NEW YORK (Reuters) – The biggest private equity groups are sitting on $400 billion of debt that needs to be repaid over the next five years, the Financial Times reported, citing data from S&P LCD. The private equity firms face more than $21 billion of debt maturities in the next two years, another $50 billion […]
LONDON (Reuters) – Food groups Nestle (NESN.VX) and Mars are among the companies interested in London-based chocolate dessert maker Gu, which has been put up for sale by its founders, the Financial Times reported. The paper, which did not cite sources, said private equity firms including Langholm Capital were interested in the company, whose asking […]
There have now been more PE-backed bankruptcies in 2009 than in all of 2008, based on data compiled by peHUB and Buyouts Magazine. Five more companies filed in July, bringing the yearly tally to 53 -- compared to just 49 last year. Station Casinos was the month's largest bust (in terms of purchase price), having been acquired by Colony Capital in 2007 for $5.4 billion. The others were all originally sub-billion deals, including CCS Medical (Warburg Pincus) and RathGibson (DLJ Merchant Banking). You can download the entire 2009 chart after the jump. But first, a bunch of disclaimers: Our data is only for control-sponsored deals that included at least one U.S. sponsor. As such, we exclude foreign-sponsored companies (like Arclin), VC-backed companies (like ProtoStar) and PIPEs (like BearingPoint). We do track
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A blank-check company controlled by hedge fund manager Warren Lichtenstein will acquire Frontier Financial Corp (FTBK.O), a troubled Washington state bank with $4 billion in assets. The deal is the latest in a recent series of financial services takeovers by so-called special purpose acquisition vehicles — listed companies that raise capital […]
Today is the last day of July, so the Thomson Reuters data team sent over some monthly M&A deal activity info. It shows one of three things: (1) Most deal-makers spent the past 31 days on vacation; (2) There were few good deals left after June’s relative bonanza; or (3) The July numbers will increase over time, as new data gets entered into the system (i.e., deals not yet disclosed). Thomson Reuters reports that global M&A fell to just $99 billion in July, compared to $287.9 billion in June and $357 billion in July 2008. All of the decrease, however, was on the strategic side. Private equity-sponsored deal volume actually increased from $7.36 billion in June to $13 billion in July. It was the industry’s busiest month since last August, although the vast majority of deals were still outside of the U.S. You can view and/or download the data after the jump...
PlayCore Holdings Inc., a Chattanooga, Tenn.-based portfolio company of Irving Place Capital, has acquired GT Grandstands Inc., a Plant City, Fla.-based maker of grandstands and bleachers. No financial terms were disclosed.
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A U.S. judge ruled on Thursday that auto parts maker Delphi Corp can sell itself to a group of lenders, paving the way for the company to end its near four-year trip through bankruptcy court. Earlier this week, Delphi’s board accepted a bid from its debtor-in-possession lenders, including several hedge funds, […]
PARIS (Reuters) – Candidates are lining up to buy French nuclear group Areva’s (CEPFi.PA) T&D unit, French newspaper La Tribune said, citing four names in addition to intending bidders Alstom (ALSO.PA) and Schneider (SCHN.PA). General Electric (GE.N) could join forces with investment funds Apollo of the United States and Europe’s CVC, but they are still […]
(Reuters) – Eyeing a better price, U.S. auto maker Ford Motor Co (F.N) is slowing down the bidding process for its Volvo car unit, the Wall Street Journal said, citing a person close to the company. Ford will wait for General Motors [GM.UL] to sell Opel and is looking at inviting the losing bidder to […]
More PE Fraud: P.E. Manager Helped Partner Loot Firm Coffers (Fin Altnernatives) More Media Buyouts: Shed Media is in sale talks with private equity. (Guardian) Rants: A woman named Janet Tavakoli is asking: Where Were Drama Pundits [Whitney, Taleb and Gasparino] When It Mattered? (Tavakoli Structured Finance via Dealbreaker) Learning from Private Equity: Strategic buyers are picking up on the "reverse termination fee" trend started by private equity pros in the dealmaking boom. (Deal)