Markross121_ October 2, 2019 No Comments

JD Sports’ Footasylum takeover could be bad for shoppers, says CMA

The UK’s competition watchdog has said JD Sports’ £90m deal to buy its smaller rival Footasylum could result in higher prices and that it will carry out an investigation unless JD can address its concerns.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said its initial investigation found the deal could result in a “substantial lessening of competition”.

The CMA is concerned this could result in a worse deal for shoppers through higher prices, reduced choice or worsening customer service. “JD Sports must now address the concerns identified or face a further, more in-depth investigation,” it said.

Colin Raftery, a senior director at the CMA, said: “JD Sports is already by far the largest player in the growing sports fashion sector, so any deal that results in it buying up one of its closest competitors could clearly give cause for concern.

“Our investigation has shown us that JD Sports and Footasylum have been competing strongly across the UK, with a sports fashion offering that few other retailers are able to match.”

Peter Cowgill, JD Sports’ executive chair, said: “We continue to believe that Footasylum would be a positive addition to the group, bringing a differentiated customer demographic and fashion-led product range that is complementary to our existing business.

“We also believe that there will be significant operational and strategic benefits from a combination of the two businesses. Our discussions with the CMA are ongoing as we consider whether to proceed to phase two or if acceptable remedies can be agreed at this stage.”

Flutter shares jump 14 per cent on £11bn merger with Stars Group to create one of the world’s largest gambling firms

Flutter Entertainment and Nasdaq- and Toronto-listed Stars Group said today they were merging in a deal that will create one of the world’s largest gambling businesses.

Shareholders in Flutter, formerly known as Paddy Power Betfair, will own approximately 54.6 per cent of the new company with Stars shareholders owning approximately 45.3 per cent of the combined group.

The combined revenue of the two businesses in 2018 was £3.8bn and their combined market capitalisation is £11bn, enough to make it one of the world’s largest online betting and gaming operators globally.

The new business will be based in Dublin, with a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange and a secondary listing on Euronext Dublin.

Flutter shares jumped nearly 14 per cent this morning to 8,700p.

News of the deal also boosted other gambling stocks, with William Hill up 3.65 per cent, 888 Holdings up 1.8 per cent and GVC Holdings up nearly one per cent.

The two businesses said the merger would help the combined group crack the US market which is liberalising its gambling rules.

The pair said the deal would create value for shareholders with pre-tax cost-synergies of £140m per annum along with lower finance costs.

Flutter chief executive Peter Jackson will be chief executive of the combined group with Flutter chair Gary McGann taking the role of chair.

Flutter has entered into third-party deals in the US with Fox Sports, Fastball Holdings and Boyd Interactive Gaming conditional on the merger going ahead.

WeWork has acquired more than 20 companies in the run-up to its IPO

In their endeavors to scale operations and improve their brands, VC-backed companies have turned to robust M&A activity in recent years. Taking notes from consumer-facing platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, who led the way to establish how private companies can grow from strategic acquisitions before their historic rides to the public markets, WeWork has acquired 21 startups to date, with a bulk of those investments sealed in the last three years.

The co-working giant raised nearly $1 billion in VC funding before it made its first acquisition in 2015 with Case, which provides building design and information-modeling services. And in a bid to either grow the current business or explore opportunities in other industries, WeWork is currently one of the most active VC-backed acquirers in the space.

How many of those investments were directly related to the company’s space-as-a-service offering? According to a recent PitchBook analyst note, the split of acquisitions made by WeWork related to the core business versus noncore is an estimated 60-40. Notable acquisitions that currently have little to do with WeWork’s office rental focus include Flatiron School, which offers a coding education platform and Islands Media, the developer of a messaging app for college students.

The co-working giant revealed mounting losses in its S-1 filing last month. However, its appetite to acquire startups that range from the developer an office sign-in system to a behavior-analytics platform, indicates that buying tech or venturing beyond its core business via an acquisition seems to be the preferred route for WeWork, instead of building the same thing in-house.

While mega-deals from deep-pocketed investors such as SoftBank or eye-popping valuation step-ups may have favored WeWork’s acquisition strategies so far, it’s difficult to say whether the business will continue to pick up startups at the same rate in the future, especially as it plans to seek a valuation of between $20 billion and $30 billion in its upcoming IPO, slashing its last private market valuation, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Thomas Cook agrees terms of £900m rescue deal with Fosun

Thomas Cook has confirmed the terms of a £900m rescue deal that will give the Chinese conglomerate Fosun control of its holiday business – but warned its shares may be pulled from the London stock market as a result.

The Chinese investor Fosun will inject £450m into the business in exchange for a 75% stake in its 178-year-old package tour division and a 25% holding in its airline business.

The rescue package will give the Shanghai-based Fosun another foothold in the European market, where it already owns the holiday resort chain Club Med and the Premier League football club Wolverhampton Wanderers. Fosun holds an 18% stake in Thomas Cook.

Sale of British Steel subsidiary to French firm protects 400 jobs

York-based TSP Projects will be folded into Systra, which will take on pension liabilities

A subsidiary of British Steel has been sold by the government to the French company Systra in a deal that protects 400 jobs.

The deal is not expected to have any impact on discussions on the rest of British Steel, as exclusive talks continue between the government’s official receiver, the state employee managing the sale, and Oyak, the Turkish military pension fund.

York-based TSP Projects, which designs and builds large rail infrastructure projects, will be folded into Systra. The proceeds of the sale are likely to be allocated to lenders to British Steel, which collapsed into liquidation in May.

Neither the government nor the companies disclosed the sale price but Systra will also take on TSP’s £70m pension liabilities, a hangover from the company’s days as a division of British Rail before privatisation.

Craig Scott, the chief executive of TSP Projects, said the liquidation of British Steel had never threatened his company, which was performing well and counted firms including Network Rail, Siemens and Costain among its clients.

“We would always have found a buyer,” said Scott. He added that he was “pleased to get out from the association with British Steel in administration and to be able to get on with focusing on our business. We’re moving to an owner where we’re part of their core business and it’s a permanent home.”

He said Systra and TSP Projects were growing, meaning that none of the company’s 400 jobs would be lost and more staff could be hired. “We do not have sufficient people to deliver the pipeline we have got coming, so together we need to grow,” he said.

TSP Projects has worked on projects such as the redevelopment of King’s Cross and Reading stations and is also working on infrastructure at Gatwick airport’s station and upgrades to the TransPennine Express rail route.

Most of its employees are based in York but it also has outposts in Birmingham, Manchester, Reading and Bristol.

Systra, an engineering group specialising in transport, is owned by the French state railway companies SNCF and RATP, which runs public transport in Paris, and a consortium of French banks.

Permira-backed TeamViewer defies European IPO drought

PE-backed software company TeamViewer has announced plans to go public on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange by the end of the year. The offering could be one of Germany’s largest listings since 2017, with the expected valuation said to be between €4 billion and €5 billion (between around $4.4 billion and $5.5 billion).

Based in the city of Göppingen, TeamViewer develops a platform for online meetings and remote desktop access that has been installed on over 2 billion devices. Last year, the company reportedly generated sales of €230 million and EBITDA of €121 million.

Permira bought the business in 2014 for a reported €870 million from GFI Software. The PE firm is anticipated to sell between 30% and 40% of its shares, according to the Financial Times, but is said to be retaining its position as a majority stakeholder. Permira was reportedly approached by Hellman & Friedman and Vista Equity Partners in 2017, with each firm offering separate bids of some $2 billion to acquire TeamViewer.

If successful, the listing bucks a trend that has seen a significant drop in European IPOs. According to data from PitchBook, public offerings on the continent are at their lowest levels in nearly a decade. So far this year, 106 European companies have gone public compared with 311 last year. What’s more, very few of the companies that debuted on the markets this year raised large amounts of cash.

Only three businesses from the continent have broken the €1 billion mark in eight months. The largest IPO came courtesy of Italian lender Nexi, which priced its shares at €9 apiece to raise more than €2 billion in April. Europe’s second-biggest listing of the year saw Volkswagen’s truck and bus unit Traton make its stock market debut at €27 per share which brought in €1.55 billion. The final company that raised at least €1 billion is Trainline, the developer of a platform offering train and bus tickets. The KKR-backed business secured £951 million (around $1.2 billion at the time) by floating in London.

Some European businesses have avoided the markets altogether or backed out of scheduled IPOs. In July, Swiss Re pulled plans to list its UK life insurance arm ReAssure, which could have given the business a market cap of up to £3.3 billion. The group cited weak demand and heightened caution as its reasons, suggesting that certain political events may play a role in IPO suspension.

Of course, Brexit gets some of the blame, especially in the UK, but political uncertainty may not be the only reason for the lackluster demand for IPOs. Considering share price performance, European businesses haven’t been the best performers when going public. Traton’s stock has pretty much been on a downward spiral since the company’s June IPO—closing Wednesday at just over €22 per share—while Nexi’s stock fell a reported 6.2% on its first day. And we all know the debacles that were the Aston Martin and Funding Circle listings.

Still, there is hope that if it is executed, TeamViewer’s public debut will fare better than some of its peers, with its profitability and the attractiveness of the software market.

Leeds-based ticketing platform acquired by Festicket

Leeds-based ticketing platform, Event Genius, has been acquired by Festicket, the world’s largest platform for music festival experiences.

The sale includes Event Genius’s consumer facing brand, Ticket Arena. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

The new offering, known as Event Genius by Festicket, will create an “end-to-end platform for organisers and fans alike, providing the most complete offering in the live entertainment industry”.

Founded by managing director Reshad Hossenally (pictured above) in 2008, Event Genius offers complete event solutions to events including Wales Rally GB, Motion Bristol, Annie Mac’s Lost & Found Festival, Summer Daze, Ibiza Rocks and BPM Festival.

Following the acquisition, Festicket will roll out the new offering to festivals, concerts, clubs, sports, family attractions and other events worldwide.

Based in Leeds and London, Event Genius and Ticket Arena has worked with over 1.9 million customers and generated over €400 million worth of sales.

Festicket, founded in 2012 by Zack Sabban and Jonathan Younes, is backed by investors including Beringea, Edge, Lepe Partners and ProFounders. It was ranked as the UK’s 21st fastest-growing technology company by the Sunday Times Tech Track 100 in 2018.

Zack Sabban, CEO and co-founder at Festicket, said: “The acquisition transforms Festicket’s product set. In Event Genius, we have found a company that shares our mission to be a disruptive force in the live entertainment market and – ultimately – to bring the best possible experiences to fans. Reshad and the team have built a great product they have good reason to be proud of, and I look forward to welcoming them to the Festicket family.”

Hossenally, who will join Festicket as chief supply chain officer, said: “The Event Genius mission has always been to utilise technology to bring event organisers and consumers a better experience, regardless of the size or type of event. Couple this with Festicket’s global marketplace and supplier network and we have something truly unique for the events industry.”

Fans at crisis club Bury turn out to clean up their stadium

Bury have been given until 5pm on Tuesday to secure their future, with current owner Steve Dale in talks with data analytics company C&N Sporting Risk over a potential takeover.

However, EFL executive chair Debbie Jevans has suggested that deadline could be extended if only “one per cent” of the deal remains to be completed.

Volunteers have been arriving at Gigg Lane this morning to help after an appeal from the club to help clean up the stadium.

“Whilst the EFL and our potential new owners proceed with their necessary paperwork and dealings, the club needs to prepare the Stadium in order for Saturdays EFL Sky Bet League One clash with Doncaster Rovers to take place.
“With Tuesday’s deadline firmly set, preparations for our first game of the season will commence at 9:00am on Tuesday morning.”
“Recent events, over the summer months, have left the club with just a skeleton staff and we must, therefore, call on voluntary help in order to get the Stadium ready.”

– Bury FC

Green Investment Group acquires Tysvaer onshore wind farm in Norway

The Tysvaer onshore wind farm is one of the renewable energy projects being developed by GIG and will comprise 11 Siemens Gamesa 4.3MW turbines.

Green Investment Group (GIG), a Macquarie Group company, has announced the acquisition of the 47MW Tysvaer Onshore Wind Farm in Norway from Spanish Power.

The acquisition is GIG’s first development in Norway, expanding the company’s presence in the Nordic region.

Previously, GIG had acquired Markbygden, Overturingen and Hornamossen onshore wind farms in Sweden.

Located in the Tysvaer municipality within Rogaland Fylke in southern Norway, the Tysvaer onshore wind farm is one of the renewable energy projects being developed by GIG and will comprise 11 Siemens Gamesa 4.3MW turbines.

Tysvaer Onshore Wind Farm is in the final stages of planning

The project, which is in the final stages of planning, is being studied by the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE).

The company received outline planning consent in July 2018 and amended layouts are expected to be finalised in October 2019.

GIG is using several Norwegian supply chain companies to deliver the project, which will support high-value jobs during the construction and operations.

Nordisk Vindkraft has been selected as construction manager. RISA will be responsible for the construction of roads, turbine foundations and the installation of electric cables.

The project is being developed directly by GIG and construction is expected to commence in early 2020.

When fully operational, the Tysvaer onshore wind farm will produce enough low-carbon electricity to power the equivalent of 8,750 Norwegian homes every year.

The wind farm will also displace around 8,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions, the equivalent of removing 2,500 cars from the road.

Green Investment Group Europe head Edward Northam said: “Norway is blessed with some of the best renewable resources in Europe which have already enabled the country to deliver a virtually zero-carbon electricity system.

“But the ambition doesn’t end there. Norway’s goal of achieving emissions neutrality is one of the most impressive low-carbon visions anywhere in the world and I’m delighted that GIG is able to help drive Norway’s green shift.”

Green Investment Group was launched initially by the UK government in 2012 and was acquired by the Macquarie Group in 2017.

Recently, it entered the Polish wind market by acquiring the 42MW Kisielice onshore wind farm from Impax New Energy.

PDC Energy to acquire SRC Energy for £1.4bn

The merger of the two oil and natural gas exploration and production companies is expected to create the second largest producer in the DJ Basin

PDC Energy has agreed to acquire rival US oil and gas company SRC Energy for about $1.7bn (£1.39bn) in an all-stock transaction to create a premier mid-cap operator with peer-leading cost structure and free cash flow profile.

The total consideration includes SRC Energy’s net debt of around $685m (£560.53m) as of 30 June 2019.

Headquartered in Colorado, PDC Energy operates in the Wattenberg Field in the state and also in the Delaware Basin in West Texas. The company’s operations are centred on the liquid-rich horizontal Niobrara and Codell plays in the Wattenberg Field and the liquid-rich Wolfcamp zones located in the Delaware Basin.

SRC Energy, which is also based in Colorado, has been operating since 2008. The company’s oil and gas assets are located mainly in the Wattenberg Field in the Denver-Julesburg Basin (DJ Basin) in northeast Colorado.

Following the merger, PDC Energy will expand its acreage in Wattenberg to nearly 182,000 net acres, of which almost 100% is located in Weld County, Colorado.

The second quarter 2019 total production of the enlarged company is around 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent (Boe) per day. The combined company is expected to become the second largest producer in the DJ Basin, and will also hold nearly 36,000 net acres of acreage in Delaware Basin.

PDC Energy president and CEO Bart Brookman said: “SRC’s complementary, high-quality assets in the Core Wattenberg, coupled with our existing inventory and track record of operational excellence will create a best-in-class operator with the size, scale and financial positioning to thrive in today’s market.

“We remain committed to our core Delaware Basin acreage position and are confident the combined company with its multi-basin focus will be well-positioned to deliver superior shareholder returns.”

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