Hong Kong-based startup CompareAsiaGroup has secured $50 million in funding from investors led by the World Bank's commercial lending arm, as the personal finance management platform looks to develop its technology and launch more products, Reuters reported.
2 min read · 11 July 2017
Private equity firm EQT is nearing a deal to acquire U.S. drug development consultancy Certara for around $850 million, including debt, from Arsenal Capital Partners, another buyout firm, Reuters reported.
2 min read · 11 July 2017
Swiss bank Julius Baer has taken a minority stake in financial technology company Nectar Financial AG that will help it invest further in its growth strategy, Reuters reported.
1 min read · 11 July 2017
Billionaire Eddie Lampert's ESL Partners LP and Fairholme Capital Management LLC said they are considering a potential deal with Sears Canada Inc as the retailer looks to restructure itself under bankruptcy protection, Reuters reported. Sears Canada sought creditor protection last month after suffering a steady decline in sales due to competition from big-box retailers and online merchants. The U.S. hedge funds did not provide any details on the kind of transaction they were looking at, but said the talks could include financing, purchase and sale, or restructuring transactions.
1 min read · 10 July 2017
Canadian cable company Cogeco Communications Inc said its Atlantic Broadband unit would buy MetroCast's assets for about US$1.4 billion, expanding its presence in the United States, Reuters reported. The deal, which includes a US$315 million equity investment by Canadian pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, will add about 120,000 internet and 76,000 video customers to Atlantic Broadband's U.S. base. The deal allows the company "to increase its presence in the growing and lucrative U.S. cable market," Cogeco's Chief Executive Officer Louis Audet said in a statement. In an attempt to find growth outside of Canada, Cogeco first entered the U.S. market in 2012 when it bought Atlantic Broadband for US$1.36 billion.
2 min read · 10 July 2017
Cirque du Soleil paid US$65.5 million to acquire New York-based Blue Man Productions, the company behind the popular live performance Blue Man Group, sources told Reuters. Financing was sourced from a US$85 million add-on to the company’s US$635 million term loan due in July 2022 that was arranged last month by RBC Capital Markets. Montréal-based Cirque previously said the acquisition adds to its audience pool and is in line with a global expansion plan intended to help diversify its offering beyond circus arts. The company has been majority owned by U.S. private equity firm TPG Capital, Fosun Capital and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec since 2015.
2 min read · 10 July 2017
J&F Investimentos SA has ended talks to sell a controlling stake in Havaianas flip flop maker Alpargatas SA to the investment firms of Brazil's most prominent banking clans because of differences over price, a source told Reuters.
3 min read · 10 July 2017
Stada said buyout groups Bain Capital and Cinven would sweeten their takeover offer for the German generic drugmaker by 25 cents per share to 66.25 euros after their previous 5.3 billion-euro ($6 billion) bid fell through.
2 min read · 10 July 2017
Private equity firm Sycamore Partners came closest to acquiring Abercrombie & Fitch Co, but could not meet the U.S. teen apparel retailer company's valuation expectations, sources told Reuters.
1 min read · 10 July 2017
UBS has raised $325 million for a private equity impact investment fund, as the world's biggest private bank looks to meet wealthy clients' growing appetite to combine philanthropy with money making, Reuters reported.
2 min read · 10 July 2017
