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| As Palantir and Asana revive direct listings, will others follow? | |  | | Asana and Palantir will make their public debuts on the New York Stock Exchange this week. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images) | | | Project management specialist Asana and Peter Thiel's data-mining company Palantir Technologies are hitting the public market via direct listings on Wednesday, breathing new life into the IPO alternative that was once the buzz of Silicon Valley.
The direct listings offer rare and critical test cases for other large startups weighing public debuts. They also come at a time when the rules that govern the direct listing process are being fundamentally rewritten—making them more attractive to cash-hungry businesses: | | | | | | | | | | What factors drive risk and return in GP stakes investing? | |  | | Robert Smith's Vista Equity Partners was one recent high-profile target of GP stakes investors. (Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images) | | | In recent years, Vista Equity Partners, Leonard Green & Partners and Permira have all sold off minority interests to outside investors, capitalizing on a wellspring of interest in GP stakes deals. But it isn't only industry powerhouses that are drawing attention. GP stakes investors are pursuing deals with private capital firms big and small—and investments in different firms can come with very different levels of risk.
How does the payoff for investments in large or small GPs differ? How does the growth of assets under management affect the investment's performance? Our latest analyst note pulls together the biggest considerations on everything from firm failure rates to deal terms to offer a comprehensive look at how risk and reward factor into the GP stakes landscape: | | | | | | | | | | Allbirds valued at $1.7B with latest financing round | |  | | (Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images) | | | Sustainable sneaker brand Allbirds has brought in a $100 million Series E led by Franklin Templeton, with participation from T. Rowe Price, Baillie Gifford, TDM Growth Partners, Rockefeller Capital Management and other new and existing backers. The funding values the San Francisco-based company at $1.7 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Launched in 2016, Allbirds creates its footwear and apparel out of merino wool, eucalyptus tree fibers, recycled bottles and other materials. The startup operates 21 retail locations across Europe, Asia, New Zealand and the US; it plans to use the new funding in part to continue expanding internationally and to support the opening of more brick-and-mortar stores.
Allbirds, which reportedly counts Scooter Braun and Leonardo DiCaprio among its backers, has now raised more than $200 million in private financing to date. | | | | | | | | | | Ecommerce had never caught on in Italy like in so many other countries. And then the pandemic arrived. [The New York Times]
Palantir's ascent to a $20 billion valuation was marked by its fair share of mythmaking. With its long-awaited direct listing looming, will the secretive data specialist be able to live up to the hype? [Intelligencer]
It's been more than 50 years since the civil rights movement led to new laws banning workplace discrimination. So why are there still so few Black CEOs? [The Wall Street Journal] | | | | | |
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| | Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added: | | 361 Deals | 1552 People | 379 Companies | 15 Funds | | | | | | |
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| TDR Capital tops Apollo in $8.3B race for Asda | | | A group including TDR Capital and billionaires Mohsin Issa and Zuber Issa has reportedly become the preferred suitor to acquire UK grocery chain Asda from Walmart in a deal worth £6.5 billion (about $8.3 billion). The news follows reports last week indicating a group led by rival bidder Apollo Global Management had become the frontrunner to acquire the company. | | | | | | | | EQT to pay $932M for food coloring unit | | | EQT has agreed to buy the natural colors division of Danish bioscience business Chr. Hansen for €800 million (about $932 million). The business, which makes coloring ingredients for food and beverages using natural fruit and vegetable concentrates, reported sales of €224 million in its fiscal year that ended in 2019. The investment will be made through EQT IX, which has a target of €14.75 billion. | | | | | | | | PE-backed Ivanti to buy MobileIron, PulseSecure | | | Ivanti, which offers a platform to manage IT and security operations, has agreed to acquire MobileIron, a provider of mobile security software, for an enterprise value of about $872 million. Ivanti has also acquired Pulse Secure, a fellow provider of mobile IT and security software, from Siris Capital. Clearlake Capital acquired Ivanti (formerly known as Landesk Software) in 2017 in a merger with Heat Software, while TA Associates made a growth investment in Ivanti last month. | | | | | | | | Patricia Industries to take over measuring company | | | | | | | | | Investors offer $264M for Gunnebo | | | Private equity firm Altor and investment company Stena Adactum have offered to purchase Gunnebo, valuing the Swedish provider of security products and software at nearly 2.4 billion Swedish kronor (about $264 million). The two Swedish investors are proposing to pay 25 kronor per share, a 33% premium to Gunnebo's closing share price Friday. Gunnebo's board has unanimously recommended the bid. | | | | | |
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| Shale specialists Devon, WPX ink $12B merger pact | | | US shale producers Devon Energy and WPX Energy have agreed to merge, with current Devon shareholders set to own 57% of the combined company and WPX shareholders holding the remainder. Devon's stock closed Monday up 11%, and WPX shares were up 16%, giving the two businesses a combined market cap of about $6.7 billion. The merged business will claim about 277,000 barrels of production per day, most of it coming from the Delaware Basin, and an enterprise value of about $12 billion. | | | | | | | | Caesars could make $3.7B bet on William Hill | | | Caesars Entertainment is in advanced discussions with London-based bookmaker William Hill about a potential offer to acquire the rival gambling business for about £2.9 billion (about $3.7 billion), or 272 pence per share. The bid represents a 25% premium to William Hill's closing share price last Thursday, the day before the company confirmed it had received competing takeover offers from Caesars and Apollo Global Management. | | | | | | | | CEO leads $2.6B bid to take Sina private | | | Sina, a Chinese online media company, has agreed to go private by selling itself to an entity led by company CEO Charles Chao for $43.30 per share, giving the business an equity valuation of $2.59 billion. The offer represents an 18.1% premium to the closing price of Sina's shares on the Nasdaq on July 2, the final trading day before the Chao-led vehicle, called New Wave MMXV, submitted a preliminary proposal. | | | | | | | | Cleveland-Cliffs lines up $1.4B steel deal | | | Cleveland-based iron ore and steel producer Cleveland-Cliffs has agreed to acquire fellow iron and steel specialist ArcelorMittal USA for about $1.4 billion. The US unit of Luxembourg-based industry giant ArcelorMittal generated average annual revenue of $10.4 billion the past two years, with assets including six steelmaking facilities and eight finishing facilities. Cleveland-Cliffs said the deal could create $150 million in annual cost savings. | | | | | |
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"The dispersion of deal value across European regions in Q2 2020 exhibited consistency with a pre-pandemic market, showing a distinct concentration from the UK & Ireland, DACH, and France & Benelux regions. One notable deal outside these regions involved Estonia-based mobility startup Bolt, which closed a €100.0 million round."
Source: PitchBook's Q2 2020 European Venture Report | | | | | |
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اللباس التقليدي الحضرمي للرجال مرحبا بكم في سلسلة اللباس التقليدي الحضرمي .. لنتعرف معا على تراثنا ...وربما أن بعض هذه الملابس لم تعد مس...
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