Erin Griffith

#5. Masonite International KKR purchased the Canadian door maker in 2005 for $2.5 billion. The firm invested $551.5 million in equity from KKR Millennium Fund. What Went Wrong? The slide in housing and construction hurt the company’s ability to service payments on its TK million in debt. The deal had covenants and a relatively standard […]

#6. Reader’s Digest Association A consortium led by Ripplewood Holdings purchased the Pleasantville, N.Y.-based periodical publisher in 2007 for $2.4 billion. The firm invested at least $375 million in equity to the deal from Ripplewood Partners II LP. What Went Wrong? The company saw readership of its namesake publication decline by half as the demand […]

#7. Freedom Communications Inc. Blackstone Group and Providence Equity Partners purchased the Irvine, Calif.-based newspaper company in 2004 in a deal that valued the company at $1.7 billion. We included this deal even though it is a minority investment because of the size of the company and firms’ equity checks, which were as large as […]

#8. Cooper-Standard Holdings Inc. Cypress Group and GS Capital Partners acquired the Novi, Mich.-based auto parts supplier company in 2004 for $1.165 billion. The firms contributed $318 million of equity from GS Capital Partners IV LP and an undisclosed Cypress Group fund. What Went Wrong? Thanks to a nationwide slowdown in the demand for automotives, […]

#10. Bi-Lo/Bruno’s Supermarkets Lone Star Funds purchased the grocery companies in 2004 for $660 million. The firm contributed an undisclosed amount of equity from Lone Star Fund V LP. What Went Wrong? After purchasing the two companies from Ahold, Lone Star separated them. Bruno’s, which had already been through the bankruptcy courts back in 2000, […]

#9. MagnaChip Semiconductor Court Square Capital Partners and Francisco Partners acquired the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based electronics parts maker in 2004 for $828.2 million. Equity contributions and funds were not disclosed. What Went Wrong? The company managed to acquire $1 billion in debt just as demand for consumer electronics products declined in the recession. The company’s management […]

Here are some potential target ideas, rumored or official, to jumpstart your deal pipeline. Our sources are various news reports and the Buyouts “Seeking Buyers” list. For prior lists, see below, and send any additions my way. Astrotech Corp, which owns and operates spacecraft pre-launch facilities, said it is exploring strategic alternatives, including a possible sale, sending its shares up as much as 75 percent. (Reuters) Publicly traded Baxter International Inc. is seen by some as a likely acquisition target, especially after Abbott Laboratories and Johnson & Johnson boosted their vaccines pipelines. (Dealscape, Barrons, ONN.tv) Fitness machine maker Nautilus is selling its commercial business unit. (AP)

Zombie Companies: Companies owned by private equity firms, particularly the number two or three in their sector, are at risk of becoming zombie companies because of their high debt levels and the lack of interest in such firms from equity investors. (Dealzone) MBA Pay: Riches for Some, Not All: Schools publish average salary figures that suggest most grads will reap rich rewards, but for many the "average" is a distant dream (BW) A for Effort/F For Execution: Every buyout firm wants to do loan-to-owns these days, but not many have. (Reuters) (PS Here's some good advice on how one firm made it work.) Icahn To The Rescue: Apollo-backed Realogy is a fixer-upper, and Carl Icahn has tapped Carl Icahn to help it pay down some of its debt. (NY Post) Yesterday we mentioned the NY Mag Expose on the finance blog, Zero Hedge. Today Felix Salmon talked to the author about the backlash he's received for his relatively innocuous but interesting story. (Reuters)

The value of M&A deals is on track to plummet almost 46 percent this year, taking them down to levels not seen since the mid-1990s, according to a report published today by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Only 12,700 transactions were conducted in the first six months of the year—a drop of 17 percent compared […]

Holy Crap: Details on the private equity coup d'état: Dominique Megret, chief executive officer of PAI Partners, France's biggest private-equity firm, was in his office, a 10-minute walk from Paris's Louvre museum, on July 21 when there was a knock on the door. Lionel Zinsou, who joined PAI Partners from Rothschild a year ago, and partners Raffaele Vitale, based in Milan, and Ricardo de Serdio, from Madrid, walked in and said they and three others would resign from the nine-member investment committee unless Megret gave them more power in running the firm, people familiar with the discussions said. The threat infuriated Megret. Read more at Bloomberg. This has happened to me before: Tale of moron PR pitch. (Dealzone) FT Interviews CalPERS: Two stories came from a chat with Leon Shahinian, manager of PE investments at CalPERS. One's on "irony in the brewing tension between investors and private equity firms", and one's on the "battle over fees." Subpeonas: Did Bank of America destroy Countrywide's predator lender phone calls? (WSJ) Vampire: The makers of Twilight are planning to hire Morgan Stanley to advise it on a potential M&A deal. (NY Post)