M&A Report: Aleris, Avira and Speedo In the News

In keeping with our mission to provide comprehensive advertising analysis, MediaRadar puts together a report of the most important mergers and acquisitions news each week. Stay in the loop, whether you sell advertising space or focus on business development. 

This week, Novelis gets a thumbs up to move forward with Aleris, Avira is acquired by Investcorp and the North American Speedo brand is reunited with its global counterparts. 

Novelis to move forward with Aleris acquisition

Novelis has gotten approval from the federal government to move ahead with their acquisition of Aleris, a major producer of aluminium products. The deal is valued at $2.6 billion, including an assumption of debt. 

The Justice Department sued to block the deal in September over antitrust concerns of allowing two of the four major producers of aluminum auto part manufacturers to combine market power. One stipulation the government required to approve the acquisition mandates that Novelis fully divest Aleris’ aluminium auto body sheet operations in North America. 

President and CEO of Novelis, Steve Fisher commented that the deal “will allow Novelis to further extend our position as the world leader in aluminum rolling and recycling and meet increasing customer demand for high-performing, sustainable aluminum solutions.”  

Avira purchased by Investcorp’s Technology Partners Division

German cybersecurity company Avira has been acquired by Investcorp’s Technology Partners division. The financial terms of the deal have not been made public, but speculators estimate a total valuation of $180 million. 

Investcorp is a global manager of alternative investment products that controls about $34.2 billion in assets which include corporate investment, real estate, hedge funds, and credit management. The corporation plans to use Avira as a base around which it will consolidate other security products and expand its market footprint in the Middle East. 

Cybersecurity has been a reasonable market for investors for many years, but recent shelter in place mandates have increased online security needs for individuals and companies around the world. 

Pentland Group unifies the global Speedo business

PVH Corp. announced that it has completed the sale of its Speedo North American business to Pentland Group for $170 million in cash. 

Speedo International Limited is a performance swimwear brand acquired by Pentland Group in 1991. PVH, the parent of Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, and Izod, acquired Speedo’s North American business in 2013. With this deal, Pentland Group reunites the Speedo business globally. 

For PVH, the transaction aligns with its long-term growth strategy of focusing on global brands like Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger. 

In Other News

Here are the other deals, rumors and news updates we have kept tabs on this week: 

• Verizon Communications Inc. has agreed to buy video-conferencing company Blue Jeans Network Inc. for about $500 million. 

• German software corporation SAP is gauging interest in a possible deal to sell its mobile network unit. 

• According to Reuters, JCPenney (NYSE: JCP) might be close to filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as revenue dries up after the retailer was forced into temporarily closing its 850 department stores, while furloughing almost all of its 95,000 employees. 

• Elanco Animal Health Inc. is moving forward with its acquisition of Bayer AG’s animal health business which was announced back in August last year. The deal is valued at $7.6 billion and, if approved, would double Elanco’s Companion Animal business and create the second-largest animal health company behind Zoetis. 

• Last November, Allegro Merger Corp. announced a $380 million business combination transaction, which would result in TGI Fridays going public. However, in light of the development of the pandemic over the past month, Allegro withdrew from the deal and terminated the pending transaction, citing the reason as “extraordinary marketing conditions and the failure to meet necessary closing conditions.” 

• As COVID-19 effectively shuts down large parts of the world and stalls the global economy, companies around the world have been forced to put mergers and acquisitions on pause. According to Bloomberg Law, there have been 66 M&A deals terminated since the WHO declared global pandemic on March 11, more than January and February combined. M&A activity fell 25% from last year, and the value of M&A transactions in Q1 2020 was also significantly lower than that of Q1 2019, $618 billion compared to $956 billion.