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PAI Partners closes new $7.6bn fund, surpassing the target.
Eramet earmarks $2bn for nickel and lithium expansion.
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Australian pension fund AustralianSuper said on November 13 that it had rejected an "eleventh-hour" offer from a Brookfield Renewable -led consortium and its partner EIG to drop its opposition to their $10.5bn bid for Origin Energy and join the takeover, Reuters reported.
Australia's largest pension fund reaffirmed its intention to reject the bid at the shareholder meeting on November 23, hours after receiving the consortium's "unsolicited" offer. AustralianSuper said it was Origin Energy's largest shareholder but did not specify the size of its stake as it has done in previous releases.
Origin Energy is advised by Barrenjoey , Jarden , and Herbert Smith Freehills (led by Rebecca Maslen-Stannage). EIG is advised by J.P. Morgan and FGS Global (led by Kelly Kimberly). Brookfield Renewable is advised by Citi , Allens , and White & Case LLP (led by Christopher Flynn). GIC is advised by SEC Newgate Group .
Macquarie Group -backed Vocus , an international telecommunications company, failed to acquire a 12% stake in the enterprise, government and wholesale assets from TPG Telecom , a telecommunications company, for $4.21bn.
The proposed transaction involved considerable complexity and, ultimately, the parties have been unable to reach alignment on the operating model and commercial terms for TPG to have sufficient confidence that a successful transaction can be agreed and executed.
BPEA EQT , an Asian investment firm headquartered in Hong Kong, offered to acquire Benesse Corporation , an education and nursing care provider, for JPY267bn ($1.76bn).
"Japan's education sector is growing, driven by an increasing demand for adult training and reskilling of its labor force, as well as increased demand for eLearning modalities in the K-12 segment. The nursing care sector is also growing, driven by demographic tailwinds of Japan's aging population. Together with the founding family, EQT aims to further accelerate Benesse's growth, leveraging its vast experience from developing education and elderly care platforms worldwide," BPEA EQT.
PAI Partners closes new $7.6bn fund, surpassing the target. (FS)
French buyout group PAI Partners said it had raised $7.6bn for its latest fund, surpassing its target despite difficulties in drawing new money by private equity groups. The fund will be invested in companies in Europe and North America and is about 40% larger than the predecessor fund, which closed at $5.45 in 2018, Reuters reported.
"This successful final close for PAI Partners VIII, at a size 40% larger than its predecessor in a challenging environment, reaffirms the confidence investors have in PAI's Real Economy strategy and our ability to perform consistently through the cycle," Richard Howell , PAI Managing Partner.
Eramet earmarks $2bn for nickel and lithium expansion.
French miner Eramet plans to invest €1.9bn ($2bn) in the 2024-26 period, largely to boost production of nickel and lithium as it bets on soaring demand for metals used in electric-vehicle batteries, Bloomberg reported.
Miners around the globe are launching a flurry of projects to extract key metals needed for the transition to a low-carbon economy. By 2032, nickel demand for batteries is expected to surpass demand for stainless steel, Eramet said in a statement ahead of its capital markets day on November 13.
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