Posted by 
Corporate Financier’s Notes by Aivars Jurcans
Done! And Done
Prosus, an investment arm of South Africa’s Naspers internet group, has agreed to buy India’s BillDesk for USD 4.7 billion in an all-cash deal and merge it with its own PayU payments business. The deal puts BillDesk, which has no debt, on 112x times trailing ebitda or 18x times revenues.
Source: FT
FTX.US, a US regulated crypto derivatives exchange and clearinghouse, has agreed to acquire LedgerX for an undisclosed sum. Since its launch 4 years ago LedgerX has cleared over 10 million crypto options and swap contracts.
Source: Bloomberg
Ideanomics, a New York City-based fintech that helps commercial fleet operators procure electric vehicles, has agreed to acquire VIA Motors, an electric commercial vehicle firm, in an all-stock deal that values the company at about USD 630 million.
Source: Reuters
Banco Inter, a Brazilian digital bank, has agreed to acquire USEND, a US-based financial startup which offers foreign exchange transactions, payments wallets, debit cards and bill payments to its 150,000 customers. The deal value has not been disclosed.
Source: Reuters
Deals On The Table
Italian public financial institutions are said to be considering purchasing some assets of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena that UniCredit doesn’t want in a takeover of the bankrupt lender which was first bailed out in 2009. The state may need to guarantee EUR 15 billion in credit that UniCredit is balking at taking on in the deal.
Source: Bloomberg
Valley National, a New Jersey bank, is said to have emerged as a front-runner in a sales process of Bank Leumi USA, a New York-based arm of Bank Leumi (an Israeli lender). Bank Leumi USA has about USD 7.2 billion in assets and USD 6 billion in deposits.
Source: Bloomberg
ION, a Dublin-based fintech group, is said to have raised by 7% to nearly EUR 2 billion its bid to buy out investors in Cerved, an Italy’s credit data and information group. The bid is being handled by ION’s vehicle Castor Bidco.
Source: Reuters
Up-and-Comers
Paidy, a Japanese fintech, is said to be considering an initial public offering. The company, which offers “buy now, pay later” services, was valued at USD 1.3 billion in its latest funding round in March 2021.
Source: FT
Exciting Numbers
Norway’s USD 1.4 trillion oil fund is about 4x times larger than Norway’s annual GDP, its annual payments represent a 1/4 of the state budget, and it is worth more than the oil and gas left in the ground for Norway.
Source: FT
A Thought Worth Noting
“Maybe it’s a little early to declare victory. Everyone says there will be no more further lockdowns, but my fear still is that we are going into the second half of this year much too naive, just like last year, and missing out on what we need to prepare for.”
Berndt Spalt, chief executive, Erste Group
To receive your personal weekly copy of Banking M&A Digest please subscribe at http://eepurl.com/gepqdP
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
MURINUS ADVISERS 