Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions

Definity Financial

18/03/2025 20:09

Adds Baloise-Helvetia, Air France-KLM, Mercedes-Benz, Masdar-Endesa, Avenue Capital Group; Updates Alphabet

March 18 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers, acquisitions, and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Tuesday:

** Switzerand's Baloise BALN.S and Helvetia Holding AG HELN.S have been exploring a potential merger to create one of the country's largest insurers, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter. nL4N3Q115F

** Air France-KLM AIRF.PA is in talks to take a stake in Spanish airline Air Europa and is looking to boost its existing holding in Scandinavian carrier SAS to a majority, CEO Ben Smith told Reuters. nL1N3Q10NC

** Mercedes-Benz MBGn.DE is trialling using humanoid robots made by U.S.-based company Apptronik for tasks such as moving components to the production line or carrying out quality checks, the latest automaker to experiment with robots in manufacturing. nL8N3Q11A6

** Abu Dhabi renewable energy company Masdar and Spanish power utility Endesa ELE.MC are closing in on a deal that would see Masdar pay around $200 million for a 49.9% stake in a solar portfolio controlled by Endesa, according to two sources familiar with the deal and a document seen by Reuters. nL8N3PT0QM

** Swiss private equity firm Partners Group will buy an energy asset management platform and certain gas-fired power plants in California from U.S.-based Avenue Capital Group for $2.2 billion, the companies said. nL4N3Q10SM

** Alphabet GOOGL.O will buy fast-growing startup Wiz for about $32 billion in its biggest deal ever, the Google parent said Tuesday, as it doubles down on cybersecurity to sharpen its edge in the cloud-computing race against Amazon.com and Microsoft. nL4N3Q10T6

** Swiss Re SRENH.S announced a sale of its 10.5% stake in Canadian insurer Definity Financial DFY.TO for 655 million Canadian dollars ($458.49 million). nL6N3Q10JI

** Wabtec WAB.N said it has agreed to buy train coupler maker Dellner Couplers from private equity firm EQT EQTAB.ST for $960 million in cash, as the heavy industrial parts maker looks to strengthen its passenger rail business. nL4N3Q10RI

** Russia's second-largest lender VTB's deal to acquire the Zvezda shipbuilding yard from oil company Rosneft is now dead because the VTB-owned United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC) cannot finance the acquisition, VTB CEO Andrei Kostin said. nL1N3Q10CO

** London-listed Glencore GLEN.L has made an offer to acquire Canadian lithium battery recycling company Li-Cycle LICYN.MX as part of a proposal to offset operational and financial issues. nL4N3Q01LV

** South Korean conglomerate Hanwha 000880.KS now owns a 9.9% stake in Australian shipbuilder Austal ASB.AX, an exchange filing showed. nL4N3Q01KR

** Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton has acquired a legal technology company, a rare move as large law firms race to invest in generative artificial intelligence. nL1N3Q00IS

** The German insurer Allianz ALVG.DE said on Monday that it was selling its 26% stake in two joint ventures with India's Bajaj Finserv BJFS.NS to the Bajaj Group for around 2.6 billion euros ($2.84 billion). nL1N3Q00P5

 (Compiled by Rajarshi Roy,  Ateev Bhandari and Aatreyee Dasgupta in Bengaluru)

 ((Ateev.Bhandari@thomsonreuters.com;))