An tacit ‘yes’ to an unwelcome takeover May 24, 2021
Billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong was viewed as something of a white knight when Tribune Publishing, the company behind titles such as the New York Daily News and the Chicago Tribune, sought to fend off a takeover from Gannett Co. in 2016.
Five years later, members of the Tribune Publishing union hoped he would come to their rescue again by blocking Alden Global Capital—a hedge fund infamous for cutting newsroom budgets and staff—from buying the business for $630 million and creating the second largest newspaper publisher by circulation.
But the white knight did not show up. On Friday, Soon-shiong, the second largest shareholder in Tribune, abstained from the vote. And in doing so, he tacitly approved the deal.
The union’s focus on Soon-Shiong was not unwarranted: The deal required two-thirds approval from non-Alden shareholders, giving Soon-Shiong—the inventor of a cancer drug— the ability to veto said deal. Alden already owned about 31% of the company.
But on Friday, Soon-Shiong had apparently failed to check any boxes—including the “abstain” box that would have counted as a “no” vote, thereby counting his vote as a “yes.” In a statement to Bloomberg, a spokeswoman for Soon-Shiong—who lives primarily in Los Angeles—said the investor had considered Tribune to be a passive investment and that he was focused on his and his family’s investments in the Los Angeles Times and San Diego Tribune.
The day before the vote was tallied, the Washington Post released a story quoting the billionaire saying that he’d only just realized the Friday vote would decide the fate of the Tribune. Though he also perhaps offered hints of his thinking: “I was hoping that there [was] more than one buyer coming through the process,” he told the Post.
While Tribune had agreed to sell to Alden in February, another group led by Maryland hotel executive Stewart W. Bainum Jr. and Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss expressed interest in buying the whole company for $680 million. But Wyss, who would have paid for the majority of the deal, later took himself off the table, leaving Bainum scrambling to find a new partner. The Friday vote effectively ends those efforts.
It’s expected Alden will begin cutting and consolidating operations at Tribune. The question now, though, is how Soon-Shiong (who invested about $70.5 million for a stake in Tribune now valued around $150 million) will manage the properties he says are less passive investments: the Los Angeles Times and San Diego Tribune. In February, the Wall Street Journal reported that Soon-Shiong was looking to sell the Times, which he had acquired for $500 million from Tribune Publishing in 2018. In a tweet and subsequent media appearances, though, Soon-Shiong has repeatedly emphasized plans to stay in the business: “WSJ article inaccurate. We are committed to the LATimes,” he tweeted in February.
Nevertheless, it’s a reminder that the news-media business has become a difficult one even as many billionaires swoop in for properties. Finding cures to cancer, it seems, may be an easier business than news media.
SNAP’S BIGGEST ACQUISITION: The social media company behind SnapChat, Snap, has acquired an augmented reality display company for over $500 million, the Verge first reported (and Term Sheet has confirmed). Roughly half of that will be paid in stock upon the closing of the deal, and the other half will be paid via either cash or stock in two years. The acquisition is perhaps the strongest sign yet of the company’s focus on AR-related eyewear—even if it is a far-afield bet that Snap CEO Evan Spiegel admits may not materialize for years.
Lucinda Shen
Twitter: @shenlucinda
Email: lucinda.shen@fortune.com
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VENTURE DEALS
- Zeta, a maker of fintech infrastructure with offices in India and Dubai, raised $250 million in Series D funding. SoftBank Vision Fund 2 led the round and was joined by investors including Sodexo.
- Aurora Solar, a San Francisco-based software platform for solar sales and design, raised $250 million in Series C funding. Coatue led the round and was joined by investors including ICONIQ Capital, Energize Ventures and Fifth Wall.
- Riiid, a South Korea-based tutoring provider using A.I., raised $175 million from the SoftBank Vision Fund 2.
- Tenstorrent, a Canada-based A.I. chip company, raised $200 million at a $1 billion valuation. Fidelity Management and Research Company led the round and was joined by investors including Eclipse Ventures, Epic CG and Moore Capital.
- ComplyAdvantage, a London-based financial crime detection company, raised $70 million in Series C funding. Goldman Sachs led the round.
- Faculty, a U.K.-based A.I. company, raised £30 million ($42.5 million) from Apax Digital Fund.
- SevenFifty, a New York City-based provider of web-based and mobile technology solutions for the alcoholic beverage industry, raised $23 million in new funding. Level Equity led the round.
- SiLC Technologies, a Monrovia, Calif.-based maker of a chip for machine vision, raised $17 million in Series A funding. Alter Venture Partners and Dell Technologies Capital led the round and were joined by investors including OSRAM Ventures, Sony Innovation Fund by IGV, Epson, UMC Capital, Yamato Holdings, and Global Brain.
- Mile Auto, an Atlanta-based insurtech company using computer vision and decision analytics to offer car insurance based on mileage, raised $10.3 million in seed funding. Investors include Ulu Ventures, Emergent Ventures, Thornton Capital, and Sure Ventures.
- iLife, a Playa Vista, Calif.-based maker of branded, digital insurance, raised $4 million in seed funding. Foundation Capital led the round and was joined by investors including AME Cloud Ventures and Cherubic Ventures.
- Recyclops, a Sandy, Utah-based recycling startup with curbside pickup, raised $3 million in seed funding. Lerer Hippeau and Glad, a member of The Clorox Company, led the round alongside Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund and the Utah-based Kickstart.
PRIVATE EQUITY
- H.I.G. Capital agreed to acquire Travis Perkins' plumbing and heating business, a U.K.-based company, for £325 million ($460 million).
- Altamont Capital Partners acquired INTERMIX, an omnichannel fashion retailer, from Gap (NYSE: GAP). Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- ACON Investments recapitalized Diverzify+, an Itasca, Ill.-based flooring contractor. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- Ares Management agreed to acquire Black Creek Group's U.S. real estate investment advisory and distribution business. Black Creek Group is based in Denver. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- TEAM Technologies, backed by Clearlake Capital Group, acquired Precision Die Cutting, a Chino, Calif.-based medical specialty manufacturer specializing in skin-contacting technologies and infection prevention products. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- PSG acquired Billwerk, a Germany-based subscription billing software provider. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- Thoma Bravo invested in PDFTron, a Canadian enterprise software provider. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
EXITS
- Morgan Stanley Capital Partners invested in Nivel Parts & Manufacturing, a Jacksonville, Fla.-based maker of aftermarket parts for personal transportation vehicles, utility terrain vehicles and heavy-duty equipment. Kelso and Company was the seller. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
OTHER
- Kansas City Southern agreed to merge with Canadian National Railway (TO:CNR), a fellow rail operator, for $30 billion, foregoing a $25 billion deal with Canadian Pacific Railway.
- Marfrig Global Foods acquired about a quarter of fellow Brazil-based BRF SA’s outstanding shares for an estimated $800 million, per Reuters. BRF is the world’s largest poultry exporter.
- Axel Springer is in talks to acquire Axios, an Arlington, Va.-based digital news outlet, per the Wall Street Journal and the Information. Axios is hoping the deal will value the company at $400 million to $450 million.
- Enveric Biosciences (Nasdaq: ENVB) agreed to acquire MagicMed Industries, a Canada-based biotech focused on creating therapies using psychedelic molecules.
IPOS
- JD Logistics, a Beijing-based supply chain and logistics company, is set to raise about $3.2 billion in an IPO in Hong Kong. The deal would be at the low end of its previously set pricing range.
- MedPlus Health Services, an Indian pharmacy chain, is planning for an IPO to raise $300 million in the country, per Bloomberg. Warburg Pincus backs the firm.
- Centessa Pharmaceuticals, a Cambridge, U.K.-based biotech spinning out of Medicxi, plans to raise $285 million in an offering of 15 million shares priced between $18 to $20. Index Ventures and General Atlantic also back the firm.
- Kanzhun, a Beijing-based recruiting platform, filed to raise $100 million. Investors including Tencent and Coatue back the firm.
- Core & Main, a St. Louis-based distributor of water, wastewater, storm drainage and fire protection products, filed to raise $100 million in an IPO. Clayton, Dubilier, and Rice backs the firm.
- Convey Holding Parent, a Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-based maker of healthcare software focused on government-sponsored health plans, filed to raise $100 million. TPG backs the firm.
- AMTD Digital, the Hong Kong-based fintech unit spinning out of AMTD, filed to raise $100 million.
- TGI Fridays, a Dallas-based restaurant chain, plans to go public in London in the third quarter of the year. Electra Private Equity backs the firm.
SPACS
- Accor, a French hotelier, is planning to raise 300 million euros ($366 million) via the listing of a SPAC. It will seek a deal in sectors such as food and beverage, flexible working, entertainment and events, wellness and travel technology.
PEOPLE
- Traub Capital, a New York City-based private equity firm focused on the consumer sector, named David West as a Managing Director.
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