Meet JD Here at Opal Group’s CLO Summit.
#pickbyjd French aerospace and defence company Thales is on track to secure conditional EU antitrust approval for its 4.8-billion-euro ($5.4 billion) bid for chipmaker Gemalto , a person familiar with the matter said, a move set to make it a leading player in digital security services.
** Austrian oil and gas group OMV has agreed on a joint venture with Malaysia’s Sapura Energy, paying $540 million for a 50 percent stake in its exploration assets, aiming to use it as a springboard for further expansion in Asia.
** Japanese drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical is set to win conditional EU antitrust approval for its $62-billion bid for London’s Shire, the biggest ever overseas acquisition by a Japanese company, two people familiar with the matter said.
** Industralist Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty steel company has secured the financing for its acquisition of a Dunkirk aluminum smelter from Rio Tinto.
** A deal to create the UK’s second-biggest retail power provider has been delayed to beyond the first quarter of next year, with SSE and Innogy renegotiating merger terms after Britain’s regulator proposed a cap on energy bills.
** Laser and optical parts maker II-VI Inc said it would buy Apple Inc supplier Finisar Corp for about $3.2 billion, to grab a bigger slice of 5G investments and sell more sensors for iPhones and driverless cars.
** South Africa’s Discovery Ltd said it will issue 11.4 million shares to fund the acquisition of FirstRand’s stake in their credit card joint venture, a condition for the launch of its planned Discovery Bank.
** The chief executive of state-owned oil producer Saudi Aramco said he planned to discuss the purchase of a stake in Novatek’s Arctic LNG-2 project with Novatek’s boss in Moscow, the RIA news agency reported.
** Steelmaker SSAB’s subsidiary Tibnor has agreed to buy the steel distribution business of Denmark’s Sanistal in a 630 million Swedish crown ($69.65 million) deal, SSAB said in a statement.
** French bank Societe Generale has sold a 2.05 percent stake in clearing house Euroclear to Belgian state-owned financial firm SFPI, SocGen said.
** Germany’s antitrust regulator approved the planned merger of department store chains Kaufhof and Karstadt, owned by Canada’s Hudson’s Bay Co (HBC) and Austria’s Signa Holding.
** British online electricals retailer AO World has agreed to buy Mobile Phones Direct (MPD) for an enterprise value of 32.5 million pounds ($42.3 million), it said.
** Top U.S. grain merchant Archer Daniels Midland Co has approached Argentine soy crusher Molinos Agro about buying the company’s livestock feed and soyoil manufacturing plant, and talks may continue, three sources said.
** Australia’s Woolworths Group Ltd said it will sell its petrol business to British petrol retailer EG Group for A$1.73 billion ($1.25 billion). (Compiled by Mary Ann Alapatt in Bengaluru)
