Mill Road Capital has completed its take-private acquisition of Mexican restaurant chain Rubio’s Restaurants Inc. The $8.70 per share deal valued Rubio's at around $91 million. Sellers included Rosewood Capital. Last October, Rubio’s rejected an $80 million buyout offer from Levine Leichtman Capital Partners.
(Reuters) – Oriental Trading Co, owned primarily by private equity firms Carlyle Group and Brentwood Associates, filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday, citing a heavy debt load and declining sales. The retailer of party and hobby supplies has reached a prearranged plan with some lenders which would help it cut debt by 70 percent. Oriental Trading […]
(Reuters) – Private equity firm Court Square Capital Partners, formerly known as Citigroup Venture Capital, will buy broadband provider Fibertech Networks LLC for $500 million from another private equity firm, the Wall Street Journal said. Rochester, New York-based Fibertech is changing hands from Nautic Partners and Ridgemont Equity Partners, which was previously part of Bank […]
Blackstreet Capital has acquired Park Seed Co., a Greenwood, Colo.-based online and catalog retailer of plant seeds and other gardening supplies. The deal was valued at $13 million.
Webster Capital has acquired Epic MedStaff, a provider of home healthcare services to medically-fragile and chronically-ill infants and children in Texas. No financial terms were disclosed, except that Fifth Street Capital provided debt financing.
Unlike the Big Three carmakers, small auto parts suppliers didn’t crash and burn with the recent market downturn. In 2008, when GM had yet to file for bankruptcy and a merger of the Big Three automakers was still being discussed, many auto parts suppliers were expected to merge or file for bankruptcy. Some big ones went down, but smaller suppliers, like SRG Global, survived the downturn and are doing well. “People expected a lot of consolidation to happen where larger companies bought smaller ones or a lot of bankruptcies,” says Mike Benson, a managing director with Stout Risius Ross Advisors. “Neither of those happened. In fact, lots of smaller companies that people thought were washed out, just barely survived."
Last week there was an FTC filing that implied a pending transaction between Technology Crossover Ventures and DataDirect Networks, a Chatsworth, Calif.-based provider data storage solutions. These documents usually suggest that the transaction is virtually a done deal, with just a few I's to dot and T's to cross. But in might not be so this time. What follows is part of a statement by DataDirect CEO Alex Bouzari, in reply to my request for comment on the prospective TCV investment:
In order to better serve our customers, DDN is evaluating several strategic initiatives, including potentially partnering with a financial institution. However, in light of the recent developments with 3Par, Dell and HP, we are carefully rethinking our options.
Bouzari added that DataDirect is profitable, and is "on track" to exceed $200 million in annual revenue. Getting any statement from a "target" CEO is unusual, and this particular one goes out of its way to suggest that conditions have changed since DataDomain DataDirect first entered negotiations with TCV (which declined any comment). (Note: The previous sentence was corrected because the company was referred to by the wrong name. -Ed.)
(Reuters) – A judge has approved the Almatis Holdings BV disclosure statement, helping clear the German aluminum maker’s path out of bankruptcy. The disclosure statement outlines a new structure for Almatis, in which Dubai International Capital LLC [DUBAHP.UL] would retain 60 percent of the company while junior creditors would own 40 percent. Dubai International had […]
Smaller, middle-market deals don’t get much respect. Andy Greenberg, a managing director at investment bank Fairmount Partners, says he couldn’t find any good data for lower middle market firms in 2006. So Greenberg, along with Graeme Frazier of Private Capital Research, started GF Data. The Philadelphia-based GF information provider compiles its data from 146 private equity firms that submit the information blindly -- with a focus on PE deals between $10 million and $250 million. “If you were representing a $50 million revenue consumer products company, the comps would be a $500 million revenue business,” he explains.
(Reuters) – Barnes & Noble Co (BKS.N) lashed out against activist investor Ronald Burkle on Wednesday, saying the billionaire was trying to wrest control of the bookseller through a proxy battle without paying a proper premium to shareholders. Burkle is running an alternate slate of three directors, including himself, for election to Barnes & Noble’s […]