Reuters News

Syndication of the US$13.5 billion debt package backing Blackstone Group’s buyout of Thomson Reuters’ Financial and Risk division is expected to launch in the first week of September, at the same time as a €7.3 billion debt financing backing the buyout of Akzo Nobel’s specialty chemicals business, bankers close to the deal told Reuters. Thomson Reuters’ loan and bond package is expected to launch in Europe on September 3 and in the United States on September 4 after the Labour Day holiday. The deal is the largest buyout financing since the crisis and its launch has been eagerly awaited since the deal was underwritten in January.

Australian hospital operator Healthscope Ltd, which recently rejected two takeover approaches, plans to inject A$1 billion (US$731.6 million) of its property assets into a trust and sell nearly half of that to an investor, Reuters reported. Healthscope said the trust would hold its 29 hospitals. These would be leased back to the company, which would own a majority stake in the trust, while it will seek an investor who would hold up to 49 percent. The company, which in May rejected US$3 billion-plus buyout offers from Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management and a consortium of local private equity firm BGH Capital, did not elaborate if it was in talks with interested parties.

Australian retirement village owner Gateway Lifestyle Group has recommended shareholders accept Hometown America Corp’s A$695 million (US$508.5 million) takeover offer, after a pursuit involving a rival suitor, Reuters reported. Hometown first made an offer in June at A$2.10 per share, valuing the firm at A$635 million. This was closely followed by Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management launching a A$2.30 per share offer for Gateway. Gateway initially rejected Hometown's offers, but appears to have changed its mind after Australia media reported that Brookfield was set to exit the race.

At least three consortiums have been formed to launch multi-billion-euro bids for a stake in the operator of Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports, sources told Reuters. The French state’s 50.6 percent stake in airports group Aéroports de Paris is likely to go on the block next year in a deal that could be worth up to 10 billion euros (US$11.4 billion). Sources said the lead players of the consortiums include French group Vinci. Vinci approached Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and other pension funds to become bid partners, Reuters reported in June.

SIG Combibloc is on track to announce in September its intention to float on the stock market in Zurich, two sources told Reuters, in a listing that could value the Swiss packaging maker at about 4.5 billion euros (US$5.2 billion). Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and Bank of America are global coordinators for the listing. SIG, which makes cartons for beverages and food, is owned by Canadian private equity firm Onex Corp. Onex acquired the company in 2015 for 3.75 billion euros.

Thomson Reuters Corp said it was thinking about acquisition opportunities after reporting quarterly earnings that were ahead of expectations and reaffirming its 2018 forecast, Reuters reported. The news and information provider agreed in January to sell a 55-percent stake in the Financial & Risk unit, which provides data and news primarily to financial customers, to U.S. private equity firm Blackstone Group. It expects to use US$1 billion to US$3 billion from the proceeds to make acquisitions in legal and accounting. “Following the closure of the deal with Blackstone, Thomson Reuters will be in a position to play offense,” CEO Jim Smith said in an interview.