Private equity firm Blackstone said that a $10 billion leveraged buyout could happen soon, such has been the recovery in the debt markets. Blackstone is sitting on roughly $15 billion which it can invest in the private equity business and expects to raise significantly more in the future.
U.S. billing firm CSG Systems will buy Intec Telecom Systems, a British-based rival, for 236.7 million pounds ($370.9 million), in a deal supported by private equity firm General Atlantic, which has an almost 12 percent stake in Intec. RBS Hoare Govett advised Intec and Greenhill advised CSG Systems on the deal.
David Colla has left Oaktree Capital Management. Colla left the Los Angeles PE firm recently to join the Canada Pension Plan, a source says. Colla, who is Canadian, “went back home,” the person says. Colla was a senior vice president in Oaktree’s mezzanine funds unit. He has also worked at JP Morgan and BMO Capital Markets.
Blackstone's first investor day has ended and everyone has left to have cocktails. Here are some interesting tidbits: No one asked about management succession but Stephen Schwarzman, at the end of the last session, talked about it anyway. The Blackstone CEO addressed fears that if one person left it would have a catastrophic effect on the buyout shop. Schwarzman singled out Tony James, Blackstone’s president, who was seated next to him and is his named successor. James is a “remarkable investor, and manager, and he inspires enormous loyalty. He does a great job and a is great recruiter. We are very fortunate at the firm,” Schwarzman says. However, the Blackstone CEO also noted that there are lots of people at the firm who are very talented and have run other organizations. “In that area…we are in very good shape in that regard,” he said.
We now have the next public restaurant deal. Benihana, which just settled a proxy fight, has hired Jefferies & Co. to sell the company. But don't expect any big PE firms, like KKR or Apollo Management, to be interested. This is a smaller play geared more to middle-market buyout shops. Miami-based Benihana is pretty small. In August, the company reported that first quarter revenue increased by 5% to $100.8 million for the time period ended July 18. Income from operations stood at $2.5 million while net income was $1.3 million for the time period. The company’s market cap is currently $108.2 million.
Aspen Technology, a Burlington, Mass-based software company, is offering 18,000,000 shares of common stock at $9.00 a share in its second public offering. The shares are being offered by funds managed by Advent International Corporation, a private equity fund. The offer has increased from the originally-intended offering of 15,000,000 shares.
North Castle Partners has invested in Ibex Outdoor Clothing Holdings, which makes and distributes wool and wool-based technical apparel and accessories. The company is based in White River Junction, VT. CMS Co., a Philadelphia financial services boutique, also invested. Financial terms were not announced. North Castle is a Greenwich, Conn. PE shop.
Discovery Group, which owns 13.8 percent of Maryland-based communications company Tessco, has made an offer to buy the rest of the company for $15.50 a share. The Discovery offer values the company at $117.4 million. The share price, at Wednesday’s close, was $12.34, a significant drop from May’s high price of $20.5.
Blackstone is hosting its first investor day. There’s been nothing groundbreaking so far but a few nuggets have emerged. Stephen Schwarzman, Blackstone’s CEO, came out first and talked about how the PE shop is able to avoid major blunders like the plunge in the housing market a few years back. “I view Blackstone as a producer of intellectual capital around the world,” he said. There were no Nazi comments this time around and Schwarzman didn’t complain about proposed changes to carried interest. He did talk about the top candidates that the buyout shop is bringing in.“The nice thing is that I couldn’t get hired at Blackstone now,” Schwarzman said. “I didn’t get the grades.”
Private equity company WL Ross has entered into a strategic partnership with The Capital Markets Cooperative, a mortgage capital markets firm. CMC has a client base of banks that originates over $25 billion in mortgages annually. WL Ross owns American Home Mortgage Servicing, which services $85 billion of non-prime mortgages.