MergerLinks Daily Review
MergerLinks
Join a community of 250,000+ M&A professionals. Expand your network and discover new business opportunities.
Welcome to MergerLinks Daily Review. Sign up here to get the full round up of your daily dose of blue-chip M&A news directly to your inbox.
Uber hits record high after unveiling first-ever $7bn share buyback.
Prysmian signs record $5.4bn of deals with Germany's Amprion.
You can access today’s complete newsletter here.
Scroll down for more…
Colorado’s attorney general filed a lawsuit on February 14 seeking to block Kroger 's proposed $25bn acquisition of rival supermarket chain Albertsons , saying consumers would be hurt as the US Federal Trade Commission and other states continue to scrutinize the deal, Reuters reported.
“Would lead to stores closing, higher prices, fewer jobs, worse customer service, and less resilient supply chains,” Phil Weiser, Attorney General.
Albertsons is advised by Credit Suisse , Jenner & Block , Brunswick Group , Goldman Sachs (led by Timothy Ingrassia), Debevoise & Plimpton (led by Ted Hassi ), Fried Frank (led by Philip Richter ), Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz (led by Zachary Podolsky and Adam Emmerich ), and White & Case LLP (led by George Paul ). Financial advisors are advised by Alston & Bird (led by Stuart Rogers ), Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP (led by Robert Townsend and Sanjay Murti), and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP (led by Phillip Mills and Cheryl Chan ). Kroger is advised by Wells Fargo , Citi (led by Brian J. Anton, CPA and David Finkelstein ), Arnold & Porter , Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP (led by Michael J. Aiello ), and Joele Frank (led by Lynch, Tim , Mahmoud Siddig , and Steve Frankel). Cerberus Capital Management is advised by Dechert LLP (led by Eric Siegel and Mark Thierfelder ) and FGS Global (led by Andrew Cole ).
KKR , an American global investment company, agreed to acquire a 50% stake in Cotiviti , a healthcare data and technology business, from Veritas Capital , an investor at the intersection of technology and government, for $10.5bn.
Recommended by LinkedIn
“I am excited to continue our partnership with Veritas and welcome KKR as a new partner. Since initially partnering with Veritas in 2016, we have dramatically expanded our scale and enhanced our value proposition to our customers. I look forward to collaborating with both KKR and Veritas to leverage our highly differentiated solutions to improve the cost and quality within the healthcare system," Emad Rizk, Cotiviti Chairman, President, and CEO.
Cotiviti is advised by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates (led by Kenneth Wolff ) and Aria Marketing (led by Ross Homer ). KKR is advised by Barclays . Veritas Capital is advised by J.P. Morgan (led by Nick Richitt ) and Prosek Partners .
GSK , a pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, completed the acquisition of Aiolos Bio , a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, for $1.4bn.
“Given the limited treatment options for asthma patients with low T2 inflammation, we look forward to using our deep respiratory expertise to potentially offer a long-acting biologic to a broader portion of the 315m patients living with asthma,” Tony Wood, GSK Chief Scientific Office.
Uber hits record high after unveiling first-ever $7bn share buyback.
Uber shot to a record high on February 14 after announcing its first-ever buyback of $7bn worth of company shares after a strong recovery in ride-share revenue and healthy demand in its food delivery business, Reuters reported.
The company posted its first annual net profit last week since it went public in 2019. Uber executives said they expect to make buybacks consistent over time. "Today's authorization of our first-ever share repurchase program is a vote of confidence in the company's strong financial momentum," Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah, Uber CFO.
Prysmian signs record $5.4bn of deals with Germany's Amprion.
Italy's Prysmian , the world's largest cable maker, signed three contracts with Amprion GmbH worth $5.4bn in the latest deals in a major expansion of Germany's power grid, Reuters reported.
Prysmian said the three deals - for two offshore grid connection systems and an underground cable project - represented its biggest package deal ever in value and in kilometres. They are part of Germany's plan to install 70 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2045 and will support the transmission of energy generated in the North Sea to consumers in the western and southern regions of the country.
Interested to find more? Sign up here to get full round up of your daily dose of blue-chip M&A news directly to your inbox.
You can access today’s complete newsletter here.