The Boeing logo is displayed on a screen, at the NYSE in New York
BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazilian antitrust regulator Cade on Monday approved Boeing Co’s <BA> purchase of Embraer SA’s <ERJ> commercial aviation division without restrictions, according to a statement on the agency’s website.
Cade’s top administrative council could still call for a reconsideration of the case, putting the matter to a vote.
The companies welcomed the move on Monday, with Boeing saying it remained confident of getting approval from the European Commission, the last hurdle to the transaction.
The European Union has set an April 30 deadline to decide on the deal.
Boeing has offered to pay $4.2 billion for 80% of Embraer’s commercial jet division, which builds passenger jets in the 70- to 150-seat segment.
That puts it in direct competition with next-generation jets designed by Bombardier Inc <BBD-B.TO> and acquired by Europe’s Airbus SE <EADSY>, which rebranded them the A220 program.
(Reporting by Ricardo Brito; additional reporting by Kanishka Singh; Writing by Jake Spring; Editing by Sandra Maler, Marguerita Choy and Aditya Soni)
E2-195 plane with Brazil’s No. 3 airline Azul SA logo is seen during a launch event in Sao Jose dos Campos
Caesars Entertainment Corporation (NASDAQ:CZR) (“Caesars Entertainment” or “Caesars”) and VICI Properties Inc. (NYSE:VICI) (“VICI Properties” or “VICI”) today announced they have signed an agreement to sell Harrah’s Reno Hotel and Casino (“Harrah’s Reno”) to an affiliate of CAI Investments (the “Buyer”) for $50 million. The proceeds of the transaction shall be split 75% to VICI and 25% to Caesars, while the annual rent payments under the Non-CPLV Master Lease between Caesars and VICI will remain unchanged.
Under the terms of the agreement, Caesars will continue to operate the property upon closing of the transaction pursuant to a short-term lease with the Buyer, which will allow Caesars to cease operations at the property during the second half of 2020. At the end of the term, Caesars will deliver the property to the Buyer to be redeveloped into a non-gaming hotel and mixed-use development.
“We recognize the long legacy of Harrah’s in Reno, where the brand began 82 years ago and our role in the community. We are pleased the Buyer is committed to the community and supports the redevelopment of this wonderful asset. We have worked closely with the Buyer to provide a reasonable closure plan that allows our great staff in Reno ample time to secure their next jobs, including priority consideration for relevant openings at our other properties in Nevada, including Lake Tahoe and Las Vegas,” said Tony Rodio, CEO of Caesars Entertainment.
“The sale of Harrah’s Reno demonstrates our ability to continuously work constructively with our tenants to improve our individual businesses. This disposition will allow VICI to optimize the quality of our real estate portfolio and redeploy the proceeds toward other attractive growth opportunities while maintaining the existing financial terms of the Non-CPLV Master Lease with Caesars,” said John Payne, President and COO of VICI Properties.
“Being originally from the Reno/Sparks community, it is with great pride that we are investing in the Reno area by redeveloping this property,” said Christopher Beavor, CEO of CAI Investments. “CAI is excited to be working with Gryphon Private Wealth Management as capital partners for the project. Kirk Walton and Philip Oleson, Principals of GPWM Opportunity Zone Funds, which will be investing the required capital for the project, believe in the long-term growth potential of Reno.”
The agreement allows for Caesars to retain its guest data and places no restrictions on Caesars’ marketing activities. Reno will continue to be part of the Caesars Rewards network during the term of the short-term lease with Buyer.
The transaction is subject to the closing of the Eldorado/Caesars combination, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) said Tuesday that it plans to sell the MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay properties to a joint venture of MGM Growth Properties LLC (NYSE: MGP) and Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. for $4.6 billion.
The Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust will purchase $150 million in MGM Growth Properties Class A shares. MGP will own 50.1% of the joint venture, and BREIT will own 49.9%.
MGM Resorts will enter into a long-term triple net master lease for the MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay and will continue to manage and be responsible for the properties on a day-to-day basis, with the joint venture owning the properties and receiving rent payments.
The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2020.
“We are pleased to announce this partnership with BREIT, which illustrates the numerous opportunities available to grow our business and emphasizes the strong institutional demand for gaming real estate assets,” MGP CEO James Stewart said in a statement.
“Along with the contemplated cash redemption of $1.4 billion of MGM’s operating partnership units as announced by MGM, we expect this transaction to be accretive to AFFO while allowing us to maintain pro rata net leverage of 5.6x.”
MGM shares were down 0.45% at $33.22 at the time of publication Tuesday. The stock has a 52-week high of $33.87 and a 52-week low of $23.68.
Latécoère to acquire EWIS activities and related assets as well as a skilled workforce specializing in harnessing and electrical sub-assemblies in Querétaro
Agreement promotes long-term relationship with Latécoère and supports the optimization of Bombardier Aviation
Bombardier continues to produce major structures at its high-tech main campus in Querétaro, including the aft fuselage for the Global family of jets
Latécoère and Bombardier announced that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement, whereby Latécoère will acquire Bombardier’s electrical wiring interconnection system (EWIS) assets in Querétaro, Mexico. The two companies also concluded a long-term supply agreement that will see Latécoère supply Bombardier with electrical wiring interconnection systems.
The transaction is subject to customary conditions and approvals and is expected to close in the first half of 2020.
Approximately 700 skilled employees are dedicated to the manufacture of EWIS at Bombardier’s facility in Querétaro. Under the long-term supply agreement, Latécoère will continue to supply the EWIS for all Bombardier Aviation platforms, including Global, Challenger and Learjet aircraft from the current location to support Bombardier’s requirements. The annual turnover of the business is anticipated to be around USD 80 million.
“This acquisition reflects our willingness to emerge as a leading player in the global consolidation movement in the aeronautics sector,” said Yannick Assouad, CEO of Latécoère. “We keep deploying our manufacturing footprint on an international scale with a strong desire to strengthen our presence in the areas closest to our customers,” she added.
“This agreement exemplifies Bombardier’s focus on streamlining its activities to foster a strong and efficient aviation franchise,” said Paul Sislian, Chief Operating Officer, Bombardier Aviation. “With Latécoère’s reputation for excellence, this new partnership will result in a winning combination for both our companies.”
Under the terms of the transaction, Latécoère will pay Bombardier a cash consideration of USD 50 million. The transaction further supports Bombardier Aviation’s transformation and sharpens the company’s focus on its core manufacturing capabilities. The skilled employees who manufacture the main harnesses and electrical subassemblies in Querétaro will bring years of experience and value to Latécoère. The sale will not impact the remainder of Bombardier’s operations at its Querétaro site, which will continue to produce major structures for Bombardier aircraft, such as the aft fuselage for the Globalfamily of business aircraft – including the company’s flagship Global 7500 jet – the most complex aircraft component manufactured in Mexico.
Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W) today announced the completion of its previously announced sale to affiliates of Brookfield Infrastructure and GIC.
Under the terms of the sale, each issued and outstanding share of G&W common stock converted into the right to receive $112 in cash. As a result of the completion of the sale, G&W’s common stock ceased trading on the NYSE prior to market open today and will no longer be listed for trading on the NYSE.
“This transaction is an excellent outcome for all G&W stakeholders,” said Jack Hellmann, Chief Executive Officer of G&W. “For our customers, employees, and Class I partners, the long-term investment horizon of Brookfield and GIC is perfectly aligned with the long lives of G&W railroad assets. We look forward to building on G&W’s track record of safety, service excellence and commercial growth as we become an important component of a portfolio of global infrastructure assets.”
About Genesee & Wyoming
G&W owns or leases 119 freight railroads organized in locally managed operating regions with 8,000 employees serving 3,000 customers.
G&W’s six North American regions serve 42 U.S. states and four Canadian provinces and include 113 short line and regional freight railroads with more than 13,000 track-miles.
G&W’s Australia Region serves New South Wales, the Northern Territory and South Australia and operates the 1,400-mile Tarcoola-to-Darwin rail line. The Australia Region is 51.1% owned by G&W and 48.9% owned by a consortium of funds and clients managed by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets.
G&W’s UK/Europe Region includes the U.K.’s largest rail maritime intermodal operator and second-largest freight rail provider, as well as regional rail services in Continental Europe.
G&W subsidiaries and joint ventures also provide rail service at more than 40 major ports, rail-ferry service between the U.S. Southeast and Mexico, transload services, contract coal loading, and industrial railcar switching and repair. For more information, please visit www.gwrr.com.
About Brookfield Infrastructure
Brookfield Infrastructure Partners is a leading global infrastructure company that owns and operates high quality, long-life assets in the utilities, transport, energy and data infrastructure sectors across North and South America, Asia Pacific and Europe. We are focused on assets that generate stable cash flows and require minimal maintenance capital expenditures. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners is listed on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges. Further information is available at www.brookfieldinfrastructure.com.
Brookfield Infrastructure is the flagship listed infrastructure company of Brookfield Asset Management, a leading global alternative asset manager with over $500 billion of assets under management. For more information, go to www.brookfield.com.
About GIC
GIC is a leading global investment firm established in 1981 to manage Singapore’s foreign reserves. As a disciplined long-term value investor, GIC is uniquely positioned for investments across a wide range of asset classes, including equities, fixed income, private equity, real estate and infrastructure. In infrastructure, GIC’s primary strategy is to invest directly in operating assets with a high degree of cash flow visibility and which provide a hedge against inflation. GIC has investments in over 40 countries. Headquartered in Singapore, GIC employs over 1,500 people across 10 offices in key financial cities worldwide. For more information on GIC, please visit www.gic.com.sg.
CALGARY, Dec. 30, 2019 /PRNewswire/ – Canadian Pacific (NYSE: CP) has closed the transaction related to the acquisition of the Central Maine & Quebec Railway. The acquisition of CMQ in the U.S. remains subject to Surface Transportation Board approval.
The acquisition, first announced on November 20, 2019, will provide CP customers with seamless, safe and efficient access to ports at Searsport, Maine and to Saint John, New Brunswick, via Eastern Maine Railway Company and New Brunswick Southern Railway, thereby preserving and enhancing competition.
BRASILIA (Reuters) – A Chinese antitrust regulator has approved Boeing Co’s <BA> deal to buy a controlling stake in the commercial jet division of Brazilian planemaker Embraer <ERJ>, according to a statement on the regulator’s website.
The Boeing-Embraer deal appears on a list dated Nov. 19 of transactions “approved unconditionally” that is posted to the website of the Chinese State Administration for Market Regulation’s anti-monopoly department.
The document gives no further details, only saying that the case was adjudicated 10 days earlier on Nov. 9.
Boeing, the world’s largest planemaker, has been seeking to finalize its purchase of 80% of Embraer’s commercial jet division in a bid to compete with Europe’s Airbus <AIR.PA> in the market for planes with fewer than 150 seats.
China’s approval comes as EU regulators have delayed a decision until both companies provide additional documents, which Embraer has said it is trying to do as soon as possible.
The companies originally said they expected to close the deal this year.
(Reporting by Jake Spring; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
CALGARY and NEW YORK, Nov. 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ – Canadian Pacific (CP) and Fortress Transportation and Infrastructure Investors LLC (FTAI) announced they have entered into a definitive agreement whereby CP will acquire the Central Maine & Quebec Railway (“CMQ”).
CMQ owns 481 miles (774 kilometres) of rail lines primarily in Quebec and Maine. The end-to-end transaction will provide CP customers with seamless, safe and efficient access to ports at Searsport, Maine and to Saint John, New Brunswick, via Eastern Maine Railway Company (EMRY) and New Brunswick Southern Railway (NBSR), thereby preserving and enhancing competition.
“This strategic acquisition gives CP a true coast-to-coast network across Canada and an increased presence in the eastern U.S.,” said CP President and CEO Keith Creel. “With additional port access, more dots on the map, and our proven precision scheduled railroading operating model we are confident this transaction will bring benefits to all stakeholders moving forward.”
As part of the transaction, FTAI will retain ownership of Katahdin Railcar Services (KRS), a tank car cleaning and repair facility, and the contract to operate at a 12-mile branch line at FTAI’s Long Ridge Energy Terminal in Monroe County, Ohio. FTAI intends to continue to develop and grow both the KRS and Long Ridge branch line businesses.
“We are excited about this transaction as it brings value to our shareholders, while ensuring that the CMQ continues to provide safe and reliable rail transportation options,” said Joe Adams, FTAI CEO.
CP invests in its people and its assets to ensure it can provide service safely and efficiently. CP has been the safest railway in North America for 13 consecutive years, as measured by train accident frequency and meets all regulatory requirements.
The transaction is currently expected to close at the end of 2019 and remains subject to customary closing conditions. Over the coming weeks, CP, FTAI and other stakeholders will move towards closing.
Saint-Cloud, France, July 2nd 2019 – Dassault Aviation and RUAG announced the acquisition by Dassault Aviation of the maintenance and FBO activities of RUAG in Geneva and Lugano.
“The acquisition of the business aviation activities of RUAG is part of our strategy to develop a worldwide MRO network of excellence and will allow Dassault Aviation to reinforce its footprint in Switzerland. RUAG has been a long-time partner of Dassault Aviation as an authorized Falcon service center. This acquisition will consolidate our network in Geneva and Lugano. Both Geneva and Lugano FBO activities will complement the full range of services offered by Dassault Aviation in Switzerland”, declared Eric Trappier, Chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation.
“We are extremely satisfied that we have completed this transaction with Dassault Aviation, a leader in manufacturing and maintaining aircraft”, said Urs Breitmeier, CEO of the RUAG Group. “They are an experienced partner of RUAG and can provide a strong foundation for successfully continuing operations in Geneva and Lugano, as well as for the future of the members of our staff at both sites”.
Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva concludes his tenure at the end of April and will support the transition process of the company as Senior Advisor of the Board of Directors.
São Paulo, Brazil, March 18, 2019 – Embraer, following shareholder approval of the transaction with Boeing, announces that the current President and CEO of the company, Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva, concludes a successful professional cycle with the company on April 22, 2019 which is the end of his current two year elected term.
“Paulo Cesar idealized the partnership with Boeing and led the negotiation process of the transaction that will bring Embraer and Brazil to a much more competitive and prominent level in the global aviation industry,” said Alexandre Silva, Chairman of the Board.
For 22 years at Embraer, Paulo Cesar came from the financial market to structure the company’s sales financing area. For six years he was President and CEO of Commercial Aviation and in 2013 launched the E2 Program, the medium-sized commercial jets considered today to be the most efficient in the market.
In 2016, Paulo Cesar became President and CEO of the Embraer Group, with a mission to make the company more efficient, competitive and better prepared to face structural changes in the global aviation market.
His administration established three key initiatives focused on value creation and the sustainability of the company. The first was the transaction with Boeing. The second was the creation of the Passion for Excellence program, a structural transformation project focused on reducing costs and increasing operational efficiency, generating significant annual recurring savings. The third was the creation of EmbraerX, responsible for disruptive innovation and the development of opportunities for the future, such as eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle), a project that will revolutionize urban transport in partnership with Uber.
“Without the support of the Board and Embraer’s 18,000 employees and colleagues, none of our achievements would have been possible”, noted Paulo Cesar. “We are challenged to remain at the forefront of engineering and operations. In Executive Aviation and Defense, and with the KC 390 joint venture with Boeing, we will expand our international competitiveness and everything indicates that we will have another 50 years of success ahead.” And he added: “I am sure that the new leadership of the company will find fertile ground ahead to expand and consolidate Embraer.”
Paulo Cesar was invited to be a Senior Advisor to the Board, with the task of facilitating the integration of the future President and CEO and advising the Board on the monitoring of assets and resources segregation, an integral part of the process of concluding the partnership with Boeing. As it was reported, 96.8% of Embraer’s shareholders approved an agreement with the North American company last February, which should be concluded after obtaining all approvals of the Regulatory and Competitive Agencies in Brazil and abroad.
Embraer also informs that the future President and CEO, to be elected for the next term, will be recruited externally and announced on or before the Ordinary General Assembly on April 22nd.
Follow us on Twitter: @Embraer
About Embraer
Embraer is a global company headquartered in Brazil with businesses in commercial and executive aviation, defense & security. The company designs, develops, manufactures and markets aircraft and systems, providing customer support and services. Since it was founded in 1969, Embraer has delivered more than 8,000 aircraft. About every 10 seconds an aircraft manufactured by Embraer takes off somewhere in the world, transporting over 145 million passengers a year.
Embraer is the leading manufacturer of commercial jets up to 150 seats. The company maintains industrial units, offices, service and parts distribution centers, among other activities, across the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe.
Boeing CFO Greg Smith (left), Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg (center), and Embraer CEO Paulo Cesar Silva
