Private equity shop Apax Partners will acquired a majority stake in Advantage Sales & Marketing, a marketing agency owned currently by J.W. Childs Associates and BAML Capital Partners. Financial terms of the deal, which is expected to close by the end of this year, were not disclosed. Irvine, Calif.-based Advantage Sales & Marketing has more than 1,200 clients and 66 offices across the U.S. Under the terms of the acquisition, Advantage’s current management team will continue to lead operations. Apax Partners is based in New York.
Buyout shops Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Vestar Capital Partners and Centerview Partners will acquire Del Monte for $5.3 billion. The deal values Del Monte at $19 per share, a 40% premium over the company’s average closing price during the past three months. The deal includes the assumption of roughly $1.3 billion in assumed debt. Debt financing will come from Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital Inc., JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and KKR Capital Markets.
The Carlyle Group has offered 1.9 billion Malaysian ringgit ($618.8 million) for Malaysia’s QSR Brands, the majority owner of KFC and Pizza Hut in Malaysia, Reuters reported. QSR is currently owned by Malaysian planter Kulim. The offer by Carlyle tops a previous offer by Malaysian businessman Halim Saad, Reuters said.
Towne Holdings, a portfolio company of the Charterhouse Group, said Wednesday that it has bought HBI Freight. Financial terms were not announced. Dulles, Va.-based HBI is an air cargo and home delivery trucking company. Towne, of South Bend, Ind., provides air, ocean and expedited freight services through a network of seventy terminals in the U.S., according to a statement. Charterhouse is a PE firm. The HBI acquisition is the fifth add-on deal for Towne Holdings.
Some PE firms should be giving thanks to the bubbling high yield market. It's the day before Thanksgiving and dividend recaps are still coming. First up is Flexera Software, a portfolio company of Thoma Bravo. Flexera, which was formerly known as Acresso Software, is launching a $215 million loan to pay a dividend to its shareholders, according to Thomson Reuters Loan Pricing Corp. Barclays and RBC Capital Markets are leading the sale of the loan, LPC said . In 2008, Thoma Bravo acquired the software business unit of Macrovision Corp., which became Acresso Software. Acresso changed its name to Flexera last year.
South Korea’s Hana Financial Group will look to private equity firms to fund its $4 billion acquisition of Korea Exchange Bank, Reuters reported. Hana is in early talks with firms including The Carlyle Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Reuters said, adding that Hana will tap private equity firms for roughly half the cost of the buyout.
UK-based medical staffing company Healthcare Locums is in talks to buy Healthcare Australia, which provides nursing and homecare services, Reuters reported, citing an earlier report by the Australian Financial Review. Healthcare Australia is majority owned by CHAMP Private Equity.
The Carlyle Group, through its 5.4 billion euro ($7.2 billion) Carlyle Europe Partners III fund, has acquired six retail businesses from Primondo Specialty Group, a subsidiary of German holding company Arcandor. Financial terms of the deal were not released. The companies acquired include board-sports and street-wear retailer Planet Sports; Danish mail-order business Bon’A Parte; and women’s apparel company Elégance.
The private equity arm of New York Life Investments has named Alan Weinfeld as managing director and head of business development, a newly created position. Weinfeld comes to the firm from Darby Private Equity in New York, where he was a director of business development. PRESS RELEASE: New York Life Capital Partners (NYLCAP), the private […]
Phoenix Technologies said Tuesday that it has become an indirect subsidiary of Marlin Equity Partners, a Los Angeles-based private investment firm. Phoenix, of Milpitas, Calif., provides core systems software products. Earlier this month, Marlin agreed to buy Phoenix for $4.20 a share, or $152 million. Phoenix stockholders approved the merger on Nov. 19.