International
middle-market
dealflow was very active Thursday amidst the backdrop of megabillion dollar
international acquisitions that included
Standard
Life plc's $17.8 billion bid for Resolution plc,
Industrial
and Commercial Bank of China Ltd.'s $5.5 billion stake in Standard Bank of
South Africs Ltd., and
Rexel
SA's $4.3 billion cash offer for Hagemeyer NV.
Aside for the aforementioned acquisitions, billion-dollar deals have been few
and far between lately. So, the rush of three billion-dollar deals in one day
hearkens back to the heady dealmaking days prior to the credit crunch when
financing was plentiful and executives weren't spooked by the word recession.
Despite Thursday's uptick in billion-dollar deals, middle-market acquisitions
— especially foreign ones — kept pace. In general, over the last two months,
middle-market M&A has been more plentiful than the billion-dollar deal.
Below is a look at Thursday's notable middle-market deals:
-
British private equity firm 3i Group plc said that its fledgling Indian
infrastructure fund registered its first investment,
paying
$227 million for a minority stake in Adani Power Pte. Ltd., a power
generation company. "Indian power generation is expanding on the back of
government spending to sustain economic growth and bolster rural
electrification," TheDeal.com writer Phineas Lambert said.
-
Italy’s Enel SpA announced that it has agreed to purchase
7.15% of Russian power generator OAO OGK-5 from Credit Suisse Group, raising
its holding to 37.15%, for 10.8 billion rubles ($434 million). The news
comes about four months after Enel bought a 29.99% stake for $1.8 billion.
Enel, which made the latest transaction through its Dutch subsidiary Enel
Investment Holding BV, said it expects to complete the transaction within
days. Russian law requires Enel to make an offer for all of OGK-5 once its
stake exceeds 30%. OGK-30 is one of six Russian wholesale generation
companies being privatized.
-
British budget airline easyJet plc
also
reached an agreement to buy U.K.-based GB Airways Ltd. from the Bland
Group Ltd. for £103.5 million ($212.1 million) in cash as it looks to
strengthen its position at London's Gatwick airport. EasyJet is the
second-largest discount airliner in Europe. The company expects the
acquisition to be earnings positive in the current fiscal year.
-
In Mexico, buyout firm Advent International acquired Mexico's largest
funeral services company in a leveraged buyout deal for $317 million. The
deal was funded with equity from Advent and $195 million in acquisition
financing from Scotiabank of Canada and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.
— Gerald Magpily
See
TheDeal.com's middle-market channel
See
TheDeal.com: Indian 3i makes an investment
See
TheDeal.com: easyJet acquires GB Airways
