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Corporate Financier’s Notes by Aivars Jurcans
Dealmaking
Ken Griffin, a hedge fund billionaire, has sold a USD 1.2 billion stake in Citadel Securities to Sequoia and Paradigm, venture capital firms. The deal values the trading firm at about USD 22 billion.
Source: FT
ALD, a Paris-listed car leasing business of Societe Generale, has agreed to buy LeasePlan, a rival owned by TDR Capital, in a EUR 4.9 billion deal.
Source: FT
Citigroup is said to be planning an exit from its retail banking business in Mexico (which it mostly conducts via its Banamex subsidiary) either by selling or via an initial public offering. The business accounted for about USD 3.5 billion of revenues in the first 3 quarters of 2021.
Source: FT, WSJ
Cerberus, a US buyout firm, is said to have started reducing its stakes in Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank. After 5 years since the investment the paper loss is estimated at EUR 400 million.
Source: FT
UniCredit is said to be interested in a potential takeover of Otkritie Bank, a rescued Russian lender. Otkritie has USD 44 billion in assets and around 500 branches around the country.
Source: Bloomberg
Exciting Numbers
The average quant equity fund tracked by Bank of America returned 27.8% in 2021, compared with the US stock market’s 26.5% and the average 24% gains of traditional stock pickers.
Source: FT
According to Chainalysis, a consultancy, the amount of crypto sent to addresses with known criminal associations shot to a record USD 14 billion in 2021, more than doubling from 2020.
Source: FT
European insurtech companies have a combined enterprise value of EUR 23 billion, according to Dealbook.
Source: FT
A Thought Worth Noting
“I can see both sides, I have no doubt that digital coins will dominate the financial markets of the future; it’s a natural, no-brain successor to paper. But just as I would have been unable to pick which one of several hundred early 20th-century automotive start-ups would replace the horse and buggy, I am reluctant to buy into today’s crypto-craze (I think sovereign-backed digital currency will ultimately win out over private coin).”
Rana Foroohar, global business columnist and associate editor, Financial Times
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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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