Alternatives news roundup: Australian casino bets on rival purchase; CPPIB's Indian Invit interest

May 11, 2021

Australian casino vies with two private equity funds to acquire rival; Canada's CPPIB to invest into India Invit fund; Chikyoren hires Nomura and Tokio Marine fund managers for alternative mandates; OTPP real estate arm becomes founding investor in Asia Pacific focused fund; LBC Express Holdings owners consider stake sale; and more.

AUSTRALIA

Australian casino operator Star Entertainment Group on Monday (May 10) proposed an all-stock buyout of larger rival Crown Resorts that it valued at A$9 billion ($7 billion), taking on two private equity giants for control of the troubled company.

Three months after Crown was declared unfit for a gambling licence at its new Sydney resort tower, Star said the share-swap takeover approach would create "one of the largest and most attractive integrated resort operators in the Asia Pacific region".

The move gives Crown shareholders a third acquirer option after buyout giant Blackstone Group upped its all-cash indicative bid to A$8.4 billion, while Oaktree Capital proposed to bankroll a A$3 billion buyback of Crown's founder's stake.

Source: Reuters

Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan put forward a proposal to sell a share of the governing body’s commercial rights to private equity.

He admitted RA ideally would not have contemplated a private-equity deal, but after recording a A$27.1-million loss in the last financial year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the union has little choice. He is set to pitch the proposed sale of a 10% to 15% stake of its commercial rights.

‘We have absolute alignment,’ he said. ‘I can’t see us giving more than 15% away. It will be between 10 to 15%. Probably 12.5%."

Source: SA Rugby Mag

INDIA

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) plans to acquire an additional 15.9% stake in Indian infrastructure investment trust (Invit) IndInfravit for $136 million.

The purchase will raise CPPIB’s stake in the Invit to 43.8%. Subject to regulatory approval, the transaction is due to be completed in May 2021.

IndInfravit, launched in 2018, is sponsored by L&T Infrastructure Development Projects. Its portfolio currently comprises 13 operational road concessions across India.

Source: DealStreetAsia

JAPAN

The Pension Fund Association for Local Government Officials, or Chikyoren, hired Nomura Asset Management and Tokio Marine Asset Management for two separate alternative investment mandates of unspecified value.

Nomura will manage a private debt mandate and Tokio Marine will oversee a domestic infrastructure mandate, the pension fund said in an April 29 statement uploaded to its website last week.

Source: Asia Asset Management

PHILIPPINES

The owners of LBC Express Holdings are considering a stake sale in the Philippine delivery company amid interest from potential buyers, according to people familiar with the matter.

LBC Express’ owners, which include the Araneta family and private equity firm Crescent Point, are in talks with investment banks to help find a buyer for as much as 40% of the business, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. A sale process could kick off later this year and some logistics companies and investment funds have expressed initial interest, one of the people said.

Source: Bloomberg

SINGAPORE

GIC extended its joint venture partnership with UK student accommodation group Unite by 10 years, to September 2032. Unite and GIC will retain their 50% equity stake in the joint venture, which has assets of £814 million ($1.14 billion) as of the end of December 2020.

Unite said the partnership had so far delivered strong development returns and growth in rental income and that it will continue to seek potential acquisitions of investment assets.

Source: Morningstar

Temasek took part in a £195 million ($271 million) funding round in UK-based DNA sequencing firm Oxford Nanopore. The latest funding round brings the startup’s valuation to close to $3.44 billion and its total funding since inception in 2005 to $1.1 billion.

Besides Temasek, new investors in the company include Wellington Management, M&G Investments, and Nikon. Fellow state investor GIC also previously participated in a $140 million funding round.

Oxford Nanopore develops genetic sequencing technology, which is used by the UK government to track Covid-19 virus variants virus globally. The firm said it plans to go public in London later this year.

Source: DealStreetAsia

Swedish autonomous vehicle technology company Einride raised $110 million in a Series B funding round backed by Singapore state investor Temasek, family office Soros Fund Management and venture capital investors Northzone and Maersk Growth.

Existing investors EQT Ventures and Norrsken VC also took part. The new round brings Einride’s total raised so far to $150 million.

Einride’s electric and autonomous pods are designed to carry freight and are used by Oatly, Coca-Cola and Electrolux. The company said the new funds would be used to expand into Europe and the US.

Source: TechCrunch

INTERNATIONAL (EX-ASIA)

Cadillac Fairview, the real estate investment arm of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, is the lead founding investor in a US real estate firm’s new Asia Pacific-focused fund.

Cadillac Fairview injected $400 million in the vehicle, known as Hines Asia Property Partners. It will target opportunities in Japan, Australia, South Korea, Singapore, and Greater China.

“We believe that Asia will accelerate growth and diversification benefits to our portfolio with potential long-term outperformance,” said Duncan Osborne, Cadillac Fairview’s executive vice president of investments. This follows Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan opening of a Singapore office in September 2020. The pension fund set up its Apac headquarters in Hong Kong in 2013.

Source: DealStreetAsia