News and Analysis

LONDON (Reuters) – Troubled Candover agreed to sell energy research firm Wood Mackenzie to rival Charterhouse for an enterprise value of 553 million pounds ($905 million), in this year’s biggest European purchase by a private equity firm. Although the sale price is below the 650 million pounds originally mooted by newspapers, the deal announced on […]

OSLO (Reuters) – Norwegian conglomerate Orkla (ORK.OL) is set to acquire U.S aluminium extrusion company Indalex, strengthening its position in north American markets. Orkla said on Wednesday it would buy 10 active aluminium plants in Canada and the United States with a total capacity of about 315,000 tonnes per year through its aluminium unit Sapa. […]

NTK Holdings Inc. (Nortek), a Providence, R.I.-based maker of ventilation, air conditioning and heating products, said that it is analyzing its capital structure "in light of current economic conditions." It has retained both Blackstone Group and Weil, Gotshal & Manges as advisors. THL Partners acquired NTK from Kelso & Co. in 2004, and held a 66.48% equity stake as of late 2007, when NTK canceled a proposed $690 million IPO.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Thursday’s scheduled auction of bankrupt housewares and jewelry retailer Fortunoff Holdings LLC’s intellectual property was delayed until next week because of a power outage, the sale’s organizer said. The auction is now scheduled to take place in New York on Tuesday, June 23, at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT). The deadline […]

KaChing: Social networking for quant traders. (WSJ) Diligence Tip: Don't forget the gray hair. (Carried Interest) Ideas: Why not ban prepayment penalties on debt? (Rortybomb via Felix Salmon) Memes: It appears that Ahmandinejad is no good at Photoshop. (Boingboing) More Memes: Mildly humorous epitaphs for some of the larger bankruptcies of the year. (Reformed broker via Abnormal returns) S&P Off Scott-Free? Among the institutions not affected by the regulatory overhaul: The ratings agencies, accused of handing out oh-so-many AAA ratings. (Clusterstock)

Lynn Tilton of Patriarch Partners has been all over the news lately. Her distressed buyout firm recently gave up on a battle to purchase Polaroid, bought the assets of Stila Cosmetics and became embroiled in a conflict over the shares of AriZona Iced Tea. Today Patriarch purchased Spiegel Brands, an online and catalog retailer selling apparel under the Spiegel, Newport News and Shape fx brands. The deal’s timing is uncanny, considering the company’s former sister business, Eddie Bauer, collapsed into bankruptcy just yesterday. Tilton said Patriarch isn’t likely to place a rival stalking horse bid on Eddie Bauer, which has agreed to be acquired by CCMP Capital for $202 million, because it’s too retail-oriented for the firm’s taste.

Retailer Eddie Bauer yesterday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and agreed to be acquired by CCMP Capital for $202 million. So we have 5 Question for Jonathan Lynch, a managing director of CCMP Capital who worked on the deal: 1. Your firm took a hard look at Eddie Bauer five years ago, when you were still known as JPMorgan Partners. Why did you pass back then? Very simply, it was a company that was going in the wrong direction. They were focused on a segment - women's casual apparel - that a lot of other people were focused on, but it was antithetical to what the Eddie Bauer brand was known for. So it was the wrong direction with the wrong management team, which meant we were not compelled to do it. I always tell people that, in order to engineer a successful change in direction, you need to do four things: recognize the problem, set strategy to fix that problem, have the right people in place and then execute really well. Eddie Bauer is three of those four steps into that process right now, and that's very different than where the company was in 2004. Back then, management didn't even recognize the problem, so they certainly couldn't execute against it.

As the weather (slowly) warms up, plenty of M&A bankers are hoping the market for deals will as well. We've noticed a few more targets coming to market in recent weeks and have compiled a list of some of those we've come across. Our sources are various news reports and the Buyouts "Seeking Buyers" list. The following companies (among many others) are either formally considering "strategic alternatives," reported to be on the block or are rumored to be in sales talks. For prior lists, see below, and send any additions my way. IPC Hodings, a reinsurer based in California, is now a target after shareholders rejected an offer from Max Capital Group. The rejection comes after Max Capital topped a bid from reinsurer Validus Holdings, which was started by Aqualine Capital. ReadyMix Inc. will pursue strategic alternatives for the company following indications of interest from suitors. The company retained Lincoln International to advise it.

CHICAGO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Talks to sell the storied Chicago Cubs baseball team have reopened with a rival bidding group, and are continuing alongside negotiations with the original Ricketts family buyers, sources familiar with the situation said on Thursday. Tribune Co, which has been trying to sell the Cubs for more than two years, is talking to a group that includes private equity investors Marc Utay and Leo Hindery, three sources familiar with the situation said. Spokesmen for Tribune Co and Ricketts said their talks are ongoing and Ricketts spokesman Dennis Culloton described them as positive. Utay and Hindery declined to comment.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Three Japanese companies filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition against trendy cosmetics company Stila Corp in a Delaware court, saying it failed to pay its debts, according to court documents. The creditors listed in the filings made on Wednesday are cosmetics makers Tokiwa Corporation, JO Cosmetics Co and Nihon Kolmar Co, all based in Japan. Together they list claims for sale of goods totaling $812,448. Stila, which has a cult following for its trendy lipgloss and eyeshadow products, is owned by private equity firm Patriarch Partners. It was once owned by Estee Lauder (EL.N) and was sold to Sun Capital in 2006, which sold it to Patriarch this year.