Bryan Matthews

Advent buys Cobham.     Advent International buys Cobham for $5 billion.     Cobham is a British defense and aerospace group known for its innovative air-to-air refueling ability.  It also makes electronic combat systems and specialized communications gear for vehicles, aircraft, and ships.     The company was created in 1934 by Sir Alan Cobham, a pilot in the first world war and a pioneer of long-distance flying.  Cobham’s technology made air refueling widespread and gave RAF planes the range to carry out missions in the Falklands war of 1982.     David Lockwood of Cobham said: ‘This offer reflects the potential for future growth and improving performance and is an endorsement of our turnaround strategy and our hard-working people.  We have worked intensively over the last two and a half years to focus on our customers and our financial and operating performance.  These fundamentals, along with the investment in the bu...

Yellow Wood buys Dr. Scholl’s.     Yellow Wood Partners buys Dr. Scholl’s from Bayer for $585 million.     Dr. Scholl’s was founded 110 years ago.  It's famous for insoles, inserts, and a variety of foot care and healing products.  Yellow Wood will acquire the product rights to Dr. Scholl’s in the Americas and take over 30 dedicated brand personnel in the United States and Canada.     Dana Schmaltz of Yellow Wood said: ‘The Yellow Wood team is excited to become the next steward of the iconic Dr. Scholl’s brand.  Dr. Scholl’s is the leading brand in the footcare category, and we see great potential to grow the brand in its existing and other sales channels.  The brand fits well into the Yellow Wood consumer-focused business model as our firm has the operating experience from other carve-out investments to work with the Bayer employees who are continuing with the brand to build an exciting new stand-alone platform company.’   ...

Prologis buys IPT.     Prologis buys Industrial Property Trust for $3.99 billion.     The evolution of e-commerce and faster delivery times has created a demand for industrial real estate in logistics hubs near big cities everywhere.     This deal is for a 37.5 million square foot operating portfolio of 236 properties located across 24 geographic areas.  It opens out the Prologis presence in Southern California, the Bay Area, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Seattle, and New Jersey.     IPT was created in 2012 by Black Creek Group, a private-equity firm that focuses on real estate.     Hamid Moghadam of Prologis said: ‘We are off to an excellent start to the second half of the year as we’ve entered into an agreement to acquire IPT.  The acquisition of this high-quality portfolio will deliver added shareholder value upon close.’     Eugene Reilly of Prologis said: ‘This is a compelling opportunity to ac...

Macquarie buys KCOM.     Macquarie Group unit MEIF 6 Fibre buys KCOM Group for $1.1 billion.     Created in 1899 as the telephone department of Hull Municipal Corporation, KCOM now offers managed network and cloud-based services across the United Kingdom.     Britain's Takeover Panel, which regulates merger and acquisition activity, put the company up for auction. In a rare intervention, the takeover regulator said the competitive nature of earlier bids called for an auction process.     KCOM issued a profit warning last year after management changes, including the departure of its chief executive and finance chief.     Former British Telecom executive Graham Sutherland was appointed CEO in October 2018 and announced a review of KCOM's business strategy a month later.

Platinum Equity buys Multi-Color.     Platinum Equity buys Multi-Color for $2.5 billion and merges it with WS Packaging.     The joint company will be named Multi-Color, with 86 plants in 26 countries, and 10,000 employees.     Multi-Color is a label solutions provider of pressure-sensitive, in-mold, shrink sleeve, wraps, cut and stack, heat transfer, durables , and aluminum foils for home and personal care, wine and spirits, food and beverage, health care, and specialty consumer products.     Nigel Vinecombe of Multi-Color said: ‘I am excited for this opportunity to open new areas of growth for our company that will allow us to even better serve our customers with a comprehensive suite of label solutions across all regions, technologies, and run lengths. This is a testament to all Multi-Color has achieved in our mission to deliver the world`s best premium label solutions - and we are confident this is the beginning of what we will do ...