Deal Dispatch: Abbott, TPG, Lonza making big strides; M&M Custard & New Fortress Energy Struggle – Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT), Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA)

New on the block

• Swiss life sciences giant Lonza group is shopping the capsules and health ingredients division, and the shortlist is full of private equity heavy players. In the running: Altar, Lone Star FundsAnd One rock capital. Expected sales price: minimum €2.5 billion (US$2.8 billion). Think of it as a showdown along the supplements, only the vitamins cost more than in most small countries.

• Reuters reports this Unilever (NYSE:UL) is considering an auction for its British brands (namely Marmite and Colman’s).

Updates from the block

• Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) makes a mega step in cancer diagnostics and agrees to acquire Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS). The price tag? As much as $21 billion in cash. That’s $105 per share, and a 22% premium. Cologuard, the at-home colorectal cancer screening test that has been used 20 million times since 2014, is the main attraction here. Abbott wants to gain access to the booming world of oncology diagnostics, plus Exact’s powerful primary care sales force and extensive product pipeline.

• Global asset manager TPG makes a $1 billion bet Tata Advice in India. The focus is on AI-powered data centers, a sector that is soaking up the most private equity – especially in the US Andrew Ross Sorkin recently told the New Yorker that if we “eliminate all spending on data centers… the United States would have a growth rate of about 0.1%.”

• Three bids have been submitted Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Thursday, with no clear choice for its board, Axios reported. Paramount Skydance (NASDAQ:PSKY) has a regulatory advantage (President Trump and the Ellison family accomplices). Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) only wants the wealth of Warner Bros. streaming assets (i.e. properties like “Superman” and “Harry Potter”). And then there is Comcast‘s (NASDAQ:CMCSA) bid, which is under pressure due to Trump’s dislike of the CEO Brian Roberts.

Bankruptcy Block

• M&M Custard LLCa major franchisee Freddy’s Frozen Custard And Steak burgershas filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company, which operates more than 30 locations in six states, cited rising food and labor costs as the main reasons for its financial troubles. Despite having $5.52 million in assets and $27.7 million in liabilities, M&M Custard has stated that it has no plans to close any more stores. Unpleasant the Independent. The bankruptcy filing follows the closure of some locations in the Chicago market, but 31 franchise locations are still operational and the company aims to keep all other stores open.

• Shares of New Fortress Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:NFE) fell 13% after the company warned it could seek bankruptcy protection if the efIt is not possible to negotiate an out-of-court restructuring with lenders. The New York-based liquefied natural gas supplier, which serves markets in the Caribbean and Latin America, is struggling with debt and declining revenues. The company is also considering restructuring its debt through a UK court case if liquidity problems persist. Over the past year, shares of New Fortress Energy have fallen 84%, wiping out more than $3.5 billion in shares, according to Bloomberg reports.

For the previous edition of Deal Dispatch, click here.

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