Reuters – Sri Lankan conglomerate Hayleys Plc is to buy a 61.73 percent stake in Singer Sri Lanka Plc for 10.9 billion rupees ($71 million), the company said on Wednesday.
Hayleys said it has agreed to buy the stake from Retail Holdings (Sri Lanka) BV at a price of 47 rupees per share and in addition will acquire a further 9.47 percent held by RHSL within a period of 12 to 15 months at the same price.
Deals of the day-Mergers and acquisitions
Reuters – The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by 1330 GMT on Wednesday:
** The government of North Rhine-Westphalia, home to engineering and steel group Thyssenkrupp, has come out in favour of the group’s planned merger of its European steel operations with those of Tata Steel< TISC.NS>.
** Italian oil and gas group Eni said it had signed a cooperation agreement with China National Petroleum Corporation which would strengthen ties between the two groups.
** Sri Lankan conglomerate Hayleys Plc is to buy a 61.73 percent stake in Singer Sri Lanka Plc for 10.9 billion rupees ($71 million), the company said.
** Private equity firm Carlyle Group is planning a sale of South Korean security systems company ADT Caps in what could be the country’s biggest M&A deal in two years, sources with knowledge of the matter said.
** China Zhongwang Holdings Ltd said it had acquired a controlling stake in a German aluminium extrusion firm that mainly supplies aircraft manufacturers.
** Thailand’s largest telecommunications Advanced Info Service Pcl (AIS) plans to spend 2.6 billion baht ($78.57 million) to buy 56 percent of Internet service provider CS Loxinfo, further advancing its Internet broadband coverage.
** About two dozen bidders, mainly from China, are vying to buy the Hong Kong wealth management unit of AXA SA, which the French insurer is looking to sell as it focuses on fast-growing businesses in Asia, three people familiar with the matter said.
** Michelin, which in July bought a stake in the influential Robert Parker wine guide, said it was not ruling out further acquisitions of similar upmarket, gastronomy brands.
** Britain’s Clinigen Group agreed to buy Quantum Pharma for 150.3 million pounds ($200 million), bringing together two companies that specialise in the supply of unlicensed medicines to doctors and hospitals.
** Wood Textiles Holding will make way for R2G Rohan Czech’s takeover of Pegas Nonwovens after reversing course and agreeing to sell its 29.98 percent stake in the artificial fabrics maker, the company said.
** German drugs and pesticides group Bayer BAYGn.DE has further reduced its holding in Covestro to 31.5 percent from 40.9 percent by selling 19 million shares in the plastics business for a total of 1.2 billion euros. ($1.4 billion).
** Dutch insurer ASR said it would buy the Dutch operations of Italy’s Generali for 143 million euros ($171 million).
** Toshiba Corp said it has signed a memorandum to accelerate talks to sell its memory chip business to a group led by private equity firm Bain Capital and chipmaker SK Hynix Inc .
** Home Capital Group Inc’s shareholders rejected a proposal for Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway to raise its stake in the company, voting against the board’s recommendation in a third defeat for the U.S. billionaire this year.
** Nordstrom Inc’s founding family has selected private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners to help take the high-end retailer private, according to a source familiar with the matter.
** Health insurer Centene Corp said it would buy privately held Fidelis Care for $3.75 billion to enter New York, the second largest managed care state by membership in the United States.
** Insolvent German airline Air Berlin has attracted buyer interest from China’s LinkGlobal Logistics, which is likely to join a growing list of suitors, German newspaper Bild said.
** Energen Corp sought guidance from an Alabama court on the state’s shareholder rights laws which an activist investor had said it would use to force a sale of the U.S. oil and gas producer, a regulatory filing shows.