Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions

PI Advanced Materials

28/06/2023 15:17

(Adds Atos, Orange, NielsenIQ, Ascential; updates Arcline)
       June 28 (Reuters) - The following bids, mergers,
acquisitions and disposals were reported by 2000 GMT on
Wednesday:
    
    ** Orange  ORAN.PA , France's biggest telecoms operator, is
opening exclusive talks with BNP Paribas  BNPP.PA  with the aim
of bringing its retail banking clientele under the bank's
umbrella, three sources close to the matter said on Wednesday.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nP6N2OL02B
    
    ** Advent-owned NielsenIQ is set to secure EU antitrust
clearance for its proposed acquisition of German market research
firm GfK on the condition GfK sells its consumer panel business,
people familiar with the matter said.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N38K1OH
    
    ** Ascential's  ASCL.L  consumer research unit continues to
draw interest from a couple of parties including Apax as other
potential buyers have walked away in what remains a tough market
for dealmaking, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N38K1H9
    
    ** France's Atos  ATOS.PA  has rejected several indicative
offers for its Tech Foundations business, the loss-making
division that regroups its legacy IT consultancy activities, its
chairman said on Wednesday.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N38K3V9
    
    ** Thomson Reuters  TRI.TO  will buy Imagen, a digital
content asset management company, for an undisclosed price, to
expand its agency business to new customers, the news and
information company said.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N38J26T
    
    ** Private equity firm THL Partners is exploring a sale of
Nextech Systems LLC that could value the provider of healthcare
software at around $1.5 billion, according to people familiar
with the matter.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N38K0Z0
    
    ** Singapore's state investor Temasek is selling around
S$400 million ($295.92 million) worth of shares, or a 1.85%
stake, in the country's national carrier Singapore Airlines
(SIA)  SIAL.SI , according to a term sheet seen by
Reuters. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N38K0SA
    
    ** EU antitrust regulators have temporarily suspended their
investigation into Korean Air Lines'  003490.KS  proposed
acquisition of Asiana  020560.KS  after the former asked for
more time to prepare remedies to address competition concerns,
the South Korean carrier said.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N38K0TD

    ** Hong Kong-based conglomerate Swire Pacific Ltd  0019.HK 
said it would sell its Swire Coca-Cola USA unit for $3.9 billion
to its controlling shareholder, John Swire & Sons
Ltd. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N38K1S4
    
    ** Private equity firm Arcline Investment Management
proposed to buy Circor International  CIR.N  for $1.8 billion
including debt on Wednesday, topping a rival bid from KKR & Co
 KKR.N  for the industrial machinery maker.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N38K1U8
    
    ** With U.S. antitrust enforcers determined to stop
Microsoft  MSFT.O  from buying "Call of Duty" maker Activision
Blizzard  ATVI.O , the companies' two chief executives are
expected to testify  that the $69 billion deal will be good for
gamers and should go forward. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N38I2R2

    ** French chemicals group Arkema  AKE.PA  announced a
proposed acquisition of a majority stake in South Korean company
PI Advanced Materials  178920.KS  for 728 million euros ($797.2
million).  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N38K09K
    
    ** Ireland has sold a 5% stake in AIB Group  AIBG.I ,
lowering its holding below 50% for the first time since
effectively nationalising the lender more than a decade ago and
raising 481 million euros ($527 million).  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N38K0BO
    
    ** India's Sheela Foam  SHEF.NS  will acquire rival Kurlon
Enterprise for a cash consideration of 32.50 billion rupees
($396.37 million), Moneycontrol reported, sending the Sleepwell
mattress maker's shares up by 6.7%.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N38K0X5
    
    ** Ramsay Health Care Ltd  RHC.AX  and Malaysian
conglomerate Sime Darby Bhd  SIME.KL  are exploring a sale of
their Asia-focused healthcare joint venture, Australia's largest
private hospital operator said.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N38J4GD

    ** Postmedia Network Canada Corp  PNCa.TO  on Tuesday
confirmed it was in a non-binding discussion with Nordstar
Capital for a potential merger with some operational assets of
the Toronto Star and the Metroland newspapers.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N38J4D2

    ** A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Tuesday approved
Overstock.com's  OSTK.O  $21.5 million purchase of Bed Bath &
Beyond's brand name, intellectual property and ecommerce
platform.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N38J2IX

 (Compiled by Rajarshi Roy, Juveria Tabassum and Jaiveer
Shekhawat in Bengaluru)
 ((jaiveersingh.shekhawat@thomsonreuters.com))