Asia Flash: Hitachi Chemical and HCM attract attention due to price and timeline of Hitachi’s precedent subsidiary divests   The strong market reaction to the report, which was published after the market closed on 31 January, might reflect the deep discount to fair value at which stocks in Japan, particularly those in which parents hold substantial

Ellie Mae [NYSE:ELLI], a developer of software for mortgage origination, has retained Morgan Stanley to explore a sale, said three sources familiar with the situation.   The sale consideration comes as interested financial sponsors have reached out to the Pleasanton, California-based fintech company in recent weeks, these sources said.   Once

Hitachi [TYO:6501] is in the process of selecting a financial advisor to examine strategic options, including a potential sale of its stake in Tokyo-based functional materials manufacturer Hitachi Chemical [TYO:4217], sources familiar with the situation said.   A beauty parade was held with many investment banks and advisory firms pitching for

The planned merger of Fiserv [NASDAQ:FISV] with First Data [NYSE:FDC] is likely to kick off a round of consolidation among financial software companies and payment processors, five sector advisers said.   A key player in the potential talks will be FIS [NYSE:FIS], Fiserv’s major competitor in banking software, the sector advisors noted. Jacksonville,

The Department of Justice (DoJ) has sent letters to some television broadcast groups discussing plans to investigate operational agreements commonly known as “sidecars”, said five sources familiar with the matter.   Some broadcasters have already received civil investigative demands (CIDs), according to three of the sources. The names of specific

As takeover talks between Apollo and RPC Group [LON:RPC] approach their fifth put-up-or-shut-up (PUSU) deadline, the prospects of a deal look little better than a coin toss, according to historical success rates tracked by Dealreporter. Average success rates on deals which extend beyond the initial 28-day PUSU deadline are around 60%, according to Dealreporter

European spin-off activity is set to continue briskly next year as businesses such as automotive suppliers strive to re-rate in the face of industrial disruption and pre-empt activism incursions, market practitioners say. A range of demergers occurred in 2018 across a variety of sectors in Europe, including asset management firm Quilter’s [LON:QLT]

  Financial sponsor Siris Capital is pursuing Travelport Worldwide [NYSE:TVPT] as the company explores a sale, said three sources familiar with the situation.   A second private equity firm is also looking at the UK-based travel technology services provider, two of these sources said. One of the sources said that London-based financial sponsor

Shire [LON:SHP] and Takeda’s [TYO: 4502] proposed divestiture package to gain European Commission (EC) merger approval is unlikely to face hurdles in finding a buyer, two industry experts and two lawyers said.   Among the reasons that bidders could find Shire’s Phase 3 SHP647 drug for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) attractive are its clean safety

  Key shareholders of the tracking stock Dell Technologies [NYSE:DVMT] are increasingly hardening against a deal as Dell and its private equity partner have not come to the negotiating table, sources familiar with the matter said.   Activist investor Carl Icahn, who has publicly opposed the deal, told this news service: “Based on our discussion