(Reuters) – Telecom and media tycoon Richard Li’s private equity fund may lose control of a debt-laden Bulgarian telecommunications operator as junior lenders are battling to take it over, a newspaper reported on Tuesday. Vivacom, Bulgaria’s biggest fixed-line operator, was set to breach agreements on its 1.64 billion euros ($2 billion) in loans by the […]
LONDON (Reuters) – Buyout company Cinven said Britain’s Spice Plc (SPI.L) had rejected a takeover bid that values the provider of engineering and support services to utility companies at almost 200 million pounds ($309.3 million). Prompted by a 7 percent climb in Spice shares on Monday, Cinven issued a statement saying that it had proposed […]
The Newsweek auction has taken a turn toward the fanciful. The weekly magazine, which was put up for sale last month by The Washington Post Co., is seeking bids of between $15 million and $20 million, according to a banking source said. The relatively high price tag comes despite the fact that Newsweek does not have EBITDA. “No, I don’t think they will get it,” the source said. Is this a wild swing for the fences? Is it just a trial balloon? Maybe a bit of both, since a buyside source said he hadn't heard the $20 million figure (no comment on the $15m).
BP Gets Scared: BP has hired Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse and the Blackstone Group to to advise on its options as it faces financial and political pressure over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Who would buy them? Free WiFi with your latte: Starbucks said it will provide free WiFi in all its stores beginning on July 1. Hooray! Embezzling for that perfect fern: Scott Welch allegedly stole $11.2 million from Wachovia and use the money to landscape. This is not a joke. Another blow to books: News Corp. inks a deal to buy Skiff, the e-reader company backed by the Hearst Corporation.
TowerBrook Capital Partners has retained Thomas Flocco to explore investment opportunities in the consumer goods space. He is the former CEO of Beam Global Spirits & Wine, and a former partner at McKinsey & Company.
Wendy’s may not have enough beef for private equity. Last Friday, Nelson Peltz, the billionaire investor who owns 23% of the restaurant chain and its sister beef-slinger Arby's, disclosed that an “unnamed third party” had expressed interest in partnering on a potential acquisition. The admission caused Wendy’s shares to pop more than 7 percent. Rumors are circulating that the mystery suitor is THL Partners, is back for fast-food redemption. If case you’d forgotten, the buyout firm had a deal in February to buy CKE Restaurants, which operates Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s restaurants, for $11.05 a share, or about $619 million. But then Apollo Management swooped in with a higher offer of $12.55 a shares, or $694 million, to seal the deal. On Monday, any hope of a THL-Peltz combined bid got deflated, as the New York Post said Peltz just isn’t interested in partnering with any third party. Peltz, the story said, could take the company private and restructure troubled Arby’s away from the glare of public speculation. Then, Peltz could return Wendy’s to the public markets (maybe with Arby's, if it's running leaner).
(Reuters) – TPG dropped plans to bid for Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS.L) payment-processing business, two people familiar with the matter said, leaving rival buyout firms Advent International and Bain frontrunners to buy the unit. The departure comes a week after RBS picked a trio of possible buyers for the WorldPay business and related operations, […]
Freeman Spogli & Co. has acquired a majority stake in The Paradies Shops Inc., operator of over 500 travel retail shops in airports and hotels. No financial terms were disclosed. Genesis Capital advised Paradies Shops on the deal
Colony Capital and GS Capital Partners reportedly are among likely bidders for French furniture retailer Conforama, which is being sold by PPR SA. The deal could be valued at around €1.5 billion. www.conforama.fr
(Reuters) – U.S. private-equity fund Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co is in final talks to buy media content provider Usen Corp’s (4842.OJ) recruitment services unit Intelligence Ltd, the Nikkei business daily reported. The unit is priced about 32 billion yen ($350.1 million), the paper said without citing a source. Intelligence Ltd, which became a wholly […]