DACH deal recap | Week 18 2024

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M&A

• Glencore-backed group said near deal for Shell Singapore assets (BBG)
• Berlin-based Tier sold rental bike provider Nextbike to the British investor Star Capital (NAU)
• German government looking into Raiffeisen-Strabag deal (REU)
• German PAS Financial Advisory acquired by US competitor CFGI, backed by Carlyle and CVC (FM)
• Red Bull buys majority stake in German cycling team Bora Hansgrohe (MM)
• Fresenius sells majority stake in Vamed rehab to Pai Partners (HB)
• Novartis to buy Mariana Oncology, paying $1bn upfront (FuW)
• Afinum sold FAST LTA to Summa Equity, Afinum 8 fund now exceeding 5x MoIC on four highly successful exits (PR)
• Glencore studying an approach for Anglo American (REU)
• Axa and Apollo-backed Athora scrap life-insurance deal in Germany (BBG)
• Austria's Raiffeisen may yet 'walk away' from Strabag deal (REU)
• German Dastex backed by Riverside expands Nordic presence with new acquisition (RD)
• Swiss investor Ufenau Capital Partners acquired German engineering firm IPP Group (RD)
• MFE drive for ProSieben spin-off falls just short in investor vote (FM)
• ZF Friedrichshafen said to hire banks for IPO of airbag unit ZF Lifetec (BBG)
• CVC weighs options for German DKV Mobility stake as IPO plans shelved (REU)
• Austrian officials warn Raiffeisen off Russian oligarch deal (REU)
• Top Glencore shareholders favor keeping coal over spinoff (BBG)
• Katjes Greenfood sold a 25% stake in Haferkater for around €2.5m (VEG)
• L’Occitane chairman launches buyout at €6bn valuation (NZZ)
• Morphosys says takeover by Novartis on course after report of drug safety concern (REU)
• Mediawan, the KKR-backed French television production, buys German rival Leonine, valued at €500m (FT)
• German tax scandal prompts M.M. Warburg owners to explore sale (HB)
• EMERAM invests in banking software provider CoCoNet (MAJ)
• Hitachi to acquire MA Micro Automation, a German machine manufacturer, from MAX Management (FS)
• Permira collects bids for expected €4bn sale of Best Secret (PEN)
• Thyssenkrupp sells stake in steel unit to Czech billionaire Kretinsky (REU)
• Curatis enters SIX Swiss Exchange following the acquisition of Kinarus (ST)
• Signa agrees sale of iconic Venice hotel to Schoeller Group (BBG)
• Swiss Steel subsidiary Ascometal has interested parties for its plants (FuW)

IPO

• Springer Nature, the German publisher of science journal Nature and Scientific American, taps banks for new IPO attempt at an EV of €9bn (REU)
• Cruise line Viking rises after launching year’s second-largest US IPO (FT)
• CVC Capital Partners shares rise on first day of Amsterdam trading (PEN)

Venture Capital

• Swiss startup Backed Finance secures $9.5m in Series A, led by Gnosis (INV)
• Bern-based Ikerian and its subsidiary, RetinAI announce closing of a CHF5.65m Series A Extension financing round, led by the corporate VC arm of Topcon Healthcare (ST)
• Wisdomise, a Zug-based provider of AI infrastructure and investment platform, raised $9.5m in funding, with participation from Chainlink Labs, SingularityDAO, VentureSouq, Pontinova Invest, Cetacean Capital, and ODE Capital (FS)
• Ory Corp, a Munich-based provider of access control, raised $5m in Series A funding, led by Insight Ventures and Balderton Capital (FS)
• Aachen-based organ vitality tech company Vivalyx raised €5.4m in seed financing round, led by TechVision Fonds and Brightlands Venture Partners (MAJ)
• Ovom Care from Berlin closed a seed financing round of €4.8m, led by Alpha Intelligence Capital (EUS)
• Imero, a manufacturer of innovative digital labels in the wine trade, closed a financing round of €2m, with participation from BA2 and Bmp Ventures (MST)
• Cleantech startup NovaMea secures $3.2m in seed funding for green hydrogen production (ST)
• Munich-based Vinlivt receiving €1m in pre-seed funding round (SB)
• Deltia.ai, an company developing AI for video analysis in production facilities, raised €4.5m in a seed financing round, with participation of Cavalry Ventures and Merantix (BI)
• Backbone aims for European Leadership with latest acquisition (ST)

Fundraising & Financing

• US investor Cetares taking over FTI's liabilities, including liabilities to the federal government (HB)

Bankruptcies

• Austria wants to stop Signa’s court-approved solution and bankruptcy could be imminent after all (HB)
• Hessen injecting €2bn into Landesbank Helaba due to Signa collapse (FM)
• At Galeria, 16 of the 92 department stores are facing closure (MM)

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