As the US stocks move south after the disappointing US nonfarm
payrolls report for June jolted investors, several M&A activities
took place around the world. Some notable M&A activities are
discussed here.
BofA to Sell Insurance Unit to Securian
Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC)
said late Thursday that it has agreed to sell its Balboa Life Insurance
Co. unit to a privately-held Securian Dinancial Group Inc., an
insurance and retirement planning company based in St. Paul Minnesota.
No terms were disclosed for the deal, which involves Balboa Life
Insurance Company and Balboa Life Insurance Company of New York. Bank of
America had sold the home insurance unit of Balboa for $700 million to
QBE Insurance in February, but retained the life insurance unit.
Securian said it will combine the Balboa Life businesses into its St.
Paul headquarters operations in 2012. The deal is expected to close on
October 1, 2011. Shares of Bank of America were trading lower by 1.97
percent to $10.71 on Friday.
EBay to Acquire Mobile billing Company Zong for $240 Million
EBay
Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY) said, it has agreed to acquire Zong, a leading
provider of payments through mobile carrier billing, for total
consideration of approximately $240 million in cash. Zong leverages
connections with more than 250 mobile network operators around the
world, offering localized, secure and easy-to-use payments capabilities
for digital goods and services in 21 languages and 45 countries.
Combined with PayPal’s leading global payment platform serving 100
million active accounts worldwide, the company expects that Zong will
add complementary technology and talent that help strengthen PayPal’s
leadership position in mobile payments and digital goods. With this
acquisition Zong will extend its services to PayPal’s more than 9
million merchants around the world. EBay does not expect the acquisition
to have any material impact on its financial guidance. EBAY is down
0.60 percent to $33.13 on Friday.
Carlyle in Talks to Acquire Energy Capital Partners: Report
The
Washington-based private equity firm Carlyle Group, which is preparing
for an initial public offering, is in talks to buy energy focused peer
Energy Capital partners, the New York Times reported, citing person with
direct knowledge of the negotiations. The person said that the
discussions began three-months ago and may not lead to a deal. Energy
Capital Partners, which invests primarily in power generation, electric
transmission, midstream gas and other energy markets has raised about $7
billion to invest in energy infrastructure assets including gas,
electric and alternative power plants, according to its website. With
the acquisition and a public offering, Carlyle is targeting to take
advantage of more stable stock markets to join its rivals Blackstone
Group LP and Apollo Global Management LLC.
