Gopuff pushes forward with IPO plans; Kohl's attracts takeover interest; Son and Claure break up at SoftBank; and much more
Happy Friday!
This week, Krystal Hu, Echo Wang and I scooped that Gopuff, the SoftBank-backed delivery startup that was valued at about $15 billion last year, has tapped banks to lead preparations for a U.S. initial public offering.
U.S.-based Gopuff, which operates in 1,000 cities in the United States and Europe, is working with Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs on its planned stock market float, which is expected later this year. It also plans to tap other underwriters, including JPMorgan Chase.
GoPuff is expecting to be valued at a significant premium to its $15 billion valuation from a fundraise in July. Gopuff was valued at just $4 billion in an October 2020 fundraising.
The company also issued a convertible note in December to raise $1.5 billion from existing investor Guggenheim Investments and other debt holders. The note will convert to equity at either the IPO price or at a maximum valuation of $40 billion.
Elsewhere, my colleague Svea Herbst Bayliss was first to report that activist hedge fund Macellum Advisors, which wants Kohl's to consider putting itself up for sale, is now pressing the U.S. retailer for at least one board seat and a public statement that the company is reviewing strategic alternatives.
Macellum, which owns roughly 5% of Kohl's stock, sent the letter hours after Acacia Research, backed by activist investor Starboard Value, confirmed an offer to buy the company for $64 a share, valuing Kohl's at roughly $9 billion. Reuters had scooped last week that Acacia was considering a bid for Kohl’s.
In addition to Acacia's bid, Sycamore Partners is also preparing an all-cash offer for Kohl's at $65 per share.
And finally, things got messier at SoftBank -- chief operating officer Marcelo Claure, widely seen as Mr. Fixit within SoftBank, is leaving the technology investor, in the latest blow after a string of high-profile departures.
The exit comes after a fallout with founder and Chief Executive Masayoshi Son over his pay.
Claure's deputy, Michel Combes - a French former telecoms executive - has been appointed chief executive of SoftBank Group International, SoftBank said.
Claure, who was already one of the highest-paid executives at the tech giant after earning a pay package of $17 million in 2020, has been in talks to leave SoftBank for several months and may soon launch his own investment firm, earlier media reports indicated.
While Son has been unabashed about his willingness to pay to attract foreign talent, he heads a publicly listed Japanese company in a country where large payouts to top management are frowned upon by investors.
Claure, who has spent several years inside SoftBank cleaning up messy investments such as wireless carrier Sprint and office-sharing company WeWork, had expected to be paid billions of dollars in compensation over the years, while Son was looking to pay him a much smaller sum.
Son had discussed a potential structure that could have allowed Claure to be paid much more than his existing pay package, but he never committed to it in writing, resulting in a clash with Claure that led to his decision to resign imminently.
With that, here are the other main highlights of the Reuters corporate finance file this week:
Private equity firms Madison Dearborn Partners LLC, Siris Capital Group LLC and Advent International Corp have made competing offers to acquire MoneyGram International, according to people familiar with the matter.
Chinese fashion retailer SHEIN is reviving plans to list in New York this year and its founder is considering a citizenship change to bypass proposed tougher rules for offshore IPOs in China, two people familiar with the matter said.
Tencent plans to take DouYu International private amid disagreements over strategy among executives at the Chinese videogame streaming firm, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.
Shares of the blank-check acquisition firm that agreed to merge with former President Donald Trump's social media venture have outperformed every other special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), despite the regulatory risks facing the deal and investors now snubbing the vast majority of such vehicles.
Chesapeake Energy said it will buy privately held oil and gas producer Chief E&D Holdings LP for about $2.5 billion expanding its position in the gas-rich shale plays of the U.S. northeast. Reuters had scooped the news earlier in January.
Akili Interactive, a startup that has developed video games to treat attention-deficit disorders, has agreed to go public by merging with a Chamath Palihapitiya-backed blank-check firm.
UBS has agreed to buy California-based digital wealth management start-up Wealthfront in a $1.4 billion all-cash deal, as the Swiss bank targets younger tech-savvy investors in the United States.
DNEG, the Oscar-winning Hollywood visual effects studio behind Christopher Nolan's "Tenet", said it would list in New York through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company in a deal valuing the combined entity at about $1.7 billion.
Netflix bosses Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos could be turning into dealmakers. The $171 billion video-streaming group filed its annual report on Thursday warning of possible “costs and challenges associated with acquisitions and investments.” Taken with the duo’s recent comments about building out video games – not to mention the buzz created by Microsoft’s $69 billion deal with Activision Blizzard – it suggests Netflix may be ready to go shopping.
ValueAct Capital has called on 7-Eleven's owner Seven & i Holdings to listen to shareholder concerns and to consider strategic alternatives, including a possible sale.
Israeli spyware firm NSO Group said on Wednesday it is in talks with a number of U.S. funds over "various financial moves", confirming media reports that it was discussing a sale of its assets.
Singaporean state-owned investor Temasek has acquired Element Materials Technology Group from Bridgepoint, the London-listed private equity firm said.
SoftBank-backed Swiggy doubled its valuation to $10.7 billion in its latest funding round, two people familiar with the matter said, as booming demand for quick delivery of food and grocery in India drives up investments in the sector.
ETAO International Group said it will go public through a merger with a blank-check company, in a deal that values the digital healthcare company at $2.5 billion.
Thank you for reading this week’s edition! Please do share the newsletter with anyone you think might be interested – feedback will be most welcome.
Have a great weekend!
Warm regards,
Anirban
· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·
Anirban Sen
U.S. M&A Editor in Charge
Thomson Reuters
Twitter: @asenjourno