Reuters News

(Reuters) – Microblogging service Twitter is looking for a director to bolster its board’s business credentials and diversity, and candidates include a former Google Inc executive, a person familiar with the matter said. The search is in its early stages. But some names that have come up include Mariam Naficy, chief executive officer of paper […]

(Reuters) – Large European private equity buyouts are on hold until capital markets revive, which is unlikely to happen this side of Christmas as leveraged loan and high-yield bond markets remain weak, bankers said on Thursday. Dysfunctional financing markets are threatening new buyouts such as the 1.5 billion pounds ($2.3 billion) sale of British frozen […]

(Reuters) - Blackstone Group posted a worse-than-expected quarterly loss on Thursday as market declines hit the value of the private equity firm's investments, forcing it to book a huge accounting loss. But Blackstone said assets under management on which it earns management fees increased during the quarter, operating performance of its portfolio companies and properties was strong, and U.S. and European markets had rebounded since Sept. 30. The company said it had record $33.4 billion of "dry powder," or capital available to invest, up from $31.4 billion in the second quarter, and expected its latest real estate fund to raise more than $10 billion.

(Reuters) – Daily deals site Groupon is set to raise less than the amount it initially filed for in its IPO paperwork, two sources familiar with the situation said on Wednesday. Groupon in June filed to raise up to $750 million in its IPO. One source familiar with the situation said it is now planning […]

(Reuters) – At least five private equity firms are set to submit first-round non-binding offers for a 77 percent stake in British frozen food retailer Iceland Foods by Wednesday’s deadline, four people familiar with the matter said. Iceland Foods’ CEO and key investor Malcolm Walker is thinking about bidding for the company later in the […]

(Reuters) – Groupon Inc is pushing ahead with plans to go public in the face of a volatile equity market, a recent executive departure and questions about its accounting and financial disclosures, sources said on Tuesday. Groupon, the largest daily deal company, is planning to launch a roadshow for its initial public offering next week, […]

(Reuters) – Nomura Holdings is set to buy a China unit of GE Capital, in a deal allowing Japan’s largest brokerage to expand deeper into the Chinese financial market. While Nomura has had a presence in China for around three decades, the purchase of the GE unit would put the Japanese bank in a stronger […]

(Reuters) – Private equity firms Carlyle Group, Bain Capital and Advent International are competing to buy credit reporting firm TransUnion, which could fetch more than $2 billion, sources familiar with the matter said. The auction is advanced, but a sale of the business is not certain as TransUnion’s majority owner Madison Dearborn Partners weighs whether […]

(Reuters) – Global private equity fund Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co LP and Asian buyout fund MBK Partners are among bidders for a majority stake in Samsung Group’s procurement arm iMarketKorea Inc, two sources told Reuters on Tuesday. Samsung Group said in August that it planned to sell a combined 58.7 percent stake in the […]

(Reuters) - Kinder Morgan Inc. struck a $21 billion deal to buy rival El Paso Corp., combining the two largest natural gas pipeline operators in North America in a huge bet on the fast-growing market for that fuel. The cash and stock deal announced on Sunday values El Paso at a 37%  premium to its Friday market value, and comes as Exxon Mobil Corp. and other oil majors are spending billions of dollars to develop and produce shale gas and crude oil in areas with poor infrastructure. Kinder Morgan went public in February after CEO Kinder and private equity firms including Carlyle Group and Goldman Sachs Inc.'s buyout arm Highstar Capital and Riverstone Holdings took the company private in a management led buyout in 2007. The private equity firms sold a 13.5% stake in the company's IPO, but Kinder and the buyout funds still hold a vast majority of the company.