Top deals of the deay - bids, mergers and acquisitions

By VCPOST Staff Reporter

Nov 29, 2013 05:00 PM EST

The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported on Friday including Statoil, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, ThyssenKrupp, Mercator, Avivasa Emeklilik, Hayat Sigorta, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Telus Corp, Atrium Innovations and John Hardy.

Charter Communications Inc is arranging $25 billion in debt financing to help it fund a bid for Time Warner Cable Inc, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing anonymous sources. 

Jeweller John Hardy is attracting bid interest from a string of U.S. private equity firms, sources close to the matter said, the latest potential deal in a sector outpacing the broader luxury industry thanks in part to financially independent Asian women.  

Norway's Statoil is open to discussing its gas contracts with customers, its CEO said on Friday, a day after ENI's chief said it may demand as much as $10 billion from Statoil in what may become the biggest case yet over long-term deals. 

French electrical gear maker Schneider Electric SA secured European Union regulatory approval for its 3.4-billion-pound ($5.56 billion) acquisition of British engineering company Invensys Plc. 

Italian state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) expects to cash in around 3 billion euros ($4.1 billion) by June 2014 from the sale of minority stakes in gas and power grid networks, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Friday. 

The three-way battle for Australia's oldest dairy firm took a fresh twist when a regulator temporarily stopped Canadian suitor Saputo Inc from processing acceptances for an offer that has the backing of the target's board. The blow to dairy firm Saputo's A$515 million ($468.26 million) bid for Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory Co came in a ruling from Australia's Takeover Panel. 

Australia rejected a A$2.8 billion ($2.6 billion) takeover of GrainCorp Ltd by U.S. agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland Co, bowing to pressure from grain growers in a rare and surprising decision. 

Germany's ThyssenKrupp has agreed to compensate buyers of its U.S. steel plant for any underperformance in the next few years to seal a long-awaited deal to be outlined later on Friday, two people familiar with the transaction said. The buyers, a consortium of ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal, will pay about $1.5 billion for the steel finishing plant in Calvert, Alabama, three people said. 

Canada's Atrium Innovations Inc said a group of investors, including European private equity firm Permira funds, would buy the dietary supplements maker for about C$751.2 million. 

Finnish retailer Kesko Oyj said it was considering selling some of its store sites to a new $1 billion investment trust in which it would take a stake. Kesko, the second-biggest food retailer in Finland, said the trust could take sites in Finland, Sweden and Russia worth between 750 million euros ($1 billion) and 950 million euros. 

British media and education group Pearson PLC said it had sold its M&A-focused Mergermarket news service for 382 million pounds ($624.4 million) to funds advised by private equity group BC Partners. 

Former Whyte & Mackay Chief Executive Vivian Imerman is interested in buying the whisky assets back from Diageo PLC, his investment firm said. Diageo may be forced to sell most of Whyte & Mackay's whisky assets to address competition concerns arising from its July acquisition of a controlling interest in India's United Spirits Ltd. 

Two shareholders of Chilean coal-fired Guacolda thermoelectric plant are seeking to sell their stakes in the roughly 608- megawatt complex, one of the two companies said on Thursday. Chilean industrial conglomerate Empresas Copec SA and Inversiones Ultraterra both have a 25 percent stake in the plant located in the north of the power-strapped Andean country. 

Slovenia's competition watchdog has given Croatian food producer and retailer Agrokor a green light to take over food retailer Mercator, the country's largest employer. 

Mexican state oil company Pemex is not currently weighing a potential stake in Argentina's giant Vaca Muerta shale oil and gas field, a company official said on Thursday, rejecting reports that it was being considered. 

British insurer Aviva Plc and Turkey's Sabanci Holding have mandated Citigroup and HSBC to sell between 20 and 25 percent of Turkish life and pensions joint venture Avivasa Emeklilik & Hayat Sigorta in an initial public offering, two sources told Reuters on Friday. 

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec said on Thursday it has agreed to acquire a 26.7 percent stake in the Australia's Port of Brisbane from U.S.-based Global Infrastructure Partners, in order to cash in on rising trade with expanding Asian economies. 

The Australian government has flagged allowing majority foreign ownership or increased government support for Qantas Airways Ltd, a move that could shake up the regional aviation sector and make the national carrier a takeover target. 

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena has reached an agreement to outsource its back-office operations and move 1,100 workers to a joint venture between Italian company Bassilichi and consultancy Accenture, it said on Friday. 

Teletubbies owner DHX Media said on Thursday it will acquire Family Channel and three other children's channels from BCE Inc's Bell Media for C$170 million ($160.6 million) in cash, adding content distribution to its current capabilities. 

A new investor is likely to buy a minority stake in Italian fashion house Versace by Christmas, Chairman and core shareholder Santo Versace said on Thursday. 

Small Italian lender Banco di Desio e della Brianza said on Thursday it would make an offer to buy troubled peer Banca Popolare di Spoleto in a deal that would help revamp its commercial network. 

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) will invest $200 million to get an 80 percent stake in a real estate joint venture with India's Shapoorji Pallonji Group, its first foray into the property market in Asia's third-largest economy. 

Chile's CorpBanca is in takeover talks with four other banks as its owner Alvaro Saieh seeks to create a larger regional player, local online news site El Mostrador said on Thursday. 

France's Wendel SA plans to buy a 13.3 percent stake in Saham Group for 100 million euros ($136.00 million) via a capital increase aimed at speeding up the Morocco-based insurer's expansion in Africa and the Middle East. 

South Africa would want Chile's CFR Pharmaceuticals SA to increase its black shareholders if Pretoria allowed it to buy local firm Adcock Ingram Holdings Ltd, a government official said on Thursday. 

Croatia received no offers to buy 49 percent of its troubled national flag carrier Croatia Airlines by the midnight deadline, Transport Minister Sinisa Hajdas Doncic said on Thursday. 

Germany utility E.ON SE has started preparations for the sale of its Italian business and will soon begin the search for a buyer, four people familiar with the matter said, at a price likely to be about 3 billion euros ($4 billion). 

PetroChina Co Ltd has bought a 25 percent stake in the West Qurna-1 oilfield project from Exxon Mobil Corp, strengthening China's hold on Iraq's energy resources. 

Russian drugstore company Pharmacy Chain 36.6 is to merge with rival chain A.V.E. and issue additional shares, in a step to consolidate a fragmented sector, the company said in a statement on Thursday. 

Acquiring the mobile assets of South Africa's Telkom SA could "make sense" for rival operator Cell C, its acting head said on Thursday, although he declined to say whether it would make a formal bid. 

Saudi Arabia's second-biggest telecoms operator, Mobily, has extended talks with four shareholders in Etihad Atheeb Telecommunications until Jan. 30 as it seeks to buy their stakes in the loss-making fixed-line operator. 

U.S. buyout firm KKR & Co LP has agreed to invest about $200 million in Indian drugmaker Gland Pharma Ltd, marking the largest private equity investment in the local pharmaceutical sector amid growing demand for generic drugs in overseas markets. 

French private investment fund Eurazeo said on Thursday it would sell around 11.5 percent of luxury goose down jacket maker Moncler IPO as part of the Italian company's initial public offering. 

China's Anbang Insurance Group is considering a bid for Hong Kong-based family Wing Hang Bank Ltd, joining a list of other potential suitors, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. 

The chairman of Dish Network Corp can stay involved in the satellite TV company's bid for telecommunications firm LightSquared LP despite having a personal interest in the deal, a Nevada judge has ruled. 

Canada's Competition Bureau said on Friday it would allow Canadian telecom company Telus Corp to buy all of struggling startup Public Mobile. 

The board of Spain's Repsol SA unanimously agreed on Wednesday to start formal talks with Argentina over a compensation offer for assets Buenos Aires seized last year that could end an 18-month standoff between the two countries. 

© 2024 VCPOST, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

Join the Conversation

Real Time Analytics