New On The Block
MEG Energy is officially on the auction block, and the oil sands drama is heating up like a rig in August.
According to the Financial Post, the $6.8 billion company has set a Monday deadline for bids. Cenovus Energy is in the lead, despite still lugging around an immense amount of debt from a 2021 merger with Husky.
If Cenovus makes a move, it would set up a showdown with Strathcona Resources, whose $6 billion hostile bid in May failed to impress MEG. Strathcona, for its part, is still waiting by the phone, with its offer open until Sept. 15.
Meanwhile, Dye & Durham (TSX:DND) launched a strategic review that could result in a sale or asset divestitures. In doing so, it avoids a proxy battle with 11% stakeholder Plantro Ltd., which had attempted to add three directors to the board.
Lastly, human resources consulting firm OneDigital is reportedly up for sale. The company is backed by Onex, a private equity firm that first backed OneDigital in 2020.
Updates From The Block
- Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:BKR) agreed to buy oilfield services company Chart Industries (NYSE:GTLS) for $13.6 billion in cash, beating out rival bidder Flowserve (NYSE:FLS).
- Hellman & Friedman is looking to sell energy data platform Enverus to Blackstone, according to Reuters. Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE) is also in the mix, per Bloomberg.
- Accel-KKR has agreed to sell a majority stake in Smart Communications, a leading cloud-based customer communications platform, to private equity firm Cinven. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Since 2016, Accel-KKR claims that it has helped the company grow revenue more than fivefold.
- Bridgepoint Group is acquiring a majority stake in German insurance broker Hanseatic Broking Center (HBC) from Preservation Capital Partners, which will fully exit the business. Financial terms remain undisclosed, but the deal reportedly values HBC at over $810 million. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter. According to Bloomberg, Rothschild & Co. and Nomura Holdings Inc. advised Bridgepoint, while Macquarie Capital advised the sellers.
- Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) and ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) are each investing $750 million in Genesys, a maker of AI-powered customer contact center software, in a rare move by enterprise software rivals to back the same company. The $1.5 billion deal values Genesys at around $15 billion, Bloomberg reports.
- L Catterton has acquired Kisshokichi, the world's largest Kobe beef restaurant chain, with plans to accelerate its growth amid rising global demand for premium Japanese beef. Founded in 2008, Kisshokichi operates around 50 locations in Japan. L Catterton will partner with founder Kiyomi Akagi to expand the brand, particularly in Japan's key cities and potentially overseas, just in time to serve the growing herd of hungry tourists stampeding into Japan.
- AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) is discussing a $1-billion deal with Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals, a New York-based mental health drugmaker. Prime Movers Lab, Satori Capital, and Route 66 Ventures are among Gilgamesh’s backers.
Off The Block
- LPL Financial has completed its $2.7 billion acquisition of Commonwealth Financial Network, a broker-dealer with 3,000 advisors and $305 billion in assets under management. WealthManagement reports that while the deal officially closed Friday, LPL pushed back the final integration of Commonwealth's assets to the fourth quarter of 2026. The firm says it’s on track to retain 90% of Commonwealth advisors and remains committed to preserving the firm's unique culture and brand while enhancing it with LPL's capabilities.
Bankruptcy Block
- Sunnova Energy announced that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas has approved the sale of substantially all of its assets to an ad hoc group of its debtor-in-possession lenders and affiliates of GoodFinch Management. The sale, expected to close in August, includes Sunnova's residential solar servicing platform and generation portfolio. Sunnova CEO Paul Mathews said the company will maintain full service continuity for customers during the transition. The transaction, valued at approximately $118 million, includes $25 million in cash plus a $90-million credit bid.
- At least 119 JCPenney stores across 35 states are changing hands in a $947 million all-cash deal with an affiliate of Boston-based private equity firm Onyx Partners. The sale follows JCPenney's 2020 bankruptcy and restructuring, which had transferred the properties to a trust for its lenders. The transaction is expected to close by Sept. 8.
For the previous edition of Deal Dispatch, click here.
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