M&A on the radar for Dun & Bradstreet, Flywire, ROIC and others
Happy Friday!
Earlier on Friday, Milana Vinn, yours truly and David French teamed up to report that Dun & Bradstreet, one of Wall Street’s oldest data and analytics providers, is exploring options including a potential sale.
A deal for DNB would be sizable, given its market value of more than $9 billion including debt.
The Jacksonville, Florida-based company is working with investment bankers at Bank of America to evaluate takeover interest from potential buyers, which include private equity firms.
Cannae Holdings, the company's largest shareholder with a 15.6% stake, could roll its stake as part of any sale and help facilitate a deal by lowering the overall price.
Milana was also first to report that Flywire, a payments processor with a market value of $2.3 billion, is exploring a sale after attracting takeover interest.
Boston, Massachusetts-based Flywire is working with investment bankers at Qatalyst Partners to evaluate interest from potential buyers, which include private equity firms. Our scoop sent the company’s stock up as much as 11%.
Payments processors like Flywire thrived during the pandemic as customers turned to digital payment methods, but have since struggled to maintain growth amid increased competition and high inflation.
Flywire became an acquisition target as its shares were down about 25% to yesterday's close from the start of the year, underperforming a 5% rise in the S&P 500 Transaction and Payment Processing index.
And finally, Blackstone is in early-stage talks to acquire Retail Opportunity Investments Corp (ROIC), which owns U.S. shopping centers and has a market value of close to $2 billion.
Blackstone's interest comes after ROIC's shares lost more than 10% of their value in the last 12 months, underperforming some other real estate investment trusts (REITs). The buyout firm's approach indicates it sees values in ROIC's properties, which mainly house supermarkets and drugstores.
Owners of strip malls, pharmacy chains, and retail stores have managed to pass on some of the recent bout of inflation to consumers, benefiting landlords like ROIC. The company has been raising rents, achieving a 12.4% increase in same-space new leases during the second quarter.
Limited new construction of retail real estate has also contributed to the scramble for high-quality space. Vacancies at U.S. shopping centers stood at 5.3% for the second quarter ended June 30, the lowest level since Cushman & Wakefield started tracking the data in 2007.
Here are the other highlights from the Reuters deals file:
Private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) is exploring options including a sale of American Greetings that could value the 118-year-old greeting card maker at about $1.5 billion, including debt, according to people familiar with the matter.
Investment firm Pondera Holdings is exploring options for Whisker, including a sale of its controlling stake that could value the maker of self-cleaning cat litter boxes at close to $1 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
J.M. Smucker, known primarily for its jams and jellies, is exploring a sale of Voortman Bakery in a deal that could value the cookie and wafer brand at more than $350 million, according to people familiar with the matter.
An oil refiner backed by activist investor Carl Icahn and a group of creditors holding claims against Venezuela are competing in the last mile of a U.S. court auction for Citgo Petroleum, according to three people familiar with the matter.
Brazil's Petrobras will include at least one partner in its bid for a 40% stake in Galp Energia's Mopane oil prospect in Namibia, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
Vital Energy is closing in on an all-cash deal to acquire private equity-owned Point Energy Partners for $1.1 billion, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday, a move that would extend a wave of consolidation in the U.S. oil and gas industry. Vital announced the deal a few hours after our story.
Hedge funds Nut Tree Capital Management and Caspian Capital have made a sweetened bid to acquire fuels storage and transporter Martin Midstream Partners MMLP.O, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Monday.
Thank you for reading this edition of my newsletter – feel free to pass it along to anyone who might find it helpful.
Have a terrific weekend!
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Anirban Sen
Editor in Charge, U.S. Mergers & Acquisitions
Reuters News
Thomson Reuters