Alexander Gallo Holdings, an Atlanta-based provider of court reporting and litigation support services, has acquired Verdict Systems LLC, a Tempe, Ariz.-based maker of trial presentation software. No financial terms were disclosed. Alexander Gallo is a portfolio company of Accel-KKR.
JMH Capital has acquired a majority stake in Walker Wood Products, a Temecula, Calif.-based maker of kitchen cabinets, according to LBO Wire. www.jmhcapital.com
Doughty Hanson’s real estate fund has acquired Old George Mall, a shopping mall in Salisbury, UK, in a £60m deal. Doughty Hanson & Co Real Estate bought the 137,000 sq ft, 57-retail unit shopping centre from a joint venture between clients of PRUPIM and Rockspring. The deal is Doughty Hanson’s eleventh investment from its €590m […]
SHANGHAI, Jan 8 (Reuters) – China’s Ministry of Commerce may ask Chinese companies to seek ministry approval if they want to invest $100 million or more overseas, it said in draft rules, after a few major Chinese companies reported big book losses on investments abroad. Companies may also need the ministry’s approval if they want […]
UK fashion retailer New Look beat the high street gloom, posting underlying UK sales growth of 2.8% in the 14 weeks to January 3. The results will be welcomed by New Look’s private equity owners Apax and Permira which have owned the retailer alongside its founder Tom Singh since 2004. New look’s sales growth was […]
Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Securus Technologies Inc.’s corporate family rating, its probability of default ratings and the rating for its second priority senior secured notes. Securus is an H.I.G. Capital portfolio company that provides inmate telecommunication services to correctional facilities in the U.S. and Canada.
It's a familiar story line these days: Once the masters of their domains, private equity pros have faded from power and prestige with the onset of the credit crunch. Et cetera, et cetera. Yesterday's news provided further proof of this narrative. Macrovision rejected One Equity Partners, the firm it had lined up to buy TV Guide Network, in lieu of a strategic buyer. The price, $255 million, was only a slight bump from One Equity's $225 million. The biggest difference of course, is those pesky contingencies. Unlike One Equity, strategic suitor Lionsgate would pay it all in cash. Private equity has been abandoned at the alter, and frankly, it's a bummer. I can't say I'm surprised with the number of things that can do wrong in the deal-closing process these days. The flood of stories claiming
BANGALORE (Reuters) – The head of Indian outsourcing firm Satyam Computer Services resigned on Wednesday, disclosing that profits had been falsely inflated for years and sending its shares tumbling nearly 80 percent. India’s biggest corporate scandal in memory threatens future foreign investment flows into Asia’s third-largest economy and casts a cloud over growth in its […]
LONDON (Reuters) – The planned sale of a big Dutch waste manager will test how much appetite remains for the unglamorous but dependable business of garbage treatment, which enjoyed its own mini-boom during the credit bubble. Essent Waste, a unit of Dutch utility Essent, is likely to draw interest from private equity, infrastructure funds, and […]
MUMBAI (Reuters) – Huntsman Corp (HUN.N) plans to use the proceeds from its $1 billion settlement with Apollo Management over their failed merger to reduce debt and increase liquidity, the U.S. chemical maker said on Wednesday. Last month, Huntsman Corp agreed to terminate its $6.5 billion agreement to be acquired by Apollo Management’s Hexion Specialty […]