AMERICAS
German chipmaker Infineon Technologies agreed to national security concessions to resolve US concerns about its $10bn takeover of Cypress Semiconductor.
The deal was facing resistance from a secretive government panel that reviews foreign investments in US companies but was ultimately cleared with agreed-upon measures that are intended to protect national security, Bloomberg reported. Cypress and Infineon still need a regulatory nod in China before they can close the deal.
Cypress is advised by Morgan Stanley, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher. Infineon is advised by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Kirkland & Ellis, Linklaters, and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. Debt Financing is provided by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, and JP Morgan.
The European Union cleared aircraft manufacturer United Technologies' $121bn planned merger with Raytheon, a major US defence contractor and industrial corporation.
The Commission had concerns that the transaction would have reduced competition in the markets for military GPS receivers and airborne radios. To address these concerns, United Technologies and Raytheon offered to divest United Technologies's military GPS receiver and anti-jamming business located in Iowa and Raytheon's military airborne radios business in Indiana. The Commission said that the remedies removed the entire horizontal overlap and the proposed transaction, as modified by the commitments, would no longer raise competition concerns.
Raytheon is advised by Citigroup, RBC Capital Markets, Shearman & Sterling, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, and Joele Frank. UTC is advised by Evercore, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, Sullivan & Cromwell, and Maitland.
Xerox Holdings decided to pause its public pursuit of HP amid the outbreak of the coronavirus, Bloomberg reported. Xerox intends to continue its pursuit of HP when the pandemic stabilizes.
"We believe it is prudent to postpone releases of additional presentations, interviews with media and meetings with HP shareholders so we can focus our time and resources on protecting Xerox's various stakeholders from the pandemic," John Visentin, Xerox CEO.
HP is advised by Goldman Sachs and Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz. Xerox is advised by Citigroup, King & Spalding, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, and Willkie Farr & Gallagher. Debt financing is provided by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, and Mizuho Securities.
Macquarie Infrastructure Partners agreed to acquire Cincinnati Bell, a regional telecommunications service provider based in Cincinnati, for $2.9bn. The transaction price of $15.50 per share of Cincinnati Bell common stock represents a 101% premium to the closing per share price of $7.72 on December 20, 2019. Cincinnati Bell terminated the previous agreement with Brookfield and paid a $25m break-up fee.
"After carefully evaluating MIP's revised offer, we are confident that this transaction is in the best interest of Cincinnati Bell and its shareholders. Importantly, the new transaction price of $15.50 per share represents a 7% increase from our previous merger agreement with Brookfield at $14.50 per share and a 101% premium to Cincinnati Bell's closing per share price of $7.72 on December 20, 2019, the last trading day prior to the date when the original merger agreement with Brookfield was entered into. This underscores the robust and disciplined process that we executed to ensure immediate and maximum value creation for our shareholders," Lynn A. Wentworth, Cincinnati Bell Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Cincinnati Bell is advised by Moelis & Co, Morgan Stanley, BosseLaw, Cravath Swaine & Moore, Citigroup and Morgan Lewis & Bockius. Debt financing to Macquire is provided by ASOF Holdings and Ares Management. Ares Management is advised by Sullivan & Cromwell.
Bluestone Investment Partners, a private equity firm, completed an investment in Continental Mapping Consultants, a geospatial data analytics and mapping solutions provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We are excited about our partnership with Continental Mapping. The Company has a 20-year track record of successful delivery of complicated solutions, a great leadership team, a talented and technically differentiated workforce, and attractive clients. We look forward to helping the company accelerate its growth and expand its capabilities," John Allen, Bluestone Co-Founder and Managing Partner.
Continental Mapping Consultants was advised by KippsDeSanto & Co. and Morrison & Foerster. Bluestone was advised Dixon Hughes Goodman and Holland & Knight. Debt financing was provided by EagleBank.
Genstar Capital, a private equity firm, completed an investment in its portfolio company ConnectiveRx, a provider of technology-enabled biopharmaceutical services. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Genstar will continue as majority investor and will be joined by funds managed by Harvest Partners and funds managed by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities as minority investors. The transaction provides ConnectiveRx with enhanced financial flexibility, allowing it to continue its product innovation-driven growth, while also enabling the company to realize an attractive outcome for its shareholders.
Genstar was advised by Ropes & Gray and Chris Tofalli.
Fomento Economico Mexicano, a beverages manufacturer, agreed to acquire a majority stake in WAXIE Sanitary Supply, a supplier of sanitary products, and North American, a facility management business service provider, for $900m.
This transaction is consistent with FEMSA’s capability set and fits well with FEMSA’s strategic intent of investing in adjacent businesses that can leverage those capabilities across different markets, while providing an opportunity for attractive growth and risk-adjusted returns. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close during the first semester of 2020.
FEMSA is advised by Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton.
Investors of Air Canada are questioning whether the $544m acquisition of Transat will happen in light of the coronavirus crisis, which has hammered the prospects for travel companies. Transat said Thursday that a decline in bookings that started February 24 has accelerated to reach 50% in the past few days.
The company is cutting expenses, started a voluntary four-day week and is seeking government support measures, including to help buoy wages. It's also asking authorities to accelerated their review of the Air Canada deal, Bloomberg reported.
Air Canada is advised by Morgan Stanley.
Pharos Capital Group-backed post-acute care provider platform Charter Health Care Group completed the acquisition of two hospice service providers, St. Luke's Home Hospice and Arizona Select Hospice. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We are pleased to add St. Luke's and Arizona Select to our portfolio. They are premier hospice care providers that share our mission of leading the industry toward better transitional solutions for patients, families, and caregivers. We are proud of our strong record of mitigating hospital readmissions, reducing the duration of acute care stays, and providing appropriate care levels, and we look forward to growing, both organically and through partnerships with top companies where we can add complementary services," Steve J. Larkin, Charter CEO.
Pharos was advised by Lambert & Co.
Warburg Pincus-backed Trax, a provider of computer vision and analytics solutions for the retail industry, completed the acquisition of Survey.com, a provider of prescriptive sales activation and merchandising services. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We are thrilled to join Trax, a company we all know is passionate about empowering brands and retailers to win at the shelf. Survey.com will further strengthen and advance Trax's comprehensive portfolio of solutions through our unique retail intelligence platform, which prescribes data-driven retail strategies for CPG brands and provides an on-demand workforce to execute in-store microservices," Panos Bethani, Survey.com CEO and Founder.
BrightView Holdings, a commercial landscaping services company, completed the acquisition of 4 Seasons Landscape Group, a landscaping and maintenance company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We're delighted to welcome 4 Seasons and more than 150 new skilled team members into the BrightView family. This acquisition is consistent with our long-term M&A strategy and further strengthens our presence in Atlanta, a critical and growing market in the southeastern US," Andrew Masterman, BrightView CEO and President.
The Mom Project, a digital talent marketplace and community, is set to acquire Werk, an enterprise SaaS platform that helps companies improve their employee experience through flexibility. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"We're thrilled to be joining forces with The Mom Project to bring critical flexibility data and strategies to the employee experience of global corporations. The future of work is flexible and supports all people, and WerkLabs will power the construction of better workplaces for everyone," Anna Auerbach, Werk Co-Founder.
Occidental deploys poison pill amid Icahn push to oust board. (FS)
Occidental Petroleum implemented a poison pill plan to protect against unsolicited takeover approaches as activist investor Carl Icahn intensifies his campaign to fire the beleaguered US oil producer's board, Bloomberg reported.
Occidental is implementing the plan later this month and will allow shareholders to vote on it at the company's annual general meeting. If the poison pill goes through, it will continue for one year.
Byron Allen makes $8.5bn offer for Tegna.
Byron Allen, a comedian and TV producer, made a $20-a-share, all-cash offer for Tegna in a deal that values the TV station owner at $8.5bn, including debt, Bloomberg reported.
The media mogul and on-air talent aims to merge his existing businesses, which include 15 local TV stations and the Weather Channel cable network, into an entity called Allen Media. When combined, the Tegna and Allen businesses would have a total cash flow of about $2bn.
Morgan Stanley Capital Partners to divest Vet Hospital business. (FS)
The North American private equity arm of Morgan Stanley Investment Management agreed to divest Pathway Vet Alliance, a veterinary clinic chain, to TSG Consumer Partners, a consumer-focused buyout firm, WSJ reported.
Although details of the transaction were not disclosed, the company expects to get c. $2bn, including debt.
Magic Leap seeks divestment.
Magic Leap, a Florida-based augmented reality startup, is exploring options, including a divestment. The company is backed by Alphabet's Google and Alibaba Group. If the company proceeds with the sale, it could obtain up to $10bn.
Magic Leap held talks with several potential buyers, but there have been no bidders so far, and the Florida-based start-up could also continue to pursue fresh funding — it has been in talks with investors about raising up to $500m since late last year.
Confluent seeks private funding at a $5bn valuation. (FS)
Confluent, an event streaming platform, held talks with potential investors about a new funding round. Confluent seeks to raise $200m to $300m, ahead of a possible initial public offering. The round could value Confluent at c. $5bn.
EMEA
Digital Realty, a real estate investment trust that invests in carrier-neutral data centers and provides colocation and peering services, completed the acquisition of Interxion, a European provider of carrier and cloud-neutral colocation data centre services, for $8.4bn.
"We are pleased to have closed our combination with InterXion. The combination of our two organizations establishes a global platform that we believe will significantly enhance our ability to create long-term value for customers, shareholders and employees of both companies," A. William Stein, Digital Realty Chief Executive Officer.
Interxion was advised by Guggenheim Partners, Moelis & Co, Debevoise & Plimpton, Greenberg Traurig, and Joele Frank. Digital Realty was advised by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, Homburger, Latham & Watkins, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, and Sard Verbinnen & Co.
Austrian oil and gas group OMV plans to sell $2.3bn of assets by the end of next year to help fund the $4.7bn deal to make it the majority owner of polymer maker Borealis, Reuters reported.
OMV signed on Thursday the previously announced deal with Abu Dhabi state investor Mubadala that will see it increase its stake in Borealis to 75% from 36%.
"This transaction is not just another milestone in the implementation of our strategy, but the biggest transformation in OMV's history. This turns OMV into a global oil, gas and chemicals group, whose integrated business model extends from the wellhead to high-quality plastic and repositions the Group for a low carbon future," Rainer Seele, OMV Executive Board Chairman and CEO.
TE Connectivity, a technology company that designs and manufactures connectivity and sensor products, completed the acquisition of a 72% stake in First Sensor, a sensor manufacturer, for $343m.
"The business combination with First Sensor is yet another milestone in TE Connectivity's commitment to being a leader in the sensor space and continuing to provide customers with a high level of product innovation and service. The First Sensor team's capabilities, as well as their products, strongly align with the markets we serve and create greater opportunity to serve our customers," John Mitchell, TE Connectivity SVP and General Manager.
Steinhoff delays Pepco's divestment as the unit's CEO takes leave. (FS)
Steinhoff International is postponing the potential sale of Pepco Group, its European retail arm, due to heightened market volatility and the illness of the unit's CEO, Bloomberg reported.
Pepco Group CEO Andy Bond is taking a leave of absence for medical reasons unrelated to coronavirus. Steinhoff, which considered a divestment or listing of Pepco, plans to hold the process until later this year.
Buyout firms including Advent International and Partners Group have been considering bids for Pepco Group, which owns the Poundland discount chain. Steinhoff was seeking to value the business at more than $4.5bn in a sale.
GLP extends European presence with $1.1bn Goodman logistics deal. (RE)
GLP, a Singapore-based logistics provider, agreed to acquire the logistics real estate portfolio of Goodman Group in Central and Eastern Europe, further expanding its European presence to 10 countries, DealStreetAsia reported.
Goldman Group confirmed that it signed a deal to divest its Central and Eastern Europe assets for c. $1.1bn to GLP.
If the acquisition is approved, GLP will take over Goodman's 2.4m square metre portfolio spread across Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. GLP already has assets in the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, and the Netherlands.
Sasol considers divesting stock or assets after debt surge.
Sasol, South Africa's biggest company by revenue, stated it might divest assets or stock to ease its financial distress after an oil-price collapse provoked a debt burden inflated by a troubled expansion in the US, Bloomberg reported.
The fuel and chemicals producer will additionally seek to decrease operating costs and reschedule some capital expenses. The group will be within its debt covenants on June 30, its financial year-end, as long as oil prices remain at current levels.
"The disruption in the global oil market, coupled with the ongoing impact of Covid-19, has significantly changed the outlook in just a few weeks. It is critical that we keep matters within our control by acting quickly and decisively," Fleetwood Grobler, Sasol CEO.
City Developments picks DBS and OCBC for UK assets REIT IPO.
City Developments chose banks to help with a potential listing on the Singapore stock exchange of its UK commercial properties, Bloomberg reported.
The homebuilder is working with DBS Group Holdings and Oversea-Chinese Banking on the planned IPO. The company considers listing the assets as a real estate investment trust by the end of this year and could raise up to $501m.
City Developments will join companies such as Singapore Press Holdings and Hong Kong developer Far East Consortium International in seeking REIT listings on the city-state's benchmark exchange this year.
France is not considering a capital injection for Air France-KLM.
The French government is not considering a capital injection for Air France-KLM to help it weather falling revenues due to the impact of the coronavirus on its business, Reuters reported.
“As of today, there is no recapitalization. The subject today for Air France is how to get over this difficult moment to deal with the sharp drop in turnover,” a French finance ministry official.
APAC
Japanese builder Maeda completed an acquisition of Maeda Road Construction, an affiliate and road paving firm, for $808m.
Maeda secured 21.8m shares or a 51% stake in Maeda Road. Maeda already owned 24.68% in Maeda Road.
Maeda was advised by Daiwa Securities.
Roadman Investments, a venture capital firm, is set to acquire a 75% stake in PanAsia Distribution, a distributor of cedar leaf oil pharmaceuticals. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Under the terms of the LOI, Roadman will acquire 75% of the issued and outstanding shares in the capital of Panasia Distribution, in exchange for an aggregate of 12m common shares in the capital of Roadman. The closing of this acquisition is subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval.
"Shanghai Ingredients Trading has selected Roadman as its partner of choice for commercialization and distribution, due to the first-rate nature of our assets, human capital and manufacturing capabilities. We look forward to making this venture a lasting success as Asian marketplaces continue to open up and develop," James Foster, Shanghai Ingredients Trading CEO.
SoftBank considers a $4.8bn buyback after Elliott's call. (FS)
SoftBank Group intends to spend c. $4.8bn buying back as much as 7% of its shares, taking a step advocated by activist investor Elliott Management to boost stockholder value, Bloomberg reported.
The re-purchases will run from March 16, 2020 through March 15, 2021, and the shares will be retired. SoftBank's shares declined despite the announcement, dropping as much as 9.2% along with the broad market decline.
Gateway Partners is in advanced talks for TVS Supply Chain stake. (FS)
Gateway Partners, a private equity firm led by Vis Shankar, is in advanced discussions to acquire a minority stake in TVS Supply Chain Solutions, an Indian logistics provider, for $100m, Bloomberg reported.
The buyout firm will acquire new shares as well as those held by existing shareholders in TVS Supply Chain Solutions, including Tata Opportunities Fund. Gateway Partners could own as much as 15% of the logistics company in a deal.
City' super draws interest from Chinese retail giants.
The divestment of a majority stake in high-end City' super, a Hong Kong supermarket chain, is attracting initial interest from suitors including China Resources Group and Yonghui Superstores, DealStreetAsia reported.
Some Hong Kong business tycoons are also among bidders studying the business. The Fenix Group has been exploring the divestment of a stake in the supermarket operator that could fetch $300m to $400m.
Irrawaddy Green Towers stake divestment reaches an advanced stage.
The stake divestment process of Irrawaddy Green Towers, a Myanmar-based telecom tower company, reached an advanced stage and a possible deal is likely to be sealed as soon as this month, DealStreetAsia reported.
CDH Investments closes its sixth USD fund at $1.5bn. (FS)
CDH Investments, a Chinese alternative asset management firm, closed its sixth USD-denominated private equity fund after securing $1.5bn in capital commitments, DealStreetAsia reported.
The China-focused fund, which had an initial target of $2.5bn, reached the final close at the end of 2019, about two years after its inception.
With the final close of its latest vehicle, the private equity team of CDH Investments manages c. $3bn in capital.
SBICAP and Carlyle to raise up to $1.5bn in an asset fund. (FS)
The Carlyle Group signed an agreement with SBICAP Ventures, the investment banking subsidiary of State Bank of India, to float its maiden India-focused distressed asset fund that could raise c. $1.5bn.
Carlyle and SBICAP signed an agreement in the last week of February to set up a separate asset management company that would exclusively look at distressed deals in India. While most of the fund will be raised from global investors, SBI and Carlyle would put in an initial capital of $135k each, DealStreetAsia reported.
Airwallex seeks $200m in a new funding round.
Australia's Airwallex group seeks c. $200m in a Series D equity funding round to bankroll its cross-border payments business globally, DealStreetAsia reported.
The company is valued at c. $1.5bn pre-money. The startup is talking with a strategic international financial company to lead its latest round.
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