Wave of 10 takeover bids in 3 months turns Spain into hedge fund paradise

The Spanish stock market is experiencing a year of greater public acquisition offers (takeover bids) since 2007before the financial crisis, as a result of the launch of transactions it was left fallow due to economic uncertainty and increasing interest rates of the last two years, as well as the desire of some investors take advantage of reviews relatively low among some of those listed.

In total the amount ten dangers announced or prepared over the last three months, is about 23,000 million eurosand analysts believe that new operations of this type will appear in the second half of 2024.

The most far-reaching deal is the hostile takeover represented by BBVA at Banco Sabadellvalued at 12 billion although the remuneration consists of shares of the host bank. This integration was already discussed three years ago, and is now being discussed again, although it is awaiting several regulatory approvals.

A possible proposal from a Canadian fund is under negotiation. Brookfield on Grifolswhat can make up about 7000 million and that he has the backing of the pharmaceutical company’s founding family, who want to delist it from the stock market by taking advantage of its slump in value following a critical report on the company from a bearish investor. Gotham City Research.

wars of conquest

Proof of the return of vitality to Spanish M&A activity is the existence various competitive situations for the acquisition of listed companies. I Squared and TDR beat Apollo in a dispute over Applusand now they have attempted a takeover to seize the 29% they do not control. 22% is in the hands of Apollo itself.

Portuguese Bondalti and Italian Esseco They are fighting for control of the chemical group. Ercrosswhose shareholders see it as possible to squeeze a higher price out of these bidders.

When TalgoIts major shareholders and board of directors appear to be satisfied with the Hungarian group’s takeover bid. Hungarian carriagebut Czech Skoda intervened by proposing a merger. However, the CNMV stressed that in the current situation it was only possible to submit a competing offer that would improve the price by 5 euros per share of the first offeror.

The property sector, whose values ​​have been hit by rising interest rates, is also booming. YUSS Real Estate – a fund managed by a Swiss financial group Safra Sarasin – has filed a takeover bid for Arima.. On the other side, Hines and the Lar Group created a consortium to acquire Lar Spain.

The latest takeover bid is a mini-offer launched by eDreams about 3.5% equity capital as compensation to shareholders.

Fewer companies on the stock market

Some observers are concerned that the rise in takeover bids (many of which end in stock market delistings) not compensated by a large number of IPOs (so far only this year Puch debuted), which reduces the size of the Spanish trading platform.

Among the winners of this environment, on the contrary, were hedge funds specialized in corporate operational arbitragewho took positions in several acquired companies in anticipation of higher prices or to take advantage of the difference between the price and the volume of offers.

In the case of Applus, gooseberry hunting funds such as Sand Grove, Samson Rock, Melkart or Maven Investments They played a key role in selling some of their shares to Apollo. Now, TIG consultants retains 3% pending takeover bid by I Squared and TDR.

Grifols has them Melkart and Rokos Globalwith more than 1% of the capital, taking into account a possible offer from Brookfield.

Exploring Cuba He acquired a stake in Sabadell, and other funds are held in the bank through Goldman Sachs derivatives.

Samson Rock appeared in the Ercros share package due to a takeover war, as in Arima, where they are also involved Helium, SquarePoint, Syquant Capital and Yosemite Hedge FundThe current wave of takeover bids in Spain is reminiscent of other times in the UK, the investor said.

Waiting for Naturgy, Solaria and Linea Directa

With merger and acquisition activity on the rise, analysts and investors are looking for signs of what’s next. One of the upcoming deals is a shareholding reorganization Naturgyin response to desire CVC and GIP to sell their 40%. The acquisition of this stake will require the filing of a 100% takeover bid, and Taka agreed on this operation with Caixa criteriathe energy group’s first shareholder, but eventually gave in. The market is confident that sooner or later an investor will emerge who is ready to lead the deal.

Goldman Sachs includes European corporate operations candidates in its list Naturgy together with a renewable energy company Solarium and colonial real estate. In this last company, the strengthening of positions Caixa criteria This could serve as a hedge against possible takeovers. In the real estate sector, future shareholdings in groups such as Merlin or Metrovacesa This may also be in question, depending on the strategy of the banks currently based in its capital.

In renewable energy sources, in addition to solarium, There is also talk about Soltek or Greenergy as possible targets.

Another company that is often speculated about is the insurance company. Straight line.

In addition to Colonial, other Spanish companies such as Telefonica, Indra and ACS The core of shareholders has been strengthened, which may deter the entry of unwanted investors. Sepi and Kaisha Criteria It is the shareholders who create these protective moats.