2020_08_24 Blackstone to acquire Ancestry.com and Takeda Pharmaecutical Co.

I just find all this very suspicious. Pharmaceutical company and a DNA database company all on the same day. This hit my radar and set my tinfoil hat to buzzing. These aren’t even remotely related to Blackstone’s core business. Blacksone Wiki excerpt at the end if ya need a primer on their core business.
 
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Blackstone to acquire Ancestry.com for $4.7 billion
 
Now, ask yourself, WHY?
 
https://wnflsports.com/2020/08/24/blackstone-to-acquire-ancestry-com-for-4-7-billion-2/

Wnflsports wrote:

Aug 24, 2020 2:42 AM
 
Blackstone Group Inc BX.N said on Wednesday it agreed to acquire genealogy provider Ancestry.com Inc from private equity rivals for $4.7 billion, including debt, placing a big bet on family-tree chasing as well as personalized medicine.
 
Ancestry.com is the world's largest provider of DNA services, allowing customers to trace their genealogy and identify genetic health risks with tests sent to their home.
 
Blackstone is hoping that more consumers staying at home amid the COVID-19 pandemic will turn to Ancestry.com for its services.
 
"We believe Ancestry has significant runway for further growth as people of all ages and backgrounds become increasingly interested in learning more about their family histories and themselves," David Kestnbaum, a Blackstone senior managing director, said in a statement.
 
The deal is Blackstone's first acquisition out of Blackstone Capital Partners VIII, the largest-ever private equity fund that raised $26 billion from investors last year.
 
Ancestry.com has more than 3 million paying customers in about 30 countries, and earns more than $1 billion in annual revenue. Launched in 1996 as a family history website, it harnessed advances in DNA testing and mobile phone apps in the following two decades to expand its offerings.
 
Blackstone is buying Ancestry.com from private equity firms Silver Lake, Spectrum Equity and Permira. Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC, another Ancestry.com investor, said it will continue to maintain a significant minority stake in the company.
 
The acquisition's price tag represents a significant jump to Ancestry.com's valuation from four years ago, when Silver Lake and GIC invested in the Lehi, Utah-based company at a $2.6 billion valuation.

 
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Now, ask yourself, WHY again?

Blackstone to acquire Takeda's consumer health care business for $2.3 billion
 
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/blackstone-to-acquire-takedas-consumer-health-care-business-for-23-billion-wsj-2020-08-24?link=MW_latest_news

Marketwatch wrote:

Published: Aug. 24, 2020 at 7:48 a.m. ET
 
Blackstone Group Inc. BX, 0.74% is buying Takeda Pharmaecutical Co.'s 4502, +0.24% TAK, 1.99% consumer health care business for 242 billion yen ($2.3 billion), the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. Takeda has been moving ahead with a plan to divest $10 billion of assets and use the proceeds to pay down debt incurred from the $58 billion acquisition of Shire PLC last year, the paper reported. The Japanese drug company is planning to focus on prescription drugs. The paper cited Blackstone's head of private equity for Japan Atsuhiko Sakamoto as saying the private-equity firm plans to invest in the business to boost market share, add products and expand in Asia outside Japan. The firms would be interested in acquiring other Japanese OTC drug businesses, he said. Takeda's U.S.-listed shares rose 3.3% premarket, but have fallen 4.5% in the year through Friday, while the S&P 500 SPX, 0.62% has gained 5%.
 

 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blackstone_Group
 

Wikipedia wrote:

The Blackstone Group Inc. is an American multinational private equity alternative investment management and financial services firm based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. As the largest alternative investment firm in the world,[4] Blackstone specializes in private equity, credit, and hedge fund investment strategies.[5]


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