PE firms entering China face a lot of headwinds. There's the idea that, aside from a few homeruns, most investments in the region are underwater. Or that LBOs have no liquid exit opportunities. Or that leverage isn't readily available. And of course there's the country's country's notoriously opaque and shifting legal system. "Investors must also file dozens of forms to local tax offices to complete legal registration of a deal or joint venture company. Different bureaucracies within the country make different demands," a recent Reuters story laments. Adding to the problems, sellers in the country like to "take advantage of (a U.S. dealmaker's) need to close a deal quickly," according Andrew Marino, a principal with The Carlyle Group. Speaking last night on a China-focused panel discussion sponsored by Ernst & Young and Columbia
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A creditor of U.S. television station owner Equity Media Holdings Corp, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this week, has asked a judge to convert the case to liquidation, or dismiss it, according to court papers. In an emergency motion filed on Wednesday, Silver Point Finance LLC, a lender on […]
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Private equity firms are neutral or positive for employee relations, a lobby group said on Wednesday, but lawmakers and labour unions called for tougher regulation of the often maligned industry. The sector has been accused of asset stripping the firms they buy into, leaving employees on poorer job terms. The European Private […]
Moody's Investors Service has cut CCS Medical Inc.’s corporate family rating from Caa1 from B3. It also has downgraded the company’s first lien senior secured credit facilities to B2 from B1, but affirmed the Caa2 rating on the second lien term loan. CCS Medical is a Clearwater, Fla.-based portfolio company of Warburg Pincus.
Reliant Energy (NYSE: RRI) has paid a $35 million termination fee to First Reserve Corp., after recently canceling a sale of $350 million in convertible preferred stock to First Reserve. www.reliant.com
NPC International Inc., a Lenexa, Kan.-based franchisee and operator of Pizza Hut franchises, has closed two transactions whereby its acquired 191 new units and sold 70 to Pizza Hut Inc. NPC was acquired in 2006 by Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity, and now operates 1,098 Pizza Hut restaurants and delivery/carryout units in 27 states.
UAL Corp. (Nasdaq: UAUA), the parent company of United Airlines, has raised $150 million in cash via a sale-leaseback of 15 Boeing 757 aircraft to East Shore Aircraft, a portfolio company of Wayzata Investment Partners.
Leading European private equity group seeks to renegotiate loans for two companies it bought during the boom, which are focused on the construction and housing sectors. According to an article in the Financial Times, Paris-based PAI Partners has appointed advisers to carry out the negotiations with the lending banks. Rothschild has been brought in to […]
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Starr International, an investment firm controlled by U.S. insurance tycoon Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, has failed to win Beijing’s approval to launch a planned private equity joint venture with top China brokerage CITIC Securities (600030.SS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), sources said on Wednesday. Early last year, Starr International and CITIC Securities, […]
Apax Partners has received European Union approval for its pending acquisition of French information and technology consultant Altran Technologies. www.apaxpartners.com