Hi, it’s Lucas here visiting New York this week, surveying a red-hot market for all sorts of assets in the entertainment industry. We’ve also got another takeover battle brewing in the U.K. and an investor with a rock in their shoe at Skechers.

Today's top stories

• China to close loophole used by tech firms for foreign IPOs.
• Blue Prism agrees to $1.6 billion SS&C deal in bidding war.
• Skechers investor pushes for single-class stock, share buyback.
• Ride hailing Grab to start trading this week after SPAC deal. 

Content craze

If your Hollywood business isn’t for sale, you’re missing out.

Bankers say this is the best time in years—if not decades—to sell a production company, film library or collection of artists’ rights. Companies that don’t own much of anything are suddenly very popular.

The entertainment trade press is filled with reports of the latest offerings to hit the market. Media mogul Peter Chernin has hired two banks to field potential offers for his production company. Endeavor agreed to sell its content business to South Korean entertainment giant CJ ENM for close to $1 billion. The owners of Alvin & the Chipmunks are fielding offers. YouTube kids content maker Moonbug sold to Blackstone for $3 billion. 

Add comic book publisher Dark Horse Comics to the list. The company is working with an adviser to weigh options that could include a sale, according to people familiar with the matter. A representative for Dark Horse couldn’t be reached for comment. 

The most immediate cause for the gold rush is streaming. More money is being spent on TV and film programming because of Netflix and other streaming services. That makes it appealing to own a content supplier, or anyone that is adjacent to content supply. (More on the brains behind the Netflix hit “Squid Game”  here.) 

Most production companies don’t own the shows they produce—they get paid to produce them and treat those fees as revenue. But considering the demand for shows, it’s safe to assume they will continue to feed that stream.

It isn’t just production companies cashing in. A similar rush to sell has gripped the music business. Bob Dylan and Neil Young already inked multimillion-dollar deals for their music catalogs. David Bowie’s estate and Sting are following their lead, as are dozens of other less famous musicians.

There are broader reasons for the boom. Across the economy, the pandemic has been very good for people who already had a lot of money. The stock market has flirted with record highs over the past couple of years, enriching shareholders and financial firms alike.

Thanks to inflation, those rich people are now under pressure to spend that money. There’s also pressure to cash out before President Joe Biden reforms the tax code, with potential hikes to duties on estates and other assets common among wealthy people.

That means there’s now more money looking to be deployed than there are assets to buy. So, if you’ve got billions of dollars to spend, and a finite number of assets available to buy, what do you get? Record prices for companies that make the right sales pitch.

M&A focus

Shares in Blue Prism rose above the 1.24 billion-pound offer from SS&C Technologies, suggesting investors think the ongoing bidding war for the U.K. company is far from over. James Rasteh, founder of Blue Prism investor Coast Capital and fierce critic of a previous offer from Vista Equity Partners, is supportive of the SS&C transaction.

Citi has chosen Union Bank of the Philippines as its preferred bidder to acquire its consumer banking assets in the Southeast Asian country, which could be valued at about $1 billion write Manuel Baigorri and Elffie Chew.

Swiss building materials company Sika is considering divesting assets, including some U.S. admixtures operations, to win regulatory approval for its $6 billion acquisition of German rival MBCC, write Dinesh Nair, Kiel Porter and Myriam Balezou.

Dymon Asia Private Equity is exploring the sale of its stake in Meiban in a transaction that could value the Singaporean injection-molding company at as much as $500 million, write Elffie and Yantoultra Ngui.

IPO watch

China is planning to ban companies from going public on foreign stock markets through variable interest entities, we report today, closing a loophole long used by the country’s technology industry to raise capital from overseas investors. Here’s a quick explainer:

Dubai Electricity & Water Authority has picked banks to arrange what could be the biggest-ever listing in the Gulf emirate. It’s chosen Citi, HSBC and Emirates NBD Bank to lead the potential $25 billion offering. Dinesh Nair, Ruth David and Ben Bartenstein have the full line up.

Activist corner

Tremblant Capital, a top-five investor in Skechers, is calling on the footwear company to make changes it believes could unlock billions of dollars in value, writes Scott Deveau. It’s calling on Skechers to collapse its dual-class share structure, start an aggressive share buyback program, pay a dividend and improve communication with investors. 

Activist Jana Partners wants Zendesk to scrap its deal to buy SurveyMonkey-owner Momentive. 

SPAC wrap

Investors voted to approve the merger of ride-hailing provider Grab and Altimeter Growth Corp., completing one of the largest special purpose acquisition company deals ever after a year of tumult for SPACs and the transaction itself.

Essentium, a provider of industrial 3D printing solutions, will go public through a merger with blank-check firm Atlantic Coastal Acquisition Corp. The combined company will have an enterprise value of $974 million, according to a statement confirming earlier reporting.

Opinion

Private equity firms are rummage around in the telcoms bargain bin. Stock-market investors have shown themselves averse to spending on broadband upgrades, and this short-termism is creating rich pickings for buyout houses. Chris Hughes takes a closer look.

Who’s news

Several names familiar to the dealmaking world made the Bloomberg 50 this year, our annual list of people and ideas that defined global business in 2021.

Charlie Penner, the former Jana and Engine No. 1 activist is on there as well as CVC sports expert Nick Clarry. 

Nick Molnar and Anthony Eisen were also included. They’re the founders of the buy-now, pay-later startup that agreed to sell to Jack Dorsey’s Square for $29 billion in the largest exit in Australian corporate history.

Then there’s Lina Khan, who at 32 became the youngest person to lead the FTC when President Joe Biden appointed her in June. 

Finally, Discovery CEO David Zaslav helped orchestrate the biggest deal in entertainment this year, a merger between Discovery and WarnerMedia.

And for mega tech IPO watchers, don’t forget the brothers who founded Stripe, John and Patrick Collison. 

Best of the rest

• Saudi Arabia’s Hunger Station rival announces IPO plans.
• Banks to reach anchor investors for LIC IPO after Paytm delay.
• BMO hires a Warburg Pincus veteran to run PE sponsors coverage.
• Morgan Stanley placed senior equities banker Pawan Passi on leave.
• Crypto.com buys two exchanges from IG for $216 million.
• Swire-backed Green Monday seeks $100 million in new funds.
• Will deal terminations rise with Omicron? Bloomberg Law
• Billionaire Gilinski makes offer for financial giant Sura.
• CVC no longer in talks with Intertrust about potential offer.
• Cinven weighs sale of finance firm Premium Credit.
• Energy startup Voltus to go public in a $1.3 billion SPAC deal. 

Got a tip or want to send in questions? Tweet/DM @bloombergdeals or any of our reporters.