TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese mobile communications provider Willcom Inc said on Thursday it has filed for bankruptcy with 206 billion yen ($2.3 billion) in debt, a move that will wipe out an investment made by U.S. buyout firm Carlyle. Willcom, Japan’s fourth-largest provider of mobile phone and wireless data services, has been weighed down by […]
LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Private equity firms Hellman & Friedman and Silver Lake Partners are working on a joint bid for Pearson Plc’s (PSON.L) majority stake in financial market data provider Interactive Data (IDC.N), people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The seller has encouraged private equity firms to team up to make bids, […]
Oak Hill Capital Partners today agreed to sell New York-based drug store chain Duane Reade to Walgreen Co. for nearly $1.1 billion. Oak Hill earned just over 1.5x its money on the deal, according to a source familiar with the situation. Return-wise, it’s not a home run. But considering the company's struggle with debt and drug store industry consolidation (e.g., Rite Aid/Eckerd, CVS/Long's), it can be viewed as a solid double. Analysts called the price fair—it represents an 11.4x adjusted EBITDA multiple, which is only slightly higher than the 10.3x trailing EBITDA that CVS paid for Longs in 2008.
MILAN/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – E.ON, the world’s largest utility, selected a consortium of private equity fund 3i and local Italian gas supplier Erogasmet as favorites to buy their Italian gas grid, two people with knowledge of the matter said. E.ON needs to sell the 9,400 kilometers of gas lines in order to reach its target of […]
Nautic Partners has sponsored a recapitalization of Healthcare Payment Specialists LLC, a Ft. Worth, Texas-based provider of healthcare payment and reimbursement solutions. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which was done in partnership with company management.
LONDON (Reuters) – Private equity group BC Partners has acquired a 65.6 percent stake in French domestic cleaning products manufacturer Spotless Group from AXA Private Equity, AXA PE said in a statement on Wednesday. The deal could be worth around 600 million euros ($819 million), a source close to the deal told Thomson Reuters LPC. […]
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Walgreen Co (WAG.N) will buy Duane Reade for $618 million in cash, catapulting the largest U.S. drugstore operator into the top spot in the New York City area. Duane Reade is owned by private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners LP and operates 257 drugstores in the New York metropolitan area. […]
Castle Harlan has completed its acquisition of a majority stake Pretium Packaging LLC, a Chesterfield, Mo.-based maker of specialty plastic containers for the food, pharma, personal-care and household markets. Company founder Keith Harbison retained a minority position. As part of the deal, Pretium Packaging acquired the parent of Novapak Corp. from Kirtland Capital Partners. The total transaction was valued at $200 million.
Update: This story has been updated to correct the size of Monomoy's latest fund. Today Monomoy Capital Partners announced it acquired Casual Living USA, a Tampa, Fla.-based women's apparel retailer, from its family owners. I spoke with Daniel Collin, Partner with Monomoy, about the deal, which is the first add-on to the firm's catalog apparel platform, Boston Apparel Group. peHUB: You started the platform in July 2008, when you acquired Chadwicks and metrostyle from Redcats Group to form Boston Apparel Group for $25 million. Is this your first add-on to the platform? Daniel Collin: Yes. How many more acquisitions would you like to do on the platform? We're opportunistic. The initial investment has been very successful for us. We took it from a money-losing company to being profitable in 2009. We have capacity to be three times the size of our current business with our distribution, so we're actively looking for add-on acquisitions of direct retailers to plug into our cost structure.
Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Co. has completed its purchase of $25 million of convertible preferred stock in Ruth’s Hospitality Group Inc. (Nasdaq: RUTH), owner of several restaurant concepts including Ruth’s Chris Steak House. Proceeds will be used to pay down an existing credit facility.