Baker & Taylor, a Charlotte, N.C.
California Check Cashing Stores, a retailer of “alternative” financial services like check-cashing and payroll advances, has acquired San Jose, Calif.-based Fast Cash Stories Inc. The deal was backed by CCCS shareholder Golden Gate Capital. www.goldengatecap.com
Visant Corp. (a.k.a. Jostens), a portfolio company of KKR and DLJ Merchant Banking, has acquired Neff Motivation Inc. from Linsalata Capital Partners for an undisclosed amount. Neff is a Greenville, Ohio
GateHouse Media Inc. (NYSE: GHS) has agreed to acquire nine publications from The Copley Press Inc. for $380 million. The pubs include seven daily and two weekly newspapers in the Springfield, Ill., Peoria, Ill and Canton, Ohio markets. Their combined circulation is around 275,000. GateHouse was acquired by Fortress Investment Partners in 2005 from Leonard […]
Scholz & Friends Group, a German advertising and marketing agency, has agreed to acquire gkk DialogGroup, a Frankfurt-based provider of communications services. No financial terms were disclosed. Scholz & Friends is a portfolio company of Cognetas. www.s-f.com
Update: Video here. I’ll be on CNBC’s Power Lunch program at around 1:30 ET this afternoon, to discuss a report that Blackstone Group is prepping an IPO. Goldman Sachs would be the lead underwriter, and a filing could come within the next several weeks. Assuming this would be an actual IPO of the management company instead of […]
Last November, Bessemer Venture Partners and Insight Venture Partners agreed to acquire enterprise software company Netsmart Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: NTST) for $115 million. It looked like a typical public-to-private buyout – save for the semi-oddity of venture capital firms doing the buying. No big deal. But certain Netsmart shareholders believed that the $16.50 per share […]
Consona Corp. (f.k.a. Made2Manage), an Indianapolis�based provider of enterprise customer management and process solutions, has completed its acquisition of Knova Software Inc. (OTC BB: KNVC). The deal was valued at approximately $47 million in cash, or $5 per share. M2M is owned by Battery Ventures and Thoma Cressey Equity Partners. www.consona.com www.knova.com
Last week, this space reported that Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) was considering legislation that would result in increased taxes for the private equity industry. Part of the pretext was that Grassley has particular leverage because such a move was unlikely to ruffle any feathers in his home state of Iowa. After all, how often have […]
Penhall International Corp., an Anaheim, Calif.-based provider of concrete grinding services and equipment rentals, has acquired The Graff Co., a provider of concrete cutting, scanning and demolition services in Ontario, Canada. No financial terms were disclosed. Penhall is a portfolio company of Code Hennessy & Simmons. www.penhall.com www.graffeconcrete.com