WSJ today reports that department store chain Mervyn’s may be the next PE-backed retail bust, just four years after the company was carved out of Target Corp. for $1.2 billion. Certain vendors have stopped shipping, longtime lender CIT has cut ties and there is no rising economic tide to lift all boats (unless your vessel […]
Today’s column covers last night’s Tax Loophole Protest (in front of KKR’s New York Headquarters), which I peeled myself from my air-conditioned cubicle to attend. The Service Employees International Union has expressed a number of complaints about private equity firms: they aren’t socially responsible, they deplete a company’s cash reserves, and they take on too […]
This weekend we said goodbye to the two remaining BCC (before credit crunch) deals, closing the book on both Penn National and BCE. Each found long-anticipated resolutions that seemed relatively painless for those involved. End of story. But as we bid farewell to that era, a different deal opened up a whole new can of […]
Some were surprised, but the deal that wouldn’t die has finally left the building. But look at Penn National Gaming’s stock. A failed merger usually doesn’t garner a leap in share price to the tune of 10% plus. (Though considering the spread on this one, maybe.) But a fat $225 million breakup fee, plus Centerbridge […]
Finally, my take on the one thing bloggers, finance reporters, Missouri politicians and beer drinkers can’t get enough of this summer—Anheuser Busch. God knows there’s been plenty of speculation. But hear me out. I want to talk about the theme parks. Even before InBev entered the picture, there’s been rumors about the potential sale of […]
Casino operator Penn Gaming announced this morning that it has terminated its proposed $6.1 billion buyout with Fortress Investments and Centerbridge Partners. We’ll have much more on this as the day progresses, but a couple quick reactions: 1. This is very surprising. Penn Gaming and its suitors have gone through regulatory hell to get this […]
I spent some time on the phone yesterday with Tom Hicks, who burst back onto the buyout scene this week by agreeing to take Graham Packaging public via his SPAC. The deal is valued at $3.2 billion, with Graham owner Blackstone Group agreeing to remain the company’s largest single shareholder for at least two years. […]
Q2 is officially in the books, and might eventually be optioned out for the next Wes Craven flick. Just a freaking mess, according to the 40-page M&A autopsy produced this morning by Thomson Reuters (download here: 2Q08.pdf). Private equity was hit particularly hard, with just $152.4 billion in global volume. That’s down nearly fourfold from […]
Today Tom Hicks and his SPAC vehicle, Hicks Acquisition, announced plans to do the world’s largest reverse IPO. The target is Blackstone Group-backed Graham Packaging, a $2.5 billion-revenue plastic packaging maker. Once the formal agreement goes through (today’s announcement was pre-merger agreement), shareholders of the SPAC, which went public in September 2007, must vote in […]
The end of Q2 is just hours away, which means that we’re in for a data deluge. Well, not from the VC-backed IPO market – can you be deluged with nothingness? – but from everywhere else. Full data from Thomson Reuters will be posted this afternoon, but here’s a quick preview of first half 2008 […]