TowerBrook Capital Partners has retained Thomas Flocco to explore investment opportunities in the consumer goods space. He is the former CEO of Beam Global Spirits & Wine, and a former partner at McKinsey & Company.
Wendy’s may not have enough beef for private equity. Last Friday, Nelson Peltz, the billionaire investor who owns 23% of the restaurant chain and its sister beef-slinger Arby's, disclosed that an “unnamed third party” had expressed interest in partnering on a potential acquisition. The admission caused Wendy’s shares to pop more than 7 percent. Rumors are circulating that the mystery suitor is THL Partners, is back for fast-food redemption. If case you’d forgotten, the buyout firm had a deal in February to buy CKE Restaurants, which operates Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s restaurants, for $11.05 a share, or about $619 million. But then Apollo Management swooped in with a higher offer of $12.55 a shares, or $694 million, to seal the deal. On Monday, any hope of a THL-Peltz combined bid got deflated, as the New York Post said Peltz just isn’t interested in partnering with any third party. Peltz, the story said, could take the company private and restructure troubled Arby’s away from the glare of public speculation. Then, Peltz could return Wendy’s to the public markets (maybe with Arby's, if it's running leaner).
(Reuters) – TPG dropped plans to bid for Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS.L) payment-processing business, two people familiar with the matter said, leaving rival buyout firms Advent International and Bain frontrunners to buy the unit. The departure comes a week after RBS picked a trio of possible buyers for the WorldPay business and related operations, […]
Freeman Spogli & Co. has acquired a majority stake in The Paradies Shops Inc., operator of over 500 travel retail shops in airports and hotels. No financial terms were disclosed. Genesis Capital advised Paradies Shops on the deal
Colony Capital and GS Capital Partners reportedly are among likely bidders for French furniture retailer Conforama, which is being sold by PPR SA. The deal could be valued at around €1.5 billion. www.conforama.fr
(Reuters) – U.S. private-equity fund Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co is in final talks to buy media content provider Usen Corp’s (4842.OJ) recruitment services unit Intelligence Ltd, the Nikkei business daily reported. The unit is priced about 32 billion yen ($350.1 million), the paper said without citing a source. Intelligence Ltd, which became a wholly […]
(Reuters) - After months of speculation, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co has mandated Korea Development Bank to refinance the deal that backed its $1.8 billion leveraged buyout of Oriental Brewery Co Ltd (OB) in 2009. KKR would halve its borrowing costs through the planned refinancing deal, according to sources familiar with the matter. The blue-chip sponsor was forced to pay a top-level all-in of 660 basis points (bps) for a five-year, $915 million-equivalent loan when it bought the Korean brewer from Anheuser-Busch InBev NV INTB.BR during a period of tight liquidity in 2009.
HONG KONG (Reuters) – Nomura Holdings (8604.T) is in talks to join private equity firm MBK Partners in its pursuit of the $3.5 billion Korea Exchange Bank (004940.KS) stake up for sale, sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Monday. Sources said the discussions were in their early stages and no decision […]
(Reuters) – Private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co is investing $400 million in a joint venture with Hilcorp Energy Co to develop the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. KKR and Hilcorp could not be immediately reached for comment. Hilcorp will control 60 percent of the […]
Metropark USA Inc., a City of Industry-based specialty retailer whose mall-based stores are focused on fashion-oriented 20-30 year-olds, has withdrawn registration for a $100 million IPO. The company cited “changed circumstances regarding the securities market.” Metropark originally filed for the IPO in June 2008, with Goldman Sachs serving as lead underwriter. It raised a small […]