The Monthly Recap - April

The Monthly Recap – April

April has seen a slight rebound in M&A news and activity in the Australian market compared to our March report. Investment banks, however, continue to dominate headlines as they shed staff across the world with many joining the bandwagon as recession fears continue to delay the rebound in deal-making. This report outlines selected M&A deals, general market activity and significant news among the investment banks & private equity firms.

M&A

• Carlyle Group and amicaa in discussions to finance Potentia’s bid for Tyro Payments: this would be the joint venture’s first deal since their August inception. (AFR)

• Platinum has picked up Jeld-Wen for $688m: following a sale process run by Macquarie Capital and Herbert Smith Freehills for the Aus/NZ Business. (Australian)

• TEG Group set to hit the market this month with Investment Bank Jefferies: Blackstone are one of the main parties, hiring Goldman Sachs in assistance. (Australian)

• Quadrant are moving towards a sale of its Jetts gyms chain in New Zealand (Australian) they have also hired Barrenjoey & Jefferies for the sale of their Affinity Education business. (Australian)

• Wesfarmers have offloaded their remaining Coles interest: after-market trade via Barrenjoey facilitated the $688m block.  (AFR)

• Estia Health opens books to Bain Capital following $775m rejection: the 28.2% premium bid was rejected in March. (BNA)

• Igneo, Veolia & PEP in the hunt for Downer’s waste recovery group “Repurpose It” (AFR)

• HOYTS up for sale, with Credit Suisse & Nomura rebooting the process. (AFR)

• ROC Partners in pole position to buy the second-largest egg producer in Australia: the $200m deal run by PwC peaked the private equity firm’s interest (AFR)

Other Activity

• Crescent Capital locks in $1bn for seventh fund: commitment of up to $80m from CEFC features in their most recent buyout fund. (AFR)

• Private Equity firm EQT Partners continues rapid expansion: the firm moved into their new Quay Quarter office, already reaching capacity. (AFR)

• This month, the AFR provided insight into Potentia Capital: the firm has raised $1bn since its 2014 inception – netting 15x and 4x returns on first two exits. (AFR)

• Macquarie joins the hunt for Alinta’s West Australian Assets: the sale process which was launched by Goldman Sachs joins Macquarie’s list of potential energy investments. (Australian)

• Future Fund has hired former Carlyle ANZ Boss, David Bluff: He will be based out of Sydney and oversee the fund’s global private equity investments portfolio. (Australian)

• GPT Group puts their Australian Square stake up for sale: their $623.5m stake values the asset at over $1.2bn. (Australian)

• Brookfield and PEP-backed Intellihub completes $500m debt raising: funding to support a speed-up in meter rollouts, particularly across NZ. (AFR)

• ROC Partners take out Agri Investor’s agribusiness fund manager of the year: this is the second year running for the firm. (AFR)

• Realside & Curated Capital snag Adelaide CBD tower: the appealing 27% discount to its last trading price attracted the two firms. (AFR)

• Azure Capital spruces up Sydney office: they have hired Adrian Arundell from Gresham & Ben Sloman is moving in from the Perth office (AFR)

• Quadrant pitched a new strategic equity fund: the firm is looking for $300m, looking to take stakes of 10-30% in companies they invest in. (AFR)

Investment Banking News

• Macquarie appoints new global head of equities: Adam Zaki takes on sole responsibility for the firm’s equities division as Dan Ritchie steps into a role as Chairman. (AFR)

• Jarden job cuts came to the fore in mid-April: Dane FitzGibbon, co-founder, became the most senior departure to date. (Australian) (AFR)

• Macquarie, Jefferies & Barrenjoey poach from Credit Suisse: Eugene Budovsky (AFR), Dragi Ristevski (AFR), Sam Speer (AFR) were some of the notable senior departures in April.

• Jefferies have picked up two senior MacCap deal makers: Dominic Meagher & Mike Johnson to join the firm, reporting to Michael Stock’s ECM Syndicate (AFR)

• Grant Samuel in sales talks with Spanish investment bank: Listed investment bank Alantra may have been in talks with Grant Samuel for some time. (Australian)

• Citi promotes local head of markets, Mark Woodruff to CEO: comes after Marc Luet took the country head role in Japan. (AFR)

• RBCCM lure Rothschild investment banker to start in June: Lisa Zhong will join the Power, Utilities, Infrastructure team as Director (AFR)

• Letter of Intent break down of US Investment Bank revenues: Jefferies suffering the most in Quarter 1 down 47% in total revenue. (LI)

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