NEW YORK (Reuters) – EZ Lube filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, saying it had been hurt by the economic downturn, and put itself up for sale. The company, which runs about 82 vehicle oil change locations, mostly in California and Arizona, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District […]
MILAN/LONDON (Reuters) – Seat Pagine Gialle’s private-equity owners are in a fix — forced to pour more money into the Italian yellow-pages publisher to keep it afloat but unable to fund the new products it needs to thrive. The company’s woes are symptomatic of an industry in which once vital publications — like Encyclopedia Britannica […]
Tis the season for a bombardment of studies, surveys and reports. I’ve gotten a ton over the past few weeks, so here they are, summarized and ready for download. Demystifying the Credit Crunch
From: The Private Equity Council and Arthur D. Little
What it says: I haven't read all 20 pages of this white paper, but according to the press release, it covers the "origins of the credit crunch and the roots of the subprime crisis, which can be traced back to the early 1990s." It also goes into the impact of all that on PE, and has revised commentary on TARP.
Download it here: Private Equity Council Dealmaker's Survey
From: Thomson Reuters and ACG
What it says: Middle market deal pros are bullish. 86% of em say the current M&A environment is poor. That's down quite a bit from the middle of the year, and its not about to change.
Levine Leichtman Capital Partners has agreed to sell Hackney Ladish, a portfolio company that makes steel pipe fittings used in the energy industry, to Precision Castparts Corp., a maker of metal components used in the aerospace and defense industry, according to a government filing, an investor in Levine Leichtman Capital and a release put out […]
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Fitch Ratings on Tuesday cut low-rated portions of a commercial mortgage bond backed by a $4.1 billion loan for Lightstone Group’s Extended Stay hotel chain as the slowing economy dents revenue. The rating company lowered five low-investment grade classes of the Wachovia Bank Commercial Mortgage Trust series 2007-ESH to “BBB-minus” and […]
Health & Safety Institute, a portfolio company of The Riverside Co., has acquired JSL Communications LLC, a Bainbridge Island, Wash.-based provider of continuing education training materials for first responders and emergency medical services. No financial terms were disclosed. www.riversidecompany.com
The Riverside Company is in talks to buy Sencore Inc., a Sioux Falls, S.D.-based electronics company, according to a government filing and a source with knowledge of the talks. Sencore makes measuring instruments used in troubleshooting by broadcasters, manufacturers of broadcast hardware, video production engineers, cable operators, and retailers of audio and video and audio […]
Interstate Auto Group Inc., a Minneapolis-based buy-here/pay-here auto lot operator, has acquired Auto Master from First Cash Financial Services Inc. No financial terms were disclosed. IAG is a portfolio company of Alpine Investors.
JLL Partners said that it will commence an offer for any issued or outstanding shares it does not already own in Patheon Inc. (TSX: PTI), a Canadian provider of contract development and manufacturing services to the global pharmaceutical industry. The offer would be for US$2 per share, or a 138% premium to last Friday’s closing price. JLL currently holds around a 30% stake in Patheon.
TDX Group, a UK debt collection advisor, has sold a 40% stake to Bahrain-based investment group Investcorp for £28m (US$42m). Nottinghamshire-based TDX was founded five years ago by executives at Capital One, HSBC and GE. Working with creditors, purchasers and collection agencies, TDX provides data including sale market pricing, bid data, segment and account level […]