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Corporate Financier’s Notes by Aivars Jurcans
Done! And Done
AerCap, a Dublin-based aircraft leasing company, has agreed to buy GE Capital Aviation Services, a leasing unit of General Electric, for about USD 24 billion in cash and USD 1 billion in AerCap notes. GE is expected to retain a 46% ownership in the merged company.
Source: Reuters, WSJ
Social Finance, a financial technology firm, has agreed to acquire Golden Pacific Bancorp, a California lender, in a cash deal for about USD 22.3 million. Golden Pacific has roughly USD 150 million in assets.
Source: Bloomberg
PayPal has agreed to buy Curv, an Israel-based digital asset security provider. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Curv is expected to become a part of PayPal’s recently created cryptocurrencies-focused unit.
Source: Reuters
Apollo Global Management, an alternative asset manager, has agreed to merge with Athene Holding, a life insurance company it created. The deal would create a financial conglomerate with a market capitalisation worth about USD 29 billion.
Source: FT
Aviva, a UK insurer, has agreed to sell the remainder of its Italian business for EUR 873 million in cash “to streamline its operations and strengthen its balance sheet”. It will sell its life insurance business to CNP Assurances and its general insurance business to Allianz.
Source: FT
KPMG, an accounting and consultancy firm, has agreed to sell its UK restructuring unit for GBP 400 million to HIG Capital, a Miami-based private equity firm. The business will be renamed Interpath Advisory.
Source: FT
Deals On The Table
ION Capital Partners, a Dublin-based owner of Dealogic, Acuris and Fidessa, and GIC, the Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, are said to have offered to buy Cerved Group, an Italian financial services firm, for about EUR 1.85 billion in cash.
Source: Bloomberg, Reuters
Nordax Bank, a Swedish lender, has made an offer to buy Finans Holding, an Oslo-listed owner of Bank Norwegian, in a transaction valued at USD 2.1 billion. Launched in 2007, Bank Norwegian is an online bank focusing primarily consumer loans, credit cards and savings accounts.
Source: Reuters
Not So Fast
The Greensill Capital’s talks to sell parts of its business to Athene Holding, an annuities provider, are said to have stalled.
Source: FT
Up-and-Comers
Health IQ, a digital provider of health insurance, is said to be “weighing strategic options, including a merger with a blank-cheque acquisition company”, that could take it public at a valuation of more than USD 1.5 billion. Based in Mountain View, California, Health IQ uses data gleaned from quizzes on someone’s fitness and wellness habits to get them quotes from insurance companies.
Source: Reuters
Flutterwave, an Africa-focused payments company, has raised USD 170 million, pushing its valuation up to more than USD 1 billion.
Source: Reuters
Starling Bank, a UK digital challenger lender, has raised GBP 272 million in a funding round that would value it at GBP 1.1 billion. Starling’s gross lending exceeds GBP 2 billion and it has more than GBP 5.4 billion in deposits.
Source: FT
Hippo Enterprises, a Palo Alto-based home insurance technology upstart, has agreed to a USD 5 billion merger with Reinvent Technology Partners Z, a blank-cheque firm.
Source: Reuters, WSJ
Exciting Numbers
According to the Global Impact Investing Network, an industry body, the so called “impact investment” assets reached an estimated USD 715 billion at the end of 2019.
Source: FT
A Thought Worth Noting
“We are cautious because a lot of uncertainties remain on the pace of the global recovery, but we are optimistic because we are starting off the year with a pipeline that is very high in global advisory.”
Francois Perol, managing partner, Rothschild & Co
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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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