The New York-based private equity firm Centerbridge Capital Partners is forming a holding company to operate two recently acquired companies: Rock Bottom Restaurants and Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Groups. The new outfit, CraftWorks Restaurants & Breweries, will focus on beer-focused, casual dining restaurants, of which it now already controls nearly 200 across the U.S. PRESS RELEASE: Chattanooga, […]
Gryphon Investors has gobbled up two companies as it builds a healthy snack platform. San Francisco-based Gryphon on Monday said it had bought Ann’s House of Nuts and American Importing Co., or Amport. The acquisition of both companies is valued at $250 million, a source says. Both transactions closed Friday. Columbia, Md.-based Ann’s House of Nuts makes private label and branded snack nut and trail mix products. Amport, of Minneapolis, makes and markets private label dried fruits. The companies will not be merged but will operate independently under one holding company, says Nick Orum, Gryphon’s president. They will cooperate on sales and marketing, he says.
Deutsche Bank plans to begin marketing soon for a new secondaries fund that is expected to reach $750 million to $800 million, sources say. Deutsche Bank has been showing the deal to clients of its private bank, one person says. Fundraising is to begin "imminently," another source says. While Deutsche Bank has been in the secondaries market for some time, it has only publicly acknowledged one fund. In 2007, the bank announced the final close of its DB Secondary Opportunities Private Equity Fund, which raised $775 million.
Bob Pittman — the one-time head honcho of MTV Networks, AOL, and AOL Time Warner and founder of the New York-based private equity firm Pilot group — has made a personal equity investment in CC Media Holdings, the holding company of Clear Channel. Pittman will serve as the company’s Chairman of Media and Entertainment Platforms. PRESS RELEASE: CC […]
This morning, Apax Partners announced that it would sell its majority stake in IFCO Systems N.V., which creates reusable packaging containers, to the Australian logistics company Brambles Ltd for EUR 13.50 per share. PRESS RELEASE: Munich, November 15, 2010 – Funds advised by Apax Partners (“Apax”) today announce they have agreed to sell their majority […]
We finally have some news on Steve Rattner’s long awaited settlement with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo, who recently won his bid for governor, has issued a new subpoena to the Quadrangle Group for information about Rattner’s compensation and the financial terms of his departure, according to the New York Times. The subpoena comes after Rattner rejected a settlement last month with Cuomo where he would have had to pay a $20 million penalty, the NY Times says. Rattner and his lawyers have claimed that the $20 million is “disproportionate” to the money he earned at Quadrangle and to the penalty other executives caught up in the pay-to-play scandal have had to pay. Rattner’s negotiations with Cuomo continue, the NY Times says.
Olympus Partners said late Sunday that it has sold Ann's House of Nuts. The buyer is Gryphon Investors. Financial terms were not announced. Columbia, Md.-based Ann's House of Nuts makes private label and branded snack nut and trail mix products. Olympus, of Stamford, Conn., is a PE firm. News of the deal was previously reported by Buyouts.
Harrah’s Entertainment, which is now known as Ceasar’s Entertainment, will go public late next week, sources say. Ceasar’s is expected to price its deal on Thursday, Nov. 18 and trade the next day, a person says. The company is selling 31.25 million shares at $15 to $17 each. It will trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol “CZR.” Citi and Credit Suisse are joint bookrunners on the deal. Other underwriters include BofA Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs.
TDC’s private equity owners are looking to sell some of their stake in the Danish telecommunications group, Reuters said. Apax Partners, Blackstone, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Permira Advisers and Providence Equity Partners own nearly 88 percent of TDC. Two sources familiar with the matter said the private equity owners would sell about $2.9 billion worth of TDC stock. The sellers will remain significant shareholders in TDC after the transaction.
Actis Capital LLP of the U.K. invested $53 million in Gtex, a Brazilian-based cleaning products company that sells uner the Urcam USE and Amazon brands. Actis plans to initiate a growth plan for Gtex in the Brazilian market to include new product lines, geographical expansion and acquisitions.