Barry Whyte
TransAxle LLC has bought New England Transmission, a Maine-based maker of light-duty transmissions. TransAxle, a New Jersey-headquartered remanufacturer of light duty transmissions, is a portfolio company of a Graham Partners buyout fund. The details of the transaction have not been released.
Private equity firm TPG Growth has acquired a 25 percent stake in Schiff Nutrition International, a Utah-based manufacturer of private label vitamins and health foods, for $48.8 million. Schiff bought 7.487 million shares of Class B common stock, which automatically converted to Class A common stock on a one-to-one basis. TPG executives William E. McGlashan, Jr. and Matthew T. Hobart, will now join the Schiff board.
Fortune magazine has just one private equity entry in its ’40 under 40.’ Adam Palmer, managing director at Carlyle Group, is described as a “skilled navigator of Wall Street and Capitol Hill” who was “discovered while working at Lehman Brothers by Carlyle co-founder Bill Conway.’ According to Fortune, “His deals have been consistent hits, and insiders say he could someday be part of the elite team that leads the firm.”
Private equity firm TA Associates has agreed to sell its controlling stake in 2SS Holdings, Inc, a developer of tax software, for $287.5 million in cash to H&R Block, a tax services provider. TA completed an $85 million leveraged recapitalization of 2nd Story Software in December 2004.
Alumni Capital Network, a private equity firm based in New York City, has acquired a controlling interest in Pennsylvania-based SNI Group, a fashion accessories wholesaler. Alumni was founded by former partners of Accenture. The details of the deal were not released.
Steven Rattner was due to settle with the SEC over a pension corruption scheme today, but the proposed settlement was pulled from the calendar without explanation, according to Reuters. Reports this week suggested that Rattner would pay $6 million and taken a two-year ban from the securities industry. Neither the SEC nor Rattner’s spokesman would comment.
Guy Hands, of private equity firm Terra Firma, will testify in a Manhattan court today in a case to decide whether Hands was duped into overpaying for the EMI music company. Terra Firma, backed by Citi loans of $2.6 billion pounds, bought EMI in 2007, but the downturn soured the deal and the relationship between Terra Firma and Citi.
Source Capital, which invests mature, private “small-cap” companies with EBITDA of at least $1.5 million, has bought Precision Boilers, based in Morristown, Tennessee, from Tennessee Valley Ventures, LP. The details of the deal were not revealed.
The Country Vintner, which is backed by PNC Equity Partners, has bought Stacole Fine Wines, a Boca Raton-based wine importer. PNC initially invested in TCV in 2008 and this is the second add-on acquisition since then. The details of the deal were not released.
Cardinal Asset Management, backed by Carlyle Group and U.S. investor Wilbur Ross, is likely to be selected by the Irish government as one of the final two bidders for state-run building society EBS, according to Reuters. Also in the running are bancassurer Irish Life & Permanent, and private equity groups Doughty Hanson and JC Flowers. The decision will be announced on Friday.