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Corporate Financier’s Notes by Aivars Jurcans
Done! And Done
MetLife, a US insurer, has agreed to acquire a combined 15.27% stake in PNB MetLife India Insurance Company Limited from IGE India and Elpro International. The deal will boost MetLife’s stake in the company to more than 47%.
Source: Reuters
Grab, a Southeast Asian ride-hailing and payments firm, has agreed to increase its stake in OVO, an Indonesian e-wallet firm, from 39% to 90% by purchasing the stakes of Lippo, an Indonesian conglomerate, and Tokopedia, an e-commerce platform. OVO was valued at USD 2.9 billion in 2019.
Source: Reuters
Banco Pan, a Brazilian lender, has agreed to acquire Mosaico, an e-commerce technology company, in an all-share deal.
Source: Reuters
Sun Life Financial, a financial services firm, has agreed to buy DentaQuest, an oral healthcare company, for USD 2.47 billion. The transaction will be financed by using cash and debt.
Source: Reuters
Orange, a French telecoms group, has agreed to buy a 21.7% stake in Orange Bank, its online banking unit, from Groupama, an insurer. Orange will also provide the bank with a EUR 230 million capital increase.
Source: Reuters
Deals On The Table
Government of Japan is said to be planning to reduce its shareholding in Japan Post down to 33%. The government is expected to raise about USD 8.5 billion from the sale of shares.
Source: FT
TradeZero, a Bahamas-based online brokerage that provides free and subscription-based software for stock trading, is said to be in talks to merge with Dune Acquisition Corp, a blank-cheque firm.
Source: Bloomberg
Ping An Insurance Group is said to be considering a sale of Founder Group’s life insurance business. The deal could potentially value the unit at as much as USD 1 billion.
Source: Bloomberg
AvidXchange, a business payments firm, is said to be looking to raise up to USD 506 million in a US initial public offering that could value the company at about USD 4.4 billion. AvidXchange was valued at USD 2 billion in a funding round in April 2020.
Source: Reuters
Rakuten Group, a Japanese e-commerce firm, is said to be preparing to list Rakuten Bank, its online banking unit, in an initial public offering.
Source: Reuters
VTB, a Russian state bank, is said to have submitted a bid for Citigroup’s consumer business in Russia in August 2021. The bidding price has not been disclosed.
Source: Reuters
Not So Fast
Banca Mediolanum is said to not necessarily be willing to sell its 3.3% stake in Mediobanca, an Italian merchant bank, despite the ongoing power struggle.
Source: Reuters
Up-and-Comers
Monzo, a UK neobank, has withdrawn its application for a US banking license after it was told by regulators it was unlikely to be approved.
Source: FT
Exciting Numbers
Buyout groups paid an average premium of 45% [over the share price] for European [public] companies in 2021, the highest since the data company Refinitiv’s records began in 1980. In the US, the premiums hit 42% in 2021, the highest since 1999.
Source: FT
The disclosed value of M&A deals involving investment managers reached USD 38.9 billion in 2020, the highest since the financial crisis, according to the investment bank Piper Sandler.
Source: FT
A Thought Worth Noting
“Right now we’re in a period where there’s tremendous competition in the [private equity] industry. There’s over USD 1 trillion of dry powder in buyouts alone that’s looking to do deals. We will absolutely see prices go up when competition is that stiff.”
Brenda Rainey, managing director – private equity practice, Bain & 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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