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Corporate Financier’s Notes by Aivars Jurcans
Dealmaking
AssetCo, an AIM-listed company with almost GBP 50 billion in assets under management, has agreed to acquire River and Mercantile, another asset manager, in an all-share deal that values the business at almost GBP 100 million.
Source: FT
Diem Association, a cryptocurrency initiative once known as Libra backed by Meta Platforms, is said to be considering a sale of its assets to return capital to its investor members.
Source: Bloomberg
JPMorgan has agreed to acquire an around 49% stake in Viva Wallet, an Athens-based payments fintech. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Previously the value of Viva Wallet was estimated at more than USD 2 billion.
Source: Reuters
Piraeus Bank, a Greek lender, has agreed to buy an additional stake of 52% in Trastor Real Estate Investment Company, form Varde Partners, an investment firm, for about EUR 98 million. Piraeus Bank already holds a 45% stake in Trastor.
Source: Reuters
Singapore Telecommunications and Grab Holdings, a ride-hailing-to-payments firm, have each bought a 16.3% stake in PT Bank Fama International, an Indonesian lender, paying about USD 35 million for their individual stakes.
Source: Reuters
Wells Fargo is said to be “studying” a divestment of a 20% stake in Shanghai Commercial Bank. The deal could possibly fetch nearly USD 1 billion.
Source: Bloomberg
HSBC is said to be analysing the purchase of Citibanamex, the Citigroup’s retail banking operations in Mexico. The potential deal is expected to fetch anywhere from USD 4 billion to USD 8 billion.
Source: Reuters
Up-and-Comers
Creditas, a Brazilian lending fintech, has reached a valuation of USD 4.8 billion following its latest funding round. Its revenues reached USD 100 million in the first 9 months of 2021.
Source: FT
Exciting Numbers
Global VC firms raised USD 10.7 billion for funds focused on cryptocurrencies in 2021, compared with USD 5.2 billion raised the previous year, according to PitchBook data.
Source: FT
A Thought Worth Noting
“Investing in banks is always a degree of investing in a black box – it’s a different shade of grey leading up to black.”
Mike Mayo, analyst, Wells Fargo
P.S. You have just read the final issue of Banking M&A Digest. After 3 years the time has come to move on. I have decided to replace it with a new series covering a wider range of topics but still very much focused on corporate finance and investment. Please follow this space for news in the coming weeks.
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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