Wereldhave and Lone Star Funds have completed the sale and purchase of Wereldhave’s portfolio in the US for $720 million gross. The proceeds from the property disposals were used to reduce group debt.

A surge of deal announcements in early January helped push up monthly transaction totals. The value U.S. private equity transactions rocketed by 78% to $8.2 billion in January, Thomson Reuters data says.

Caliber Funding and Vericrest Financial have joined forces to create a full-service, residential mortgage banking organization offering loan originations and loan servicing solutions. The combined organization will continue to be owned by Lone Star Funds.

The year is swiftly coming to a close and while fiscal cliff negotiations continue in Congress, we do have some good news. The value of global announced private equity-backed mergers actually increased in December, according to data from Dealogic.

The Dallas-based private equity firm Lone Star Funds warned the South Korean government yesterday that it is initiating arbitration proceedings over the sovereign state’s involvement in Lone Star’s sale of Korea Exchange Bank to Hana Financial Group earlier this year for roughly $3.5 billion. PRESS RELEASE: Lone Star Funds (“Lone Star”) confirmed today that it [...]

(Reuters) – U.S. private equity firm Lone Star [LS.UL] has decided to scrap its plan to sell a majority stake in Korea Exchange Bank (004940.KS) worth $4 billion at the current market price due to weak demand from potential investors, a local paper said. “Lone Star told financial investors in the United States, Hong Kong [...]

(Reuters) BI-Lo LLC, a U.S. supermarket chain owned by Lone Star Funds, is up for sale and has drawn interest from strategic and financial buyers, making it the latest private equity portfolio company to go on the block, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday. U.S. supermarket chains Kroger Co and Publix Super [...]

HONG KONG/SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ.AX) has hired Goldman Sachs JBWere and JP Morgan (JPM.N) to advise on its bid for a majority stake in Korea Exchange Bank (004940.KS), sources said on Wednesday, in what is expected to be a more than $4 billion deal. Sources told Reuters last [...]

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Supermarket chain BI-Lo LLC said on Thursday it expects to exit bankruptcy in May, backed by its private equity owner Lone Star Funds, after it received court confirmation for a reorganization plan. BI-Lo, which has 207 supermarkets and over 15,000 staff, filed for bankruptcy 13 months ago, just days before two [...]

In 2008 and 2009, distressed debt was the most in-demand private equity strategy for institutional investors. And it doesn’t seem to have cooled off this year, despite a recovering economy and general sluggishness within the private equity fundraising market.

Oaktree Capital Management, Centerbridge Partners, Lone Star and MHR Fund Management are just a few large distressed debt firms currently raising new funds.

There are a number of reasons these players are likely to find success. For starters, they are riding the coattails of last year’s blockbuster year for distressed debt (i.e., strong strack records). Admittedly, debt is trading around par this year — and much of the upside for distressed debt plays is behind us — but timing concerns rarely dampen LP enthusiasm.

“Aside from the limits of the market opportunity, most investors are still looking to deploy capital in that space,” said Jérémie Le Febvre, a partner with fund placement agent Triago. One reason, he explained, is that many investors remain overallocated