AMERICAS
Univision Communications, an American media company, agreed to acquire the content and media assets of Televisa, a Mexican multimedia mass media company, for $4.8bn.
The acquisition was backed by an investment from SoftBank Latin American Fund, ForgeLight, Google and The Raine Group.
"This transformative combination brings together the leading network serving US Spanish-language audiences with the leading media platform in Mexico powered by the most powerful Spanish-language content engine in the world. Televisa-Univision will emerge as the leading global Spanish-language multimedia company, uniquely positioned to capture the significant market opportunity for Spanish speakers worldwide," Wade Davis, Univision CEO.
Televisa is advised by Allen & Company, LionTree Advisors, Mijares Angoitia Cortes y Fuentes, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz. Univision is advised by Guggenheim Partners, JP Morgan, Covington & Burling, Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison and Sidley Austin. Debt financing is provided by JP Morgan. SoftBank is advised by Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. The Raine Group is advised by Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman.
Tango Therapeutics, a biotechnology company, agreed to go public via SPAC merger with BCTG Acquisition in a $353m. Investors in the PIPE include lead investor and SPAC sponsor Boxer Capital, as well as Avoro Capital, Bain Capital Life Sciences, funds and accounts managed by Blackrock, EcoR1 Capital, Farallon Capital, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Foresite Capital, Janus Henderson Investors, Logos Capital, RA Capital Management, Samsara BioCapital, Southpoint Capital, Surveyor Capital and Woodline Partners LP, in addition to existing Tango Therapeutics shareholders including Casdin Capital, Cormorant Asset Management and Gilead Sciences.
“This morning’s announcement is a key milestone for Tango as it ensures we have access to the capital needed to advance our preclinical programs and initiate clinical studies of our three lead programs, as we continue our mission of bringing transformational therapies to patients,” Barbara Weber, Managing Director, President and CEO.
Tango is advised by Barclays, Wedbush PacGrow, Goodwin Procter and Argot Partners. BCTG is advised by Goldman Sachs, Guggenheim Partners, SVB Leerink and Loeb & Loeb. Financial advisors are advised by Cooley.
L Catterton, a global consumer-focused private equity firm, agreed to acquire a majority stake in West Marine, an omni-channel platform in the marine aftermarket, from Monomoy Capital Partners, a private equity firm. The transaction is expected to close in May 2021, subject to customary closing conditions. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"The L Catterton team brings invaluable consumer, brand building, and digital expansion expertise to help us accelerate our growth plans. In partnership, we look forward to enhancing our digital capabilities and elevating our consumer experience to not only provide the broadest product offering in the industry, but also to deliver the most comprehensive and rewarding consumer experience no matter where or how our boaters choose to engage with us. We look forward to our partnership with L Catterton," Ken Seipel, West Marine CEO.
West Marine is advised by Robert W Baird. L Catterton is advised by Kirkland & Ellis and Joele Frank. Debt financing is provided by Barclays, Golub Capital and Nomura. Debt providers are advised by Paul Hastings.
KKR agreed to acquire Ensono, a hybrid IT services provider, from private equity firms Charlesbank Capital Partners and M/C Partners, for c.$1.7bn. The transaction is expected to close within the next 60 days, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
"As we embark on our next chapter with KKR, Ensono will continue to provide clients with transformational solutions that help them operate for today and optimize for tomorrow. Our initial investors played an important role in helping us establish our business and brand and funding our growth. With the support of KKR, we will continue to grow and invest in our future as we drive innovation to meet the changing needs of our clients. We are fortunate to be in an industry where the need for our services has not only grown but diversified into exciting new areas of potential growth," Jeff VonDeylen, Ensono CEO.
Ensono is advised by Goodwin Procter, UBS and Guggenheim Securities. KKR is advised by Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, Morgan Stanley and RBC Capital.
New Residential Investment, a provider of capital and services to the mortgage and financial services industry, agreed to acquire Caliber Home Loans, a home mortgage originator and servicer, for $1.68bn.
"The combination of NewRez and Caliber’s platforms will create a premier financial services company with scale, talent, technologies and products to accelerate our mortgage company objectives and generate strong earnings for our shareholders. With this acquisition, we have significantly strengthened our capabilities to perform across interest rate environments,” Michael Nierenberg, Chairman, New Residential Chief Executive Officer and President.
New Residential is advised by Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom. Caliber Home Loans is advised by Barclays, Credit Suisse and Mayer Brown.
Private equtiy firm Hellman & Friedman agreed to acquire a majority stake in Enverus, a global energy data analytics and SaaS technology company, from Genstar Capital, a private equity firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"The investment from H&F and continued partnership with Genstar will enable Enverus to accelerate our development of market-leading software and analytics solutions for companies that serve the energy industry. H&F brings a wealth of experience in the software sector, and they are eager to support our vision of providing customers with the most accurate and actionable intelligence available so they can deliver energy to the world," Jeff Hughes, Enverus CEO.
Enverus is advised by Goldman Sachs and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. Hellman & Friedman is advised by Credit Suisse, Kirkland & Ellis and Finsbury Glover Hering. Genstar Capital is advised by Chris Tofalli.
TPG Capital-backed Centrify, a privileged access management firm, completed the merger with Insight Partners-backed Thycotic, a cloud-first company with innovative identity security solutions. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“The increasing cost and impact of cyber breaches coupled with the explosive growth of cloud services and the interconnection of networks has driven rapid adoption of identity security software. Now more than ever, organizations are looking to strengthen their capabilities to ensure improved protection from the ever-increasing risk of cyber-intrusions. The combined company will deliver one of the most comprehensive product offerings in the business with the ability to adapt and scale to meet the evolving needs of customers,” Art Gilliland, Centrify CEO.
Thycotic was advised by Bank of America and Lumina Communications. TPG Capital was advised by Citigroup and Davis Polk & Wardwell. PSP was advised by Weil Gotshal and Manges. Insight Partners was advised by Evercore and Willkie Farr & Gallagher.
Koch Industries agreed to acquire Transaction Network Services, a provider of secure connectivity and interoperability solutions via a global managed network enabling its customers to exchange data and information and transact worldwide, from Siris Capital Group, an investment group. The closing is expected to take place in the second quarter of 2021. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"As a result of this acquisition, we will be able to accelerate our mission of enabling our customers to focus on growing their businesses without worrying about the ever-increasing complexities associated with securely transmitting mission-critical, time sensitive transactional data. We have enjoyed a close partnership with Koch over the past five years, and this deal is a natural progression of those years of working together. As part of Koch, we will deliver more value to our customers faster with increased investment in new technologies and current and future services which is critical to our long-term growth strategy," Mike Keegan, TNS CEO.
TNS is advised by Sidley Austin, Evercore and Macquarie Capital. Koch is advised by Jones Day, Rothschild & Co and Credit Suisse.
Change Healthcare, a healthcare technology company, received stockholders' approval for the previously announced combination with Optum, part of UnitedHealth Group. Of the approximately 222m shares voted at a special meeting of stockholders, 99.9% voted in favor of the adoption of the merger agreement.
Change Healthcare is advised by Barclays, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Brunswick Group. UnitedHealth is advised by Sullivan & Cromwell.
General Atlantic completed an $80m investment in VEGAMOUR, a direct-to-consumer, clean hair wellness brand.
“VEGAMOUR has been a leader in creating a new category in hair wellness and occupies a differentiated position in the marketplace as an efficacious, vegan and clean solution. In partnership with Dan and the VEGAMOUR team, we are excited to accelerate the company’s growth and build upon its proven model,” Andrew Ferrer, General Atlantic Managing Director.
VEGAMOUR was advised by Financo and Sidley Austin. General Atlantic was advised by Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison and IHPR.
The Blackstone Group agreed to acquire Sabre Industries, a designer and manufacturer of highly-engineered, mission-critical overhead steel poles, towers, battery storage solutions, from private equity firm The Jordan Company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"Sabre is the most recent in a series of investments by Blackstone Energy Partners in critical energy infrastructure and essential services needed to help deliver cleaner, more reliable and affordable energy, and an example of Blackstone's ongoing commitment to invest in the entrepreneurs and businesses who will help lead America's energy transition," David Foley, Blackstone Global Head of Energy Partners.
Sabre Industries is advised by Goldman Sachs and Kirkland & Ellis. Blackstone is advised by Citigroup and Vinson & Elkins.
Exact Sciences, a provider of cancer screening and diagnostic tests, completed the acquisition of Ashion Analytics, a clinical genomics testing company, from The Translational Genomics Research Institute, a Phoenix, Arizona-based nonprofit organization. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"With Ashion, we've added a talented team, a CLIA-certified and CAP-accredited lab, deep sequencing capabilities, and one of the most comprehensive genomic cancer tests available on the market today with GEM ExTra. This expertise will be integral in helping us extend our leadership in precision oncology and in serving more patients across the cancer continuum, including therapy selection and minimal residual disease testing," Kevin Conroy, Exact Sciences Chairman and CEO.
Exact Sciences was advised by K&L Gates and XMS Capital. The Translational Genomics Research Institute was advised by Citigroup and Jennings Strouss & Salmon.
Sony, a Japanese multinational conglomerate, led a $1bn funding round in Epic Games, an American video game and software developer, with participation from Appaloosa, Baillie Gifford, Fidelity Management & Research Company, GIC, T. Rowe Price Associates, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board, BlackRock, Park West, KKR, AllianceBernstein, Altimeter, Franklin Templeton and Luxor Capital.
"We are grateful to our new and existing investors who support our vision for Epic and the Metaverse. Their investment will help accelerate our work around building connected social experiences in Fortnite, Rocket League and Fall Guys, while empowering game developers and creators with Unreal Engine, Epic Online Services and the Epic Games Store," Tim Sweeney, Epic Games CEO and Founder.
Epic Games was advised by Bank of America, Credit Suisse and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.
Flagship Pioneering led a $189m Series B round in Repertoire Immune Medicines, a clinical-stage biotech company, with participation from Softbank Vision Fund 2, PSP Investments, Alaska Permanent Fund and Invus.
Proceeds from this financing will support further expansion of the company's proprietary DECODE discovery platform, accelerate its clinical and preclinical pipeline, expand Repertoire's team, and enhance its manufacturing capabilities.
Repertoire Immune Medicines is advised by Kendall Investor Relations and ScientPR.
Wind Point Partners-backed A&R Logistics, a provider of supply chain services for the chemical industry, completed the acquisition of Luckey Trucking, a provider of dry bulk, liquid bulk, dry van transportation, warehousing and logistics services to the chemical industry. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"A core focus of A&R's value creation plan has been an emphasis on growth through acquisition, and Luckey represents yet another excellent addition to A&R's leading chemical supply chain platform. This acquisition further enhances our scale and allows our team to continue meeting the needs of our customers across the supply chain. We look forward to continuing to build upon the combined network of both companies and fostering the Luckey legacy," Konrad Salaber, Wind Point Managing Director.
A&R Logistics was advised by KPMG and Kirkland & Ellis.
WEX, a financial technology service provider, agreed to acquire benefitexpress, a provider of highly configurable, cloud-based benefits administration technologies and services. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second quarter, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“The acquisition of benefitexpress accelerates our strategic vision of offering a complete healthcare ecosystem with a highly complementary benefits administration platform at its core,” Robert Deshaies, WEX’s Health division President.
benefitexpress is advised by William Blair. WEX is advised by WilmerHale.
SoftBank Vision Fund 2 led a $676m Series D round in SambaNova Systems, a computing startup focused on building machine learning and big data analytics platforms, with participation from Temasek, GIC, BlackRock, Intel Capital, GV (formerly Google Ventures), Walden International and WRVI.
"We're here to revolutionize the AI market, and this round greatly accelerates that mission. Traditional CPU and GPU architectures have reached their computational limits. To truly unleash AI's potential to solve humanity's greatest technology challenges, a new approach is needed. We've figured out that approach, and it's exciting to see a wealth of prudent investors validate that," Rodrigo Liang, SambaNova CEO.
SambaNova was advised by Walker Sands Communications.
SoftBank Vision Fund 2 led a $220m Series C round in Tempo.fit, a home fitness platform, combining equipment, training guidance, and social motivation with 3D sensors and artificial intelligence, with participation from Steadfast Capital Ventures, DCM, General Catalyst, Norwest Venture Partners, and Bling Capital.
Tempo will allocate the new funding toward the continued enhancement of its AI and 3D sensor technology to further expand its cutting-edge, real-time form feedback and personal guidance for users.
Sapphire Ventures and Riverwood Capital, the two private equity firms, led a $153m Series D funding round in Degreed, a software company serving human resource departments. The total funding round included participation from current investors Signal Peak Ventures, Owl Ventures, GSV Ventures, Founders Circle, Contour Investment Partners, Section Partners, and Alliance Bernstein, as well as new investor Firework Ventures.
“Research shows that today’s employees are eight times more likely to work for a company that they trust will provide them with career opportunities, even if their job changes or goes away. And businesses that can quickly reallocate talent to the most critical strategic priorities are more than twice as likely to outperform their competitors on total returns to shareholders. That’s exactly what Degreed does, and that’s why we’re excited to partner with Degreed and be part of the company’s future,” Kevin Diestel, Sapphire Ventures Partner.
Ridgemont Equity Partners-backed Munch’s Supply, a Midwest-based heating, ventilation and air conditioning distributor, completed the acquisition of API of NH and Delta T, a New Hampshire-based HVAC provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
“As I got to know Bob Engel and his brothers, it was amazing how many similarities the businesses share. The union of our great companies sets the stage for a bright and exciting future in HVAC distribution. We are pleased to welcome both the customers and employees of API of NH and Delta T into Munch’s family of brands,” Bob Munch, Munch’s CEO.
Crosspoint Capital Partners raises $1.3bn for debut private equity fund. (FS)
Crosspoint Capital Partners closed Crosspoint Capital Fund I, an investment fund focused on the cybersecurity, privacy, and infrastructure software sectors. Fund I closed at $1.3bn, exceeding its target of $1bn and making it one of the largest first-time, technology-focused private equity funds ever raised.
"Private equity is an exceedingly competitive industry, and simply having capital is no longer a source of differentiation. We are pursuing a new and differentiated model for private equity investing that combines deep sector knowledge, operational capabilities, and investment expertise to build better businesses. Our unique skillsets give us deep insights into what we are buying, help us identify opportunities to create value, and partner with management teams to accelerate the innovation, growth, and profitability of our investments," Greg Clark, Crosspoint Managing Partner.
Francisco Partners explores the sale of Availity stake. (FS)
Francisco Partners is looking to sell its minority stake in Availity, a healthcare information technology company backed by some of the country's biggest health plans, Bloomberg reported.
Francisco, which owns just under a third of the company, is working with an adviser on the sale, which is in the early stages. Availity as a whole is worth $2bn, including debt.
Francisco led a growth equity investment in the company in 2017 with its existing investors, a group that included Anthem, Humana, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota. Insurer Health Care Service and Florida Blue are also investors.
Squarespace plans direct listing instead of IPO.
Squarespace, a website hosting service, has decided to pursue a direct listing this year instead of a traditional IPO. The company's plans, including the timing of a listing, could still change, Bloomberg reported.
Squarespace would be the latest technology company to choose this route to the public markets, following Roblox, Palantir Technologies, Slack Technologies, Spotify, and Asana. Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global is set to list via a direct listing on Wednesday.
Squarespace was valued at $10bn last month in a funding round. It had confidentially submitted a draft filing to go public with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Prudential Financial weighs divestment of its retirement arm. (FS)
Prudential Financial is exploring a sale of the bulk of its retirement business, which could fetch more than $2bn, Bloomberg reported. The Newark, New Jersey-based life insurer is working with a financial adviser to find buyers for its so-called full-service solutions business.
The company’s Chief Executive Officer Charles Lowrey has a three-year strategy to transform it through deals, cost savings. and share buybacks. Part of that process includes shedding interest-rate-sensitive businesses and making acquisitions in growth markets.
Partners Group sells US industrial real estate portfolio for over $1bn. (FS, RE)
Partners Group, a global private markets firm, has, on behalf of its clients, sold a large-scale portfolio of US industrial properties at a gross asset value of over $1bn.
The Portfolio has a combined leasable area of 8.6m sq ft and consists of 88 industrial properties primarily located across the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions of the US, including Atlanta, Nashville, Norfolk, Raleigh-Durham and the Shenandoah Valley, near Washington DC. The properties include 74 light industrial buildings and 14 Class A bulk industrial buildings, which primarily serve distribution tenants in the e-commerce supply chain.
"We are proud to see the transformational results of the work we have done during the past three years and believe this exit represents an excellent outcome for our clients. We continue to see relative value in the industrial sector and, in particular, we have conviction in last-mile distribution facilities, smaller urban logistics warehouses and cold storage facilities, which are supported by resilient structural market trends," Ron Lamontagne, Partners Group, Private Real Estate Americas Co-Head and Managing Director.
Cue Health picks Morgan Stanley and Goldman for IPO.
Cue Health, a covid test maker, plans an IPO as soon as this year, Bloomberg reported. The healthcare technology company is working with banks, including Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, on a listing.
Cue Health, led by co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Ayub Khattak, raised $100m last June from investors including Madrone Capital Partners, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Decheng Capital, and Foresite Capital. The company had discussed raising new funding that could have boosted its valuation above $2bn.
EMEA
European Union antitrust regulators have extended until July 27 the deadline for their decision on Aon's $30bn offer for rival Willis Towers Watson.
The EU antitrust watchdog is looking for feedback from rivals and customers before deciding whether to demand more concessions.
Willis is advised by Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Herbert Smith Freehills, Matheson, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and Weil Gotshal and Manges. Financial advisors are advised by Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. Aon is advised by Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, Arthur Cox, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Latham & Watkins, FTI Consulting and Joele Frank. Financial advisors are advised by Cravath Swaine & Moore.
The UK Competition and Markets Authority has provisionally cleared the proposed merger of mobile network operators Virgin Media and Virgin Mobile with O2, the country's largest mobile platform.
The CMA was initially concerned that, following the merger, Virgin and O2 could raise prices or reduce the quality of these wholesale services, or withdraw them altogether. If this were to happen, the quality of these other companies' mobile services could suffer and – if wholesale price increases were passed on by these companies to their customers – their retail prices could go up. Having examined the evidence, the CMA inquiry group has now provisionally concluded that the deal is unlikely to lead to any substantial lessening of competition.
Telefonica is advised by Deloitte, Citigroup, Clifford Chance and Herbert Smith Freehills. Liberty Global is advised by JP Morgan, LionTree Advisors, Allen & Overy, Ropes & Gray, Shearman & Sterling and Finsbury Glover Hering.
PPG Industries, a supplier of paints, coatings and speciality materials, is extending the tender offer period for all issued and outstanding shares of Tikkurila, a manufacturer of paints and lacquers, to May 11, 2021. The tender offer period, which commenced on January 15, 2021, was most recently scheduled to expire on April 14, 2021.
The completion of the tender offer remains subject to the receipt of regulatory approval from the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia, which PPG anticipates receiving within this extended period, and to additional customary conditions to completion, including the valid tender of shares representing, together with shares otherwise held by PPG and its subsidiaries, more than 66.7% of the outstanding shares of Tikkurila.
Tikkurila is advised by SEB Corporate Finance and Hannes Snellman. PPG is advised by D.F. King & Co, Danske Bank, PJT Partners, DLA Piper and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz.
CPI Property Group, an owner of commercial real estate, and Aroundtown, a publicly listed real estate company, agreed to acquire the remaining shares in Globalworth Real Estate Investments, a real estate company with a primary focus on Poland and Romania, for $922m.
"CPI and Aroundtown are both highly experienced, strong and stable owners of European real estate. Working together as partners will allow us to maximize long-term value while maintaining Globalworth's strong investment-grade capital structure and excellent teams in Romania and Poland," David Greenbaum, CPI CFI.
CPI Property Group is advised by Barclays, Hogan Lovells and SEC Newgate. Aroundtown is advised by Citigroup and White & Case.
Silver Lake-backed Cegid, a major provider of business management solutions, is set to acquire Talentsoft, a provider of HR software solutions, from investment firms Goldman Sachs, BPI, Highland Europe, Seventure and TempoCap. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"The acquisition of Talentsoft will allow us to accelerate our strategy to serve Human Resources clients, who form one of Cegid's five priority markets. By combining our two companies, Talentsoft and Cegid will become a leading group with revenue of over €600m ($715m)," Pascal Houillon, Cegid CEO.
Goldman Sachs is advised by Sullivan & Cromwell.
Servify, a device lifecycle management platform, agreed to acquire WebToGo, a provider of self-care diagnostics solutions, data-driven support and digital tools. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"As we set bigger and bolder ambitions for ourselves, we also rely on expertise from people who know how to elevate customer experience further. Our vision is aligned with that of Peter and his team at WebToGo, and together we want to utilise our collective deep domain knowledge and technology prowess. There couldn't be a better time than now for this acquisition," Sreevathsa Prabhakar, Servify Founder.
Babylon in discussions to list via ex-Groupon CEO SPAC.
Babylon, the medical startup that connects patients and doctors via an app, is in talks to go public in a merger with a blank-check company run by former Groupon executives, Bloomberg reported.
The UK-based healthcare group could reach an agreement with Alkuri Global Acquisition in the coming weeks. Babylon could be valued at $3-4bn in any deal.
Alkuri is starting to raise an additional private investment in public equity pool of around $300m to help fund a deal and already has support from several investors.
Geely-backed Lotus considers raising $1bn.
Zhejiang Geely Holding Group is considering raising about $1bn to help expand its iconic British sports and racing automotive business Lotus Cars into the electric vehicles market in China, Bloomberg reported.
Geely is working with advisers to sound out potential investor interest in a funding round that could value Lotus's EV operations at about $5bn. Separately from the fundraising, the Chinese company is also weighing an IPO of Lotus Cars, or just the British carmaker's EV business, as soon as next year. A listing could value the entire business, including its combustion-driven sports and racing cars, at more than $15bn.
ACS seeks construction business spinoff.
Actividades de Construccion y Servicios weighs a spinoff of its construction business as it focuses on becoming a major European toll-roads operator, Bloomberg reported. The Spanish construction company is conducting an internal analysis of the move to help simplify its corporate structure.
Deliberations are in the early stages, and ACS is considering alternatives to a spinoff for the unit as well. Together with its concessions business, construction forms part of ACS’s infrastructure division. Construction delivered reported net profit of €100m in 2020.
Credit Suisse sells $2bn of Archegos-linked stocks.
Credit Suisse Group unloaded about $2bn of stocks tied to the Archegos Capital Management blowup in the second such block sale since the bank wrote down the bulk of its exposure in the first quarter, Bloomberg reported.
The stock offerings included Discovery and Iqiyi, adding to some $2.3bn worth of shares tied to the debacle that the bank sold last week. The trades follow a torrent of similar transactions that had already erased about $194bn in market value as banks from New York to Zurich and Tokyo unwound leveraged equity bets by Bill Hwang’s family office.
Shares of Credit Suisse fell as the sale adds to evidence that the Archegos collapse could impact the bank beyond the first quarter, when it took a $4.8bn writedown, its worst trading hit in more than a decade. While the Swiss bank has substantially reduced its exposure, transactions since the end of March weren’t included in the first-quarter results.
Tristar pulls Dubai IPO as investors push back on valuation.
Tristar Transport, a Middle Eastern logistics firm, has pulled its IPO in Dubai, dealing a blow to the city's attempts to revive a stock market where just one company has listed in three years.
Tristar has informed Dubai's main bourse that the IPO has been withdrawn, Chief Executive Eugene Mayne, Bloomberg reported.
"We have strong cash flow and cash balances, we have the capital for growth. The deal was likely withdrawn largely due to a mismatch in valuation expectations and investor education," Eugene Mayne, Tristar Chief Executive.
APAC
Nobuaki Kurumatani, Toshiba CEO, resigned amid controversy over a $20bn buyout bid from CVC Capital Partners and the conglomerate’s shares surged on reports that KKR and Brookfield are also planning offers, Reuters reported.
KKR considers a bid that would be likely to value Toshiba above the $21bn. Brookfield Asset Management is also exploring an offer for the company, including how such a bid might be structured.
Farallon is advised by ASC Advisors and Propeller Project Labo.
Sino-Ocean and Ningbo Hanrun Investment, the two venture capital firms, led a $153m Series B funding round in Gaolin Capital-backed ZJS Express, a Beijing-based logistics and delivery services operator.
With the latest proceeds, ZJS plans to shore up its smart supply chain and deliver better-integrated delivery services for enterprises. Now, ZJS is ramping up efforts to spruce up its capacities in IT infrastructure, supply chain finance, and market expansion.
Nuverse, a gaming unit of ByteDance, completed the acquisition of C4games, a game development company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Generali in talks to acquire AXA assets in Malaysia.
Generali, Italy's biggest insurer, is in exclusive talks to buy assets in Malaysia belonging to French rival AXA in a deal worth around $358m, Reuters reported.
The Italian insurer, which is already present in Malaysia, will discuss the deal at a board meeting. Generali had been looking at a series of AXA assets in Malaysia worth around $833m, but it was in talks to buy the French insurer's non-life business.
|
