S&P Global Market Intelligence offers our top picks of global private equity news stories and more published throughout the week.
Antitrust antidote
The Justice Department included private equity in its updated Merger Remedies Manual, signalling "in some cases" private equity "may be preferred" as a buyer of divestiture assets that companies must sell in order to satiate merger antitrust concerns.
The antitrust division "will use the same criteria to evaluate both strategic purchasers and purchasers that are funded by private equity or other investment firms," the manual states.
The Federal Trade Commission's study of merger remedies found that in some cases private equity and investment firm buyers were "important to the success of the remedy because the purchaser had flexibility in investment strategy, was committed to the divestiture, and was willing to invest more when necessary," adding that the study identified instances of failed divestitures where lack of investment flexibility from buyers had "contributed significantly."
Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the of the DOJ's antitrust division said the updated manual — the first revision in nearly a decade — "will provide greater transparency and predictability regarding the Division's approach to remedying a proposed merger's competitive harm."
More for some
Limited partners continue to commit to private equity despite the uncertainty brought on by the coronavirus outbreak, but not all funds are beneficiaries. Investors are seeking out strategies that have weathered the spread of COVID-19, while some managers are opting to delay their fundraising timelines until 2021.
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In play
 Rail tracks |
* The Blackstone Group Inc. and Global Infrastructure Partners Inc. offered to buy railroad operator Kansas City Southern, which has a market value of over $18 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
* TPG Capital LP is seeking to sell Astound Broadband LLC, a provider of cable TV, broadband and telephone services in the U.S., in a deal valued at more than $8 billion, Reuters reported.
* KKR & Co. Inc. is taking interest in U.K.'s British Telecom after the latter's shares declined to half its price this year, Financial Times (London) reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
* Hertz Global Holdings Inc. is looking to sell its Illinois-based Donlen Corp. fleet business for at least $1 billion after attracting interest from several potential buyers including private equity firms, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
High-tech deals
* Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC agreed to buy software provider Epicor Software Corp. from KKR for an undisclosed amount.
* Affiliates of Francisco Partners Management LP and Evergreen Coast Capital Corp. bought LogMeIn Inc. in an all-cash deal that values the cloud-based connectivity company at roughly $4.3 billion.
* TCV is buying a majority stake in spend management technology company Oversight Systems Inc. from software investor Luminate Capital Management Inc.
SPAC watch
* Bluescape Energy Partners LLC-backed blank check company Bluescape Opportunities Acquisition Corp. filed an IPO to raise up to $700 million.
* ACON Investments LLC's blank check company ACON S2 Acquisition Corp. filed an IPO of 25.0 million units at $10.00 apiece.
* Boxer Capital LLC-backed special purpose acquisition company BCTG Acquisition Corp. priced its IPO of 14.5 million common shares at $10.00 apiece.
Euro trade
* Investindustrial, through its Investindustrial VII LP fund, bought a majority stake in Italy's Della Toffola Spa and DT Invest Srl.
* Nexxus Iberia SGEIC SA's Nexxus Iberia Pvt. Equity Fund I FCR fund acquired Lisbon, Portugal-based medical services provider Mercurius Health SA.
* Main Capital Partners BV sold its majority stake in Denit Hosting Solutions BV to Dutch cloud hosting solutions provider Uniserver Internet BV.
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