Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions
31/10/2023 14:07
(Adds Iren, Virgin Media, Cytokinetics, Denbury, Marathon
Petroleum and Cleveland-Cliffs; updates Telefonica, and
Blackstone)
Oct 31 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers,
acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on Tuesday:
** A group representing major automakers on Tuesday said the
industry opposes steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs' CLF.N proposed
acquisition of U.S. Steel X.N , saying it would increase auto
industry costs and slow electric vehicle sales. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N3C12QO
** The U.S. argued on Tuesday that JetBlue Airways' JBLU.O
planned $3.8 billion acquisition of ultra-low-cost carrier
Spirit Airlines SAVE.N will lead to higher fares and fewer
flights, as the Justice Department urged a federal judge to
block the deal at the start of a closely-watched antitrust
trial. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N3C117S
** Spain's state fund SEPI said on Tuesday it is considering
whether to buy a stake in Telefonica TEF.MC , a month after
Saudi Arabia's STC built a 9.9% holding in the telecoms group.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N3C1254
** Blackstone BX.N and Vista Equity Partners said on
Tuesday they will acquire Australia's Energy Exemplar, a
provider of energy market software, from private equity firm
Riverside Company in a deal that sources noted was worth more
than $1 billion. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N3C11CF
** Italian multi-utility Iren said on Tuesday it would start
exclusive talks to buy smaller rival EGEA, which has been hit by
highly volatile energy prices last year. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nR1N2YV00B
** Britain's Virgin Media O2 on Tuesday said it had sold a
16.67% stake in its mobile towers joint venture Cornerstone to
GLIL Infrastructure, a partnership of UK pension funds, for
about 360 million pounds ($437 million) in cash. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N3C17UU
** Heart diseases-focused drug developer Cytokinetics
CYTK.O is weighing options after receiving takeover interest,
Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with
the matter. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N3C15K0
** Denbury DEN.N said its shareholders approved the
company's merger with Exxon Mobil XOM.N , with the deal closing
expected on Nov. 2. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N3C15LE
** Marathon Petroleum MPC.N is not planning to participate
in the current auction process for shares in a parent of oil
refiner Citgo Petroleum, executives said. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N3C12HR
** X-Energy and blank-check firm Ares Acquisition AAC.N
mutually called off a $2 billion deal to go public, nearly 11
months after an earlier agreement. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N3C1446
** Ametek AME.N , whose instruments and equipment are used
in industries ranging from aerospace to food packaging, said it
would buy medical components maker Paragon Medical in a $1.9
billion deal and Amplifier Research for an undisclosed
amount. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N3C13ML
** Asda, Britain's third biggest supermarket group, said it
has completed the acquisition of the majority of EG Group’s UK &
Ireland business for an enterprise value of 2.07 billion pounds
($2.52 billion). urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N3C155P
** Vodafone VOD.L will sell its Spanish business to Zegona
Communications ZEG.L for 5 billion euros ($5.30 billion) in
the second major deal by its new CEO to revamp a company
struggling with little growth in mature markets. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N3C127G
** Australia's Mineral Resources MIN.AX bought shares
worth A$158.7 million ($101 million) in Wildcat Resources
WC8.AX to raise its stake in the lithium miner to 19.85%, a
regulatory filing showed. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N3C130S
** South African fashion and food retailer Woolworths
WHLJ.J will buy a 93.45% stake in pet care retailer Absolute
Pets from Sanlam Private Equity and Absolute's management, it
said, stepping up a turf war for the country's affluent
shoppers. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N3C123N
** Siemens Energy ENR1n.DE is considering selling some of
its 24% stake in Indian-listed Siemens Ltd SIEM.NS to former
parent Siemens AG SIEGn.DE to shore up its balance sheet, two
people familiar with the matter said. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N3C01ZW
** Asiana Airlines 020560.KS said it would reconvene a
board meeting in early November to decide whether it should
accept a merger proposal from Korean Air that includes the sale
of its cargo operations to remedy EU antitrust concerns.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N3C101W
** Japan's top oil and gas producer Inpex 1605.T said it
would buy a 30% stake in Japan Suiso Energy (JSE) in a bid to
expand its clean energy usage and cut back on fossil fuels.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N3C107X
** Origin Energy's largest shareholder said it plans to vote
against a Brookfield-led consortium's A$15.35 billion ($9.78
billion) takeover offer for the company, casting doubt on the
bid's future weeks ahead of a shareholder vote on the deal.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N3C05HJ
** Top Australian wine producer Treasury Wine Estates
TWE.AX has agreed to a $900 million buyout of U.S. rival DAOU
Vineyards, increasing its exposure to a market that it has long
struggled to dominate amid uncertainty about stalled exports to
China. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N3C05BT
** Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo ISP.MI said it had bought
Romania's First Bank from U.S. private equity fund JC Flowers, a
week after crosstown rival UniCredit CRDI.MI also announced an
acquisition in the eastern European country. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N3C06UK
** EU antitrust regulators said they cleared Hitachi's
6501.T 1.7-billion-euro ($1.80 billion) bid for Thales'
TCFP.PA GTS railway signalling business on condition the
Japanese company sells assets in France and Germany, as it
offered to do so. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N3C05PQ
** Ahold Delhaize AD.AS has agreed to buy Romanian grocery
retailer Profi from private equity firm MidEuropa for 1.3
billion euros ($1.37 billion) in a deal that will more than
double the company's operations in Romania. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N3C00GM
(Compiled by Rajarshi Roy, Akash Sriram, Harshita Mary Varghese
and Pratik Jain in Bengaluru)
((Harshitamary.varghese@thomsonreuters.com))