capital, a private equity firm, has made the final closing of its third RMB-denominated venture fund at 700m yuan ($109m).
The firm has received capital commitments from Shanghai Xinjinshan Industrial Investment Development and Tsinghua Holdings-backed funds of funds Redbud Capital.
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