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About anyone and anything anywhere related to banking and making money with money -
by Aivars Jurcans
Buying, Selling, Merging
Israeli banking regulator has determined Warbur Pincus to be “fit and proper” to acquire the credit card unit from Bank Leumi.
Source: http://www.reuters.com
NWS Holdings has agreed to buy FTLife Insurance, a Hong Kong firm, from JD Group for a consideration of USD 2.8 billion. This will make it the largest-ever insurance acquisition transaction in Hong Kong.
Source: http://www.reuters.com
Visa Inc, a US payments group, has agreed to acquire Earthport, a UK firm that facilitates international transactions for banks and businesses, for a consideration of GBP 198 million.
Source: http://www.reuters.com
Deal Ideas Cooking
Saudi banks, National Commercial Bank and Riyad Bank, are said to have approached a number of investment banks with requests for proposals to advise regarding a potential merger. This transaction could create the third largest lender in the region with assets of USD 182 billion.
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com
CVC Capital Partners is reportedly being in exclusive talks with Evolem to acquire its majority stake in APRIL, a French insurer.
Source: http://www.reuters.com
Mediobanca, an Italian investment bank, has allocated EUR 2 billion for acquisitions in 2019, according to its CEO, Alberto Nagel.
Source: http://www.reuters.com
Valued by Markets
David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital has recorded a 34% decline in 2018, the worst performance since the fund was established in1996. Brighthouse Financial, an insurance company, is reported as being among its major holdings.
Source: www.cnbc.com
The European Central Bank has appointed 3 temporary administrators to Banca Carige, a Genoa-based Italian bank, which had failed to raise the required additional EUR 400 million in capital by the end of 2018. The stock offer was blocked by Malacalza Investimenti, the Malacalza family investment vehicle, which owns 27.5% of shares in the bank. During 2018 Banca Carige has lost 83% of its value and had a market capitalisation of just EUR 79 million at the year-end.
Source: www.ft.com, www.bloomberg.com
Up-and-Comers
Starting from 2 January 2019 Didi Chuxing, a Chinese ride-hailing app, has added a new line of financial services (car insurance, personal loan and crowdfunded medical insurance product) to its app as well as offering them in a separate Didi Finance app. This move puts Didi in direct competition with Ant Financial and WeSure and WeBank platforms.
Source: http://www.ft.com
Important Numbers
Wealth management products issued through Chinese banks amounted to USD 4.3 trillion as at the end of 2017.
Source: http://www.scmp.com
A Thought Worth Noting
“There’s no question that independent firms as a group are gaining share [of the M&A advisory market] versus the larger firms”
Ralph Schlosstein, CEO, Evercore
See you again next week!
MURINUS ADVISERS 