Data Analyst Katrin Kostadinova highlights the most significant financial and corporate legal deals announced or closed in the last week
Americas
A couple of interesting capital markets and M&A deals took place in the United States and Canada this week.
American Express has issued $2.2 billion in 3.4% and floating rate notes due 2023.Citigroup Global Markets, Credit Suisse Securities and Goldman Sachs have acted as underwriters on the deal.
Dropbox has undertaken an IPO on Nasdaq, with an offering of approximatelye $500 million. The issuer started as free services-to-share provider is now a cloud-storage rival to much larger tech companies.
Shopify has undertaken a $658 million stock offering. Shopify is a cloud-based platform for multi-channel commercials, targeted at small and medium-sized businesses. The shares are listed on the NYSE and the TSX.
Spectrum Brands and HRG Group have undertaken a $10 billion merger procedure. The merged equity will offer a variety of brands providing services to consumers and customers daily. Spectrum’s management team will be leading the new firm.
Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA)
Moving to Europe, we start with an acquisition in Germany that saw Cerberus and JC Flowers take over HSH Nordbank for €1 billion. The target bank used to be world’s largest ship financier. JC Flowers was already holding 5% of HSH and will now own together with Cerberus 94.9% of the bank.
Comcast has made a £22.1 billion bid for Sky in the United Kingdom. The deal comes as a rival one to Disney’s intentions to acquire 21st Century Fox as one of Sky’s main assets. Comcast already owns MSNBC and CNBC channels.
A consortium of investors has acquired 55% of AccorInvest in a €4.4 billion cross-border deal between France and Singapore. The consortium was led by GIC, the Public Investment Fund, Credit Agricole Assurances, Colony NorthStar and Amundi. The target of the deal is a leader in the real estate sector with 891 hotels worldwide.
DWS has undertaken an IPO on the FSE in Germany. Deutsche Bank intends to offer 25% of its shares in DWS for a value of $1.85-$2.47 billion.
Geely took over a 9.7% stake in Daimler for €7.3 billion. The acquisition of the stake in Mercedes-Benz’s owner is the largest ever investment in a global automobile manufacturer made by a Chinese institution.
And to finish this week, two significant UK administrations have also taken place.
Maplin, the UK electronics retailer with more than 200 shops, has entered administration. The BBC cites a slump in the pound, weak consumer confidence and a withdrawal of credit insurance as the driving factors. These have made raising finance "impossible" in the words of boss Graham Harris.
Toys R Us has also entered administration. The deal comes after initial failed attempts to find a buyer for the business. Toys R Us is a New Jersey based toy and games retailer backed by KKR.