Private Equity
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB.I) (PPB.L) has agreed to merge its U.S. business with fantasy sports company FanDuel to target the U.S. sports betting market that is set to open up in the coming years, Reuters reported.
2 min read · 24 May 2018
Global mergers and acquisitions have already reached US$2 trillion in 2018, a record for the value of deals in the period, Reuters reported, citing Thomson Reuters data. A flurry of deals at the start of the week, particularly in the United States with the US$11.1 billion merger of GE’s transportation business and rail equipment maker Wabtec, helped reach the milestone. The last two periods when M&A reached similar levels were in 2007 (US$1.8 trillion), a year before the financial crisis and in 2000 (US$1.5 trillion), just before the bursting of the dot.com bubble of technology and internet-related stocks.
1 min read · 22 May 2018
Australian hospital group Healthscope Ltd rejected two takeover approaches this week and said it will instead explore selling its properties, in what analysts called a risky move that could invite a more favourable takeover bid, Reuters reported. The Melbourne-based company said both US$3 billion-plus offers, from Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management and jointly from local private equity firm BGH Capital and 14 percent shareholder AustralianSuper, were conditional and undervalued the business. Reuters last month reported Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan were partnering with BGH in its Healthscope bid.
3 min read · 22 May 2018
Rampant corruption scandals and a deep recession soured many foreign investors on Brazil in recent years, but one Canadian group saw opportunity, Reuters reported. Brookfield Asset Management and its subsidiaries have made nearly a dozen major acquisitions there since 2013. The firms have spent about US$10 billion on energy, infrastructure and real estate assets few others would touch due to the legal, political and economic risks involved. "A crisis is a good time to find value," said a person close to the group, who called Brookfield a "contrarian investor."
4 min read · 22 May 2018
Private equity investor Permira said on Friday it had sold its entire stake in British specialist pensions provider Just Group for 143 pence a share, Reuters reported.
1 min read · 21 May 2018
U.S. hospital operator HCA Healthcare Inc (HCA.N) and private equity firm KKR & Co (KKR.N) have joined forces to make an offer for U.S. physician services provider Envision Healthcare Corp (EVHC.N), Reuters reported.
2 min read · 21 May 2018
Canada's Brookfield Property Partners is in talks to acquire a stake in a Manhattan office tower majority-owned by a company that was previously run by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, a source told Reuters. Brookfield would oversee the redevelopment of 666 Fifth Avenue, a 41-storey tower controlled by Kushner Companies. The acquiring entity would be a Brookfield private real estate fund, the source said. The seller was not indicated nor the size of stake to be acquired.
2 min read · 18 May 2018
ESR-REIT (ESRR.SI) will buy rival Viva Industrial Trust (VIVA.SI) in a proposed deal valued at S$936.7 million, marking the first consolidation among Singapore’s crowded mid-cap real estate investment trusts, Reuters reported.
2 min read · 18 May 2018
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board this week reported an 11.6 percent return on investments in its latest fiscal year but warned double-digit growth was not sustainable with competition for assets intensifying, Reuters reported. CPPIB ended the year with net assets of $356.1 billion, compared with $316.7 billion a year ago, the second largest annual growth since the fund’s creation in 1997. However, its President and CEO Mark Machin warned that returns will slow, with competition for assets being the biggest challenge facing CPPIB.
2 min read · 17 May 2018
China regulatory authorities have approved the $18 billion sale of Toshiba Corp’s (6502.T) chip unit to a consortium led by U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported on Thursday, without citing sources.
1 min read · 17 May 2018
