Dealwatch news, updates and analysis | Page 3 of 12

The special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) frenzy and coronavirus have continued to drive the market in recent days, with transatlantic corporate teams steering the multibillion-dollar Cazoo and Arrival deals, while an agreement for the acquisition of Covid-19 vaccines has proved a shot in the arm for Slaughter and May and Covington.

The Cazoo de-SPAC heralded key mandates for Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Kirkland & Ellis, Slaughters and Cravath, Swaine & Moore. The deal will see the UK online car retailer and AJAX I, a publicly-traded SPAC, merge to form a company with an enterprise value of $7bn. The combined company will retain the Cazoo brand and will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Continue reading “Dealwatch: Cazoo and Arrival fuel SPAC bonanza as Slaughters leads on Covid vaccine deal”

As the City marks the one-year anniversary of the first coronavirus lockdown, elite playmakers continue to do deals from their living rooms, with a sizeable National Grid acquisition and Deliveroo’s multibillion-pound initial public offering making headlines in recent days.

Last week (18 March) FTSE 100 utility National Grid emerged as the winner of a competitive auction to acquire Western Power Distribution (WPD), the UK’s largest electricity distribution business, from PPL Corporation for an equity value of £7.8bn. Continue reading “Dealwatch: Transatlantic teams energise £8bn National Grid acquisition as Freshfields and Latham dine in on Deliveroo IPO”

Private equity heavyweights gained major mandates as the bidding war for Signature Aviation took a riveting twist, while the US-driven special purpose acquisition companies (SPAC) craze looks set to take off outside the States.

Kirkland & Ellis, Slaughter and May, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Linklaters acted on the proposed take-private of Signature Aviation by a consortium – Brown Bidco – including Blackstone, Cascade and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP). Continue reading “Dealwatch: Elite firms land $4.7bn Signature Aviation deal as Euro SPAC market expects to fly”

In the conspicuous absence of the traditional round of festive parties, advisers have instead busied themselves with getting a host of deals across the line ahead of the Christmas break.

As the pandemic continues to rage on, Coronavirus-driven transactions show no sign of abating, with a €1.8bn financing package for tourism company TUI and the $1bn merger of hospitality companies Ennismore and Accor characterising the current deal market.  Continue reading “Dealwatch: Advisers wrapped up in flurry of deals in final push before Christmas”

As has become customary in recent months, the deal market last week was characterised as being noticeably coronavirus driven – particularly in the tech, software, high street restructuring and strategic acquisitions spheres.

Nielsen’s $2.7bn spin-off of its Global Connect business – which provides research data to consumer goods companies – is another timely example of companies extracting value from their businesses by selling off non-core assets. In an effort to focus on its media arm and reduce debt, Nielsen is selling Global Connect to private equity firm Advent and James Peck, a former CEO of credit reporting company TransUnion. Continue reading “Dealwatch: strategic acquisitions, disposals and restructuring moves dominate as firms continue advice on Covid-19 fallout”

This week has seen a wealth of substantial transactions as advisers strive to capitalise on opportunities presented by the coronavirus business environment.

The most eye-catching have been the £3bn sale of Kazakhstan-based and London-listed copper company KAZ Minerals to Nova Resources and special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) dMY Technology Group Inc II on its agreement to merge with UK-based Genius Sports Group (GSG). Continue reading “Dealwatch: Magic Circle firms strike £3bn mining take-private as counsel game for $1.5bn Genius Sports deal”

The deal market continues to be a product of the coronavirus environment, with the rescue buyout of Gourmet Burger Kitchen dominating headlines as the pandemic devastates the UK’s high street.

Elsewhere, I Squared Capital’s $2bn acquisition of GTT Communications’ infrastructure business is the latest to illustrate the attractiveness of telecoms assets at a time when connectivity is more essential than ever.  Continue reading “Dealwatch: Links and Goodwin gain bandwidth on $2bn telecoms carve-out as Eversheds and DLA relish Gourmet Burger Kitchen rescue “

Whatever concerns City playmakers had about a coronavirus-related hiatus for big-ticket M&A in recent months appear to be well and truly allayed in the last few days, with the £6.8bn takeover of supermarket giant Asda capping off a prolific week.

Slaughter and May, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Latham & Watkins won roles on the Asda deal, which sees the Issa brothers – founders and co-CEOs of UK petrol station retailer EG Group – and TDR Capital acquire a majority stake in the UK business of Asda Group from US parent Walmart for an enterprise value of £6.8bn. Continue reading “Dealwatch: Big M&A back on track as private equity backs Asda supermarket sweep and William Hill buyout”

Standing out as one of the biggest mandates for external advisers in recent weeks, NVIDIA’s $40bn acquisition of Arm Limited from SoftBank kept transatlantic teams from Latham & Watkins and Morrison & Foerster on their toes in the artificial intelligence arena.

The deal sees California-based tech multinational NVIDIA acquire the Cambridge-headquartered AI company Arm from SoftBank Group and SoftBank Vision Fund in a cash and stock transaction. SoftBank will own a stake in NVIDIA of less than 10%.  Continue reading “Dealwatch: Tech going gangbusters as elite firms line up $40bn SoftBank buyout and Klarna equity raise”