Wicked Deals: Beantown loyals help Groupon’s revenue base Steve! As Apple’s latest product—its new cloud—continues to gain hype, CEO Jobs is expected to speak Bad News: 247wallst.com says the next recession has begun Taking Their Sweet Time: The story of Nelson Obus, who’s been battling the SEC for nearly a decade
British buyout firm Melrose will sell Dynacast to a company managed by private equity firm Kenner & Co Inc., Reuters reported. Melrose bought Dynacast, which makes die-cast metal parts for the automotive and telecom industries, from buyout shop Cinven in 2005.
Mandarin Capital Partners is pouring 40 million euro ($57.9 million) into Italian textile group Miroglio, Reuters reported. The deal comes as part of a more than $700 million fashion sector investment by the Chinese-European private equity firm, Reuters wrote.
Tuffieh Private Equity Fund will buy an 85% stake in Czech logistics firm CS Cargo, Reuters reported Friday. Financil terms of the deal were not released. CS Cardo hired JP Morgan last year to prepare it for a potential IPO.
Private equity firm Symphony Technology Group has wrapped up its $165 million acquisition of Shopzilla. The deal included $150 million in cash, and $15 million in deferred payments. Wells Fargo Capital Finance and Tennenbaum Capital Partners provided debt financing for the deal. Shopzilla’s online shopping brands include Bizrate, Beso and TaDa. Symphony bought Shopzilla from Scripps Networks Interactive. The deal was first announced in April.
It’s tough to tune into an economics debate on TV these days without seeing a split screen and pundits on each side of it arguing the merits and metrics of a third round of quantitative easing. QE3 might come as early as this summer and—depending on which side of the screen you listen to—is necessary to save the U.S. economy from getting sucked into the European Union’s fiscal downdraft, or is yet another wrongheaded call to punt the proverbial can only further into the future. Aside from the debate around QE3—every day, we seem closer to needing it. It is the timing of its implementation that will drastically impact private equity firms’ investment strategies and capacity to achieve attractive lending terms. However, PE pros have no tea leaves to definitively....
Navigation system maker Garmin is in talks to buy smaller, German rival Navigon for roughly 50 million euro ($72 million), Reuters reported, citing a story in the Financial Times Deutschland. Buyout shop General Atlantic Partners owns 90% of Navigon.
After regulatory hurdles and delays nearly squashed the $4.3 billion deal for Korea Exchange Bank, South Korea's Hana Financial Group and buyout shop Lone Star have reportedly managed to extend the deal for six months, Reuters reported, citing the Seoul Economic Daily. The paper wrote that Hana would acquire a less than 10% stake in KEB as a means to ensure its commitment to the deal. Lone Star bought KEB in 2003 for $1.2 billion.
Molson Coors Brewing Co. and Mexico's Grupo Modelo may make a joint bid for Australian brewer Foster’s Group, according to a report from Reuters. Bank of America and Deutsche Bank are reportedly helping Molson and Modelo devise financing for a possible offer. Foster’s has been the subject of buyout speculation since it revealed plans to spin-off its struggling wine business last year.
The Blackstone Group is getting some bad press for a company it hasn't owned in four years. Today, the Daily Mail is reporting that Southern Cross Healthcare, one of the largest care homes operators in Europe, is in dire straits and may need a government bailout.