Private Equity
Israel’s banking regulator said on Monday Warburg Pincus had been found to be “fit and proper” to buy Bank Leumi’s (LUMI.TA) credit card unit, paving the way for the deal to be completed, Reuters reported.
1 min read · 31 December 2018
U.S. food companies Kraft Heinz Co and Mondelez International Inc have been short-listed to participate in the second round of Campbell Soup Co’s auction of its international business, Reuters reported.
2 min read · 24 December 2018
Takeaway.com (TKWY.AS) and Delivery Hero (DHER.DE) have settled a costly struggle for supremacy in the German food delivery market, with Takeaway agreeing to buy its larger rival’s businesses there for 930 million euros ($1.1 billion), Reuters reported.
2 min read · 21 December 2018
Australia's Healthscope Ltd said it has extended exclusive takeover talks with suitor Brookfield Asset Management by a month, and that a rival suitor remained interested, potentially re-igniting a bidding war, Reuters reported. The private hospital operator has not yet committed to a binding A$4.5 billion (US$3.2 billion) offer from the Canadian investment firm. Healthscope also said rival bidder BGH Capital and its partners, which reportedly include Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, were prepared to commence due diligence even though their A$2.36 per share indicative offer was rejected as “less attractive”.
2 min read · 21 December 2018
A consortium of investors including the Poland’s sovereign wealth fund PFR is close to buying the country’s DCT Gdansk port terminal, owned by the infrastructure fund of Australia’s Macquarie, sources told Reuters.
2 min read · 20 December 2018
Warren Buffett is getting out of the Canadian mortgage business after a nifty trade that helped a company that had been on the ropes, Reuters reported. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc is “substantially” exiting its stake in Home Capital Group Inc after selling shares back to the company, the mortgage lender and Buffett said. Berkshire bought a 20 percent stake in Home Capital last year and extended a $2 billion credit line after the company suffered a deposit exodus after being accused of, and then admitting to, concealing mortgage fraud. Berkshire could see a profit of more than 70 percent for the shares it bought for about $9.55 apiece and sold back at $16.50 per share.
3 min read · 19 December 2018
Futu Securities International, a Hong Kong-based online brokerage firm backed by Tencent Holdings (0700.HK), has filed confidentially for a U.S. initial public offering (IPO) of up to $500 million, sources told Reuters.
3 min read · 19 December 2018
South African internet giant Naspers and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) have invested US$540 million in Indian educational technology startup Byju’s, Reuters reported. Bengaluru-based Byju’s launched a learning app in 2015 that offers tools for school students in India, a country with the world’s largest number of children in primary education. The latest investment values the company at around US$3.6 billion, Indian media reported. CPPIB, one of the world’s biggest investors, is expanding its interests in India due to the country’s young population and growing middle class, its chief executive said last week.
2 min read · 18 December 2018
Canadian mining private equity firm Waterton Global Resource Management has urged Hudbay Minerals Inc to replace its CEO and said it would nominate several candidates to the miner’s board, Reuters reported. Waterton, which raised its stake in the company to nearly 10 percent from 7 percent, also reiterated that the Toronto-based miner avoid any near-term acquisition or joint venture. Hudbay, which said in October it would buy the remaining 86 percent of Canadian miner Mason Resources Corp, is in talks to buy Chilean miner Mantos Copper SA, according to media reports.
1 min read · 13 December 2018
L Brands said it would to sell its luxury lingerie brand La Senza to an affiliate of U.S. private equity firm Regent LP, capping a months long effort to sell the loss-making business, Reuters reported. The company has been facing stiff competition, forcing it to sell its non-core assets and focus on brands such as Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works. As part of the deal, Regent would assume La Senza’s liabilities and would have to pay L Brands if it sells or monetizes any part of the brand. L Brands bought Canadian chain La Senza for about US$700 million in 2007 and expects it to incur an operating loss of US$40 million in the year.
1 min read · 13 December 2018
