M&A daily wrap: Campbell Soup, Finish Line, Thoma Bravo, General Atlantic, BDO

Campbell Soup Co. (NYSE: CPB), winner of Mergers & Acquisitions’ M&A Mid-Market Award for 2017 Strategic Buyer of the Year, completed its purchase of Snyder's-Lance, the maker of the popular pretzels. The deal is part of Campbell's acquisition strategy to ensure the company known for comfort food for nearly 150 years remains relevant to millennials and future generations. “The millennials have not just arrived, but they are now taking over. If we don’t work with them, we will soon be working for them," said Campbell CEO Denise Morrison.

European sports apparel retailer JD SPorts Fashion plc agreed to acquire sneaker seller the FInish Line Inc. (Nasdaq: FINL) for about $558 million. The deal will allow JD to take advantage of Finish Line's online presence, while growing in the U.S. At the same time, the acquisition will give Indianapolis-based Finish LIne the opportunity to compete on a more global scale. Finish Line operates more than 930 locations that are mostly inside malls and Macy's Inc.'s (NYSE: M) stores. JD, based in Bury. England, has about 1,200 stores throughout Europe that sell sneakers and other branded athletic products, including Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE). PJ Solomon and Barnes & Thornburg are advising FInish Line. Barclays, Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLC, Addleshaw Goddard LLC, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP are advising JD. Barclays, HSBC Bank and PNC Bank and National Association are providing financing. In a recent footwear deal, in 2017, TPG Growth and QRG Enterprises Ltd. made a minority investment in Campus Activewear.

Thoma Bravo-backed data and analytics software provider Infogix bought rival Lavastorm. Financial terms were not disclosed. Thoma Bravo acquired Infogix in 2016, and in 2017, the PE firm purchased Data3Sixty along with Data Clairvoyance. “By combining Infogix, Data3Sixty and Lavastorm, we can provide a deeper set of capabilities across data preparation and data analytics to help businesses gain a competitive advantage by swiftly unlocking the potential of their data," says Lavastorm CEO TimSegall.

Grocery store operator Bodega Latina Corp., a subsidiary of Grupo Comercial Chedraui, S.A.B. de C.V., agreed to buy Fiesta Mart from Acon Investments to create one of the largest Hispance-focused supermarket chains in the U.S. The combined company will have 122 stores across California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas, with about $3 billion in revenue. RBC Capital Market and Sidley Austin are advising Bodega Latina. The Food Partners and Hogan Lovells are advising Fiesta. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Equistone Partners Europe agreed to acquire a majority stake in cross-border payments provider Small World Financial Services. The target, headquartered in London, allows customers to make cross-border payments through 6,000 third-party sendside agents and 80 branches. Equistone is a London-based middle-market private equity firm. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Cerba Healthcare agreed to buy clinical pathology operator Groupe Bio7 from Ardian. Financial terms were not disclosed. Ardian recently partnered with Transatlantic Power Holdings to create a renewable energy platform called Skyline Renewables.

Justin Lindsey was hired by General Atlantic as an operating partner, in New York. Lindsey is the former chief analytics officer of Bamtech Media, and he will help General Atlantic’s portfolio companies leverage data and analytics in order to help drive revenue growth and make operational improvements.

Under the new tax rules, fund managers should consider the potential pitfalls associated with their traditional structures to ensure the favorable long term capital gain treatment is obtained, say BDO's Jeffrey Bilsky and Stephen Sonenshine. Read the full story here.

Read full coverage of the 11th annual M&A Mid-Market Award winners: Campbell Soup, Huron Capital, Idera CEO Randy Jacops, LLR Partners, McGuireWoods, Stryker, Twin Brook and William Blair.