NEW YORK (Reuters) – Bankrate Inc (RATE.O), which operates Bankrate.com and other personal finance websites, said on Wednesday it agreed to a $571 million buyout by private equity firm Apax Partners. Apax plans to pay $28.50 per share in cash for Bankrate, a 15.8 percent premium over the company’s Tuesday closing price, starting with a […]
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – Procter & Gamble Co (PG.N) is in talks with several private equity firms, including Cerberus Capital Management LP [CBS.UL], as well as specialty drugmaker Warner Chilcott Ltd (WCRX.O) to sell its prescription drug business, a source familiar with the situation said. The Wall Street Journal reported late Tuesday in its electronic edition […]
After yesterday's post on HM Capital's investment in organic food business Earthbound Farm, I spoke with HM partner Andrew Rosen for more color on the industry, his firm's investment thesis and the company's plans for growth. To recap, HM Capital invested an undisclosed amount of capital into Earthbound Farm, securing $135 million in debt funding from RBC Capital Markets. The stake size was not disclosed, but HM Capital historically acquires majority positions. How did HM Capital find the company? What's attractive about a farming business? We've been investing in food for around 20 years. We've done close to $6 billion worth of deal value and across a host of sectors. Food is something that's core for us. It's also something we're very selective about, but we get excited about the sector. Earthbound Farm is by far the market leader within organics. We were looking at the value-added produce sector for going on five years. We've been in a dialogue with Earthbound Farm for over 2 years.
WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland said on Wednesday it would ramp up privatisations to bring 36.7 billion zlotys ($12.2 billion) into depleted state coffers by the end of 2010, including sales of key utilities and the rest of copper miner KGHM. (KGHM.WA) The treasury ministry said that it expected the lion’s share of the proceeds next […]
Vertex Capital has acquired Small World Toys, a Carson, Calif,-based specialty toy maker. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which was done in partnership with company management.
TGV Partners and Wild Communications have acquired Horton Archery, a Tallmadge, Ohio-based maker of crossbows and other archery equipment. No financial terms were disclosed.
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A federal judge postponed the auction for the assets of bankrupt auto parts maker Delphi Corp (DPHIQ.PK) on Tuesday for a second time, in an effort to give bidders more time to work out a deal. The auction was postponed until Friday after a meeting in chambers on Tuesday, according to […]
TORONTO (Reuters) – MatlinPatterson, a U.S. private equity firm that’s a creditor of Nortel Networks (NRTLQ.PK), said on Tuesday it submitted a $725 million bid for the bankrupt Canadian company’s wireless technology assets. Last month, Nokia Siemens Networks — a joint venture of Nokia (NOK1V.HE) and Siemens (SIEGn.DE) — made a $650 million “stalking horse” […]
Scoops: Blackstone is reportedly eying an Asian real estate fund operated by Merrill Lynch. (Deal) Via Abnormal Returns: I haven't read this yet, but I suspect it would be a worthwhile read for both small cap investors and middle market buyout funds. It's a Brandes Institute white paper from April called Is U.S. Small Cap a Viable Alternative to U.S. Private Equity? (SSRN via AR) Spoiler Alert: No. Do good students become good entrepreneurs? (You're The Boss) Recession Not Vicey Enough: Even though the S&P is up more than 43% for the year, the Vice Fund is only up 24%. (Zerobeta)
Even if the public markets won't forgive you, it's a good bet private equity will. Take Robert Nardelli, who earned himself plenty of criticism in recent years by the egregious $210 million “golden parachute” he received upon resignation as head of Home Depot. The paycheck earned him a spot as one of the highest-paid executives with the worst-performing companies. He further solidified his public enemy creds as CEO of Chrysler—on his watch, the company’s sales fell 30% last year and 45% in the first quarter of this year, leading, as we all know, to one of the year's largest bankruptcies. Yet he still has a career, thanks to private equity. Today Cerberus Capital Management hired him as CEO of its operating and advisory business.