Kohlberg & Co. has agreed to acquire Centerplate Inc. (AMEX/TSX: CVP), for approximately $83 million (33% premium to yesterday’s closing price). Centerplate is a Stamford, Conn.-based provider of food services, including concessions, catering and merchandise services in more than 130 sports facilities, convention centers and other entertainment venues throughout the United States and Canada.
LONDON (Reuters) – A private equity consortium dropped its 1.9 billion-pound ($3.5 billion) bid for British media company Informa (INF.L) on Friday after Informa rejected a reduced offer, sending Informa shares as much as 9 percent lower. Publishing and events group Informa, whose titles include the maritime newspaper Lloyd’s List, said earlier this month the […]
(Reuters) – Citigroup Inc is considering making a bid for Washington Mutual Inc, the Wall Street Journal said on Friday, citing people familiar with the situation. JPMorgan Chase & Co is biding its time on a potential bid, the newspaper said, citing people close to JPMorgan. Calls to the three finance companies were not immediately […]
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – British private equity firm Lion Capital won permission from the European Commission on Thursday to buy UK food products company The FoodVest Group. “After examining the operation, the Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area or any substantial part of it,” the EU’s […]
HgCapital, a pan-European private equity firm, has joined Swiss investor Capvis in its €325m (US$461m) acquisition of Koenig Verbindungtechnik (KVT), a Swiss fastenings and sealing technology products subsidiary of German-listed Klöckner. Capvis announced the deal in July, but with the transaction price for KVT totalling €325m and the investment being made from Capvis III, a […]
Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded Hawaiian Telcom Communications from B3 to Caa2, after the carrier announced that it had retained Lazard Freres to examine its balance sheet. The Carlyle Group acquired Hawaiian Telcom from Verizon Communications in 2005 for approximately $1.6 billion. www.hawaiiantel.com
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Hong Kong’s PCCW (0008.HK) is on track to sell a stake in its telecom unit, and is eyeing opportunities for Internet Protocol TV in India, a senior official said on Thursday. Sources involved in the deal had told Reuters a deal expected to come later in the year for the telecom […]
When a man that’s made his living on oil and gas tells you we need to use less oil and gas, I’ll drop everything to listen. That’s essentially the message I got from Gary R. Peterson of oil and gas PE firm EnCap Investments. “This isn’t the party line you’ll get from most oil guys,” […]
In fact, he was "almost too relaxed,” one of my colleagues remarked, referencing Schwarzman’s appearance today at the PEA conference in New York. The founder of Blackstone Group was interviewed by Dow Jones’ Shasha Dai. And Dai didn’t toss out softball after softball. She opened by asking him about his personal feelings on Lehman’s collapse (Schwarzman got his start at Lehman; Dick Fuld was in his partner class). His answer, by the way, was a believable “It’s very sad.” She closed by asking about Blackstone's stock price, which has traded at close to a 50% discount since its IPO last year. He said Blackstone’s stock price was initially a scapegoat for the credit crisis, but that by this point the whole financial sector has been hit. The most interesting answer I heard was regarding the way Blackstone is going to deploy all that money.
Linden LLC has acquired Drayer Physical Therapy Institute, a Hummelstown, Penn.-based operator of outpatient physical therapy clinics throughout the Eastern United States. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which was done in partnership with company management.