Merrill DataSite

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Webinar Playback: Best Practices for Strategic Growth: Where to Invest in the Maturing U.S. Economy

Merrill DataSite and ACG Global brought together a panel of leading experts to explore current trends in M&A and how they’re shaping acquisition strategies. The panel makes recommendations on modifying deal approach and deal team composition to ensure greater success in domestic and cross-border transactions. Register here for the webinar playback.

About Merrill DataSite

Merrill DataSite is a secure virtual data room (VDR) solution that optimises the due diligence process by providing a highly efficient and secure method for sharing key business information between multiple parties. Merrill DataSite provides unlimited access for users worldwide, as well as real-time activity reports, site-wide search at the document level, enhanced communications through the Q&A feature and superior project management service - all of which help reduce transaction time and expense. Merrill DataSite’s multilingual support staff is available from anywhere in the world, 24/7, and can have your VDR up and running with thousands of pages loaded within 24 hours or less.

With its deep roots in transaction and compliance services, Merrill Corporation has a cultural, organisation-wide discipline in the management and processing of confidential content. Merrill DataSite is the first VDR provider to understand customer and industry needs by earning an ISO/IEC 27001:2005 certificate of registration – the highest standard for information security – and is currently the world’s only VDR certified for operations in the Europe, United States and Asia.

As the leading provider of VDR solutions, Merrill DataSite has empowered more than two million unique visitors to perform electronic due diligence on thousands of transactions totalling trillions of dollars in asset value. Merrill DataSite VDR solution has become an essential tool in an efficient and legally defensible process for completing multiple types of financial transactions.

For more information, please contact Merrill DataSite: Tel: 1-866-399-3770;
Email: info@datasite.com; Web: http://www.datasite.com

http://www.datasitedeal.com/PlaybackStrategicGrowth?LeadSource=Social_Media&CampaignID=701C0000000iCDV&e=1

Friday, December 13, 2013

Foreign acquisitions look to be driven by US corporate tax rate

Read the full article here: http://bit.ly/18tIDcO

A new trend indicates that tax policy appears to be influencing the mergers and acquisitions decisions being made by multinational companies.

According to a recent New York Times report, cash-rich international firms such as search engine giant Google ended 3Q 2013 with $56 billion in cash held in the US and overseas.

The technology firm is said to be holding more of its cash reserves outside of the US – as around 55 per cent of its quarter 3 revenue came from overseas sources - in a bid to potentially set up a series of acquisitions of foreign companies.

Google's plans seem to follow in the footsteps of another cash-rich tech multinational, Microsoft, which recently acquired Nokia's phone assets for $7.2 billion. Also supporting this trend is Cisco's recent $5 billion purchase of British video company, NDS.

These purchases seem to add weight to the argument that large scale M&A decisions are being made based on certain tax policies. Indeed, BGC Financial analyst, Colin Gillis, confirmed to The New York Times that it was an obvious business decision, saying: “If I was starting a tech company, I’d put it in Luxembourg so I could get bought with a U.S. company’s offshore cash.”

Using offshore income to snap up foreign assets does seem to make more sense on a profitability level than bringing the cash back into the US in order to buy a domestic company asset. The added costs of bringing money back into the US could total millions, depending on the foreign tax credit position of the firm.

Director of deals intelligence at Thomson Reuters, Matthew Toole, told Forbes that there had been 1,554 foreign acquisitions made by cash-rich US companies that appear on the S&P 500 so far this year. Mr Toole listed the total value of those deals at $119 billion.

He confirmed that, although the number of deals has been declining since its 2007 peak, when a total of 2,797 outbound, cross-border deals were carried out, the most recent tally still adds weight to the belief that tax does play a key part in the M&A decisions made by large corporations.

The trend throws up some debate over the recent proposals regarding corporate tax reform in the US, which, if pushed through, would make it tougher for US firms to keep their assets offshore. The reforms could make it more beneficial for these firms to move their cash and assets to the US, which could then impact corporate strategy and, in turn, any M&A decisions being made.

About Merrill DataSite

For more information, please contact Merrill DataSite: Tel: 1-866-867-0309

Email: info@datasite.com; Web: http://www.datasite.com

Read the full article here: http://www.datasite.com/foreign-acquisitions-look-to-be-driven-by-US-corporate-tax-rate125.htm

Monthly M&A Insider, November 2013-MD

Download the report here: http://bit.ly/18tIar9

Merrill DataSite, in association with mergermarket, presents the November edition of the Monthly M&A Insider Report which provides an insight into global deal flow by region, detailing transactional statistics and commentary for Latin America, North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and The Middle East & Africa.

About Merrill DataSite

For more information, please contact Merrill DataSite: Tel: 1-866-399-3770;
Email: info@datasite.com; Web: http://www.datasite.com

Download the report here:

http://www.datasitedeal.com/LP-S2285?LeadSource=Social_Media&CampaignID=701C0000000iBgB&e=1

Friday, December 6, 2013

Monthly M&A Insider: November 2013

The true story behind October’s poor M&A performance – from Merrill DataSite and mergermarket

Download the Monthly M&A Insider: http://bit.ly/18dmfrd

October 2013 was a month of mixed fortunes in global M&A, but is the outlook as gloomy as it seems? Download the latest M&A Insider report from Merrill DataSite and mergermarket to find out.

Our report shows a 9% decrease in deal volume to 947 transactions and a drop of nearly 50% in deal value to US$146.4 billion compared to the previous month.

This latest complimentary ‘Monthly M&A Insider’ report looks behind these figures to reveal what’s really going on in every deal market across the world.

Get your complimentary report...

About Merrill DataSite

Merrill DataSite is a secure virtual data room (VDR) solution that optimises the due diligence process by providing a highly efficient and secure method for sharing key business information between multiple parties. Merrill DataSite provides unlimited access for users worldwide, as well as real-time activity reports, site-wide search at the document level, enhanced communications through the Q&A feature and superior project management service - all of which help reduce transaction time and expense. Merrill DataSite’s multilingual support staff is available from anywhere in the world, 24/7/365, and can have your VDR up and running with thousands of pages loaded within 24 hours or less.

With its deep roots in transaction and compliance services, Merrill Corporation has a cultural, organisation-wide discipline in the management and processing of confidential content. Merrill DataSite is the first VDR provider to understand customer and industry needs by earning an ISO 27001certificate of registration – the highest standard for information security – and is currently the world’s only VDR certified for operations in the Europe, United States and Asia.

For more information, please contact Merrill DataSite: Tel: +44 (0)845 602 6916;
Email: info@datasite.com ; Web: http://www.datasite.com

Download the report here: http://www.datasitedeal.com/UK-178?LeadSource=Social_Media&CampaignID=701C0000000iANu

Canadian pension fund makes another major UK acquisition

Read the full article here: http://bit.ly/1beXHuR

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (Teachers') has recently made a string of UK acquisitions, just recently making its second major UK-based acquisition in less than a month, with the £350 million purchase of Burton's Biscuit Company from private equity owners Apollo Global Management and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.

This highlights a trend that has marked out pension funds as serious players in consumer goods' sector acquisitions.

Burton's Biscuit Company, based in St Albans, Hertfordshire– which counts Wagon Wheels and Jammie Dodgers amongst its top-selling products, as well as Cadbury Fingers and other Cadbury biscuits made under licence – had sales of more than $538 million last year. It is the UK’s second biggest biscuit maker behind United Biscuits.

More than 30 potential buyers were circling the company when it came up for sale, with reports suggesting that Cadbury owner Mondelez International, and Pepperidge Farm biscuits owner Campbell Soup Co. were interested, but the winning bid was eventually made by Teachers' private equity arm. The existing Burtons' management team is to retain a “substantial minority stake” in the business, reports have confirmed.

Head of Teachers' London office, Jo Taylor, told The Guardian newspaper: “With its portfolio of iconic brands, Burton’s is set to lead the premium biscuit market for some time to come and use product innovation to appeal to consumers looking for delicious treats and snacks inside and outside the home."

"We look forward to supporting Burton's outstanding management team to grow the business in the UK and further into overseas markets. There are also many strategic acquisitions to consider in those territories that can enhance these ambitious growth plans," she added.

A few weeks prior to this latest acquisition, Teachers' snapped up the UK-based Busy Bees nursery chain, and is aiming to assist this organization to expand into other markets outside of Britain, just as it hopes to do with Burtons' Biscuits.

About Merrill DataSite

For more information, please contact Merrill DataSite: Tel: 1-866-399-3770;
Email: info@datasite.com; Web: http://www.datasite.com

Read the full article here:

http://www.datasite.com/canadian-pension-fund-makes-another-major-UK-acquisition124.htm

Divestitures driving M&A activity in US oil and gas sector, PwC finds

Read the full article here: http://bit.ly/1c8SQMR

US oil and gas merger and acquisition (M&A) activity was driven mainly by divestitures of oil and gas assets over the third quarter of 2013, new research has found.

PricewaterhouseCooper’s (PwC) US quarterly analysis of M&As in the US energy sector, found that 43 oil and gas deals with values of more than $50 million took place over the three months to the end of September this year. Totaling $16.4 billion, these deals represented a drop from the 45 deals which were worth a total of $37.6 billion over the same time period in 2012.

The research also noted a decline in deal volume of 9 per cent from the second quarter of this year to the third quarter, with the value of those deals also dropping by 46 per cent over that time. Earlier this year, PwC attributed the decline in part to oil and gas companies focusing on integrating assets acquired over the previous year.

Of the deals that did take place, divestiture activity accounted for a huge part, representing $13.9 billion in total deal value. In terms of total deal volume, divestiture activity made up 84 per cent, accounting for 36 transactions in total.

Shale deals represented 15 transactions in the upstream sector, accounting for $5 billion, while no shale deal activity was recorded in the midstream sector over the time period. In terms of the most active shale-related players, the Eagle Ford shale formation in South Texas completed seven total transactions which contributed $1.7 billion to third quarter activity, while North Dakota’s Bakken formation contributed three deals and $1.8 billion. The Utica formation chipped in two deals and $284 million over the time period.

The PwC report revealed that foreign buyers and private equity buyers eager to snap up US assets, were responsible for driving the majority of the M&A transactions in the US oil and gas arena.

Foreign buyers completed nine deals in the sector in the third quarter – worth a total of 17 per cent of total deal value and $2.8 billion to the sector – they also pushed up 2012 activity levels, when just four deals worth $4 billion were carried out. Indeed, the number of deals done by foreign buyers rose by an astonishing 800 per cent from the second quarter of this year to the third quarter.

PwC predicted that the interest in the US oil and gas sector would continue to be high for foreign buyers, saying: “Gaining access to technology, a skilled labor force and other intangibles are important factors driving interest in US shale/tight oil assets.”

About Merrill DataSite

For more information, please contact Merrill DataSite: Tel: 1-866-867-0309

Email: info@datasite.com; Web: http://www.datasite.com

Read the full article here: http://www.datasite.com/divestitures-driving-mergers-acquisitions-activity-US-oil-gas-sector123.htm