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Corporate Financier’s Notes by Aivars Jurcans
Done! And Done
Stanhope Capital and FWM Holdings, an investment company that oversees the Forbes’ family fortune, have agreed to merge in a deal that would create a wealth management group with USD 24.2 billion in assets under management.
Source: FT
BlackRock, an asset manager, has agreed to buy Aperio Group, an investment management services provider, from Golden Gate Capital, a private equity firm, for USD 1.05 billion in cash.
Source: Reuters
Inigo, a newly formed Lloyd’s of London insurer, has raised USD 800 million from a group of investors including Qatar Investment Authority and Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec. It plans to open for business in 2021, subject to approval from Lloyd’s.
Source: Reuters
Western Union has acquired a 15% stake in stc pay, a unit of Saudi Telecom that is focused on digital payments and financial technology services, for USD 200 million. stc pay launched a digital wallet mobile application in 2018.
Source: Bloomberg
Aviva has agreed to sell its 80% stake in Aviva Vita, one of its four Italian businesses, for EUR 400 million, an amount that is said to be close to its net asset value.
Source: FT
Deals On The Table
Metromile, a San Francisco-based car insurer, is said to be considering going public by merging with Insu Acquisition Corp II, a SPAC set up by Cohen & Co. The combined company will have an equity value of about USD 1.3 billion on a pro forma basis.
Source: Bloomberg
Alpha Bank, a Greek lender, is said to have picked Davidson Kempner, a US investment fund, as its preferred bidder to buy a EUR 10.8 billion portfolio of non-performing loans. Davidson Kempner has valued the assets at about EUR 290 million.
Source: Reuters
Credit Agricole has made a EUR 737 million all-cash offer to acquire Credito Valtellinese, an Italian lender. The offer is said “to be only a hair over” 0.4x times Creval’s tangible book value.
Source: FT
Zurich Insurance is said to be in talks to buy the US property and casualty insurance unit of MetLife, a New York-based insurer, in a deal that could value the business in the range of USD 4 billion, equivalent to 14x times estimated 2021 earnings.
Source: FT, WSJ
The government of Italy and UniCredit are said to be “intensifying” talks about a takeover of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, a state-controlled lender. The finance ministry is said to be ready to inject as much as EUR 2.5 billion of fresh funds into Monte Paschi.
Source: Bloomberg
Perella Weinberg Partners, a boutique investment bank, is said to be “in talks” to take its advisory business public via a special purpose acquisition vehicle in a deal valuing the division at USD 1 billion.
Source: FT
Up-and-Comers
Stripe, a private financial technology business, is said to be in talks to raise a new funding round valuing it at more than USD 70 billion, or significantly higher, at as much as USD 100 billion. Its last private valuation in April 2020 was USD 36 billion.
Source: Bloomberg
Affirm, a lending startup, has filed an application for an IPO. In April 2019 Affirm raised USD 300 million in a funding round that valued it at nearly USD 3 billion. but the IPO is expected to value it at more than double that figure.
Source: Reuters
Exciting Numbers
Exxon Mobil has lowered its expectations for future oil prices for each of the next 7 years (as part of its internal financial planning process) by 11% to 17%.
Source: WSJ
A Thought Worth Noting
“The outsized footprint of the big three asset managers [BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard] poses new issues for the stability of financial markets, the governance of corporate America and the competitiveness of the US economy.”
Graham Steele, senior fellow, American Economic Liberties Project (a think-tank)
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Aivars Jurcans has more than 20 years of corporate finance and investment banking experience. His services are currently available through MURINUS ADVISERS.
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