AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Belgian drugs, chemicals and plastics maker Solvay (SOLB.BR) said on Monday it would sell its drugs unit to U.S. partner Abbott Laboratories (ABT.N) for 4.5 billion euros ($6.6 billion) in cash and reinvest in chemicals and plastics. Abbott had agreed to buy the unit to bolster its flagging prescription drug business by […]
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German industrial conglomerate Evonik said it has agreed in principle to sell its specialty chemicals unit Alzchem to German buyout group Bluo amid an ongoing strategic review. Alzchem — whose products range from ingredients for pesticides and fertiliser to additives for cosmetics and food — has a staff of about 1,300. Evonik’s […]
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Myer, Australia’s largest department store chain, plans to raise up to $2 billion in a share offering that will test investor appetite for new equity as the global economy shows signs of recovery. Myer will be the largest listing on the Australian Stock Exchange since the third tranche of telecoms firm Telstra […]
LONDON (Reuters) – British fashion retailer New Look is interested in returning to the London stock market, but the earliest this is likely to happen is spring 2010, a source close to the matter said on Sunday. The source, responding to press reports that New Look might float as soon as January, said that if […]
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Time Warner Inc (TWX.N) will eventually sell the Time Inc magazine unit and could buy holdings in its core entertainment category, Gordon Crawford, managing director of its largest shareholder, said during a presentation this week. “Time Warner just spun off their cable division, they are going to sell their print division, they […]
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Hicks Acquisition Co I Inc (TOH.A) on Friday said its stock and warrant holders approved its deal to buy privately held oil company Resolute Natural Resources Co. Hicks Acquisition Co is a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) — a shell organization that raises money in an initial public offering to acquire […]
LONDON (Reuters) – Nycomed, the private equity-owned Swiss drugmaker, is looking at sweetening its bid for Solvay’s (SOLB.BR) drugs unit with the Belgian chemical and drug maker’s board set to meet to decide on the unit’s future. Sources familiar with the matter said Solvay’s board would meet on either Friday or Saturday to discuss the […]
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Western Union Co (WU.N) said a federal jury in Texas has ordered a unit of MoneyGram International Inc (MGI.N) to pay it $16.5 million for patent infringement over a money transfer system. Western Union alleged that MoneyGram Payment Systems Inc’s “FormFree” system essentially copied its own patented “Money Transfer By Phone” […]
Ares Management and Teachers’ Private Capital today announced a $730 million agreement to buy mattress maker Simmons from THL Partners. Some notes: *** Ares/Teachers plan to put both Serta and Simmons under the same super holdco, but will operate them as separate, independent entities. Were they merged, it would become the nation’s largest mattress manufacturer (title currently held by KKR’s Sealy). No idea how Ares/Teachers will actually manage the obvious conflicts of interest. For example, will Ares’ Simmons reps not look at their own funds’ quarterly reports that contain confidential info on Serta, and vice versa?
(Reuters) Hospital operator Select Medical Holdings Corp’s initial public offering priced at $10 a share, below the estimated range, and raised $300 million, according to an underwriter. Select Medical, which operates 87 long term acute care hospitals and 948 outpatient rehabilitation clinics in the United States, cut the number of shares sold to 30 million, […]