Russell Investments, which is expected to go up for sale, has recently filled three senior posts. In May, Russell tapped David Tenney to be managing director of business growth and development, a spokeswoman says. Tenney is the former co-head of America's research at Goldman Sachs & Co. He was COO of global investment research at Goldman before he retired in December 2007, an official says. Last month Russell announced that John McMurray had been hired as chief risk officer to lead the global risk management department within Russell's office of the Chief Legal Officer. McMurray was previously chief risk officer for the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle. Russell also hired Erik Strom as director of government & community relations. Strom was in a similar role at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle.
Michael Kong, the former CEO of Modern Luxury Media, along with ex-CFO Jeff Goldstein, are suing the magazine publisher, which could throw a monkey wrench into the Dickey family's planned buy of the company. According to court documents filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Aug. 5, both Kong and Goldstein are claiming that Modern Luxury has breached their employment agreements and has failed to indemnify and defend them against lawsuits stemming from their actions on behalf of the company. In June, Juli Benlevi-Zeff and JBA Holdings sued Kong, Goldstein, Modern Luxury and other defendants, in a separate Delaware complaint, for $8.5 million in damages. (It's unclear why Benlevi-Zeff is suing although Modern Luxury acquired her company, JuliB Inc., a publisher of twice weekly e-newsletters, in 2008.)
(Reuters) – British buyout firm Graphite Capital is in exclusive talks on two auto industry deals worth a combined $500 million, potentially selling one business and buying another, people familiar with the situation said. Graphite is in talks to sell British tyre wholesaler and retailer Micheldever to Japanese trading house Marubeni (8002.T: Quote, Profile, Research, […]
(Reuters) – Private equity funds TowerBrook Capital and Gala Capital are studying the possibility of an intital public offering for British-based shoe designer Jimmy Choo, Spanish newspaper Expansion reported on Tuesday. Gala Capital and TowerBrook own a majority stake in the upscale shoe designer, favoured by celebrities like Charlize Theron and Julia Roberts. The IPO […]
Amedica Corp., a Salt Lake City, Utah-based orthopaedic implant company, completed a $30 million financing. Half comes in the form of private equity and the rest is from a debt facility. Zions First National Bank provided the debt facility. America plans to use the capital for expansion, mergers and acquisitions, sales and marketing support.
Susquehanna Growth Equity LLC and technology services veteran Brad Galle acquired the JK Group Inc., a provider of technology solutions for corporate philanthropic management programs. Galle will serve as chief executive officer.
The secondaries market is heating up, with price increases causing some to consider strategic sales and others to buy, according to Pension & Investments. Prices have been rising for the last 9 to 12 months to about 90% of face value and prices are now expected to level off, the story said. Among those looking to sell some of their PE holdings include the Illinois Teachers' Retirement System and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board of Montreal.
BC Partners is offering investors of a planned 6 billion euro fund (US $7.7 billion) an early bird discount of 5% off its fees, the Financial Times said. BC Partners, which is marketing for its ninth fund, sent out a placement memo to potential investors last week. The PE shop is also offering to reimburse all its transaction fees to investors, up from only 80 per cent in its previous fund. According to information sent to potential investors, BC Partners’ most recent 5.8 billion Euro fund is more than 80 per cent invested with a portfolio that is valued at 50% above cost, well ahead of most peers, the FT said.
It’s the Friday before the Labor Day weekend and I’m amazed at how many PE execs are answering their phones. One buyout exec, who hasn’t answered my calls or messages for nearly a month, finally phoned. The exec said they were busy working on a deal that they hoped to finish by Labor Day. Another PE source called today to talk about a transaction that was finally closing (an exit!). Bankers weren’t much different. One source said they took a vacation last week (to Jamaica) and was working this week. And another, who is also laboring on a deal, planned to stay in town and deal with Earl (which at this point has turned out to be a whole lot of nothing). “I’m weathering the hurricane here in New York,” the banker said.
While many people may still be talking about the BK sale, there is another deal that has the potential to be a whopper. Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance is thinking about selling Russell Investments. Before you laugh, a Russell sale would be a big deal in the asset management space. Anyone who has invested in the stock market knows Russell, which is best known as the index provider behind many biggest mutual funds. Northwestern Mutual has decided that Russell Investments isn’t a core asset anymore and is seriously considering putting the $140 billion asset manager up for sale, according to Investment News. Northwestern Mutual bought Russell in 1998 in a deal that was estimated at $1.2 billion. Earlier this year, Russell sold Pantheon Ventures, its PE firm, to Affiliated Managers Group for $775 million.