Listings Last Week

Listing Plans and Rumors

• Cineworld Group's backers are considering a New York listing for the company with a target of 1H 2026. The listing would likely not include Cineworld's UK business as it is expected to sell its British operations at some point.

• Neo4j's CEO awaits the IPO window to be opened by tech frontrunners like Klarna. The venue has not been chosen, though a US listing is preferable. The company raised $50M at a $2B valuation from Noteus Partners.

• Nestlé plans to separate its water and premium beverages activities into a standalone business that will include brands like Perrier, San Pellegrino, and Acqua Panna. The separation could lead to a sale or spinoff of the standalone business.

• Unilever ($UL) has abandoned plans to sell its €15bn ice cream division to private equity and will instead pursue a spinoff of the unit, resulting in a separate publicly traded company.

• Pony AI (PONY) a Chinese autonomous driving technology company, is looking to raise up to $195M at a market value of up to $4.5 billion, with the IPO expected to price on Wednesday.

• SailPoint Technologies, an enterprise security software firm owned by Thoma Bravo, hired Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to lead its planned IPO, aiming to go public in H1 2025. Thoma Bravo took the company private in 2022 in a $6.9 billion transaction.

• Tiger Global-backed AgileBits, the Canadian company behind 1Password, is in the process of hiring banks for an IPO planned for 2025. The company was last valued at $6.8 billion in 2022.

• Comcast ($CMCSA) plans to spin off NBCUniversal’s cable TV channels, including MSNBC, CNBC, and USA, into a separate publicly traded company in a transaction that is expected to close at the end of 2025. SpinCo will also include digital assets like Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes. Mark Lazarus will serve as CEO.

• Carlyle ($CG) expects a steady increase in the number of US IPOs in 2025 with 2 of Carlyle's US portfolio companies expected to list next year. Nouryon, a chemicals producer, is eyeing a New York IPO as soon as early 2025 and

• WH Group Ltd. plans to sell 20% of Smithfield Foods via a US IPO, valuing the pork producer at $5.38 billion.

• Uber ($UBER) plans to invest over $10M in Pony AI's (PONY) upcoming US IPO, which has been upsized and is expected to be priced next week. Additionally, Uber recently invested in WeRide's US IPO and has a robotaxi service agreement in Abu Dhabi.

• Medline Industries, which is owned by Blackstone, Carlyle, and Hellman & Friedman, plans to raise over $5 billion in its US IPO, anticipated in 2025, which could value the company at around $50 billion. The offering is expected to launch in Q2 2025, pending market conditions.

• AI cloud platform CoreWeave is targeting a raise of over $3 billion at a valuation of higher than $35 billion in its upcoming IPO, which could take place in Q2 2025, depending on market conditions.

IPO Candidates

• Drone manufacturer Skydio raised a $170M Series E extension. The Series E valuation was $2.2 billion.

• Cloud API startup Kong raised a $175M Series E at a $2 billion valuation led by Tiger Global and including participation from Andreessen Horowitz, among others. Kong's total capital raised is now $345M.

• Quanta Dialysis Technologies raised a $60M Series E preferred round led by Novo Holdings, Glenview Capital, and b2venture.

• Oura raised a $75M Series D from Dexcom, valuing the smart ring maker at over $5 billion, up from $2.6 billion in its 2022 Series C.

• AgTech startup EarthOptics has completed $24 M in financing, led by current investors Conti Ventures and The Production Board, with participation from investors including Leaps by Bayer and Shell Ventures, among others.

• In-mold structural electronics company TactoTek completed a $60 M funding round led by Nidoco AB, with participation from 3M Ventures, among others.

• AI customer service platform Blip closed a $60 M Series C funding round led by SoftBank, with Microsoft participating as a rare direct investor. The company, which was bootstrapped until early 2020, has now raised a total of $230 M.

• Data security company Cyera announced a $300 M Series D funding round led by Accel and Sapphire Ventures, with participation from Sequoia, Redpoint, Coatue, and Georgian. The investment brings Cyera's valuation to $3 billion, more than doubling in six months. Cyera's total funding has reached $760M.

• Evergreen Residential Holdings, an institutional real estate investment platform, raised appx. $1 billion in capital commitments.

• Vista Equity-owned LogicMonitor raised an $800M Series A from investors, including PSG and Golub Capital, valuing the firm at $2.4B, including debt.

• Pacaso announced it is raising up to $75M in a Reg A offering, allowing the public to invest in the company.

• Design platform Canva appointed former Zoom CFO Kelly Steckelberg as its new CFO, indicating a potential upcoming IPO

• Sam Altman is pitching investors for a $150M Series B round for Rain AI, an AI computing hardware manufacturer, which was valued at $600M in 2022 when Altman invested in Rain's seed round.

• Cresta, an AI platform for contact centers, has raised a $125M Series A, bringing the company's total capital raised to over $270M.

• Tokamak Energy, a nuclear fusion company, raised $125M, bringing the total funding since its 2009 spin-out from the UK Atomic Energy Authority to $335M.

• Jupiter Bioventures, a biotech venture foundry, raised $70M in initial financing with co-founding investors Mission BioCapital and Mayo Clinic.

• Ample, a battery-swapping technology provider for electric vehicles, raised a $25M investment from Mitsubishi.

• Odoo, an ERP software provider, raised €500M in secondary investment (approximately. $527M) in a round led by CapitalG and Sequoia, with participation from several investors, including BlackRock and Mubadala. This raises Odoo's valuation to €5 billion ($5.26 billion).

• Aquaria, a maker of atmospheric water generators, raised a $112M Series A.

• Pending arbitration claims against LNG company Venture Global LNG from several customers have reached nearly $6 billion, primarily related to its Calcasieu Pass plant in Louisiana. Claims from eight companies, including Shell and BP, total approximately $5.9 billion. Meanwhile, the company is exploring an IPO that could generate over $3 billion.

• Elon Musk's AI startup, xAI, has raised $5 billion in a funding round, with participation expected from Qatar Investment Authority, Valor Equity Partners, Sequoia Capital, and Andreessen Horowitz. This fundraising round increases its valuation to $50 billion, more than double its valuation from a $6 billion raise in the spring. Overall, this year, xAI raised a total of $11 billion. The funds are expected to be used to acquire 100,000 Nvidia chips.

• Stripe is again buying back shares at $27.51 each, maintaining a valuation of approximately $70 billion, consistent with its earlier share sale this year.

• Blackstone invested over $500M in clean energy company Lancium, which is developing more than 5 gigawatts of data centers in West Texas to meet the rising energy needs of artificial intelligence applications. The investment supports Lancium's plans to build five facilities in areas rich in wind and solar energy.

• Crusoe Energy, a computing infrastructure and data center startup, is raising $818M and has already secured $686M from 70 investors, per an SEC filing. If fully funded, this round will increase its total raised to around $1.5 billion,

• Lightning AI, an AI framework developer, raised a $50M Series A from Cisco Investments, JPMorgan, and NVIDIA, among others, bringing the company's total funding to $103M.

• Amazon is investing an additional $4 billion in AI startup Anthropic, increasing its total investment to $8 billion.

Public M&A Activity

Announcements

• Piedmont Lithium Inc. ($PLL), a North American supplier of lithium products critical to the U.S. electric vehicle supply chain, and Sayona Mining Limited (ASX: SYA) entered into a merger of equals transaction, which will result in Sayona being the ultimate parent entity.

• Berry Global Group ($BERY) to be acquired by Amcor plc ($AMCR) in an all-stock deal, with BERY holders to receive 7.2500 AMCR shares per BERY share (9.75% premium to the closing price prior to announcement), implying an equity consideration of appx. $8.47 billion at the time of the announcement. BERY and AMCR holders will own 37% and 63% of the combined company, respectively.

• Innovid ($CTV) to be acquired by Mediaocean in an all-cash deal, at $3.15 per share (94.44% premium to the closing price prior to announcement), with an enterprise value of appx. $500M.

Closings

• R1 RCM's (RCM) $8.9 billion take private acquisition by TowerBrook and CD&R was completed.

• Recursion Pharmaceuticals ($RXRX) closed its acquisition of Exscientia (EXAI).

• Acerinox closed its $970M acquisition of Haynes International (HAYN).

• ConocoPhillips ($COP) closed its acquisition of Marathon Oil Corporation (MRO).

• ARC Document Solutions' (ARC) take-private acquisition by TechPrint (ARC Management) closed.

• Bain Capital's acquisition of Envestnet ($ENV) is expected to close on Nov 25.

Terminations / Talks Failed / Disregarded

• FirstSun Capital Bancorp ($FSUN) and HomeStreet ($HMST) terminated their merger after not receiving approval from regulators: The Federal Reserve and the Texas Department of Banking.

Live Deal Updates

• Fury Resources is seeking alternative financing sources to fund the acquisition of Battalion Oil ($BATL), and BATL is adjourning the shareholder vote from Nov 19 to Nov 29.

• US Steel ($X) + Nippon Steel:

  • The US Commerce Department imposed a 29% dumping margin on Nippon Steel for selling hot-rolled steel in the US at below-normal value from October 2022 through September 2023 as part of its annual administrative review of a case that began in 2016. This ruling comes as Nippon Steel seeks support for its planned $14.1 billion acquisition of US Steel ($X).

  • Nippon Steel wrote in a letter to United Steelworkers union members that it would cease importing steel from its international mills to the US.

  • Nippon Steel will meet Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro to discuss its potential benefits for the state. Vice President Takahiro Mori will present an assessment of the takeover's long-term impacts on Pittsburgh's plants and commitments to the United Steelworkers for job creation and investment.

• Hewlett Packard Enterprise ($HPE) and Juniper Network ($JNPR) met with Justice Department antitrust officials last week to discuss their proposed $14 billion merger. The meeting did not result in a definitive decision from the DOJ regarding legal action.

• According to Brendan Carr, President-Elect Trump's pick to run the FCC, CBS's refusal to release the full transcript of its 60 Minutes interview with VP Kamala Harris may influence the agency's review of Paramount Global's ($PARAA) proposed merger with Skydance. Brendan Carr indicated that a complaint regarding news distortion by CBS could be a significant factor in the agency's decision.

Potential M&A

• Brookfield Asset Management ($BAM) sent a non-binding offer to acquire Grifols SA ($GRFS) for €6.45 billion ($6.9 billion), €10.5 per Class A share of Grifols and €7.62 per class B share. Grifols' board rejected the offer, stating that it undervalued the company, though the talks are still underway.

• Neurotech company Helius Medical Technologies ($HSDT) initiated a strategic alternatives review process, including a potential sale, and has engaged B. Riley as its advisor.

• Donald Trump’s media company, Trump Media and Technology Group ($DJT), is in advanced talks to acquire Bakkt ($BKKT), a crypto trading platform majority owned by Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), in an all-stock transaction.

• Evotec ($EVO) hired Morgan Stanley to mount a defense of biotech Halozyme Therapeutics’ ($HALO) unsolicited non-binding offer to acquire Evotec for €11.00 per share, valuing the deal at €2.0 billion, with a company spokesman stating that it's in the best interest of the company to remain independent.

  • Later in the week, Halozyme withdrew its non-binding offer due to Evotec's unwillingness to engage with the company to explore the potential deal.

• Danone North America revised its proposal to acquire Lifeway Foods ($LWAY) from $25 to $27 per share. Lifeway rejected the revised proposal.

• MCB Real Estate withdrew its proposal to acquire Whitestone ($WSR) for $15 per share in an all-cash transaction due to, according to MCB, Whitestone's failure to engage in meaningful discussions and allow due diligence in regards to the offer.

• Industrial software company Aspen Technology ($AZPN) announced the formation of a special committee to consider a non-binding proposal from Emerson Electric Co. ($EMR) received on November 5, 2024. Emerson currently owns 57.4% of AspenTech's outstanding common shares.

• QXO ($QXO) has offered to acquire Beacon Roofing Supply ($BECN), a roofing materials company with a $6.2 billion market cap. A deal could be finalized before the end of the year.

• Predictive Oncology, a cancer diagnostics company, has initiated a strategic alternatives review process, including a potential sale.

• Eyenovia ($EYEN) a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, plans to terminate its key study after it failed to meet its primary efficacy endpoint. The company is exploring strategic alternatives.

• Dye & Durham (OTC: $DYNDF), a Canadian legal software company, halted its sale process after major shareholders Mawer and EdgePoint rejected takeover offers, which were in the low-to-mid C$20 per share range. The shareholders expressed a preference for a new board and management team instead of the current deals.

• Building materials provider Quikrete is in advanced talks to acquire Summit Materials ($SUM), with a potential deal announcement expected early next week.

Activism, Investor Disputes & Shorts

• Activist investor Ancora, a significant shareholder in broadband and video services provider Harmonic ($HLIT) is urging the company to consider a sale, believing it could attract strong interest from potential acquirers like Ciena and could be priced around $20 per share.

• CVS ($CVS) appointed Glenview Capital Management founder Larry Robbins to its board, increasing the total number of directors to 16. Robbins, in a CNBC interview, advocated for reducing the company's debt and opposed further acquisitions

• Mantle Ridge, an activist investor, has nominated nine directors to replace the board at Air Products and Chemicals ($APD) while urging the company to appoint a new CEO, adjust its capital allocation, and discontinue riskier projects.

• Activist investor Ananym Capital is pushing healthcare products distributor Henry Schein ($HSIC) to revamp its board, reduce expenses, address succession planning, and explore the sale of its medical distribution segment.

• News Corp ($NWSA) announced that its investors rejected Starboard Value's proposal to eliminate its dual-class voting structure, which would have challenged the Murdoch family's control over 40% of the voting shares. Despite backing from influential proxy advisory firms and other investors advocating for one vote per share, the non-binding resolution did not receive enough votes at the annual meeting.

• ValueAct takes a $1-billion stake in Meta ($META). It is not currently an activist stake.

• Short seller Kerrisdale Capital published a report targeting Oklo ($OKLO) titled 'Fission Impossible'.

• Grizzly Research published a short report targeting SharkNinja ($SN) titled: 'We Believe SharkNinja is a China Hustle Based on Rampant Looting and Conflicts of Interest with the Chinese Chairman'.

Separations, Restructurings, and Other Special Sits

• Alphabet's ($GOOG) Chrome browser unit could be valued at $15-$20 billion if a judge agrees to a Justice Department proposal to sell the business following a ruling that Google illegally monopolized the search market.

• Lattice Semiconductor ($LSCC), a $7.5 billion market cap chip manufacturer, is considering a bid for Intel's ($ALTC) Altera chip unit. Bids for Altera are due next week.

Bankruptcies/ Liquidations

• Spirit Airlines (SAVE --> $SAVEQ) has filed for Chapter 11 after years of losses and a failed $3.8 billion merger with JetBlue Airways. Spirit has arranged a deal with bondholders to restructure its debts and aims to exit bankruptcy by the first quarter of 2025

• TFF Pharmaceuticals ($TFFP), a biopharmaceutical company, will cease operations and has approved a reduction-in-force affecting nearly all employees, effective November 15, 2024.

• Genetic Technologies Limited ($GENE) entered bankruptcy and appointed Joint Administrators effective Nov 20, 2024, following unsuccessful efforts to raise a minimum of $2M through an Entitlement Offer and to secure strategic partnerships, despite a restructuring aimed at USA sales growth and cost reduction measures by the Board.