Mergers & Acquisitions - Week Ending 24/06/11

On Monday, PNC Financial Services Group purchased Royal Bank of Canada’s American retail unit for $3.45 billion. The buyer, who is looking to expand its operations in the south-eastern US, was down 2%, while RBC rose 0.2%. A dwindling Harbin Electric was bought by its own CEO, Tianfu Yang, for $750 million. This news boosted the electric motor maker’s price by almost 60%. The midweek saw AstraZeneca sell Astra Tech, a dental device producer to Dentsply for $1.8 billion in cash. The buyer, which will now be the world’s third largest dental implant maker, was up around 1.9%, while the seller’s price was largely unchanged at Wednesday’s bell. On Friday, Chinese internet search giant Baidu.com invested $306 million in Qunar.com, a travel website that is planning an IPO. Baidu, which has become even stronger since Google moved its headquarters to Hong Kong, closed down 0.4%; bringing an end to a particularly lifeless week.

Mergers & Acquisitions - Week Ending 17/06/11

Over the weekend, it was revealed that there would be a $3.2 billion merger in the insurance market between Transatlantic Holdings and Allied World Assurance. On Monday, Transatlantic’s share price was boosted by the 16% premium being offered to their shareholders; it closed up 9.5%, while Allied World Assurance fell 4.5%. Horizon Acquisitions purchased APR Energy, a temporary power provider, for $855 million. This had only a marginal effect on the investment vehicle’s stock price. VF Corporation purchased shoemaker Wrangler for around $2 billion in an all cash deal. This was met extremely positively on the markets, with the apparel holding company’s price up 10%. Wendys sold the Arby’s chain to Roark Capital Group in a deal worth $430 million. Wendy’s was up almost 1%, having offloaded a considerable amount of Arby’s debt on the private equity firm. It was announced that Honeywell International would purchase EMS Technologies for $506 million in an all cash deal. The technology giant was up 0.5% while the wireless solutions provider jumped 32%, just 1% short of the premium being offered. Also that day, in the healthcare sector, Aetna said it would buy Genworth Financial’s Medicare unit for $290 million. Genworth closed up 1.4%, while Aetna was down 0.26%.

On Tuesday, it was announced that Avis Budget Group would buy Avis Europe for $1 billion. This news boosted both car rental companies; Avis Europe’s price jumped by a massive 58%, reflecting the generous premium tendered by the buyer. Avis Budget was up 7.6%. In telecoms, Ericsson purchased Telcordia for $1.15 billion. The Swedish communications major was up 2.3% by market close. The following day, SunPower investors voted to support a $1.3 billion takeover by Total SA. Shares in SunPower fell almost 15% following the announcement, despite the premium offered by the French oil firm. Shares in Total fell 1.5%.

Thursday also saw action in the energy sector; Itochu Corporation, a Japanese conglomerate, said that it would acquire 20% of a Columbian coal venture operated by Drummond Company in a deal worth $1.5 billion. Shares in Itochu were down 2.4%. Energy Transfer Equity said it would absorb Southern Union Company for about $4.2 billion worth of stock, which will create one of the country’s largest natural gas companies. The buyer’s stock rose by 8.2%, while Sothern Union rose by 17.5%, mirroring the premium being paid. Also that day, Capital One Financial purchased ING Groep’s US online banking unit for $9 billion as part of efforts to create a national banking franchise. Shares in Capital One were trading almost 2.4% higher, while ING Groep’s price was relatively unaffected. On Friday, Reynolds Group announced a takeover of Graham Packaging worth $4.5 billion. This followed word that Silgan Holdings would not be challenging the latest offer made by the subsidiary of New Zealand’s Rank Group. The container manufacturer ended the week down 2%, whilst the Rank Group’s stock fell almost 1%.

Mergers & Acquisitions - Week Ending 10/06/11

On Monday, it was announced that Statoil would sell its 24% stake in Gassled, a joint pipeline venture, to Solveig Gas Norway for $3.2 billion. Shares in the Norwegian oil giant were trading down almost 2%. Daimler and Rolls Royce gained a majority stake in Tognum, now with a combined holding of 60%. The price offered by the auto firms valued the German engine maker at $4.9 billion. Shares in Tognum were only marginally affected, while Daimler and Rolls Royce fell by 0.8% and 0.24% respectively. French investment house Eurazeo purchased a 45% stake in Moncler, an Italian fashion brand for around $620 million. Shares in the buyer were down almost 0.4%. Also that day, Goldman Sachs agreed to sell Litton Loan Servicing to Ocwen Financial Corporation for $263 million. This sale comes as a result of controversy over the bank’s involvement with foreclosures in the wake of the Subprime Mortgage Crisis. The seller was down 1% by market close and the buyer was down 1.6%.

The following day, the Greek Government sold 10% of Hellenic Telecom Organisation to Deutsche Telekom for $585 million in an effort to reduce its massive national debt. Hellenic, also known as OTE, was down over 6%, while shares in the German telecoms giant were up 0.5%. The midweek saw WellPoint, a large health insurer, agreeing to buy CareMore, a care provider for the elderly, for $800 million. The buyer’s share price was down almost 1%. On Thursday, the Taiwanese regulator said that it would support AIG’s sale of Nan Shan Life Insurance to a consortium led by Ruen Chen Investment Holding for $2.2 billion. Shares in the global insurer were boosted by almost 3% on this news. 

On Friday, Citic Securities agreed to buy a 20% stake in the research and brokerage units of Credit Agricole for $374 million. The Chinese brokerage was up 0.08%, while the French bank was down 1.3%. Also that day, a Namibian court gave the ok to Wal-Mart to takeover Massmart for $2.4 billion. The ruling was the result of an appeal by the Namibian regulator to have conditions attached to the supermarket’s acquisition. Despite the positive ruling, the world’s largest public corporation was down 1.7% as week’s end.

Mergers & Acquisitions - Week Ending 03/06/11

On Monday Fortis acquired Central Vermont Public Service for €470 million. This had negative implications for the buyer, with the utility giant down over 2%. Central Vermont was up over 40% reflecting the large premium being paid. Tuesday saw Ashland buy International Speciality Products for $3.2 billion in an all-cash deal. This was met with positive market sentiment, with the buyer up 11%. Also that day, KKR acquired Academy Sports and Outdoors for an undisclosed fee. This news gave only a small boost to the private equity firm, they were up 0.5%. Later on, it was announced that Intact Financial Corp. would buy the Canadian part of AXA for $2.6 billion. This did little for the Canadian insurer’s share price; it fell almost 1%, while shares in AXA were up 3% by market close.

A hectic midweek saw Sealed Air purchase Diversey Holdings for $2.9 billion. This was unable to prevent the Sealed Air share price falling 7%. Lenovo bought PC maker Medion for $909 million. Despite increasing their share in the German market, the buyer was down 3% on this news, while Medion was up 17%. Also on Wednesday, Marathon Oil Corporation purchased shale assets worth $3.5 billion. They closed down almost 3%. Following shareholders’ approval, Alpha Natural Resources purchased Massey Energy for $7.1 billion. The deal was greeted negatively on the markets; Massey finished the day 1% lower, while Alpha were down over 2%.

On Thursday, Progress Energy Resources sold half of its shale venture in British Colombia to Petronas for over $1 billion. The gas giant was up 4% on this news. BankUnited purchased Herald National Bank for $71.4 million. However shareholders may not have been happy with what was offered; Herald was down almost 4%. The buyer was down 2%.