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| This week’s top Private Equity news |
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| Here are this week's biggest news in the private equity and venture capital markets. Feel free to email me directly if you think we missed important news about you or something equally important: simon@pe-insights.com. |
1. Nexi Buys Nets in $9.2 Billion Deal to Create Payment Giant |
Italian payments processor Nexi agreed to buy private equity-owned rival Nets Group, a month after purchasing a state-backed competitor and creating one of Europe’s biggest payment providers. Nets’ PE-owners Hellman & Friedman and Nexi enters a deal that will generate about 170 million euros of synergies per year. Read more
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2. US investor Bill Ackman places new bet against corporate credit |
The fund manager William Ackman has placed a large bet that companies around the world will struggle to pay their debts because of the economic hit from the coronavirus pandemic, only eight months after he netted $2.6bn from a near-identical trade. Ackman said that he had bought insurance against corporate defaults. Read more
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3. CVC and Advent seek super league ‘breakaway’ clause on Serie A deal |
CVC Capital Partners and Advent International want to add a “breakaway” clause to their €1.6bn deal to buy into Italy’s Lega Serie A football competition to protect their investment if a rival European super league is launched. That super league is working with investment bank J.P. Morgan to create a €6bn debt financing package. Read more
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4. PAI Partners shows appetite for the food sector with three deals in a week |
Private equity firm PAI Partners has sealed three deals in the food sector in Europe this week. The firm snapped up British food brands Addo Food Group, Winterbotham Darby & Co and Spanish seafood company Angulas Aguinaga. The firm announced the acquisitions to create a "leading UK chilled food platform". Read more
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5. KKR taps $1.3bn Global Impact Fund for European deal with CMC Machinery |
Leading global investment firm KKR & Co. Inc. today announced an investment in CMC Machinery, a manufacturer of automated packaging solutions in Italy. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Principal at KKR's Global Impact team in EMEA, said: "CMC Machinery is recognized as a leader in the sector". Read more
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6. Taylor Swift’s catalogue sold to private equity group for $300m |
Rights of Taylor Swift's first six albums has been sold to private equity group Shamrock Capital Advisors for more than $300m, turning a handsome profit — but not for the artist. The deal is the latest twist in a years-long feud between Ms Swift and Scooter Braun, a powerful music manager to artists including Justin Bieber. Read more
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7. CalPERS allocates $8.45 billion to alternatives |
CalPERS committed a total of $8.45 billion to alternative investments, according to the $402.9 billion pension fund. Among the most prominent commitments are: $2 billion to West Street Strategic Solutions Fund I, a distressed debt fund managed by Goldman Sachs; and $1.5 billion to LongRange Capital. Read more
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8. EQT Is Closing in on $13 Billion Carrier KPN Takeover |
EQT Group has approached Dutch phone company Royal KPN about a takeover, a sign the European private equity firm is moving ahead with a deal that would rank as its largest ever. KPN has the largest fiber-optic network footprint in the Netherlands, providing a good strategic fit with the rest of EQT’s portfolio. Read more
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9. Antin Infrastructure to buy Italian pharmacy network Hippocrates |
Italian pharmacy network Hippocrates Holding S.p.A. said on Monday that private equity firm Antin Infrastructure Partners had agreed to take an 80% stake in the company. The pharmacy group short-listed four bidders in October for its network of pharmacies with the aim of finding a majority investor to speed up growth. Read more
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10. Brookfield Plots $50 Billion Push Into Market for Secondaries |
Brookfield Asset Management is embarking on an aggressive move into the secondary market for private assets, the first step in what Chief Executive Officer Bruce Flatt says could become a $50 billion business. The secondary market allows firms like Brookfield to replace existing investors in private funds or direct investments. Read more
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11. PE-backed Caffè Nero enters CVA amid Covid downturn |
PE-backed Caffè Nero has become the latest high street coffee chain to restructure its business after profits were hit by the coronavirus pandemic. The chain, which operates around 700 sites across the UK and 200 overseas, entered a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) to restructure its business. Read more
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12. Private equity firms seek novel exits from oil investments |
Private equity firms that piled into oil-production assets in the past few years now find themselves stuck, and forced to contemplate novel ways to make an exit. Many closely held oil explorers and producers have paused plans to go public. The list includes Siccar Point Energy, Wintershall Dea and Neptune Energy Group. Read more
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13. Kuwait’s $124 Billion Pension Fund Plans Infrastructure Boost |
Kuwait’s $124 billion pension fund, which posted a record first-half profit, plans to double its infrastructure investment and boost exposure to private equity, its director general said. The new plan, developed with U.S.-based consultancy Mercer, will start next year and will “entail increasing infrastructure from 5% to 10%”. Read more
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14. BC Partners to buy Dutch puzzle publisher Keesing in €300m deal |
BC Partners is set to acquire the Amsterdam-headquartered puzzle book publisher Keesing Media Group B.V. Group from Belgian investment firm Ergon Capital and media company Mediahuis nv. The firm declined to disclose financial details, but a person familiar with the situation told the deal is valued at above €300m. Read more
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15. Carlyle invests $250 million in U.S. e-commerce firm Pharmapacks |
Private equity firm The Carlyle Group said on Thursday it had invested more than $250 million in Pharmapacks, a U.S. e-commerce firm focused on health, personal care and beauty products. Carlyle’s investment, which values Pharmapacks at about $1.1 billion, comes as the pandemic has pushed more online shopping. Read more
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16. Eni and HitecVision form Nordic renewable energy venture |
Norwegian private equity group HitecVision and Italy’s Eni Energies et Services have formed a joint venture to develop renewable energy in the Nordic region, building on their existing cooperation in oil. Norway is Western Europe’s largest petroleum producer but generates most of its electricity at hydropower plants. Read more
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17. Walmart to Sell Most of Japan’s Seiyu to Rakuten and KKR |
Walmart is selling most of Japanese retailer Seiyu to KKR and Rakuten in a deal that values the supermarket chain at $1.6 billion, as the PE-giant retreats from its attempt to crack Japan’s retail market. “What’s important is to build a business that can go public. An IPO is certainly common goal for us," Eiji Yatagawa, a partner at KKR. Read more
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18. Private equity can sprint ahead in Adidas castoffs |
Reebok Classics are not a good fit for adidas. Buyout firms are interested in buying the underperforming brand, the Financial Times reported. For an acquirer to make a private equity-style return, however, the German sportswear group will need to accept a much lower price than the $3.8 billion it paid in 2005. Read more
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19. EG Group’s owners cash out ahead of £6.8bn Asda deal |
The owners of the petrol stations business EG Group have raised expensive debt-like financing from sovereign wealth and pension funds, handing them millions of pounds in fresh cash that could help fund their buyout of the UK supermarket chain Asda. The offshore vehicle has now sold new preference shares. Read more
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20. Rolls-Royce sells 94% of new shares in 2 bln issue |
British engineering company Rolls-Royce said shareholders signed up for 94% of new shares it issued as part of a$2.64 billion rights issue to bolster its finances after the pandemic stopped planes flying. The equity raise unlocks new debt options including 2 billion pounds from a bond and a bank loan worth £1 billion. Read more
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