According to the agency, the deal could harm innovation for software used by the vast majority of UK digital designers.

It was on September 15, 2022 that Adobe announced a definitive merger deal to acquire Figma for around $20 billion in cash and stock.

CMA in late June this year had refered the proposed acquisition for a phase 2 probe after its phase 1 investigation found that the merger may result in a substantial lessening of competition in the UK.

Figma is currently a major provider of product design software which is used by designers, creative agencies and businesses. Adobe is one of Figma’s main competitors in product design software. It currently competes using its Adobe XD product. Adobe is also the largest supplier of image editing and illustration software, well known for its Photoshop and Illustrator applications.

In a statement, the agency now noted that its investigation found that around 80% of the professional product design market use Figma’s software.

The CMA said it provisionally found that the deal would eliminate competition between two main competitors in the software markets of product design, image editing, and illustration. It would also reduce innovation and the development of new competitive products.

The deal, if successful, would also remove Figma as a threat to Adobe’s flagship Photoshop and Illustrator products.

The investigation also provisionally found that, without the merger, Figma would continue to take steps to develop or expand products that threatened Adobe’s position in image editing and illustration.

Margot Daly, chair of the independent group conducting this investigation, said, “The digital design sector is worth nearly £60 billion to the UK – representing 2.7% of the national economy – and employs over 850,000 people in highly skilled work. …Adobe and Figma are two of the world leading providers of software for app and web designers and our investigation so far has found that they are close competitors. This proposed deal, therefore, has the potential to impact the UK’s digital design industry by reducing choice, innovation and the development of new competitive products.”

The CMA said the decision is provisional, and that it will now consult on its findings and listen to any further views before reaching a final decision.

Source: Read Full Article

The post UK's Competition Regulator Says Adobe-Figma Deal Could Harm UK Digital Design Sector appeared first on Crypto World News.

Following the news, the shares sank 17.2 percent on Monday’s regular trading on Nasdaq to close at $34.35. However, in the after-hours trading, the shares gained around 2.5 percent, and in pre-market activity on Tuesday, the stock is up 2%.

It was in August that Amazon announced an agreement to acquire iRobot for $61 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.7 billion, including debt.

Amazon provides an online marketplace, which allows retailers to advertise and sell products including robot vacuum cleaners or RVCs. iRobot, which manufactures RVCs, sells them also through Amazon’s online marketplace.

In a statement of objections, the European regulator now said it has informed the tech major of its preliminary view that the proposed acquisition of iRobot may restrict competition in the market for RVCs.

On July 6, the Commission opened an in-depth investigation to assess if Amazon’s acquisition of iRobot may restrict competition in the market for the manufacturing and supply of RVCs, as well as allow Amazon to strengthen its position in the market for online marketplace services to third-party sellers.

According to the Commission, Amazon may restrict competition in the European Economic Area or EEA-wide and/or national markets for RVCs, by hampering rival RVC suppliers’ ability to effectively compete.

The Commission said the proposed transaction was notified to it on June 1, and the in-depth investigation regarding the deal was opened on July 6. Now there is time until February 14, 2024 to take a final decision.

Following the companies’ deal, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission in late September had requested them for more information on the tech giant’s buyout of the Roomba vacuum maker.

It was reported earlier that more than two dozen groups wrote to the FTC alleging the deal could help Amazon “entrench their monopoly power in the digital economy.”

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority or CMA also had launched a probe into the proposed acquisition of iRobot by Amazon. However, the British antitrust regulator later cleared the proposed deal noting that it would not lead to competition concerns in the UK.

Source: Read Full Article

The post IRobot Stock Hit By EU's Competition Concerns About Amazon Deal appeared first on Crypto World News.

Vivendi currently holds around 60 percent of Lagardere’s share capital and can now fully exercise slightly over 50 percent of its voting rights.

The transaction took effect following the closing of the two sales Vivendi had committed to with the European Commission. These include the sale of Editis to International Media Invest or IMI, which occurred on November 14, 2023, and the sale of the Gala magazine, which was owned by Prisma Media, to Groupe Figaro.

According to the company, the operation strengthens its position as a major player in the fields of culture, media and entertainment, as well as in publishing, travel retail and experiences.

Vivendi on December 16, 2021 announced its intention to file in February 2022 a cash tender offer for the Lagardere shares.

With the deal closure, Vivendi becomes significantly larger, with 2022 pro forma combined revenues of more than 16.5 billion euros. The combined workforce of all the Group’s companies totals around 66,000 employees.

Yannick Bolloré, Chairman of Vivendi’s Supervisory Board, and Arnaud de Puyfontaine, Chief Executive Officer, said: “As we do for all our businesses, while preserving its integrity, we will support Lagardère in its development and the transformation of its businesses. Together, we will strengthen our international presence in the fields of creation, content and distribution.”

Source: Read Full Article

The post Vivendi Closes Transaction With Lagardere appeared first on Crypto World News.

Further, the company announced the sale of certain frozen fruit assets to Quebec, Canada-based Nature’s Touch for $141 million, as well as the appointment of Greg Gaba as Chief Financial Officer, effective October 13. Gaba, who has been with the Company for over six years, most recently served as Deputy CFO.

He succeeds Scott Huckins, who resigns as CFO and General Manager of Fruit-Based Foods and Beverages to pursue another opportunity at a publicly traded company.

Regarding its trading, the company said it expects total revenue from continuing operations to be around $152 million, an increase of around 6 percent from last year. Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations is expected to be around $18.5 million to $19 million.

SunOpta added that its sale of frozen fruit assets included the primary assets of the frozen fruit business, including facilities located in Edwardsville, Kansas and Jacona, Mexico, along with a significant quantity of frozen fruit inventory.

The deal, which represents the Company’s exit from the frozen fruit business, was closed on October 12. The transaction is significantly accretive to margins, the firm said.

The transaction price includes $20 million of seller promissory notes due in three years. The standalone frozen fruit business generated approximately $263 million of revenue and approximately $15 million of adjusted EBITDA over the twelve-month period ended July 1.

The company expects to use the net cash proceeds to pay down debt and other liabilities.

Joe Ennen, Chief Executive Officer of SunOpta, said, “The divestiture of our frozen fruit business is a major milestone in our portfolio optimization efforts and our multi-year transformation to becoming a leading manufacturer of value-add products in plant-based and healthy snack categories.”

In the transaction, Evercore served as financial advisor to SunOpta. Ernst & Young Orenda Corporate Finance Inc. in Canada served as financial advisor to Nature’s Touch.

In pre-market activity on the NYSE, SunOpta shares were trading at $532.00, up 1.23 percent.

Source: Read Full Article

The post SunOpta Sees Higher Q3 Revenues, Exits Frozen Fruit Business; Names Greg Gaba New CFO appeared first on Crypto World News.

Under the deal, each Consolidated Uranium shareholder will receive 0.500 of IsoEnergy share. The exchange ratio is determined based on recent weighted average prices for both companies for the period ended September 26.

The equity value of the combined company is estimated to be around C$903.5 million.

IsoEnergy and Consolidated Uranium expect the merger will be completed in the fourth quarter of 2023, subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions.

Following the merger completion, IsoEnergy and Consolidated Uranium shareholders will own around 70.5 percent and 29.5 percent, respectively, of the new company.

The companies have agreed to merge in order to have a focused production strategy, build for the current uranium market, have a global exploration potential and grow its presence in the uranium market.

In connection with the arrangement, IsoEnergy has also entered into an agreement with Canaccord Genuity Corp., TD Securities Inc. and Eight Capital for a private placement of 4.667 million subscription receipts of IsoEnergy at an issue price of C$4.50 per subscription receipt.

NexGen Energy Ltd., Mega Uranium Ltd. and Energy Fuels Inc. have indicated their intention of subscribing for up to C$21 million of the offering.

The offering is expected to close on or about October 19.

On Tuesday, shares of IsoEnergy closed at C$4.81, down 3.21% on the Toronto Stock and Venture Exchange and shares of Consolidated Uranium closed at $1.91, down 2.05%.

Source: Read Full Article

The post IsoEnergy To Buy Out Consolidated Uranium In Share-for-share Deal appeared first on Crypto World News.

As per the terms of the proposal, Liberty would separate LSXM by means of a redemptive split-off to form SplitCo which would own all the assets and liabilities of LSXM.

The common stockholders of LSXM would receive a number of shares of a single series of common stock of SplitCo, based upon each underlying share of SiriusXM common stock held by SplitCo being exchanged for 1.05 shares of common stock of New SiriusXM.

SplitCo would then combine with SiriusXM to form New SiriusXM. Minority shareholders of SiriusXM would receive shares in New SiriusXM on a one-for-one basis.

Additionally, the minority shareholders would receive a pro rata cash payment based on the amount of the outstanding net debt of LSXM effectively assumed by New SiriusXM in the proposed transaction.

Accordingly, minority shareholders of SiriusXM would own around 16 percent of New SiriusXM and shareholders of LSXM common stock would own approximately 84 percent of New SiriusXM.

The proposed transaction is intended to be tax free and would not result in changes to the Liberty Formula One tracking stock group or the Liberty Live tracking stock group.

In pre-market activity, shares of Liberty Sirius are trading at $25.34, up 11.98% and shares of Sirius XM are trading at $3.60, down 10.22% on Nasdaq.

Source: Read Full Article

The post Liberty Media Proposes To Combine With Sirius XM Holdings; Stocks Move In Premarket appeared first on Crypto World News.

Pendragon and Lithia Motors have also agreed the terms of a strategic partnership with Lithia, including the rollout of Pinewood, the company’s dealer management software business, to Lithia’s existing 50 UK sites and the creation of a joint venture to accelerate Pinewood’s entry into the highly attractive North American DMS market.

This is supported by a subscription by Lithia for 279,388,880 new shares in the company for an aggregate subscription price of 30 million pounds.

As part of the deal, Pendragon’s Pinewood division, which operates the company’s proprietary DMS business, will become a standalone entity, retaining Pendragon’s existing LSE listing and creating a pure play Software as a Service business with an accelerated growth plan.

Pendragon expects that the transaction will deliver a cash dividend of around 240 million pounds.

With this, the UK motor business, consisting of Evans Halshaw, Stratstone and Car Store, and Pendragon Vehicle Management, Pendragon’s leasing business, will be sold to Lithia for a cash consideration of 280 million pounds.

As part of the transaction, expected to be closed in the fourth-quarter, Pendragon shareholders will initially receive, either directly through the transaction dividend or via their retained interest in Pendragon of around 27.4 pence per share with further expected significant upside. This compares to a share price of circa 18.5 pence as of September 15.

Source: Read Full Article

The post Pendragon To Sell Its UK Motor Business To Lithia Motors For 250 Mln Pounds appeared first on Crypto World News.

Under the all-cash merger deal, the company shareholders are currently estimated to receive between $31.00 and $32.50 in cash consideration for each share.

The all-cash merger consideration is equal to a percentage of Midland Federal’s capital and Midland Capital’s net performing assets at closing, less unaccrued transaction expenses and certain other adjustments.

The deal has been unanimously adopted by the boards of the company and Midfed Acquisition. The transaction is expected to close in the first or second quarter of 2024, subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of federal bank regulatory approvals, and approval of the company’s shareholders.

Further, the company noted that the per share consideration ultimately received by shareholders is subject to significant adjustment based on the Bank’s capital at closing and could decrease as a result of a variety of factors, including future operating results, transaction costs and the costs to terminate certain of its contracts.

Due to these, the company asked shareholders not to assume that they will receive between $31.00 and $32.50 per share upon the closing of the transaction.

Following the deal, the company will be merged into a wholly owned subsidiary of Midfed Acquisition, with the company surviving the merger.

Upon consummation of the proposed transaction, Midfed Acquisition will own 100% of the outstanding shares of the Company and its banking subsidiary, Midland Federal.

It is expected that Midfed Acquisition will ultimately merge with and into the company, and the shareholders of Midfed Acquisition becoming shareholders of the Company.

Source: Read Full Article

The post Midland Capital To Be Acquired By Midfed Acquisition In All-cash Merger Deal appeared first on Crypto World News.

Kennedy Wilson or its designees will also assume all remaining future funding obligations under the acquired loans of approximately $2.7 billion.

In addition, as part of the transaction, upon the Bank securing certain consents required under the underlying loan and related agreements, the Bank will also sell to Kennedy Wilson an additional six real estate construction loans with an aggregate principal balance of approximately $363 million.

The sale of the loans is subject to customary closing conditions, including Kennedy Wilson’s satisfactory completion of its due diligence review.

In connection with the transaction, Kennedy Wilson will deposit a total of $20 million into a third-party escrow account that will be refundable back to Kennedy Wilson until it waives due diligence in accordance with the terms of the Agreement.

The transaction is currently expected to close in multiple tranches during the second and early part of the third quarter of 2023.

The deal is consistent with the previously announced strategy of PacWest Bancorp to pursue strategic assets sales and focus on our core community banking business.

Source: Read Full Article

The post Pacific Western Bank To Sell Portfolio Of 74 Real Estate Construction Loans For $2.6 Bln appeared first on Crypto World News.

As part of the purchase, the company is assuming all deposits – insured and uninsured.

As a result of the transaction, JPMorgan Chase expects to recognize an upfront, one-time, post-tax gain of approximately $2.6 billion, which does not reflect the approximately $2.0 billion dollars of post-tax restructuring costs anticipated over the course of 2023 and 2024.

The transaction is expected to be modestly EPS accretive and generate more than $500 million of incremental net income per year, excluding the expected gain or restructuring costs.

The deal includes acquisition of the substantial majority of First Republic Bank’s assets, including approximately $173 billion of loans and approximately $30 billion of securities. It also includes assumption of approximately $92 billion of deposits, including $30 billion of large bank deposits, which will be repaid post-close or eliminated in consolidation.

Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, said, “This acquisition modestly benefits our company overall, it is accretive to shareholders, it helps further advance our wealth strategy, and it is complementary to our existing franchise.”

The company noted FDIC will provide loss share agreements covering acquired single-family residential mortgage loans and commercial loans, as well as $50 billion of five-year, fixed-rate term financing.

JPMorgan Chase is not assuming First Republic’s corporate debt or preferred stock.

First Republic branches will open on Monday, May 1, as normal, and clients will continue to receive uninterrupted service, including digital and mobile banking capabilities.

The acquired First Republic businesses will be overseen by JPMorgan Chase’s Consumer and Community Banking or CCB Co-CEOs, Marianne Lake and Jennifer Piepszak.

Source: Read Full Article

The post JPMorgan Chase Buys First Republic Bank; Sees $2.6 Bln Gain appeared first on Crypto World News.

The deal is expected to close before the end of the second quarter of 2023, subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions.

Bozzetto’s executive management team will reinvest a material portion of their net proceeds from the sale representing a minority position of up to 6%.

It is anticipated that the acquisition will be financed with a combination of cash and debt.

Filago, Italy -based Bozzetto is a provider of specialty chemicals, manufacturing over 2,000 proprietary chemicals to service its core textile, water solutions, and dispersion end markets. It achieved annual revenue of approximately C$326 million and Adjusted EBITDA of C$47 million with an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 14.5% for fiscal 2022.

Bozzetto currently operates with 6 manufacturing facilities, servicing over 1,500 customers in more than 90 countries.

Under Aimia’s ownership, Bozzetto will seek to substantially expand into the Americas and Asia organically and through accretive acquisitions.

Paladin Private Equity, LLC will act as Aimia’s partner on the deal. Upon closing of the transaction, Aimia and Paladin will enter into certain agreements, including an option for Paladin to acquire up to a 19.9% minority equity position of Bozzetto within one year of closing.

Tariq Osman and Eric Hauser of the Paladin team will join the Board of Directors of Bozzetto and support its strategic growth initiatives.

Aimia and Paladin were advised by Latham & Watkins.

Separately, Aimia said its Board of Directors has approved, subject to certain conditions, an increase in its share repurchase program with authorization to purchase up to C$100 million shares.

The company also confirmed its intent to renew its Normal Course Issuer Bid which is coming up for renewal in June 2023.

Source: Read Full Article

The post Aimia To Buy Italy's Giovanni Bozzetto For C$328 Mln; To Buy Back Up To C$100 Mln Shares appeared first on Crypto World News.

As part of its efforts to further strengthen position in Ireland, the company also signed a long-term Development Pipeline Agreement with Axis Heath Care Assets Limited, a related company owned by the selling shareholders. This will provide access to a strong pipeline of future primary care projects in the country.

With this, Primary Health Properties will have the option to acquire Axis’s development pipeline over the next five years.

The British investor in primary healthcare facilities noted that Axis Technical Services currently manages a portfolio of over 30 properties, including the majority of PHP’s Irish portfolio. The acquired company also provides fit-out, property and facilities management services to the HSE and other businesses located across Ireland.

The acquisition is expected to further strengthen the company’s relationship with the Health Service Executive or HSE, Ireland’s national health service provider.

PHP currently owns a portfolio of 20 assets in Ireland valued at 261 million euros.

Harry Hyman, Chief Executive Officer of Primary Health Properties, said, “As PHP’s portfolio in Ireland continues to grow, the acquisition of Axis Technical Services Limited gives the Group a permanent presence in the country which we believe is becoming more important as we seek out new investment, development and asset management opportunities and try to strengthen our relationship with the HSE as the leading provider of modern, primary care infrastructure in the country.”

Source: Read Full Article

The post Primary Health Buys Axis Technical Services; Signs Long-term Deal With Axis Heath Care Assets appeared first on Crypto World News.