SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Shareholders of Brazil’s Cetip (CTIP3.SA) raised 881.4 million reais ($508.01 million) in an initial public offering on Monday, underscoring a strong rebound in the country’s capital markets and demand for emerging market stocks. The company, formally known as Cetip SA Balcao Organizado de Ativos e Derivativos, said its shareholders sold 67.8 […]
TOKYO (Reuters) – Private equity firm The Carlyle Group said it would buy Broadleaf Co, a Japanese maker of software for car maintenance facilities, in a 19.5 billion yen ($212 million) management buyout. Carlyle will take a 100 stake in the company from precision equipment firm Olympus Corp (7733.T) and its affiliate ITX Corp (2725.OJ), […]
Tech Targets: Technology stocks are hot again. Here are 10 technology companies that Barron's views as takeover candidates. (Barron's, sub. req.) If you don't subscribe, this Dealscape post covers most of the story. Looking for Work in Private Equity? Here are some "resume eye catchers" from FINS.com, a job hunting site for financial pros. (Fins) Not Positive Evidence: One-third of the return from private equity transactions stems from the use of leverage, according to possibly the largest ever analysis of the European market. (FT) RIP Geocities: Today, Yahoo buried a painful chapter in its history. It shut down GeoCities, a social-networking site that it paid $4.7 billion for in 1999, one year after GeoCities went public and before it had even turned a profit. (Deal Journal) If you're a fan of internet geek comic, XKCD, check out its redesigned homepage tribute to DIY websites of yore, little "Under Construction" man and all. [Update: It was a one-day only tribute, so if you're just seeing this now, ya missed it.]
Big Bloggy Debates: What if insider trading isn't such a bad thing? Clusterstock has argued as such, and thanks to the vehement commenter response, the site has opened the floor for compelling counterarguments. Best one gets its own post, apparently. (Clusterstock)
A new survey from BDO Seidman, an accounting and consulting firm, reports that buyout firms expect deal flow to rise, but not explode in 2010. Not revolutionary, but more hopeful than these types of surveys last year, which (correctly) predicted flat or declining deal flow for 2009. More interesting, to me, is that 93% of PE pros surveyed reported headcount reductions at their portfolio companies (what about at the firms themselves?), 81% have renegotiated debt and 83% have reassessed their market strategy. Nearly three in ten (28%) have declared bankruptcy for one or more portfolio companies, and 38% have engaged a turnaround professional. All that says to me is that amend-and-extends, along with other private equity techniques, must be working, at least for the short term. Update: The survey actually does address expectations around layoffs at private equity firms themselves. According to the survey, 86% reduced professional staff in the past year, and 40% plan to reduce more in the coming year. Guess those layoffs aren't all behind us. Read the rest of the results below.
Ares Capital today announced it will acquire its struggling peer Allied Capital, for $648 million. The deal came as a surprise to some, as the struggling BDC has only recently secured a debt restructuring after receiving a "going concern" notice from lenders in March. The restructuring was expensive, but Allied would have been able to make its 2010 payments, thanks to liquidity from a number of asset sales. That includes the auction of Callidus Capital Management LLC, which Bloomberg reported earlier this month. It's not clear how today's deal will affect that auction. We won't get any insight into management's thinking until next week, when Allied combines its conference call on this announcement with its scheduled earnings call. What we know at this point is that Ares Capital got Allied at a good price. Judging by trading since the announcement, the stock market favors the deal, as Allied shares had traded up by 34% as of publication. (With a negative spread, perhaps they're even expecting a higher offer?) The price represented a 23.78% premium from Friday's closing price. Allied Capital has around $11 billion in committed capital under management. By contrast, Ares Capital had approximately $30.0 billion of committed capital under management as of this quarter this year.
ATHENS/LONDON (Reuters) – The list of bidders for Greek mobile operator Wind Hellas was whittled down to two on Monday, with only the current owner and a group of bondholders left in the running to bail out the debt-laden company. Wind Hellas, which must agree a debt restructuring deal with lenders — owed 3.2 billion […]
DUBAI (Reuters) – Abraaj Capital, the Middle East’s biggest private equity firm, is in advanced talks to invest in a logistics firm, and is setting up a new fund worth at least $2 billion to exploit attractive valuations, its managing director said on Monday. “Right now we do have some transactions at very advanced stages […]
Private equity has been a like a drug dealer Advanstar Communications just can't shake. For the past 20 years, the company's entanglements with buyout firms have created a rollercoaster of near-disasters, yet the company keeps going back for more. Advanstar been around the Park Avenue block, with private equity fingerprints going all the way back to when LBOs were still called LBOs. In 1987, the company underwent a Kidder Peabody-backed MBO after fending off several hostile takeover bids. The debt from that deal eventually sent the company into bankruptcy in 1989, at which point Goldman Sachs gained control of the company through a debt-for-equity swap. Then in 1996, the company narrowly avoided another bankruptcy (according to reports at the time) when Hellman & Friedman purchased the company for $237 million. H&F led Advanstar through 28 acquisitions over its four-year stewardship, including a deal for its most profitable business, apparel industry expo MAGIC Marketplace. H&F exited Advanstar with a sale to DLJ Merchant Banking in 2000 for approximately $900 million. After at least one failed exit attempt, DLJ sold the business to Veronis Suhler Stevenson, Citigroup Private Equity and New York Life Capital Partners, for $1.14 billion. So to recap: Kidder Peabody --> Goldman Sachs --> H&F --> DLJ --> VSS and friends.
Builders FirstSource Inc. (Nasdaq: BLDR), a residential construction company, has agreed to a recapitalization that would include a $205 million common stock rights offering and debt exchange. The offering would be backstopped by existing shareholders JLL Partners and Warburg Pincus, which hold a combined 49.9% stake.
Krokus Private Equity has acquired a 44% stake in Polmed, a Polish operator of outpatient clinics. No financial terms were disclosed. www.polmed.pl