LONDON (Reuters) – SVG Capital Plc (SVI.L) said asset values rebounded after Permira — the buy-out group whose main backer it is — cut debt and saw the companies it owns improve their performance, sending its shares soaring. The private equity investor, a listed proxy for Permira, said on Thursday its net asset value per […]
High Road Capital Partners has acquired Celco Controls, a Winnipeg-based maker of customized automation control systems for a variety of industries. No pricing terms were disclosed. Bank of Montreal provided senior debt financing, while BMO Capital provided subordinated notes.
In February 2010, just three PE-backed companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, a decrease from last year and a stark contrast to the country’s rise in general corporate bankruptcies. By this time last year, 18 LBO-backed companies had filed for bankruptcy. But 2010 is on track to be a happier year for private equity portfolio companies: Combined with January’s total of two filings, buyout firms only received five black eyes to date. The survivors have flexible lenders to thank. Even more surprising is the continued rise in corporate bankruptcies across the board. Data from yesterday shows that bankruptcies rose last month for the fifth straight February. The total number of filings was 6,557, according to AACER, a database of bankruptcy statistics. The fact that private equity had its hands
When upscale men's fashion retailer Hugo Boss decided to close its Brooklyn, Ohio plant, state officials begged controlling shareholder Permira to reconsider. Both the facility and Hugo Boss itself were profitable, they argued, and the community could hardly afford the loss of another 400 jobs. Permira, a European private equity firm, didn't seem to listen. And, to add insult to injury, Hugo Boss said it was still on track to pay out a special dividend. Erin last month suggested that Permira was playing with fire:
Companies usually cite fiduciary duties in making layoffs and shutting facilities — they have an obligation to make money for their shareholders. In the case of a private equity firm, those shareholders often are pension funds, which could quite possibly include the pensions of the workers getting laid off (and subsequently, losing their pensions?).
Well, one of Permira's investors is the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS), which has committed approximately 160 million to a pair of Permira funds (including the one that holds Hugo Boss). It doesn't appear that any OPERS members work at the Hugo Boss plant, but the system is still steamed with how the factory closure has been handled.
LONDON (Reuters) – A bold plan to combine Germany’s Ratiopharm and Iceland’s Actavis, two of the world’s biggest generic drugmakers, could cure a multi billion-euro debt headache for Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE), Actavis’s main creditor. Actavis is vying with Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (TEVA.TA) in the 3 billion-euro auction of Ratiopharm, which […]
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.