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CHICAGO (Reuters) - Hospitality company Centerplate will acquire smaller rival Boston Culinary Group Inc in a move to beef up its presence in the large college market, as well as other entertainment venues, the company said on Friday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Centerplate Chief Executive Officer Desmond Hague said it will be less than the $210 million private equity firm Kohlberg & Co paid in January for Centerplate. Companies like Centerplate and Boston Culinary handle food service as well as concession sales at numerous venues around the country, including sports stadiums, airports and convention centers. “We vehemently believe that the college market is a boom business for us for many, many years,” Hague said in a telephone intervi |
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peHUB Second Opinion 11.20
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Wacky Business School Traditions: Including pants-free pub crawls, Olympics, human castles, mustache competitions.... (BusinessWeek)
Daily Dose of Snark: The Wall Street Journal Tackles the Important Stuff. (Cityfile) Rising Renminbi: Chinese private equity funds are emerging in big cities as China promulgates new regulations aimed at creating a homegrown private equity industry, one that Beijing hopes will strengthen the country's capital markets and fuel private sector growth in an economy overly dependent on government investment. (NY Times) Keep It Classy, Ohio: My home state charmingly blames the crappy ratings from S&P and Moody's for $457 of its losses on investments, and there's a lawsuit to boot. (NY Times) On the Unlikely Pairing Between Carlyle and the SEIU: "Lions and lambs have indeed laid down together, although we're not exactly sure who the lion is here." (PE Beat) Read more » |
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How TCW Met Magic Johnson, Formed “Capital Assist”
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 More closely related private equity, he discussed the formation of TCW's new joint venture with Magic Johnson. How does a mid-market mezzanine lender get hooked up with a former L.A. Lakers great? This is how: "I went over to Ron Burkle's place to visit the Stanley cup. Ron owns the (Pittsburgh) Penguins, and they won the Stanley Cup, and I though maybe some of that good karma would wear off on the Brewers. It didn't. What did wear off was Eric Holoman, the President of Magic Johnson Enterprises and Magic's business partner. We recognized that, greater than anything we might do in terms of financing MJE's companies would be to figure out what to do about the lending gap created by the fall of companies like CIT and American Capital. We have an underserved market in middle market finance." Read more » |
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Clearview Capital has sponsored a recapitalization of IESCO, a provider of inspection and non-destructive testing services to the energy sector in California. No financial terms were disclosed. Read more » |
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“In an environment like today, with constrained credit availability and a tougher economic backdrop, we tend to make smaller investments,R |
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DeltaPoint Capital Management has held a first close on more than $50 million for its fourth fund, which is targeting a total of up to $125 million. Limited partners include the New York State Common Retirement Fund. DeltaPoint is a Rochester, N.Y.-based firm focused onbuyout and growth equity investments. Read more » |
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Weekly Downgrade Wrap-Up |
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 Company: Energy Future Holdings Corp. Sponsor: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. Action: S&P raised its corporate credit rating on EFH and its unregulated subsidiaries TCEH and EFCH to 'B-' from 'SD' and assigned a 'B–' corporate credit rating to EFIH. This rating action follows EFH's recent announcement that it and its subsidiaries have completed the exchange of its $357 million of various securities within the entire capital structure. Highlight: “These ratings reflect EFH's consolidated creditworthiness post-exchange.” The outlook on these corporate credit ratings is negative, reflecting weak financials and increasing refinance risk. Read more » |
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Playboy Enterprises Inc (PLA.N) is in talks with at least one possible bidder for the Chicago-based company. Fashion house Iconix Brand Group ( |
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(Reuters) - Carlyle, CVC and funds linked to Morgan Stanley and Macquarie are readying binding bids for Gas Natural’s Madrid gas-distribution assets ahead of a Nov. 30 deadline, people familiar with the matter said on Friday. The deal, valued by sources at more than 500 million euros ($743 million), is part of a string of asset disposals aimed at cutting Gas Natural’s (GAS.MC) 22 billion euro debt pile by the end of the year. On Nov. 3 the Spanish power company’s chief executive, Rafael Villalesca, said there were six or seven potential bidders for the assets but the sale process could take another two months. [ID:nL3268319 |
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The End of Transaction Fees?
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 Handing 100% of transaction, portfolio monitoring and other fees is a key tenant of the ILPA guidelines proposed earlier this year. But here is my question: If most firms adopt the ILPA guidelines on fees, will that end the taking of fees? In other words, will GPs still have incentive to pilfer from portfolio companies if they can’t stuff any of it in their back pockets? Read more » |
NEWS |
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Advent International has completed its acquisition of a 79% stake in Bulgarian bottled water provider Devin AD, for approximately €31.6 million. PRESS RELEASE Advent International, the global private equity firm, today announced that it has acquired from the Soravia Group of Austria and certain individual shareholders approximately 79% of the shares of Devin AD (“Devin”), Bulgaria’s leading mineral water bottler and distributor of soft drinks, at a price of BGN 3.06 per share. This transaction values Devin at a total Enterprise Value of Eur 40 million. The top management team of Devin will retain their stake of 6.7% of the shares in Devin. In line with local regulatio |
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Goldner Hawn Private Equity has agreed to sell Vitality Foodservice Inc., a Tampa, Fla.-based dispensed beverage business, to Nestle Professional. No financial terms were disclosed. Read more » |
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(Reuters) - Taylor-Wharton International LLC said it had reached an agreement in principle with lenders to restructure its debt and had filed for a pre-arranged voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy to implement the restructuring. The company listed assets in the range of $10 million to $50 million and liabilities of between $100 million to $500 million. The company, whose unit Taylor-Wharton was founded in 1742 and is the oldest metal working company in continuous operation in the U.S., said it had secured $20 million in debtor-in-possession financings. Its debt obligations will be reduced by more than 50 percent under the agreed terms, it added. None of Taylor-Wharton’s operations outside the U.S. were included in the filing, it said. Additionally, after co |
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Steven Demetriou, chairman and CEO of Aleris International, has joined the executive committee and advisory board of Resilience Capital Partners. Read more » |
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Smedvig Capital has sold Protego Real Estate Investors, a commercial real estate fund management company formed in 2004, to Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC. No financial terms were disclosed, although Smedvig said the sale produced a 6.2x return with a 58% IRR. Read more » |
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peHUB First Read
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 * Reddit's divorce from Conde Nast: How a social media dream deal fell apart. * SEC told to change the way it chooses investigations, in order to avoid the type of breakdowns that led to Madoff. * Morning Call: U.S. futures mixed, London rises early, European shares extend losses, the Nikkei falls 0.5% and both Hong Kong and China shares lose ground. * Tim O'Reilly: The war for the Web * What corporate America is reading * Marvin Clark: 10 reasons to believe we're in a depression * I'm still in LA, but good to hear the home state's unemployment rate actually dropped last month (which is different than growing more slowly). Read more » |
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LONDON (Reuters) - Hedge fund investors stuck in products with illiquid assets are increasingly seeing interest in their stakes from specialist private equity or other buyers as markets recover, according to broker Tullett Prebon. Head of alternative investments at the British firm, Neil Campbell, said the global market for hedge fund secondaries has grown to several billion dollars a year, and is attracting bargain-hunters willing to take exposure to hard-to-sell assets. “Prices have risen since the start of the year … but there are still a lot of sellers in the wings,” he said in an interview. “There’s a huge overhang.” Some niche firms are buying these stakes at discounted prices, willing to wait months or years until a fund wi |
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SEOUL (Reuters) - A consortium including a Middle East-based fund and a South Korean investment firm has been picked as a preferred buyer for a controlling stake in Daewoo Engineering (047040.KS), a report said, in a deal expected to fetch about $2.6 billion. The auction for South Korea’s No. 4 builder by market value has attracted three unidentified bidders, according to Daewoo’s parent Kumho Asiana Group. Online news MoneyToday reported on Friday, without citing a source, that a South Korean private equity firm Jabez Partners Co Ltd, in which an Abu Dhabi investment vehicle participated, was the exclusive negotiator. A spokesperson for Kum |
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LONDON (Reuters) - Privately owned German chemical distributor Brenntag is amending its 2.5 billion euro ($3.7 billion) leveraged loan to allow an initial public offering, banking sources said on Friday. The loan amendment, which brings Brenntag’s flotation closer, offers existing lenders increased interest margins to agree changes which include using IPO proceeds to repay junior mezzanine loans before senior debt, a banker close to the deal said. Reuters reported in September that Brenntag’s private equity owner, BC Partners [BCPRT.UL], was planning an equity issue of up to 1.5 billion euros, which would be Germany’s biggest flotation in years and leave BC Partners with less than 50 percent of the company. (Reporting by Read more » |
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LONDON (Reuters) - Five major private equity groups are among the first-round bidders for discount retailer Matalan, which is being auctioned with an estimated price tag of about 1.5 billion pounds ($2.50 billion). TPG, Blackstone (BX.N), Warburg Pincus and BC Partners have submitted indicative bids for the privately-owned Matalan, which has shown resilience in the global economic downturn as consumers became more price conscious, the Financial Times reported. Advent International, whose investments include British budget store chain Poundland and German fashion retailer Takko, has also bid. If successful, Richard Baker, the former head of Boots |
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LONDON (Reuters) - Private equity-owned fund manager Gartmore plans to list in London in a move which could kick-off a much-touted run of initial public offerings among companies owned by cash-hungry buyout firms. Gartmore, which was bought out by management in 2006 backed by U.S. firm Hellman & Friedman, will list an about 30-50 percent stake to raise 500 million to 550 million pounds ($833.1 million to $916.4 million) in the country’s biggest IPO this year, people familiar with the matter said. Hellman & Friedman’s stake will fall below a majority position from about 52 percent at present, a company spokeswoman said, although she declined to give further details. The listing — which is expected by year-end and would value Gartmore at abou |
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Private equity backed Archipelago Learning Inc ARCL.O priced shares in its initial public offering for $16.50 apiece, within the expected range. The Dallas-based provider of subscription-based online education for students between kindergarten and grade 12 sold 6.25 million shares, which it had estimated would price for between $15 and $17, and raised about $103.1 million, an underwriter said on Thursday. Half of the shares in the IPO were offered by the company itself, and the other half by owners such as Providence Equity Partners. The private equity firm sold 2.4 million of the shares in the offering and will still own 48.9 percent of Archipelago’s shares after the IPO is completed. The net proceeds to the company, which the comp |
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KKR closed a long-awaited deal in October to buy its Amsterdam-quoted fund, becoming a Euronext-listed company and completing the first step toward an expected move to the New York Stock Exchange. Its third-quarter earnings |
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peHUB Second Opinion 10.19
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Diss: Man is Sam Zell ever a jerk. At a recent conference he dissed Wilbur Ross, saying, "all the new savants on commercial real estate (like) Wilbur Ross...I find their comments..are inversely related to our knowledge of the industry." (WSJ)
Barbarians at the gateau? KKR wants a bite of Cadbury. (Dealscape) Old news: How many "PE IS BACK!!!!!" and "NO WAIT NO ITS NOT!!!!" stories does one year need? Apparently the past 238741273 were not enough, as CNN has caught wind of this crazy new trend. (CNN) Speaking of Old News: If you made it to Buyouts East last March, you will have heard Steve Young's funny, touching speech comparing private equity to his experience as a star quarterback, but if not, Dealscape has relayed the main points of it, recently given at one of their conferences. (Dealscape) Guy Hands: Drawing Japanese yen crisis comparisons. (FT) Read more » |
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Silver Lake Not Scared of Ghost of LBOs Past
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 In light of our Hollywood digs and an upcoming remake of A Christmas Carol, Davidson looked at the Ghosts of LBOs past, present and future, and he’s not scared (ha). Maybe because he can see into the future—did you know that Silver Lake, like just about every PE speaker I’ve ever seen, saw the credit crunch coming? Davidson said: “In 2007 we stood before our annual... |
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Buyouts West: Live-Blogging LP Panel
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PE-Backed Companies Cited as Internet Scammers
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 To say the least, the report is not terribly kind to the three companies it focuses on: Affinion, Vertrue and Webloyalty. What do all three have in common, beyond corporate headquarters in Norwalk, Connecticut and sleazy business practices? They’re all owned (or partially owned) by private equity firms: Read more » |
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Healthcare information and services provider HealthPort Inc shelved plans to go public, citing market conditions before the markets opened on Thursday. The shares were to have traded on Nasdaq on Thursday under the ticker symbol “HPRT” (HPRT.O). “HealthPort … today announced that it is postponing its planned initial public offering of shares of its Common Stock due to market conditions,” the company said in a statement. It did not give a timeline for when it might try again. Analysts cited a combination of the company’s losses, weak balance sheet and larger rivals that made it u |
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Midweek M&A Madness
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 CFS Bancorp Inc. of Munster, Ind., has hired David Olson, formerly the co-head of Donald Lufkin Jenrette's financial institution's group and head of the firm's Chicago investment banking office, to explore various initiatives, according to Chicago Tribune. MGM is for sale, via Moelis & Co. (Variety) Charlesbank Capital Partners LLC hired North Point Advisors to shop pizza chain Papa Murphy's International Inc. Read more » |
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Breyers Yogurt Co., a portfolio company of Catterton Partners, has received a new senior debt facility from Golub Capital. No financial terms were disclosed. Read more » |
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Metalmark Capital has agreed to partner with Northeast Natural Energy on a joint venture to pursue natural gas drilling, exploration and acquisition in the Marcellus Share. No financial terms were disclosed. Read more » |
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Astorg Partners has agreed to sponsor a leveraged recap of French insurance broker Gras Savoye & Cie, in partnership with current Gras Savoye shareholder Willis Group Holdings Ltd. (YSE: WSH). Astorg would receive 33% of voting rights in Gras Savoye, which is being valued at$343 million. Read more » |
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peHUB First Read
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* Glenn Kelman, CEO of Redfin: The 8 best questions we got while raising venture capital * Felix Salmon: "Is it OK for a financial services professional who has run into major trouble with the law to simply move over to journalism and cover the same asset class there?" * Morning Call: U.S. futures point lower, London falls early, European shares keep tumbling, the Nikkei hits 4-month closing low and Chinese shares keep gaining. * Heineken CEO says the decade he spent in Africa was “certainly worth three times Harvard Business School.” * As electric cars arrive, where will they plug in? * Mark Suster: VC funding season effectively ends this week. Read more » |
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