Now that private companies stay private longer, more and more of them have amassed large valuations. That, at least, is one takeaway from the index launched today by private stock-trading site SharesPost, which aims set approximate valuations for hot venture-backed companies. The SharesPost Venture-Backed Index, which crunches data from four sources to set values, currently covers seven companies, with valuations ranging from $227 million to $11.5 billion. They include Facebook (estimated value of $11.5 billion), Zynga ($2.6 billion), Twitter ($1.45 billion), LinkedIn ($1.3 billion), Tesla Motors ($1.28 billion), Linden Lab ($383 million), and Serious Materials ($227 million). SharesPost CEO Greg Brogger says the valuations are not intended as a hard-and-fast price point for setting sales prices. Rather, the idea is to give potential buyers and sellers of private company stock some easy-to-access data points to consider when setting up a transaction.
Roark Capital Group and Entrepreneur Partners have acquired Peachtree Business Products, an Atlanta-based provider of direct marketing supplies, according to a regulatory filing. No pricing terms were disclosed.
Monarch Natural Gas, a portfolio company of Metalmark Capital Partners, has completed previously announced deal for most of the Riverbend midstream assets of Gasco Energy (NYSE Amex: GSX). The transaction was valued at $23 million in cash, and included related salt water evaporative facilities.
Pierpont Securities LLC has launched as a government securities broker-dealer, with $200 million in capital commitments from General Atlantic and Stone Point Capital. Company management has committed an additional $20 million.
J.P. Morgan Asset Management and Water Asset Management have agreed to acquire SouthWest Water Co. (Nasdaq: SWWC). The take-private deal is valued at around $275 million, or $11 per share.
NEW YORK/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Germany’s E.ON (EONGn.DE), the world’s largest utility by sales, may sell its U.S. unit in what could be one of the biggest deals in the industry this year, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. “It’d be good to get rid of that business,” said a person from within E.ON familiar […]
LONDON (Reuters) – Part-nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) has set an early April deadline for potential buyers of its payment processing arm and more than 300 bank branches, people familiar with the matter said. RBS, 84 percent state-owned after it was bailed out by the UK taxpayer at the height of the credit crisis, […]
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC plans to buy as much as $230 million of common stock in Primerica Inc from Citigroup Inc (C.N) in connection with the bank’s planned initial public offering for its life insurance unit. The planned purchase was revealed in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission […]
Here are some potential M&A ideas, rumored or official, to jumpstart your deal pipeline. Our sources are various news reports and the Buyouts “Seeking Buyers” list. For prior lists, see below. Bachrach Acquisition LLC, a New York-based men's clothing company, was seeking a buyer for the company. The company is being advised by Clear Thinking Group LLC. L-1 Identity Solutions, Inc., a Stamford, Conn.-based supplier of identity solutions and services, retained Goldman Sachs & Co. and Stone Key Partners LLC as financial advisors to explore strategic alternatives.
First Uranium, a Canadian mining company, continues to review strategic alternatives, and "has been engaged in negotiations with several potential strategic investors who have been invited to submit investment proposals," none of which has been acceptable so far, the company said. Liberty Media is evaluating strategic alternatives for Overture Films, a division of Liberty Starz.
Intrawest Corp. of Canada, a unit of Fortress Investment Group LLC, was seeking a buyer for its Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort.
The new Tommy Hilfiger store on 5th Ave. will close at 6pm tonight, in order to get ready for a private party being hosted by private equity firm Apax Partners. Maybe I'm just bored, but the news got my mind raicing. Could this party be related to a Women's Wear Daily about how Apax is looking to either sell Hilfiger or take it public? WWD wrote, in part:
At the moment, the lead candidate to acquire Hilfiger is said to be $2.4 billion Phillips-Van Heusen Corp., which has been openly on the prowl for acquisitions and proved with its 2002 purchase of Calvin Klein that it can successfully incorporate a large global brand into its business... But buying Hilfiger could be a bit of a stretch for PVH, which has about $480 million in cash on hand. Sources said one option for PVH could be to structure a deal that resembled its acquisition of Calvin