LONDON (Reuters) – The owners of British coal miner Scottish Resources Group are seeking to bank more than 200 million pounds selling stakes held for 16 years in an initial public (IPO) offer next month, sources close to the deal said. The company is currently mostly owned by investment vehicles Parkburn and Palmaris Capital (PALC.L), […]
(Reuters) – British-based gym operator Fitness First is preparing for a share listing in Hong Kong, Singapore or Shanghai, newspaper The Sunday Telegraph said. The company, which is owned by private equity firm BC Partners and generates more than 50 percent of its earnings in Asia and Australia, is targeting a 1.2 billion-pound ($1.80 billion) […]
WILMINGTON, Del./NEW YORK (Reuters) – One of the world’s leading makers of shaving razors may file for bankruptcy as soon as next week, with a plan to sell the company to Swiss bank UBS AG (UBSN.VX), its primary lender, according to sources close to the talks. Privately-held Personna American Safety Razor Co, which was founded […]
YRC Worldwide Inc. (Nasdaq: YRCW) has agreed to sell part of its logistics business to Austin Ventures, for $37 million. The newly-independent company will focus on international freight forwarding, customs brokerage, transportation management, truckload services and dedicated warehouse and fulfillment services.
A second run at buying Fidelity National Information Services will likely face the same problems that doomed the first one. TPG Capital is trying to revive its $15 billion offer for the payment processing giant, the New York Post is reporting. The deal originally went south after Fidelity National had the audacity to seek a higher offer (peHUB has learned that it was TPG partner Blackstone who initially walked away).
Private equity activity is on the rise, according to preliminary Q2 data released today by Thomson Reuters (publisher of peHUB). Global PE-backed deal volume hit $43 billion last quarter, which is up 54% from Q1 and a whopping 148% from the second quarter of 2009. The numbers were even better for PE-backed deals targeting U.S. companies, where $25 billion marked the richest quarter in two years. European deal volume dropped 26% from Q1, but year-to-date activity is up 110% from the first half of 2009. Asia-Pacific volume also increased substantially. It's important to note that these numbers include "announced" deals that have not yet closed, which is why the largest transaction of 2010 is the $3.9 billion buyout of hotel chain Extended Stay by Centerbridge Partners, Paulson & Co. and others. Also worth noting that while these numbers were produced by my corporate overlords, I've already spotted a few problems. For example, Healthscope is listed on a list of top deals. Actually, it's listed twice -- once with KKR as sponsor, once with Blackstone. Maybe that's because the two firms are still competing in an auction... Well, I guess that's why the data is "preliminary."
(Reuters) – Affinia Group Holdings Inc filed with the U.S. regulators on Friday to raise up to $230 million in an initial public offering (IPO) of common stock. The Ann Arbor, Michigan-based company told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a preliminary prospectus that J.P. Morgan Securities and Barclays were among the underwriters for […]
LONDON (Reuters) – China-focused private equity firm Origo Partners (OPP.L) will spend up to $6.65 million buying a stake in a Chinese recycling company, making its third investment in the region since raising $30 million to fund such deals. London-listed Origo said on Friday it would spend $3 million acquiring a 10.5 percent stake in […]
Banks, even the problem ones, provide a chance for buyout shops to buy cheap deposits that can be grown and loaned out for decent returns. But buyout shops appear to be staying away. There have been 140 M&A transactions involving U.S. banks so far this year, raising about $2.8 billion. This is down from last […]
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co [KKR.UL] said on Friday that CVC Asia-Pacific has decided not to join KKR’s $1.5 billion bid for Healthscope (HSP.AX), which is Australia’s biggest private equity bid since 2008. CVC had been in discussions with KKR about joining the offer for Healthscope, Australia’s second-largest hospital […]