Deal Dispatch: Trump M&A Boom Is A Bust, Purple Mattress Considers Sale, Celtics Auction Heats Up

New On The Block

Purple Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRPL) is considering a sale.

After receiving “unsolicited expressions of interest,” the mattress maker is exploring all possibilities to boost shareholder value.

Purple's board established a special committee of independent directors to evaluate the offers. In 2023, the company rejected an unsolicited buyout from Coliseum Capital Management.

In other auction block news:

• Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE:ADM) is considering a sale of its futures brokerage arm, according to Bloomberg.
  
• Advent International wants to get rid of Ultra PCS, a Kansas defense tech company. Bloomberg estimates the price tag to be about $1 billion.
  
• Pollen Street Group owns a majority stake in Berlin-based debt collector Pair Finance GmbH for roughly €300 million ($328 million). But not for long, Bloomberg reports. Centerview Partners is advising the sale process.
  
• Green Dot Corporation (NYSE:GDOT), a digital bank and fintech firm, hired Citi to help explore strategic alternatives, including a sale.

Updates From The Block

• Sportico reports that William Chisholm, managing partner of Symphony Technology Group, has emerged as a new bidder for The Boston Celtics. The Friedkin Group, Phillies minority owner Stan Middleman and current Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca are also bidding.

• Compass is in talks to acquire HomeServices of America, Warren Buffett's real-estate brokerage business. The price tag remains unknown. HomeServices, owned by Berkshire Hathaway, had about 820 brokerage offices and 270 franchisees and about 5,400 employees last year. The Wall Street Journal first reported the news.

• Ares Acquisition Corp. II, a SPAC, is in talks to merge with autonomous trucking company Kodiak Robotics. Per Bloomberg, the deal valuation hovers $2 billion.

Off The Block

• Endo and Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals agreed to merge in a transaction that values the combined entity at $6.7 billion.

• HIG Capital completed its acquisition of Quisitive Technology Solutions, an Irving, Texas-based Microsoft solutions provider.

Bankruptcy Block

• Sunnova Energy, a major U.S. residential solar company, is preparing to engage with creditors to address its $8.5 billion debt, potentially through bankruptcy, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company, with help from Baker Botts and JPMorgan, is exploring restructuring options and negotiating with creditors. Founded in 2012 and based in Houston, Sunnova has been struggling with declining rooftop solar demand, similar to rival SunPower, which filed for bankruptcy last year.

• Spirit Airlines has successfully emerged from bankruptcy. The carrier met its goal of a first-quarter exit after facing significant financial challenges. CEO Ted Christie stated that the airline is leaner and more agile.

Notes From The Block

On Friday, President Donald Trump celebrated 50 days in office. “The winning never stops,” the White House touted.

But the losing can be felt in the world of investment banks and corporations that were once hungry for growth.

“Strategic M&A has gotten off to an excruciatingly slow start,” according to a PitchBook analysis published today.

January saw the lowest M&A volumes in a decade, and February didn't exactly bring the sunshine either. Companies are stuck in a mess of antitrust regulations, price mismatches and market turmoil, the firm added.

Wasn’t M&A supposed to come back “bigly” under Trump? Any talk of M&A dominance that was expected after the GOP sweep in November, is coming across as just that – talk.

Just look at top tech companies like Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT). They’re are sitting on their hands instead of making deals.

Pitchbook points out that the Redmond, Washington-based company hasn't acquired anything in the last 18 months. Most of its fellow big-tech comrades aren’t sitting at the M&A table, either. Instead, their would-be M&A cash is going toward AI infrastructure.

And then there's the market sell-off. On Friday, Barron’s recalled November when “Wall Street was full of hope.”

At the time, shares of Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) spiked. This indicated that an M&A “revival” under Trump's second term was in our midst. Fast-forward to today: Goldman Sachs' chief economist downgraded the entire U.S. economy; JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is sounding the alarm — once again; and Morgan Stanley expects there won’t be much action until the third quarter.

And earlier Friday, the University of Michigan's latest survey showed a rapid decrease in consumer confidence as economists use words like “horrific” and “scary” to describe the numbers.

Sounds more like “the winning” never started.

For last week’s edition of Deal Dispatch, click here.

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