Apollo Management submitted a more than $3 billion buyout bid for BJ's Wholesale Club Inc., Reuters reported, citing a report by the New York Post. Last month, Leonard Green & Partners was reportedly mulling a sale of the retailer. BJ’s decided to explore a sale earlier this year, and hired Morgan Stanley & Co. to advise in the process.
Arsenal Capital, the New York-based private equity firm, will begin marketing its third fund later this year, according to an individual familiar with its plans. After reeling in a pair of oversubscribed funds and boasting positive returns on both, it is expected that when Arsenal reloads, its third fund will be substantially larger than its […]
Baseball continued to be a topic of discussion at the Buyouts conference today. Mark Attanasio, a Crescent Capital managing partner, said he'd be surprised if a PE firm ended up owning a major league baseball team. In 2005, Attanasio led an investor group to buy the Milwaukee Brewers for $223 million. He is principal owner of the team. "Baseball is better financed with the equity of an individual owner," he said.
I hate it when companies fudge. In March, I reported that Savvis was in talks to sell itself and had hired Qatalyst Partners. Well I was apparently wrong about Qatalyst but I was right about the sales talks. Today, Savvis announced that it has agreed to sell to CenturyLink for $2.5 billion. CenturyLink is also assuming about $700 million in debt. Savvis's sale has long been expected. In January, Verizon Communications announced its $1.4 billion takeover of Terremark Worldwide. Time Warner, five days later, then followed up with a $230 million deal for Navisite.
UK-based buyout shop Synova Capital has acquired Actimax, a supplier of IT and telecoms infrastructure services, for an undisclosed amount. Terms of the deal were not released. Actimax focuses on the SME market, with services including the provision of VOIP, systems maintenance, data services, mobile and hosting services. Synova Capital focuses on lower middle-market deals.
Lincoln Renewable Energy, a developer of U.S. solar and wind power projects, has closed on a $41 million power sales and project finance deal with Macquarie Energy. Macquarie Energy will enter into a long-term purchase agreement for power and renewable energy credits from LRE’s New Jersey Oak Solar project. Macquarie Energy will also provide construction finance and term debt to the project, the company said in a release.
Axion International, which is traded on the over-the-counter Bulletin Board, has raised $7.6 million from undisclosed investors. The financing closed on April 21. Axion is a producer of industrial building products and railroad ties made from 100% recycled plastic. The financing is aimed at continued growth of the company’s Recycled Structural Composite technology, the company said in a statement.
Buyout shops Carlyle Group and Oak Hill Capital Partners will invest $155 million in the newly created FNB United Corp., which will bring together North Carolina lenders CommunityOne Bank and Bank of Granite, Reuters reported. Under the terms of the deal, Carlyle and Oak Hill will each own 24.9% of the venture. The combined FNB United will create a North Carolina lender with around $2.9 billion in assets and 63 bank branches, Reuters reported. As part of the deal, Granite shareholders will receive 3.375 FNB United shares for each share held.
Research in Motion has acquired Tungle, maker of a Web-based meeting schedule tool. Tungle launched its technology in 2009, and has raised money from investors including Commonwealth Capital Ventures, JLA Ventures and Desjardins Venture Capital. Terms of the deal were not released. Tungle is based in Montreal.
Buyout shop Silver Lake Partners will acquire Smart Modular Technologies in a cash deal that values the company at roughly $645 million, Reuters reported. Smart Modular is a maker of memory chips. Silver Lake and its unit Silver Lake Sumeru will pay $9.25 for each Smart Modular share, a premium of 13% over the chipmaker's Monday close. Silver Lake has roughly $14 billion under management.