Merger activity increased last week with two new deals announced, one deal closing and one deal terminated. The increase in merger activity last week was not very significant as only two new deals were announced. The merger of Standard Diversified (SDI) into a wholly owned subsidiary of Turning Point Brands (TPB) is a tax-free merger. The transaction was first announced by the companies in November 2019 and confirmed last week. The second deal was a going private transaction, where the Stern Group, comprised of Gary Stern, Ricky Stern and certain related parties will acquire the outstanding publicly held shares of common stock of Asta Funding (ASFI).
The most significant update from our active deals last week was Woodward (WWD) and Hexcel Corporation (HXL) mutually terminating their merger agreement. The termination was a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the aerospace and industrial sectors.
The impact of the pandemic was also seen in other deals. The acquisition of Tiffany by LVMH might potentially be delayed. Some companies have asked their shareholders to attend shareholder meetings virtually during the lockdown period.
On the positive side, Infineon Technologies AG obtained antitrust clearance from China’s State Administration for Market Regulation for its merger transaction with Cypress Semiconductor (CY) and Anixter’s (AXE) shareholders approved the transaction between Anixter and WESCO International (WCC).
You can find all the active deals listed below in our Merger Arbitrage Tool (MAT) that automatically updates itself during market hours.