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☆ M&A in sports technology is booming as dealmaking reaches new heights in Q2, a new report shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Margaret Fleming | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The sports tech sector had one of its best quarters ever in Q2, according to investment bank Drake Star. The large number of new M&A deals, coupled with an influx of capital and a rebounding market, are driving growth in sports tech, Drake Star principal Mohit Pareek told Insider. In Q2, the biggest deal — and one of the largest ever sports-tech deals — was the April acquisition of WWE by Endeavor, the parent company of the UFC. Drake Star found 199 private-funding deals closed in Q2, up from 176 deals in Q1. Overall, though, less money was raised with the Q2 deals totaling $1.6 billion, compared to $1.7 billion last quarter.

Persons: Drake Star, Drake, Mohit Pareek, Pareek, —, BPEA EQT Organizations: Drake Star, WWE, UFC, Endeavor, IMG Academy, NeoGames SA, Media, FuboTV, Drake Locations: Sportradar

☆ EQT’s India IVF buyout hits on fertile themes
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, Aug 1 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Private equity giant EQT (EQTAB.ST) is buying a majority stake in the country’s largest fertility clinic chain Indira IVF via its Asian unit BPEA EQT, valuing the firm at $1.1 billion. Indira IVF serves some of the 15% of Indian couples experiencing infertility, a problem on the rise in the world’s most populous country as people marry later and air pollution stifles the ability to conceive naturally. EQT’s deal also is another bet on the changing demands of the South Asian nation’s middle class. Thanks to the gradual maturing of the private equity business, both purchases come with the added benefit of the buyer taking control. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: Indira, EQT’s, Shritama Bose, Steve Cohen, ’, Una Galani, Aditya Munjuluru Organizations: Reuters, Blackstone, HDFC, Twitter, Sequoia, Walmart, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, Temasek

The combined business comprises over 9,000 professionals in more than 50 jurisdictions, EQT said in a statement. BPEA EQT had tapped Goldman Sachs to be the lead adviser on the merger of the two companies, Reuters reported. Simon Webster, who joined Vistra as CEO in November 2022, will be the CEO of the combined business, EQT said. BPEA bought Tricor from private equity firm Permira in 2021 for $2.8 billion. EQT agreed last year to buy BPEA or Baring Private Equity Asia in a deal worth 6.8 billion euros ($7.5 billion), creating BPEA EQT.

Persons: EQT, BPEA, BPEA EQT, Goldman Sachs, Lazard, Simon Webster, Webster, Vistra, Tricor, Gokul, Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Mark Potter Organizations: Reuters, Barclays, HSBC, Vistra, Baring Private Equity Asia, Thomson Locations: Hong Kong, China, Vistra, Bengaluru, Yantoultra, Singapore

☆ India’s $1 bln education buyout is a studied bet
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, June 21 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The biggest merger in Indian corporate history has opened the door for private equity giant EQT (EQTAB.ST) to enter the country’s education finance market. The deal is touted as the largest ever PE buyout in the country’s financial sector and values Credila at roughly 101 billion rupees ($1.2 billion), or roughly 37 times earnings in the last financial year. The target specalises in education financing for those looking to universities in the United States, the UK and Canada for higher education. The buyers will also inject 20 billion rupees into Credila, which should help give the company, already a market major, an edge over rivals including state-controlled banks and the Warburg Pincus-backed Avanse Financial Services. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: HDFC, Credila, BPEA EQT, Warburg Pincus, Shritama Bose, Robyn Mak, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, Chrys Capital, Bajaj Finance, Financial, Twitter, Virgin, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, Swedish, United States, Canada, India, Credila, Cava

☆ Mega-merger gives Indian lender new lease on life
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Shritama Bose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

HDFC Bank (HDBK.NS), the country’s largest private lender, is set in July to complete its merger with its parent, partner and 26% shareholder Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) (HDFC.NS). That’s a great opportunity for the larger, streamlined HDFC Bank – until now it sold most home loans it originated to its parent. However, the share of mortgages in HDFC Bank’s portfolio will rise close to 30%, compared to SBI’s 20%. HDFC Bank remains a fixer-upper in a couple of important respects, though. Housing Development Finance Corporation created HDFC Bank in 1994 and remains a 26% shareholder.

Persons: Sashidhar Jagdishan, That’s, HDFC, Jagdishan, Breakingviews, Srinivasan Vaidyanathan, Antony Currie, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, HDFC Bank, Housing Development Finance Corporation, –, Bank of India, Mahindra Bank, Reserve Bank of India, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, Asia, China, United States, watchdogs, Credila

☆ Australian regulator temporarily halts orders on two Perpetual funds
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 25 (Reuters) - Australian securities regulator on Friday directed a unit of asset manager Perpetual Ltd (PPT.AX) to stop offering or distributing two funds to retail investors on an interim basis due to significant market risks involved. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) said the Perpetual Pure Microcap Fund and Perpetual Geared Australian Share Fund, offered by Perpetual Investment Management, have been asked to stop issuing interest or giving advice to retail investors for 21 days. The funds' portfolio are exposed to high market volatility and carry significant risks, increasing chances of large losses for investors, the regulator said. "ASIC made the interim orders to protect retail investors from potentially investing in funds that may not be suitable for their financial objectives, situation or needs," the regulator said. "ASIC is concerned that Perpetual has not appropriately considered these features and risks in determining the wide target markets for the funds."

☆ Messy money manager merger goes from bad to worse
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MELBOURNE, Nov 21 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Rob Adams must be wishing he could turn the clock back eight months. That’s when the boss of Australian fund management icon Perpetual (PPT.AX) was readying his first tilt for rival Pendal (PDL.AX). Whatever lies behind Paul Skamvougeras’ decision to quit as Perpetual’s Head of Equities, losing a key executive right on the eve of a merger is awkward. And shareholders remain unconvinced the Pendal deal is a certainty as its stock trades 11% below the offer price. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Perpetual rejected a $A30 per share offer proposal from Barings Private Equity Asia (BPEA), which was recently bought by EQT (EQTAB.ST), and Australian firm Regal Partners (RPL.AX). Perpetual shares rose by as much as 10.1% early on Thursday, the company's best session in more than two years, before retreating to be up 6.6%. Perpetual said it would press on with its planned A$2.51 billion acquisition of rival Pendal Group (PDL.AX) announced in August. The private equity offer represents a premium of about 11.5% to Perpetual's last close of A$26.90. BPEA is one of the region's largest private equity firms and was bought by EQT in March.

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