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☆ Match shares surge on report activist investor Elliott takes $1 billion stake
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-09 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Shares of Tinder owner Match jumped as much as 12% during Tuesday morning trading after The Wall Street Journal reported that Elliott Management, the activist investing firm behind campaigns at Salesforce and Pinterest , had built a roughly $1 billion stake in the online dating company. The company had a market cap of $10 billion at the close Monday, but that pales in comparison to its more than $45 billion market cap in 2021. Elliott is expected to engage with Match management, the Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter, but it was not clear if that engagement would include nominating its own directors. But the company reported a continued tumble in so-called Tinder payers in November when it reported third-quarter earnings. A spokesperson for Elliott Management was not immediately available for comment.

Persons: Gary Swidler, Greg Blatt, Sam Yagan, Nelson Griggs, Elliott, Jesse Cohn Organizations: Match, Match Group, Nasdaq, Street Journal, Elliott Management, JPMorgan, Phillips, CNBC, Citrix, eBay, Twitter Locations: New York City, Salesforce

☆ ICBC Hackers Used Methods Previously Flagged by U.S. Authorities
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Justin Baer | Andrew Duehren | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The report suggests that the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the world’s largest bank, could have anticipated the cyberattacks. Photo: FLORENCE LO/REUTERSThe hackers who infiltrated the New York arm of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and disrupted trading in the U.S. Treasury market appeared to exploit three vulnerabilities that had been flagged by U.S. officials earlier this year. In an email sent to financial-services executives and trade groups Monday that was viewed by The Wall Street Journal, Treasury officials said that the ICBC attack stemmed from Lockbit 3.0 ransomware and two tactics that target users of services managed by Citrix, a cloud-computing company.

Organizations: Commercial Bank of China, REUTERS, Industrial, Commercial Bank of, U.S . Treasury, Wall Street Journal, Treasury, Citrix Locations: FLORENCE, New York, Commercial Bank of China, U.S

☆ Citrix Owner Becomes Latest U.S. Company to Retreat From China
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Rebecca Feng | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Cloud Software Group, which owns enterprise-software provider Citrix, is ceasing all new commercial transactions in China. Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg NewsHONG KONG— Cloud Software Group , which owns enterprise-software brand Citrix, is ceasing business transactions in China, becoming the latest U.S. company to pull back from China. In an email to clients and partners on Monday seen by The Wall Street Journal, Cloud Software Group said it has made the decision to cease all new commercial transactions in China, including Hong Kong, on Dec. 3. It cited rising costs in the market.

Persons: David Paul Morris Organizations: Cloud Software Group, Citrix, Bloomberg News HONG, Wall Street Locations: China, Bloomberg News HONG KONG, U.S, Hong Kong

☆ Activist Elliott makes inroads at Catalent to build value. Here’s what could happen next
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-16 | by ( Kenneth Squire | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

This segment also handles the formulation, development and manufacturing for parenteral dose forms, including vials and prefilled syringes. Activist Commentary: Elliott is a very successful and astute activist investor, particularly in the technology sector. While as an activist Elliott will do whatever it feels is necessary to enhance shareholder value, in the past the firm has made significant use of the strategy of offering to acquire its portfolio companies as the best catalyst to enhance shareholder value. Like Catalent, Syneos is an outsourced pharma solutions company: It outsources R&D for pharmaceutical companies, whereas Catalent outsources manufacturing. If this does turn from a strategic review to an operational review, there is no guarantee that he keeps his job.

Persons: Catalent, there's, Elliott, Steven Barg, Frank D'Amelio, Stephanie Okey, Michelle Ryan, Johnson, Barg, Ryan, John Greisch, There's, Danaher, Alessandro Maselli, Ken Squire Organizations: Oral Technologies, Clinical, Pfizer, Rom Holdings, Bloomberg, Merck, Citrix Systems, Nielsen Holdings, Square, Veritas Capital, Syneos Health, 13D Locations: COOs, North America

☆ Guest view: Direct lending may be entering new era
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Armen Panossian | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

NEW YORK, April 13 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Challenges in the banking system are expanding the opportunities available to direct lenders. I believe direct lenders’ market share will increase significantly in the future due to the substantial mismatch of supply and demand that has emerged in the market for funding large-scale LBOs. Direct lenders, including funds at Oaktree, are now seeking to fill this gap. Not all direct lenders will be able to take advantage of this opportunity, though. This, in turn, is attracting interest and capital from those direct lenders able to fill the massive gap.

China has routinely denied hacking into businesses or governments in other countries. State-sponsored hackers from China have developed techniques that evade common cybersecurity tools and enable them to burrow into government and business networks and spy on victims for years without detection, researchers with Alphabet Inc.’s Google found. Over the past year, analysts at Google’s Mandiant division have discovered hacks of systems that aren’t typically the targets of cyber espionage. Instead of infiltrating systems behind the corporate firewall, they are compromising devices on the edge of the network—sometimes firewalls themselves—and targeting software built by companies such as VMware Inc. or Citrix Systems Inc. These products run on computers that don’t typically include antivirus or endpoint detection software.

☆ Renewed U.S. junk bond rally ignites hope for more stuck buyout debt
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Matt Tracy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

This exercise now has more impetus on expectations that junk bond prices will continue to rally in the wake of Powell's comments, which raised hopes of slowing rate hikes and a so-called economic soft landing. Junk bond spreads on average tightened 37 basis points on Wednesday, the day of Powell's remarks, from a day earlier, according to ICE BAML data. This is around the level in September when banks sold only about half of the total $15 billion of debt through a U.S. dollar bond, leveraged loan and a Euro-denominated loan. Reuters could not confirm the exact amount sold in these sales and balance of LBO debt still left with banks. Banks could consider selling larger parcels of LBO debt in the primary bond markets where there has been a surge in new issue supply, said the sources.

A trading book includes loans banks have earmarked for sale and are thus marked-to-market, while a banking book is where a lender holds loans and other assets not intended for disposal. This implies a heavy discount of 15 pence on the pound if banks sell the loans at that level. Banks make money also by charging the borrower a fee to provide loans, then sell the loans to third party investors. Reuters could not ascertain the exact size of the hit on the loans sold. On the flipside, loans sold by banks can generate attractive gains for buyers.

☆ 6 top M&A bankers lay out their dealmaking playbook for 2023 — from getting around a sagging bond market to dealing with skeptical shareholders
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Carter Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

"We're certainly telling clients to plan for longer timelines between signing an announcement and when a transaction closes," RBC's Sperduto said. Bankers noted the figure was on pace with the average amount of deals done in the five years preceding the pandemic. "There is still significant desire from both corporates and financial sponsors to transact," Gary Posternack, co-head of global M&A at Barclays, told Insider. But in 2023, bankers see more transactions receiving greater scrutiny from stakeholders. Vito Sperduto, the co-head of global M&A at RBC Capital Markets.

☆ M&A Is Expected to Pick Up in 2023 as Companies Adapt to Tougher Conditions
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Kristin Broughton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +8 min

But many companies adapted, structuring deals to sidestep market volatility and minimize financing costs. Deal advisers expect M&A to pick up in 2023 following last year’s slump, though when that will happen remains an open question. That is especially true in the technology and healthcare sectors, where deals for high-growth companies are most common, she said. In addition to macroeconomic pressures, companies faced a tougher regulatory environment in 2022, with antitrust enforcers globally applying greater scrutiny to large transactions. Demand for such facilities in the U.S. jumped 17% in 2022 through Dec. 29 compared with the full-year 2021, to $317.3 billion, according to Dealogic.

☆ From Amazon to The Trade Desk, experts predict these companies will be the most active acquirers of advertising businesses next year
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

There's a strong interest from acquirers in hot trends like commerce media and data consultancy. Experts predicted the companies most likely to be acquirers of advertising businesses in 2023. Many industry observers expect advertising industry M&A deal volume and value to be down next year due to volatile macroeconomic conditions. Experts across the advertising industry — from consultants, to agency executives, analysts, investors, and adtech leaders — named the companies likely to be active in the advertising M&A market in 2023 and why. Apple could make an under-the-radar adtech acquisition for its sleeping giant advertising businessIndustry insiders predict Apple has big plans for its $5 billion-and-growing advertising business next year.

☆ Fed Rate Increases Upended Funding Markets in 2022. Here’s What CFOs Can Expect in 2023.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Nina Trentmann | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +9 min

Here’s a look at how different financing instruments fared in 2022 and what’s ahead for 2023. Activity in the convertible debt market has picked up in recent weeks. Still, there could be financing opportunities for deals in 2023 in the form of syndicated loans, bankers said. “CFOs have to be aware of that and focus on cash conversion and margins,” he said, pointing to the increase in financing costs. “We expect deals will continue to get done,” he said, adding that those could however come with more oversight from lenders.

Banks still have to mark the loan to its market value on their books and set aside funds for losses that are reported in quarterly results. The deliberations of how some of these banks are thinking about accounting for these losses have not been previously reported. Three banking industry sources said the remaining $3 billion, which is unsecured, could lead to steeper losses for the seven Twitter banks. Some market participants expect the losses from the debt to be significant unless market conditions improve. Some $35 billion to $40 billion of such loans are stuck on banks' books, according to two fixed income bankers.

Banks struggled to find demand from junk-bond investors for $2.4 billion of secured bonds and loans that is part of the debt package after a weeks-long marketing effort, the sources said. It showed the challenges banks face to sell down highly leveraged debt this quarter as bond yields spiked in response to a hawkish Fed policy and recessionary fears. The source would not say whether that would mean re-offering the debt to investors at even juicier terms. The end result is the banks involved are digging into their own pockets to provide the whole debt for the Tenneco acquisition which closed on Thursday. So it's almost like investors have seen this cycle occur that makes them question the outlook of something like Tenneco," he added.

☆ JPMorgan Dodges a Buyout-Loan Bullet
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Matt Wirz | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon is pleased about the bank’s level of exposure to bad buyout loans. Sometimes in investment banking, it is the deals you don’t do. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has avoided most of 2022’s so-called hung deals that have cost competitors billions of dollars in paper losses. Whether by luck or by design, the biggest U.S. bank didn’t make loans backing takeovers of companies such as Twitter Inc., Citrix Systems Inc. and Nielsen Holdings PLC, which fell in value as markets turned choppy.

☆ Banks plan to sell Tenneco buyout debt next week -sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Matt Tracy | Shankar Ramakrishnan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Banks led by Citigroup Inc (C.N) and Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) aim to begin marketing a portion of the Tenneco debt package's secured portion as early as next week, said one of the sources. The package consists of a $2.4 billion leveraged loan, a $2 billion secured bond, and a $1 billion unsecured bond. This activity is rekindling hope among banks that they may not have to suffer big loses to shed junk-rated debt from their balance sheet. If the Tenneco syndication goes well, banks are sitting on plenty of junk-rated debt they may seek to offload. This includes $11 billion in debt backing the takeover of media analytics company Nielsen and $13 billion of debt for Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter.

Weber , which went public in August 2021 and is trading at half its offering price, is the latest example of a recent IPO to attract a bid to go private. Recent IPOs ducking for the door First, to understand why we selected these criteria, let's look at the recent deals. Kennedy Lewis' $4 per share cash offer was an 83% premium to F45's closing price ahead of the deal announcement, even though it was far below the stock's $16 IPO price. Even with the lift from the deal news, shares are only trading at less than half its $14 IPO price. Private equity company AEA Investors had a 28.4% stake in the company, and CEO Jeremy Andrus owns an 11% stake, according to FactSet.

Elon Musk photo, Twitter logos and U.S. dollar banknotes are seen in this illustration, August 10, 2022. The banks, which include Morgan Stanley and Barclays Plc (BARC.L), did not respond to requests for comment. Representatives for Musk and Twitter did not immediately respond to requests for comment. He has not revealed details on Twitter's new leadership and business plan, and many debt investors are holding back until they get more details on that front, the sources said. The debt package for the Twitter deal is comprised of junk-rated loans, which are risky because of the amount of debt the company is taking on, as well as secured and unsecured bonds.

Oct 17 (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) on Monday reported a smaller-than-expected 9% drop in quarterly profit, as its interest income was bolstered by rising interest rates that offset a slump in investment banking. BofA holds a large base of consumer deposits, compared with its main rivals, making it more sensitive to any changes in interest rates. "Consumers remain resilient," Bank of America Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan told analysts on a conference call. The bank, however, added $378 million to its loan-loss reserves as it braces for a weakening economy. Citigroup Inc (C.N) wrote down $110 million on leveraged loans in the third quarter, down from $126 million in the previous quarter.

Bank of America holds a large base of consumer deposits, compared with its main rivals, making it more sensitive to any changes in interest rates. Its net interest income jumped 24% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) Citigroup Inc (C.N), and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) also saw their net interest income rise in the same period. read moreThe bank's leveraged loan losses were lower in the third quarter than in the second, Borthwick said. Peer Citi also wrote down $110 million on leveraged loans in the third quarter, down from $126 million in the previous quarter.

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Citigroup took a $110 million writedown on leveraged loans in the third quarter, the company said on Friday as its Wall Street competitors downplayed their exposure to the sector. Banks have since pulled back from leveraged financing in the wake of losses taken on Citrix and other deals, as investors lost their appetite for riskier, floating-rate leveraged loans amid rapid interest rate hikes and fears of recession. “There are no real levels of loan write-down this quarter, and that market isn’t yet to clear,” Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan’s chief executive officer, told analysts on a conference call. So we’re very comfortable.”Morgan Stanley also scaled back its leveraged exposure in the third quarter. “They actually were quite modest marks, given the environment,” Sharon Yeshaya, Morgan Stanley’s chief financial officer, told analysts.

☆ Cybersecurity firm KnowBe4 to go private in $4.6 bln deal with Vista Equity Partners
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 12 (Reuters) - KnowBe4 Inc (KNBE.O) on Wednesday agreed to go private in a sweetened $4.6 billion deal with Vista Equity Partners, the latest cybersecurity firm to be snapped up by private equity in this year's market downturn. Private equity firms have been scooping up technology companies whose shares have taken a beating this year from worries over rising interest rates and an economic slowdown. The KnowBe4 deal, expected to close in the first half of 2023, will be financed through a mix of debt and equity financing. Morgan Stanley & Co LLC was serving as financial advisor to KnowBe4's special committee and Guggenheim Securities LLC was financial advisor for Vista. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika SyamnathOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Typically, banks would sell the debt to investors and pocket an underwriting fee. Elon Musk vs TwitterThe debate, currently a topic of conversation among investment bankers and debt investors, provides a window into the havoc wreaked on Wall Street by Musk’s U-turn last week. Musk, however, conditioned his proposal on his ability to secure debt financing and now has until Oct. 28 to close on the transaction. VARIOUS OPTIONSThe debt financing package is comprised of leveraged loans, which are risky because of the amount of debt the company is taking on, as well as secured and unsecured bonds. In September, banks financing the Citrix buyout undertook a similar restructuring.

☆ More Companies Pause Deal-Making Amid Market Volatility, High Inflation
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Kristin Broughton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

Many companies are taking a pause on acquisitions as a cocktail of worrying economic factors, including high inflation, rising interest rates and market volatility, is sapping the confidence of buyers and sellers. Deal-making activity is expected to remain tepid overall during the fourth quarter compared with 2021, barring an improved economic outlook and lower inflation readings, M&A advisers said. For instance, spinoffs or divestitures could become more popular deal structures as companies review their business models, Refinitiv’s Mr. Toole said. Even a number of early M&A discussions, including about possible financing options, are drying up, M&A advisers said. During the latest quarter, Adobe acquired 5.1 million shares at a cost of $1.8 billion, it said.

☆ Vista Equity Partners is exploring a deal to take Compass private, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-05 | by ( Ben Bergman | Alex Nicoll | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Vista Equity Partners is exploring taking the real-estate brokerage private, sources say. A Compass rep said "no private-equity firm has contacted Compass expressing any interest in taking the company private." Vista Equity Partners is exploring a deal to take the residential real-estate brokerage Compass private, according to three people familiar with the discussions. The chief technology officer Joseph Sirosh, who left Microsoft to run Compass' tech operations, was let go shortly after the call. Vista has taken numerous tech companies private this year, including an $8.4 billion deal for the tax-software company Avalara and a $16.4 billion deal for Citrix.

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