Vodafone’s [LON:VOD] EUR 16bn “landmark” joint venture with KKR and GIP for its stake in Vantage Towers [ETR: VTWR] sets the tone this week. The deal deconsolidates Vodafone’s 81% stake in Vantage and will trigger an offer to minority shareholders.

The communications infrastructure sector has been a source of excitement after Deutsche Telekom’s [ETR: DTE] received EUR 10bn for a 51% stake in its radio towers business Deutsche Funkturm in July.

The Vodafone deal will take total dealmaking in the sector so far this year to EUR 35.19bn worth of deals across 14 transaction in the year to date, up from EUR 18.35bn worth of deals across 17 transaction in the same period in 2021.

Joint ventures are, of course, to be expected as the heat comes out of the M&A cycle. Mick Basa writes that joint ventures in the data centre sector in Asia appear to be on the rise. There were seven JVs set up in the sector between 2018 and May 2021, this has risen to 19 companies forming JVs involving some form of data center investment, worth around USD 3.4bn.

Meanwhile, Dominic Pasteiner interviewed ClearBank’s CEO Charles McManus who is considering joint ventures, strategic partnerships, and M&A among the options for its planned US entry. McManus noted that the market could present banking sector consolidation opportunities by “shaking out the weakest”.

Panasonic [TYO:6752] is another company looking to refashion a subsidiary as it looks to growth. Panasonic Connect is planning bolt-on buys globally to enhance its supply chain management as it looks to list a majority stake in the business, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) and Senior Executive Vice President Hideaki Harada told Ryuya Shiga in an interview.

Supply chain woes coupled with ever soaring energy costs have been a constant theme this year. Energy costs have now hit European fertiliser M&A, Kezia Joseph writes. The sector is heavily influenced by gas prices, which provides critical feedstock for producing ammonia, a key component of nitrogen fertilisers.  European fertiliser deal values have dropped to EUR 930m in 2022 year-to-date (YTD), which compares to EUR 5.1bn for the full year in 2020.

In the US, Albertson’s [NYSE:ACI] gained a win this week in the courts in relation to its deal with Kroger  [NYSE:KR]. Mark Andress hopes that the transaction will spur further supermarket M&A activity in 2023. The triggers for activity include fatigue faced by founder-run retailers battered by Covid-19, followed by a looming recession. Huge marketing costs faced by retailers across multiple digital channels, such as TikTok, Facebook and Instagram as well as many private-equity firms looking to sell their retail holdings, could also trigger deal flow. 

Staying with retail, Cristiano Bona and Micaela Osella revealed that fashion conglomerate LVMH [EPA: MC] is interested in Italy-based Dr. Vranjes Firenze. The BlueGem Capital Partners-owned business has also been in advanced talks with an unnamed fund. We’ll be looking to the first quarter of 2023 for the outcome of the deal talks.

And finally, the EC opened its Phase II investigation into Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of “Call of Duty” developer, Activision this week. To understand more about the hurdles the deal has faced so far, tune in to our Chief Regulatory Correspondent, Jacob Parry’s podcast.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s newsletter, please feel free to forward and share on social media as always!

Lucinda Guthrie

Executive Editor, Mergermarket

Lucinda.Guthrie@iongroup.com

News & analysis

Center stage: joint venture activity bubbling up as data investors look south
DATA INSIGHT APAC
APAC-focused data center M&A has been booming since 2019, as technology companies race to undergo digital transformation. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic intensified transformation activity, supercharging...
 
ClearBank explores M&A options for US entry – CEO
INTERVIEW EMEA
ClearBank is considering strategic partnerships, joint ventures, and M&A among the options for its planned US entry, CEO Charles...

Panasonic Connect explores bolt-on buys; working with Blue Yonder – CSO
INTERVIEW APAC
Panasonic Connect, a Tokyo, Japan-based B2B solutions subsidiary of electronics giant Panasonic Holdings [TYO:6752], is exploring...

Barren landscape: Gas volatility hits fertiliser M&A
DATA INSIGHT EMEA
European fertiliser M&A is as volatile as the natural gas it relies on. The sector is heavily influenced by gas prices, which provides...

Retail therapy: Kroger’s Albertsons deal underpins robust M&A outlook
DATA INSIGHT AMERICAS
In a year when the dollar value of M&A transactions has dropped 44% in North America, the retail sector is an exception....

LVMH emerges as interested bidder in Dr. Vranjes sale - sources
BREAKING NEWS EMEA
Italy-based Dr. Vranjes Firenze has attracted the interest of fashion conglomerate LVMH [EPA: MC], one of two parties that are...

Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard – what regulatory challenges have they faced so far?
PODCAST EMEA
In this episode we’re looking at regulatory approval of a huge deal in the gaming industry, Microsoft’s takeover of Activision Blizzard which...

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