Tag: Lynch

Brookfield, GIC to Buy Railroad Owner Genesee & Wyoming

July 1, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

July 1 (Reuters) – Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management Inc and Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC on Monday agreed to buy U.S. freight railroad owner Genesee & Wyoming Inc for about $6.4 billion in cash.

Brookfield and GIC’s offer of $112 per share represents a premium of 12 percent to Genesee’s closing price on Friday. Genesee shares were up about 8 percent in trading before the bell.

Including debt, the deal is valued at about 8.4 billion, the companies said in a statement.

Genesee & Wyoming’s revenue have increased at a compound annual growth rate of 16.8% since it floated in the stock market in 1996, rising to $2.3 billion in 2018 from $77.8 million, according to Genesee & Wyoming’s latest annual report.

The company owns a portfolio of 120 short-line railroads, predominantly in North America, with operations in Europe and Australia.

Reuters had reported on the deal on Sunday, citing sources.

The deal, which is expected to close by year end or early 2020, would be the latest big leveraged buyout by Brookfield, which agreed last year to buy Johnson Controls International Plc’s power solutions business for about $13 billion.

Citigroup Global Markets Inc served as the financial adviser to Brookfield and GIC, while BofA Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley & Co LLC advised Genesee.

(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)

WestJet To Be Taken Private In C$3.5 Billion Cash Deal

May 13, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

(Reuters) – Canada’s WestJet Airlines Ltd said on Monday it will be acquired by private equity firm Onex Corp in an all-cash deal for C$3.53 billion ($2.63 billion).

Including debt, the deal is valued at about C$5 billion.

As part of the deal, WestJet shareholders will receive C$31 for each share held, representing an about 67% premium to its closing price on Friday.

The investment will be led by Onex Partners, Onex’s private equity platform focused on larger investment opportunities and WestJet’s board has recommended that its shareholders vote in favor of the deal.

The private equity fund has a history of investing in aerospace, having previously held a major stake in Boeing supplier Spirit Aerosystems.

The deal is expected to close in the latter part of this year or early next year, the company said.

CIBC Capital Markets and B of A Merrill Lynch were the financial advisers to WestJet, while Barclays, Morgan Stanley and RBC Capital Markets advised Onex.

(Reporting by Debroop Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

Thomas Cook Enlists 3 Banks to Prepare Airline Sale

February 15, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

LONDON, Feb 15 (Reuters) – Thomas Cook has enlisted Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Merrill Lynch to explore the possible sale of its airline business, a source familiar with the discussions said.

The holiday company this month said it was willing to sell its profitable airline business to fund its fightback from losses racked up in 2018.

Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Merrill Lynch declined to comment.

Thomas Cook’s airline, which fared much better last year than the tour operator business, consists of Germany’s Condor and British, Scandinavian and Spanish divisions.

A sale of the airline unit, in whole or in part, would enable the company to invest more in its own hotels, improve its digital sales offering and drive further cost savings.

One banker said the enterprise value of the airline would be around 500-600 million pounds, a little more than the current market value of the whole company.

He added that Lufthansa, Ryanair and easyJet were all vying for bits of the airline business, but that no one wanted the whole unit, and that Thomas Cook had an ageing fleet which would need a massive investment programme to replace it.

Ryanair’s marketing chief said on Thursday that the Irish airline was not interested in any large-scale acquisitions but could vie for airport slots should they become available.

(Reporting by Alistair Smout Additional reporting by Pamela Barbaglia and Clara Denina in London and Arno Schuetze and Ilona Wissenbach in Frankfurt; Editing by David Goodman and Kirsten Donovan)

Brookfield, GIC to Buy Railroad Owner Genesee & Wyoming

WestJet To Be Taken Private In C$3.5 Billion Cash Deal

Thomas Cook Enlists 3 Banks to Prepare Airline Sale

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