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Corporate Financier’s Notes by Aivars Jurcans
Done! And Done
Alpha Bank, a Greek lender, has agreed to spin off its merchants acquiring business unit into a new entity in which Nexi, an Italian payments firm, will acquire 51% for EUR 157 million in cash.
Source: Reuters
Intrum, a Swedish manager of bad loans, has agreed to team up with Spain’s Deva Capital to buy 2 portfolios of non-performing credit from Intesa Sanpaolo, an Italian lender, worth a total of EUR 1.71 billion. In addition, Intrum will independently buy another EUR 225 million portfolio from Intesa and BPER Bank.
Source: Reuters
Square, a payments company, has agreed to acquire Afterpay, an Australian “buy now, pay later” provider, in a USD 29 billion all-stock transaction. In the year that ended in June, Afterpay generated USD 700 million in revenue, implying a transaction multiple of more than 40x times. Square’s own market value is around USD 110 billion, or 150x times its estimated 2021 earnings.
Source: FT
FinAccel, a parent company of Kredivo (an Indonesian fintech startup), has agreed to go public in the US through a merger with a blanc-cheque firm that values the combined companies at USD 2.5 billion.
Source: Bloomberg
Deals On The Table
Willis Tower Watson, an insurance broker, is said to be “weighing strategic alternatives” for Willis Re, its reinsurance unit.
Source: Reuters
Houlihan Lokey, a US investment bank, is said to be launching a tender offer to buy GCA Corp, a Tokyo-based M&A advisory firm, in a deal worth about USD 591 million.
Source: Reuters
VTB, a Russian lender, is said to be selling its controlling stake in Rustranscom, a grain railcar owner, to Demetra Holding, a company also controlled by VTB. VTB bought 50% plus one share in Rustranscom for USD 403 million in 2019.
Source: Reuters
Dai-Ichi Life Holdings is said to be in “exclusive talks” to acquire Westpac Banking Corp’s life insurance unit in a deal that would value the business at about USD 1 billion.
Source: Bloomberg
Huarong Asset Management is said to be planning to sell its 4.99% stake (which was valued at USD 62 million initially) in Chongqing Ant Consumer Finance Co.
Source: Bloomberg
Sanne, a UK-listed fund administration business, is said to be in “advanced discussions” with Apex, a fund servicing group, over a potential GBP 1.5 billion takeover.
Source: FT
UniCredit is said to have “entered exclusive talks” with the Italian government to buy Monte dei Paschi di Siena, an Italian lender nationalised in 2017.
Source: FT
Zurich Insurance Group is said to be “nearing a deal” to buy DB Financial Advisors, a Deutsche Bank’s Italian financial promoters network, in a deal that would value the asset at about EUR 350 million.
Source: Bloomberg
Metrics To Watch
HSBC’s return on average tangible equity of 9.4% is still below a medium-term target of 10% or above. Its shares are trading at 0.7x times tangible book value, a premium of about 2/3 to Standard Chartered.
Source: FT
Up-and-Comers
Naspers, a South African internet group and technology investor, has made a USD 8.4 million investment in Naked, a South African startup which provides a mobile app to buy insurance and smaller items (such as mobile phones and laptops), make payments and claims. A valuation for Naked was not disclosed.
Source: Bloomberg
Banking Circle, a financial technology startup, is said to be seeking to raise USD 500 million in a new funding round that would value the company at around USD 5.9 billion.
Source: Bloomberg
Exciting Numbers
The level of assets in thematic ETFs reached EUR 32.4 billion across Europe in Q2 2021, according to Morningstar.
Source: FT
A Thought Worth Noting
“I’m not saying we would, but if we wanted to, we need to have some policy space by the end of the year.”
Christopher Waller, Fed governor
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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.
Design by Artis Briedis, Photo by Joe Taylor on Unsplash
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