BG Group, which had planned to sell its 54.7% stake in Gas Argentino (GASA) to Argentinia’s Integra, saw energy company YPF exercise its right of first refusal – the state-controlled player intends to buy the stake instead. GASA has 70% of shares in Metrogas. The divestment is a part of BG Group’s wider portfolio to divest its transmission distribution, says a person familiar with the deal, while declining to disclose the value.
Category: M&A
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Mitsubishi Buys into AES Chile Plant
Japan’s Mitsubishi has agreed to buy 40% of Empresa Electrica Cochrane, a $1.3bn electric power generation project, from Chile’s AES Gener, Gener says. The 532 megawatt coal-fired plant is being built in Mejillones in the Antofagasta region, with construction staring next year.
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Banorte Clinches BBVA Afore
Grupo Financiero Banorte has agreed to acquire BBVA’s Mexican pension operations, becoming the country’s largest pension manager in a deal valued at $1.6bn, the banks say. Banorte, long rumored to have been the top contender for the asset, has teamed up with Mexico’s IMSS Social Security Institute – a co-owner of the Afore XXI Banorte pension fund – to make the purchase, with each party paying 50%. The final price will depend on the value of the accounts at the time of transfer, with the cost reaching as much as $1.73bn. “Considering Banorte will reach about 35% of the market [in terms of accounts], paying a 14x multiple for the asset is positive,” says a Mexico-based equity analyst. BBVA says the deal values its Afore at 14.5x 2012 earnings. In a research report, Vector Casa de Bolsa values the transaction at 12.9x earnings and 5.4x book value. Afore Bancomer managed MXP279.29bn ($21.48bn) in assets in 4.49m accounts as of the end of October. After the deal is completed, Afore XXI Banorte will manage MXP516.54bn in 11.78m accounts. The transaction is the first since BBVA announced in May that it planned to sell its pension funds in Mexico, Chile, Colombia, and Peru, and the rest remain on the block. “This is mainly a case of a seller that needs to build up equity and has a disposable asset,” says a US-based equity analyst covering the sector, noting that a major shift in the sector is unlikely. The banks could not be reached to confirm advisors on the transaction, though Goldman Sachs has been advising BBVA on the strategic options for its LatAm pension assets.
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Corfi Increases Promigas Stake
Colombian investment bank Corficolombiana has purchased an additional 18.7% stake in natural gas distributor and transporter Promigas through a public tender, it says, spending COP634.95bn ($348m). Corficolombiana bought 24.9m shares at COP25,500 each in the offer closed last week, close to reaching a 20% target. The bank now holds 34.1% directly, and an additional 10.6% through its position in CFC Gas Holding, making it the largest Promigas holder.
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OGX Picks up Petrobras Block Stake
Petrobras has sold 40% of its interest in the BS-4 offshore concession to OGX, it says, for $270m. The deal, done through a farmout agreement, includes the Atlanta and Oliva fields located in the Santos Basin. Queiroz Galvao remains as operator for the concession, with a 30% interest, and Barra Energia do Brasil keeps its 30% interest. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals, and is the first asset sale under the state-controlled oil producer’s divestment program in its 2012-2016 business plan.
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Ally LatAm Assets Go Back to GM
Ally Financial has agreed to sell its operations in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Chile to General Motors, it says, as part of a larger $4.2bn sale of all Ally’s international assets. The total buy, including European and LatAm operations and 40% of a Chinese joint venture, comes at a $550m premium to book value, GM says. The auto lender formerly known as GMAC has been looking to shed the international operations since May. GM owned GMAC until 2006. Sullivan and Cromwell advised Ally on the deal, expected to close in mid-2013, subject to approvals. It follows the $865m sale of Ally’s ABA Seguros Mexico insurance business to Switzerland’s ACE agreed last month.
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Amil Adds In Europe
Amil Participacoes has agreed to buy the HPP Saude healthcare arm of Portugal’s Caixa Geral de Depositos for EUR85.6m ($109.7m), Caixa says. The transaction was the result of a competitive process and includes an unspecified amount of debt. It is part of the bank’s larger strategy to unload its hospital assets. HPP operates seven hospitals throughout Portugal. Amil is set to become a unit of UnitedHealth, following the conclusion of a merger agreed last month, by which the US provider agreed to pay $4.9bn for 90% of Amil.
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CFR Steps Back from India Buy
CFR Pharmaceuticals will withdraw its attempt to acquire 50% of India-based Stellence Pharmscience Private Limited, due to terms of its April 4 contract not being met, it says. It does not specify what the terms were, and the company did not respond to request for comment. The $21m deal was one of a number that the Chilean pharmaceutical player has made globally, alongside purchases of positions in Vietnam’s Domesco and Allergy Therapeutics in the UK. CFR counts 16 countries in Latin America among its 19-country footprint. CFR raised $368m-eqiuvalent in an IPO last year.
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Pacific Rubiales Adds in Colombia
Pacific Rubiales has agreed to acquire Toronto-listed oil and gas company C&C Energia, which gives it four development blocks in Colombia’s Llanos basin, near Pacific Rubiales’ existing operations, Pacific Rubiales says. In the deal, whose total value is not indicated, C&C shareholders receive Pacific Rubiales shares, as well as shares in a related new exploration company created with C&C assets. C&C is to transfer its Colombian exploration assets in the Putumayo and Middle Magdalena Basins and approximately $80m in cash to the new company, which benefits from “a prospective acreage position with several drill-ready prospects in 2013, a well-funded balance sheet combined with an experienced exploration and management team,” C&C says in a release. Pacific Rubiales is to pay C&C holders 0.3528 common shares and a common share of the new exploration company for each C&C share. The offer values C&C Energia at approximately CAD7.81 ($7.81) per share, representing a premium of approximately 21% to the 20-day volume-weighted price, Pacific Rubiales says, though it does not indicate how many C&C shares are involved in the transaction. Officials at both parties were not available for comment. C&C shares closed at CAD8.85 Monday. The transaction, subject to approvals, is expected to close early next year. GMP Securities and Norton Rose Canada advised Pacific Rubiales. C&C’s financial advisor FirstEnergy Capital, and its legal advisor Blakes, Cassels & Graydon in Canada and Posse Herrera Ruiz in Colombia.
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UK Insurer Expands with Uruguay Purchase
UK-based financial services firm Old Mutual has agreed to acquire a majority stake in AIVA, an Uruguay-based family-held business with over $800m under management, it says. The two have had a distribution relationship and been connected for more than 15 years, says Old Mutual, which plans to leverage AIVA’s broker relationships. Their shareholders had long been discussing ways to grow the partnership, say people familiar with the transaction. Old Mutual declined to elaborate further on its specific plans, the multiples, the deal value or the size of the stake, but names Colombia and Mexico as additional geographies of interest. No external financial advisors were used in the transaction. Old Mutual used Guyer & Regules Lawyers as a legal adviser, and AIVA used Ferrere Lawyers. The financial advisory industry has seen significant changes since 2008’s crisis, with financial advisors having to widen their scope of services, says a source familiar with the industry, adding that independent financial advisors are a growing trend, with the IFAs needing partners to provide back office support and other umbrella services. AIVA’s opportunities have grown along with this trend, making it an attractive target. The move is the latest in the FIG sector from a US or European entrant, following a slate of deals including Scotiabank’s pair of strategic buys in Colombia and Mexico, and asset manager Principal Financial agreeing to acquire Chilean pension fund manager AFP Cuprum.