Bain Capital last week began raising its fourth “credit opportunities” fund for Sankaty Advisors, an affiliate that invests in leveraged loans, high-yield bonds, structured products and distressed debt and equity. Offering documents sent to limited partners did not include a target capitalization, but did reveal something far more interesting: Last August, Bain invested $200 million […]
I just got off the phone with a Wall Street arbitrager, who is trying to figure out what to do about Clear Channel Communications. The company is trading nearly 25% lower than its agreed-upon buyout price, and yesterday’s DoJ approval actually makes it cheaper for the buyout firms — Bain Capital and THL Capital — to walk […]
In 2002, a group of buyout pros drove out to the Hamptons. In their trunk was the body of Gordon Gekko, and every available copy of Barbarians at the Gate. They buried Gekko, burned the books and returned to Manhattan. They then told everyone that buyout firms now do deals in partnership with company management, and that […]
D.E. Shaw either has an impeccable sense of timing, or is engaged in… Well, let’s just say it has an impeccable sense of timing. The hedge fund manager yesterday reported its acquisition of a 6.6% stake in Alliance Data Systems. At the time, Alliance Data was in the midst of a legal tug-of-war with The Blackstone Group, […]
I just got off the phone with a reporter, who wanted some comments for a piece she’s writing about the private equity market, post-credit crunch. So we talked debt availability, debt terms, deal sizes and return expectations. Then she asked the following question: “What specific areas are private equity firms most likely to invest in […]
I was supposed to discuss the five buyout deals most likely to fail this morning on CNBC, but WalMart reported earnings in the middle of our conversation. Plus, Jim Cramer was the loquacious guest host, which meant we were already a bit behind schedule (but he expressed sympathy for us getting cut off, which has […]
The buyout market is at the beginning of its first writeoff cycle in years, as portfolio companies are suffering from the dual dangers of overleveraged balance sheets and recessionary macro trends. The latest dead pool jumper is Silver State Helicopters, a Las Vegas-based flight training school that filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection just five […]
Navigation Capital Partners today announced that it has acquired a majority stake in Exeter Finance Corp., a Dallas-based company that buys and services nonprime auto installment sales contracts. So we’ve got 5 Questions for David Panton, a partner with Navigation: 1. Exeter describes itself as a “nonprime” auto finance company. Is there any difference between that […]
Private equity litigators are often the forgotten members of corporate law practices — sitting in the background while transaction and fundraising folks get all the glory (read: billable hours). But we’re seeing a reversal of fortune, as private equity firms today are more likely to get sued than to complete a new deal. Last week, […]
Mistral Equity Partners today closed on its first deal, with a leveraged buyout of Ohio chipmaker Shearer’s. That would be potato chips, not silicon. A source tells peHUB that Mistral acquired a majority stake in Shearer’s from private equity firm Winston Partners, with company management rolling over its existing equity stake. Debt was provided by National […]