I was eager to read the rather long Q&A with Steve Rattner in the New York Times Dealbook today. Would Rattner, who is pitching his new book, say something about the pay-to-play scandal that's engulfed him for over a year? The NY Times is his former employer. I would settle for just a hint o r even a "no comment" from the co-founder of the Quadrangle Group. But there was nothing. (CORRECTION: And that’s what we got. Rattner said the fund scandal was an unresolved legal matter and didn’t comment.)
Excellere Partners appears close to selling MedExpress Urgent Care to General Atlantic. MedExpress, of Morgantown, W.V., provides outpatient urgent care services, like minor surgery and digital x-rays. News of the possible sale appeared on the FTC web site last week. It's not clear how much General Atlantic is spending.
(Reuters) – Low cost Spirit Airlines Inc, which weathered a pilots’ strike and a furor over bag charges this year, announced plans on Friday for a public stock offering. The carrier, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it hoped to raise up to $300 […]
(Reuters) – Indian conglomerate Sahara India Pariwar is in discussions about buying the debt of struggling film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for $1.5 billion to $2 billion, according to two people familiar with the matter. The sources did not elaborate on Sahara India Pariwar’s plans for MGM, which has about $4 billion in debt, and stressed that […]
(Reuters) – Danish jewellery maker Pandora on Monday launched an up to $2.16 billion initial public offering of stock, consisting mainly of a big selloff by private owners and marking a further recovery of the Danish IPO market. The offering offers a partial exit to its majority owner, private equity investment firm Axcel, and family […]
(Reuters) – Microchip tester United Test and Assembly Center (UTAC), which was taken over by buyout firms TPG and Affinity Equity Partners in 2007, is seeking to relist in Singapore in an IPO worth as much as $600 million, sources said. Merrill Lynch and UBS are handling the deal and the listing is likely to […]
Clorox Co. is near a deal to sell its STP and Armor All auto-care brands to Avista Capital Partners, according to Bloomberg News. The deal is valued at $750 million to $800 million, the story said. Blackstone Group LP, Golden Gate Capital and Castle Harlan Inc. were among firms that looked at the assets, which have been on the block since April. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is advising on the process.
(Reuters) - Private equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and TPG have held early talks about teaming up to bid for the wine unit of Australian brewer Foster's, the Australian Financial Review said on Monday. The pair are yet to decide whether to proceed either together or separately, the newspaper said in its online Dealbook. In 2007, KKR and TPG TPG.UL united to take Texas-based Energy Future Holdings, formerly TXU, private in the largest leveraged buy out ever.
Tom Hicks, Liverpool's co-owner, has inked a financing deal with a PE firm to retain ownership of the club, according to the Associated Press Hicks, along with co-owner George Gillett Jr., had put Liverpool up for sale in April, saying they lacked the funding to take club forward due to its debt of 237 million pounds ($370 million), the story said. GSO Capital Partners, which is owned by the Blackstone Group, has offered Hicks a two-year funding package worth around 280 million ($437 million) pounds ahead of the October deadline facing the owners to repay the club's debt to Royal Bank of Scotland. Blackstone, in return for its investment, would share control of the club.
General Atlantic has put AKQA, a digital agency, on the block, according to Ad Age. Morgan Stanley is advising on the auction, the report said. Potential buyers could include publishers to ad holding companies. According to the report, which cited Stuart Smith, a U.K. blogger, Dentsu has made a $600 million bid for AKQA.