The restaurant industry is seeing signs of recovery. Bob Bielinski, a CIT Group managing director within corporate finance, says there have been more notable deals this year than all of 2009. “We are not quite at ‘good’ but we are starting to get better,” he says. The year started off strongly when Papa Murphy’s, which offers take-n-bake pizza, was sold to Lee Equity Partners for about 10x EBITDA in April. That same month, Roark Capital Group bought Wingstop Restaurants. In May, Mill Road Capital acquired Rubio’s Restaurants for roughly $91 million. Oak Hill Capital Partners closed its $570 million buy of Dave & Buster’s in June (7x EBITDA). Apollo Management this month completed its $694 million buy of CKE Restaurants, which runs the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s chains (6x EBITDA), while Golden Gate Capital closed its $180 million buy of On The Border.
PARIS (Reuters) – Rio Tinto (RIO.L)(RIO.AX) plans to sell a controlling stake in its French aluminum unit to U.S. private equity firm Apollo Management [APOLO.UL] and the French state, buoying Paris’ control over the strategically important industry. The sale of Alcan Engineered Products (AEP) would create a new aluminium champion in France six years after […]
The M&A market has gone from empty to crowded, with cash-heavy strategics and overhung private equity firms on the prowl for new deals. "It’s crazy busy," says Orlando Bravo, managing partner of Thoma Bravo. "It’s August and the whole financial industry [usually] slows down right before Labor Day, but we’re seeing a lot of activity in investments and portfolio companies." Thoma Bravo, which invests in mid-market technology and services companies, has been particularly busy. The firm closed its $242 million buy of Double-Take Software in July. Last month, it completed a $717 million acquisition of SonicWall, a provider of IT security and data backup and recovery solutions. The downturn provided an opportunity for good deals. Thoma Bravo has completed nine acquisitions, including add-ons, since 2008. It also sold Datatel for $570 million to Hellman & Friedman in 2009, as well as its convertible preferred position in JDA software. Bravo, who himself focuses on software, says firms with a "clean growth business" were selling for 7.5x EBITDA during the downturn. This has since jumped to 9 to 10x EBITDA, he says. Unfortunately, there were
Wellspring Capital Management has acquired Jen-Coat Inc., a maker of flexible packagng for the food, healthcare and industrial markets, from CGW Southeast Partners. No financial terms were disclosed.
Cornerstone Healthcare Group, a portfolio company of Highland Capital Management, has merged with Solara Healthcare. Both companies are Dallas-based providers of long-term acute care hospital services. No financial terms were disclosed.
Rizvi Traverse Management and Starwood Capital Group have recapitalized Key Air, a provider of aircraft management, worldwide charter and FBO services. No pricing terms were disclosed.
Sun Capital Partners has acquired Betts, a provider of printed laminate tubes for the oral care and personal care sector. No financial terms were disclosed.
Prospect Partners has sponsored a recapitalization of Navix Diagnostics Inc., a Taunton, Mass.-based provider of outsourced cardiovascular diagnostic services. No financial terms were disclosed. www.prospect-partners.com
(Reuters) – U.S. discount retailer Gordmans Stores Inc (GMAN.O) priced shares in its initial public offering below the expected range on Wednesday, according to an underwriter. The company sold 5.4 million shares for $11 each, raising about $58.9 million. It had planned to sell shares for $13 to $15 each. Omaha, Nebraska-based Gordmans sells clothing […]
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A number of private equity firms are interested in taking a look at Barnes & Noble (BKS.N), with names including Bain Capital, Apollo, TPG Capital and others, sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Still, it was unclear how any private equity interest might be structured, given that billionaire investor […]