Hellman & Friedman and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC have agreed to acquire Spanish mutual funds platform Allfunds Bank from Santander (Spain), Warburg Pincus, General Atlantic and Sanpaolo (Italy) for around $1.45 billion.
Why it matters: Leaving aside that it's literally the day's largest deal, some of the reporting also suggests that China's Legend Holdings submitted a competitive bid, but was at a disadvantage because of... well, the fact that it's from China.
Bottom line: "[Sources say that] Spanish banking group Santander, which partly controls Allfunds, was nervous about handing the asset to a Chinese buyer. Chinese buyers have been facing hurdles including increased scrutiny from domestic authorities when attempting to strike outbound deals. The effect has hurt the chances of Chinese buyers in competitive auctions." ― Javier Espinoza, FT