Visa make $5.3bn FinTech bet

BY Richard Summerfield

Payments giant Visa Inc has agreed to acquire FinTech start-up Plaid Inc in a deal worth $5.3bn. The deal is expected to close in the next three to six months, pending regulatory approval and customary closing conditions.

In late 2018, Visa and rival Mastercard both made “strategic investments” in Plaid as part of a $250m Series C funding round which valued the company at $2.65bn. A little over a year later, Visa has returned to acquire the rest of the company.

Plaid develops financial services application programming interfaces (APIs) and helps developers share banking and other financial information more easily and thus is a logical target for Visa. Since launching in 2013, the company has begun to work with over 11,000 financial institutions across the US, Canada and Europe and connects to more than 200 million consumer accounts. Plaid’s software enables providers of financial technology to connect to the bank accounts of their customers.

Visa said it will fund the deal using cash on hand as well as debt that will be issued at a later date. The acquisition will not impact upon Visa’s previously announced stock buyback or dividend plans.

“We are extremely excited about our acquisition of Plaid and how it enhances the growth trajectory of our business,” said Al Kelly, chief executive and chairman of Visa. “Plaid is a leader in the fast growing fintech world with best-in-class capabilities and talent. The acquisition, combined with our many fintech efforts already underway, will position Visa to deliver even more value for developers, financial institutions and consumers.”

“Plaid’s mission is to make money easier for everyone, and we are excited for this opportunity to continue delivering on that promise at a global scale,” said Zach Perret, chief executive and co-founder of Plaid. “Visa is trusted by billions of consumers, businesses and financial institutions as a key part of the financial ecosystem, and together Visa and Plaid can support the rapid growth of digital financial services.”

News: Visa to pay $5.3 billion to buy fintech startup Plaid

Fiat Chrysler and PSA agree automotive merger

BY Richard Summerfield

Fiat Chrysler and rival PSA Group – the owner of Vauxhall and Peugeot – have reached a $50bn merger agreement which will see the companies remake the global automobile industry.

The merged company will employ around 400,000 people worldwide, with combined sales of 8.7 million vehicles. The firms say they have not decided which car production facilities the company will use. post-merger.

The deal, a 50-50 all-share merger, will create the world’s fourth-largest automaker when it closes. The parties expect the deal to be completed in around 12-15 months, pending shareholder and regulatory approval. The combination of Europe’s second and third biggest car manufacturers may attract significant antitrust scrutiny in the coming months, particularly as politicians and trade unions have vowed to resist any move to cut jobs.

Despite these concerns, the merger has the blessing of the French government, which owns 12 percent of PSA. The agreement “is very good news for France, for Europe and for our automotive industry”, said Bruno Le Maire, the French minister of the economy and finance in a statement. “It represents an important step in the creation of a European champion,” he added.

“Our merger is a huge opportunity to take a stronger position in the auto industry as we seek to master the transition to a world of clean, safe and sustainable mobility and to provide our customers with world-class products, technology and services,” said Carlos Tavares, chairman of the managing board of Groupe PSA. “I have every confidence that with their immense talent and their collaborative mindset, our teams will succeed in delivering maximised performance with vigour and enthusiasm.”

“This is a union of two companies with incredible brands and a skilled and dedicated workforce,” said Mike Manley, chief executive of FCA. “Both have faced the toughest of times and have emerged as agile, smart, formidable competitors. Our people share a common trait - they see challenges as opportunities to be embraced and the path to making us better at what we do.”

News: Fiat Chrysler, Peugeot owner reach binding $50 billion merger deal

Sanofi to acquire Synthorx for $2.5bn

BY Richard Summerfield

French drugmaker Sanofi has agreed to acquire biotech firm Synthorx in an all cash deal worth $2.5bn.

Under the terms of the deal, Sanofi will buy the outstanding shares of Synthorx common stock for $68 per share in cash, a 172 percent premium to Synthorx’s closing price on 6 December 2019. Sanofi expects to complete the acquisition in the first quarter of 2020.

The deal will strengthen Sanofi’s position in the increasingly lucrative and competitive oncology market. Synthorx specialises in treatments prolonging and improving the lives of cancer patients or those with auto-immune disorders. The company is developing immuno-oncology therapies which aim to mobilise the body’s immune system to fight cancer cells.

“This acquisition fits perfectly with our strategy to build a portfolio of high-quality assets and to lead with innovation,” said Paul Hudson, chief executive at Sanofi. “Additionally, it is aligned with our goal to build our oncology franchise with potentially practice-changing medicines and novel combinations.”

“Synthorx’s exceptionally novel discovery platform has already produced a molecule that has the potential to become a foundation of the next generation of immuno-oncology combination therapies,” said John Reed, global head of research & development at Sanofi. “By selectively expanding the numbers of effector T-cells and natural killer cells in the body, THOR-707 can be combined with our current oncology medicines and our emerging pipeline of immuno-modulatory agents for treating cancer. Moreover, Synthorx’s pipeline of engineered lymphokines has great promise not only for oncology but also for addressing many autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.”

“We are grateful that Sanofi has acknowledged the value of our Expanded Genetic Alphabet platform and the potential of our pipeline of optimised therapeutics for cancer and autoimmune disorders,” said Laura Shawver, president and chief executive at Synthorx. “Importantly, Sanofi has a portfolio of therapeutics that holds incredible promise for combining with our cytokine Synthorins to benefit patients around the world. I want to thank our employees and the Sanofi organization for their relentless efforts on behalf of patients.”

News: France’s Sanofi to buy biotech firm Synthorx for $2.5 billion

Astellas and Audentes agree $3bn merger

BY Richard Summerfield

Tokyo-based drug maker Astellas Pharma is to buy Audentes Therapeutics in a deal worth $3bn. Under the terms of the deal, Astellas will acquire Audentes through Asilomar Acquisition Corp, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Astellas US Holding, Inc. Audentes shareholders will receive $60 per share in cash, a 110 percent premium to the company’s closing price on Monday.

Astellas expects the deal, which is subject to regulatory approvals including US antitrust clearance, to close in the first quarter of 2020.

The deal for Audentes will add a fifth core area of focus for Astellas. In 2018, Astellas reorganised around four focus areas – regenerative, immuno-oncology, immunotherapy, and neuro-muscular medicine. The acquisition of Audentes will add genetic regulation, which will be built Audentes’ biotech.

“Recent scientific and technological advances in genetic medicine have advanced the potential to deliver unprecedented and sustained value to patients, and even to curing diseases with a single intervention,” said Kenji Yasukawa, president and chief executive of Astellas. “Audentes has developed a robust pipeline of promising product candidates which are complementary to our existing pipeline, including its lead program AT132 for the treatment of X-Linked Myotubular Myopathy (XLMTM). By joining together with Audentes’ talented team, we are establishing a leading position in the field of gene therapy with the goal of addressing the unmet needs of patients living with serious, rare diseases.”

“We are very pleased to enter into this merger agreement with Astellas,” said Matthew R. Patterson, chairman and chief executive of Audentes. “With its focus on innovative science and a global network of research, development and commercialisation resources, we believe that operating as part of the Astellas organisation optimally positions us to advance our pipeline programs and serve our patients.”

The deal is the second biggest acquisition ever completed by Astellas, surpassed only by its 2010 purchase of OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc for $3.8bn.

News: Japan's Astellas to buy Audentes for $3 billion in high-priced gene therapy bet

Global M&A recovery to continue into Q1 2020, says new report

BY Fraser Tennant

Global M&A activity over the six months ending Q1 2020 is expected to increase by around 6 percent year-over-year (YOY), according to a new Intralinks report.

In its ‘Deal Flow Predictor’, a quarterly prediction of future trends in the global M&A market, Intralinks forecasts a continuing M&A recovery – a major uptick from the  7 percent YOY decline in worldwide deal announcements in H1 2019.

The report’s insight is based on analysis by financial markets data and infrastructure provider Refinitiv and Intralinks, using predictive models to forecast the volume of new deal M&A announcements worldwide over the next six months.

Drilling down, in Europe, the Middle East & Africa (EMEA), Intralinks’ predictive model forecasts that the number of announced M&A deals is expected to increase by around 5 percent YOY over the six months ending Q1 2020. In North America, the number of announced M&A deals is forecast to increase by approximately 7 percent YOY over the same period.

Among other key findings, the strongest growth in deal announcements is expected to come from the technology, media and telecoms (TMT), materials and energy & power sectors.

“The Deal Flow Predictor forecasts the volume of future M&A announcements by tracking early-stage M&A activity – sell-side M&A transactions across the world that are in preparation or have begun their due diligence stage,” said said Philip Whitchelo, vice president of Intralinks. “These early-stage deals are, on average, six months away from their public announcement.”

Report: Deal Flow Predictor: forecast of global M&A activity through Q1 2020