DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: First Republic Bank, Moderna, Newmont, Illumina and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Mike SegarCheck out the companies making the biggest moves midday:Regional banks —Shares of regional banks plummeted following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. Citi , Bank of America , Goldman Sachs — Shares of major banks also saw losses after the closure of the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. Moderna — The biotechnology company's shares gained nearly 6% after TD Cowen upgraded the stock to outperform from market perform. Spot gold passed the key level of $1,900 as investors bet the Federal Reserve may tone down rate hikes on the heels of Silicon Valley Bank's collapse. Over the weekend, NBC News reported that the e-commerce company warned sellers that the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank is causing delays in processing payments.

The voting technology company made the eye-popping damages claim as part of its 2021 lawsuit, which alleges Fox destroyed its reputation by airing falsehoods. A Dominion spokesperson said in a statement that the evidence will show Dominion was a "valuable, rapidly growing business" when Fox began "endorsing baseless lies" about its machines. "Following Fox’s defamatory statements, Dominion’s business suffered enormously, and its claim for compensatory damages is based on industry-standard valuation metrics and conservative methodologies," the statement read. Four different pre-election valuations of Dominion in 2020 averaged $226 million, Fox said, citing exhibits that have not been made public. If the jury concluded that Fox defamed Dominion but decided Dominion's business losses were minimal, it could still hit the company with significant punitive damages.

☆ Wood Group shares rally on unsolicited Apollo approach
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MILAN, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Wood Group (WG.L) shares rallied more than 30% on Thursday after the British energy services provider said it had received and then rejected three unsolicited takeover proposals from U.S. private equity group Apollo Global Management (APO.N). "The Board unanimously rejected each of the Proposals, having concluded that they each significantly undervalued the repositioned Group's prospects," the UK-listed company said in a statement late on Wednesday. The most recent approach was a cash offer for the entire capital of Wood Group valuing the company at 230 pence per share, the statement added. By 0824 GMT, Wood Group shares were up 32% after earlier rising as much as 34.4% to 208 pence. Reporting by Danilo Masoni; Editing by Amanda CooperOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Warburg has approached a number of Chinese investors including local government-backed entities and state-backed financial institutions for the new yuan fund, the people with knowledge of the matter said. The U.S. private equity (PE) firm plans to primarily focus on the healthcare and industrial technology sectors in China with the yuan fund, one of the people said. "RMB (yuan) funds are relatively independent and self-sustainable," he said. Sensitive sectors will remain closed to global private equity groups even if they raise yuan funds, she added. Emerging markets-focused Affirma Capital is also targeting a 2 billion yuan raising in its debut fund and reached first close at 1.5 billion yuan by end-2022, a person close to the situation said.

☆ Italy's TIM suffers internet connection problems
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ROME, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Thousands of Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI) (TIM) customers across Italy complained of internet outages and glitches on Sunday which the company blamed on problems with an international link. Users from the northern city of Milan to the Sicilian capital Palermo reported problems, with the issue mainly focused on fixed-line internet services. Analyses are underway to resolve the problem," a TIM spokesperson said. There was no indication that the problems were caused by hackers, Italy's ANSA news agency reported. Reporting by Keith Weir and Elvira Pollina; Writing by Keith Weir; Editing by Jan HarveyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Exclusive: Blackstone in talks with Bain to sell $480 million stake in top Indian REIT
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( M. Sriram | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

For Blackstone, it would mean a further selldown of its Embassy stake as it adjusts its portfolio. A spokesperson for Blackstone declined to comment while Bain Capital and Embassy did not respond to requests for comment. It owns and operates more than 43.2 million square feet of office parks and office buildings in cities such as Bengaluru and Mumbai and is also the largest office REIT in Asia by area. Blackstone currently owns 24% of the Embassy REIT, which has a market capitalisation of nearly $4 billion. That will be worth $400 million-$480 million based on Monday's closing price of the Embassy REIT on the stock exchange in Mumbai.

☆ Owners of UK supermarket Asda and EG Group considering merger, the Times reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Jan 21 (Reuters) - British supermarket chain Asda could be merged with petrol forecourts business EG Group under plans being explored by the owners of both companies, the London-based Times reported on Saturday. The combination would create a retail giant worth between 11 billion and 13 billion pounds ($13.6 billion-$16.1 billion) which would have more than 581 supermarkets, 700 petrol forecourts and 100 convenience stores in Britain, the newspaper said. Brothers Zuber and Mohsin Issa and London-based private equity group TDR Capital have owned EG Group together since 2016. Asda and TDR Capital declined to comment. Talks over merging the two businesses come ahead of a refinancing of EG Group, which has 7 billion pounds of debt due in 2025, according to the report.

☆ Recovery in Asia M&A, stuck at 8-year-lows, rests on macro conditions
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Kane Wu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Deals are set to revive slowly as companies and funds watch out for easier macroeconomic conditions, they said. "This will provide a more stable backdrop for the return of a more robust M&A market," said Maliah. Deals in private equity, a major M&A driver, amounted to $139 billion as of Dec. 15, down 52% on all of 2021. "Banks' ability to write big-size checks is still much challenged," said Samson Lo, UBS's co-head of Asia-Pacific M&A. An improvement in Asian equity capital market volumes from three-year lows will also help M&A deals, dealmakers said.

☆ Lavazza agrees to buy France's Maxicoffee
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Italian coffee maker Lavazza said on Monday it had made a binding offer to acquire French coffee seller MaxiCoffee to strengthen its position in France and in e-commerce. "Our strategy is to support the further development of MaxiCoffee, which will maintain its profile as a multi-brand e-commerce platform and remain independent," Lavazza Chief Executive Antonio Baravalle said in a statement. MaxiCoffee, which is jointly owned by its founder Christophe Brancato, Italian private equity group 21 Invest and other investors, operates through an online platform and some 60 retail outlets. Christophe Brancato will reinvest in the capital of MaxiCoffee with a minority stake, the statement said without providing financial details. Reporting by Elisa Anzolin Editing by Keith WeirOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Bank of America-backed fintech Banked just raised $15 million in fresh funds. Check out the 21-slide pitch deck used to close the round led by Insight Partners.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Payments fintech Banked has raised $15 million from private equity giant Insight Partners. The London-based startup offers payment options direct from users' bank accounts. Check out Banked's 21-slide pitch deck below:A London-based fintech backed by Bank of America has raised $15 million in fresh funds. Banked, founded in 2018, offers a service called "Pay by Bank" that enables users pay merchants directly through their bank accounts without having to wait for card settlement. This deal takes the company to just over $50 million raised to date.

☆ Blackstone strikes twice with Emerson carve-out
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( John Foley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The transaction employs an unusual structure similar to one Blackstone used successfully five years ago. It looks a lot like the deal Blackstone struck with Thomson Reuters(TRI.TO) – the parent company of Breakingviews – back in January 2018. Because debt accounted for around two-thirds of the purchase price, the quick sale roughly doubled the value of Blackstone and Thomson Reuters’ equity investments. Private equity group Blackstone will contribute $4.4 billion in cash, receiving a 55% equity stake in the business and a $2 billion convertible preferred note. Emerson, an industrial conglomerate that makes industrial instruments and software, will retain 45% of the division’s equity and a note worth $2.25 billion.

☆ Walmart-backed PhonePe in talks to raise funds at $12 bln valuation- Moneycontrol
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BENGALURU, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Indian digital payments firm PhonePe is in talks to raise funds in a round led by General Atlantic at a valuation of $12 billion, financial news website Moneycontrol reported on Friday, citing people aware of the matter. U.S. private equity group General Atlantic is likely to lead the round with an investment of $450 million to $500 million, the report said. PhonePe, which earlier this month said it had moved its domicile to Singapore from India, did not immediately respond to an email from Reuters seeking comment. General Atlantic also did not immediately respond to an email outside office hours. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'SouzaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ ITV explores options for its production arm, including sale, Financial Times reports
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 16 (Reuters) - British commercial broadcaster ITV (ITV.L) is reviewing the future of its production arm ITV studios, including whether to sell a stake, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. Britain's biggest free-to-air commercial broadcaster has recently fielded expressions of interest in ITV Studios, the report said citing people familiar with the discussions. Potential buyers include private equity groups and other large independent producers such as Bertelsmann's Freemantle or FL Entertainment, the parent company of Banijay, the newspaper added. An ITV spokesperson declined to comment on the FT report. ($1 = 0.8953 pounds)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat in Bengaluru; Editing by Alexandra HudsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Toshiba shares surge following report of $19 bln buyout bid
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Shares in Toshiba Corp (6502.T) jumped about 9% in early trading on Thursday following a report that a domestic-led consortium is looking to buy the Japanese conglomerate for 2.8 trillion yen ($19.1 billion). News agency Kyodo reported on Wednesday that a group of firms led by Japan Industrial Partners, a domestic private equity group, had made the bid, which marked a premium of around 26% from Wednesday's closing price. The group, which includes Chubu Electric Power Co (9502.T), had received the right of first refusal in its bid for Toshiba, the Nikkei business daily reported. Shares of Toshiba were up 8.5% at 5,566 yen in morning trade in Tokyo, putting them on track for their biggest one-day gain in more than a year. ($1 = 146.7700 yen)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Sam Byford; editing by David Dolan and Richard PullinOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Germany's Leag eyes 1,000 MW solar park in renewables expansion
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Companies U-Leag Co Ltd FollowFRANKFURT, Sept 29 (Reuters) - German brown coal miner and power generator Leag unveiled plans on Thursday to build a 1,000 megawatt (MW) solar park that could open in early 2026, as it looks to expand in renewable energy. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"Lusatia will become a magnet for consumer industries of green power." All going well, a doubling of green capacity to 14 GW by 2040 is conceivable, the company said. The 1,000 MW plant could supply power for around 300,000 households. Germany still aims to end coal power generation by 2038.

It is the largest office REIT in Asia by area. Shares in the Embassy REIT closed at 354.42 Indian rupees on Friday in Mumbai, giving it a market capitalisation of $4.15 billion. Blackstone currently has a 32% stake in the Embassy REIT and at the current market value the proposed sale by Blackstone would represent 7.2% to 9.6% of its stake, according to Reuters calculations. ADIA INTERESTADIA is likely to pick up about $200 million of Blackstone's stake sale, with talks also ongoing with other possible investors, the first source said. For ADIA, the investment would expand its interest in the Indian office market.

☆ Bank of Cyprus bid makes case for lender buyouts
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Lone Star’s roughly 700 million euro offer for Bank of Cyprus (BOCH.CY) shows that the sector may have reached such a level in Europe. Chief Executive Panicos Nicolaou churned out a respectable 7.3% return on tangible equity (ROTE) in the first half of 2022, excluding one-off charges. That helps explain why the bank has rebuffed three offers from U.S. fund Lone Star, the last of which valued it at almost 0.4 times tangible equity. Even if Bank of Cyprus hits that lower number, a fair valuation might be closer to 0.8 times tangible equity, or around 1.3 billion euros – double Lone Star’s offer. In making the case for bank buyouts, Lone Star may be doing the whole sector a favour.

Search resuls for: "Private Equity Group"

17 mentions found