Featuring Envestnet, Bunge/Viterra, Filo Corp, and Five9
Happy Friday!
Earlier this week, Milana Vinn was first to report that Bain Capital was nearing a deal to acquire Envestnet, a U.S. financial software vendor with a market value of about $3.5 billion . Bain announced the deal for Envestnet on Thursday, confirming Milana’s scoop.
A group of investors , including Reverence Capital, BlackRock, Fidelity Investments, Franklin Templeton and State Street Global Advisors, is also participating in the transaction, Envestnet said.
Berwyn, Pennsylvania-based Envestnet offers software for wealth managers and data for financial institutions and investment research firms. Its clients also include 48 of the 50 largest wealth management and brokerage firms. Reuters was also first to report on Envestnet’s sale process earlier this year.
Bain Capital is paying $63.15 per share (or roughly $4.5 billion, including debt) for Envestnet. Envestnet's stock had closed at $63.07 prior to the Reuters report. The median price target on the stock is $69.21, according to LSEG data.
The deal will give Bain ownership of a company that has regained some poise this year after facing scrutiny over its margins and stock performance. Activist investor Impactive Capital in 2022 had accused Envestnet of overspending, pushing it to improve margins and cut costs.
The challenge ended last year after Envestnet added three new directors to its board. It also reduced its headcount by 10%.
Elsewhere, Foo Yun Chee reported that U.S. grains merchant Bunge and Glencore-backed Viterra have offered to divest assets in two EU countries aimed at winning EU antitrust approval for their $34 billion merger .
The companies announced their merger a year ago to better compete with global giants Archer-Daniels-Midland and Cargill.
They submitted their concessions to the European Commission on Thursday, according to an update on the EU executive's website which did not provide details.
Bunge and Viterra had initially hoped to secure unconditional EU clearance after the regulators' preliminary review of the deal but the EU competition enforcer subsequently cited concerns on specific European issues, the people said.
The EU antitrust watchdog extended its deadline for a decision to Aug. 1 from July 18. A spokesperson for Bunge said the company was in constructive discussions with the European Commission, and confirmed it offered concessions without specifying what they were.
Earlier on Friday, Clara Denina and yours truly teamed up to report that Canada's Lundin Mining and mining giant BHP Group are weighing a potential joint bid for Filo Corp .
The talks between Lundin and BHP are at an early stage and there is no guarantee that the two companies will team up on a bid for Filo.
Canada-listed shares of Filo jumped as much as 12% on the news on Friday. The consideration for a possible takeover comes as there is ongoing work to merge the Josemaria project that belongs to Lundin Mining with the Filo del Sol project, one of the sources said, adding that combining the infrastructure between the mines would cost between $5 billion to $8 billion.
The Lundin family holds a 32% stake in copper miner Filo Corp, while BHP holds a 6% stake in the company, according to recent regulatory filings and LSEG data. Filo is focused on building the Filo del Sol project in the Chile-Argentina border.
The deal deliberations come weeks after BHP walked away from a blockbuster $49 billion bid to take over Anglo American, which rejected three proposed offers from its bigger rival over the course of six weeks.
And finally Svea Herbst-Bayliss reported that investment firm Anson Funds Management has amassed a stake in Five9 and is urging the U.S. call center software company to consider a sale .
The investment firm's move comes on the heels of Five9's decision last year to walk away from an acquisition offer from Zoom Video Communications, the maker of the popular virtual meeting software.
There is no certainty Five9 will heed the calls to explore a sale. Based in San Ramon, California, Five9 makes cloud software for contact centers. It has more than 3,000 clients and generated revenue in 2023 of $910.5 million.
Since January, Five9 shares have tumbled 45% and Zoom shares are off 18%, as fears about an economic slowdown drove their corporate clients to cut spending.
Anson, which oversees roughly $1.9 billion in assets, last year hired Sagar Gupta from activist investment firm Legion Partners as it works to build out its shareholder activism and engagement strategy. In the first half of the year, the Anson Investments Master Fund LP gained 10.6% after returning 18.2% in 2023, according to an investor update.
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And here are the other highlights from the Reuters corporate finance file over the past week:??
Google parent Alphabet decided not to pursue a takeover of online marketing software company HubSpot weeks ago, a person familiar with the matter said.
Wall Street banks reported a healthier pipeline for deals and a jump in investment banking activity in quarterly earnings on Friday, but also cited some headwinds and reasons for caution.
Shari Redstone has agreed to pass the media mogul torch. On Sunday, Paramount Global’s controlling shareholder struck a deal with David Ellison’s Skydance Media after months of drama fit for the once-mighty MTV’s reality programming. The $8 billion transaction is lopsided in their favor. Yet it gives Ellison the chance to write the script for Hollywood’s next phase.
Billionaire investor Mario Gabelli's investment firm is seeking more details about the valuation of National Amusements assets, the investor told Reuters on Friday, signaling the firm may challenge a landmark entertainment industry deal inked this week.
Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison is reviewing options for its European telco unit with a view to reducing its holdings in the overall business, six people with knowledge of the situation said.
Private equity firm Genstar Capital is in advanced talks to buy a significant stake in AffiniPay in a deal that could value the payments processor at nearly $3 billion including debt, according to people familiar with the matter.
Buyout firm Vista Equity is exploring options including a sale of Sonatype in a deal that could value the cybersecurity firm at more than $1.5 billion including debt, according to people familiar with the matter.
Hedge funds Nut Tree Capital Management and Caspian Capital said on Thursday they have made an offer for Martin Midstream Partners, aiming to scuttle a bid from the fuels storage and transporter's largest shareholder to buy it out.
Thank you for reading this week’s edition. Please do share the newsletter with anyone you think might find it useful.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Best,
Anirban?
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Anirban Sen
Editor in Charge, U.S. Mergers & Acquisitions
Reuters News
Thomson Reuters
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