American Residential Services, which is backed by CI Capital Partners, has acquired Brothers Air and Heat. In a second deal, American Residential has also bought Columbus/Worthington Air. Brothers Air serves Charlotte, N.C. while Columbus/Worthington Air targets Columbus. Financial terms of the deals were not announced. CI Capital is the former Caxton-Iseman Capital, of New York.
Stephen Schwarzman, the chairman and CEO of the Blackstone Group, seems to be everywhere today. On Monday, the Blackstone Group pledged $3.6 million to help mentor dozens of start-up companies in North Carolina’s Research Triangle. The goal of the program, the Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network, is to identify and help 30 start-ups a year over a five year period. Duke University, North Carolina Central University, North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are partnering in the effort.
The PE group of Angelo, Gordon & Co. has acquired Firebirds International. Firebird's founders also took part in the deal. Financial terms of the transaction were not announced. Firebirds, which features an American grill-focused menu, has 18 restaurants spread through Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Nebraska, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia.
The private equity owners of German outdoor apparel and equipment maker Jack Wolfskin decided not to sell the company after failing to attract high enough offers, Reuters reported. Barclays Capital and Quadriga Capital had hoped to attract more than 800 million euro for the company, Reuters reported. Some bidders had offered to pay north of 600 million euro, Reuters said.
Publicly traded Solera Holdings Inc. will pay $520 million to buy Explore Information Services, a provider of database insurance technologies and e-government applications that is owned by Altegrity Inc. Altegrity is principally owned by buyout shop Providence Equity Partners. BofA Merrill Lynch acted as financial advisor on the deal. PRESS RELEASE Altegrity, Inc., the parent […]
China Construction Bank Corp. has approached the Malaysian government about buying a stake in private equity-backed lender EON Capital, Reuters reported. EON Capital is currently the subject of a legal battle involving its largest shareholder, Hong Kong-based private equity fund Primus Pacific Partners, and other shareholders, over a plan by Hong Leong Bank to acquire the smaller lender, Reuters reported. Primus filed a lawsuit to stop Hong Leong Bank from taking over EON Capital.
Boston-based buyout shop Berkshire Partners has recapitalized government service provider Engineering Solutions & Products. Terms of the deal were not released. Eatontown, NJ-based Engineering Solutions provides acquisition, logistics and technology support services to the U.S. Department of Defense. The Chertoff Group and Avascent Group served as strategic advisors to Berkshire.
Lower-middle-market private equity firm Inverness Graham Investments has recapitalized Nobles Manufacturing, a maker of advanced metal and composite ammunition delivery system consumables for the United States military. Financial terms of the deal were not released. Inverness Graham Investments is based in Philadelphia.
Publicly traded ValueClick will pay $70 million for mobile advertising network Greystripe Inc. San Francisco-based Greystripe has raised venture capital from firms including Steamboat Ventures, Monitor Ventures, Peacock Equity and Incubic Venture Capital. Montgomery & Co. acted as financial advisor to Greystripe. Under the terms of the deal, Greystripe’s management will join ValueClick, and the business will be run as a wholly-owned subsidiary within ValueClick Media.
Publicly traded online game developer Changyou.com will acquire a majority stake in Shenzhen 7Road Technology Co. in a deal valued at up to $101 million. China-based Changyou.com will take a 68.2% stake in the web-based game company, paying $68.26 million in cash, plus an additional earn-out of up to $32.7 million. The deal is expected to close by the end of June.