Transactions: Featured Interviews 82 CTS Acquires Tiger Eye 86 Aksìa Capital V Fund Acquires a Controlling Stake in Gommatex Spalmati 88 Emerge Ecommerce Ltd’s Investment in Seaspace International Forwarders Ltd 90 PAYA Group Acquires Interactive Transaction Solutions 92 Waterland Private Equity’s Entry Into Ipsilon Reports indicate that Q3 has been rocky for M&A, with North America and the technology sector showing the strongest returns amid a global downturn. Q3 2022 saw M&A activity fall to a two-year low, according to GlobalData.1 Total value of deals fell 40% compared with Q2 2022, with North America showing a 43% drop between quarters – despite recording the highest deal activity among regions. Centerview Partners co-founder Blair Effron projected that M&A in 2022 would end at roughly $3.5 trillion, down from the record year that was 2021 and roughly on par with levels seen in 2018 and 2019. Effron also predicted that 2023 would be “a difficult year”2 for acquisitions, particularly in the first half. We have continued to see significant moves throughout October, with some of the more recent including French construction group Eiffage’s deal to buy a 13.71% stake in Getlink from TCI Fund Management Limited for $1.2 billion3, bringing its total stake to 18.71% and cementing its position as the company’s largest shareholder. The company did not rule out further share purchases, but stated that it did not intend to launch a takeover bid. Meanwhile, world-leading grill maker Weber saw its shares jump 30%4 following a buyout offer from BDT Capital Partners at $6.25 per share – just 14 months after its August 2021 IPO, which valued the company at $14 per share. In the ongoing saga of Elon Musk’s $44 billion purchase of Twitter, the Tesla CEO visited the social media giant’s San Francisco headquarters and hinted at his new position as company head in a Twitter bio edit.5 On 27 October, it was confirmed that Musk had taken a majority ownership in the company, immediately sacking chief executive Parag Agrawal and several other top executives.6 While IPOs remain gripped in a global lull due to inflation, rate rises and other factors, individual successes continue to emerge. Mobileye, Intel’s autonomous driving company, saw its share price rise from $26.71 to $28.97 on its first day of trading, an increase of almost 40% that valued the company at $23 billion.7 The division’s successful debut (paradoxically coming about on the same day as self-driving start-up Argo.AI closed down8) raises hopes for an IPO rebound, though without further developments the odds seem distant. 1https://www.verdict.co.uk/ma-value-fall-q3/ 2https://seekingalpha.com/news/3895701-ma-banker-expects-2023will-be-weaker-for-deals-than-this-year 3https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/frances-eiffage-becomeslargest-shareholder-getlink-with-12-bln-eur-investment-2022-10-26/ 4https://realmoney.thestreet.com/investing/stocks/weber-s-gooseappears-to-be-cooked-as-a-public-company-16106585 5https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/10/27/sink-carrying-elonmusk-visits-twitter-before-44bn-deal-deadline 6https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/10/27/twitterelon-musk/ 7https://www.ft.com/content/a67ff6f3-18aa-4cf7-ad6f-264d2b6ba094 8https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradtempleton/2022/10/26/argoaidies-while-mobileye-soars-on-the-same-day-what-does-it-mean-forthe-industry/?sh=3c180c8472b0 Mergers & Acquisitions 94 Clal Insurance Company and Aspen Group’s Acquisition of Land 95 CRS Acquires Allied Roofing 96 Platina Partners’ Acquisition of a Majority Stake in the Boerenbed Group 97 The Sale of Think:Water to Culligan 98 Utopia Distribution Services Acquires Cinram Novum Funds & Investments 99 Rutas del Este Obtains Financing for Ruta PY02 Project 100 Athens International Airport’s Debt Restructuring 101 FC Girondins de Bordeaux’s Major Restructuring of its Debt
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