Blackstone Group has dropped out of the bidding for Ingham Chickens as the asking price for Australia's largest chicken producer was too high, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday citing sources. Ingham, wholly owned by Bob Ingham, was seeking a valuation of around A$1.4 billion ($1.5 billion).
Shareholder Representative Services is trying something new this holiday season. SRS is unveiling AcqMan -- acq is short for acquisition--a game which tests players' knowledge of M&A. This is how it works: Users pick from six different AcqMan avatars that represent different deep-pocketed strategic buyers. Choices include Dell, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and Takeda.
Serent Capital has backed the Knowland Group, a provider of meeting and convention data, cloud based software and services for the hospitality industry. The company provides products and services to over 3,000 hotels in the area of group sales data, sales and catering software and outsourced value added services.
ABRY Partners IV, L.P and Oak Hill Capital Partners have sold all of the shares of Atlantic Broadband Group, a cable system operator, to Cogeco Cables. The transaction is valued at $1,360 million or 8.3x 2013E EBITDA. Cogeco is a Canada-based cable system operator.
Private equity firms vying for Merge Healthcare are waiting for a decision from the company after the provider of medical imaging software solutions sought revised takeover offers last week, writes Reuters. Thoma Bravo LLC, Thomas H. Lee Partners LP and Francisco Partners are the buyout firms that remain in the auction.
Charlesbank Capital Partners said late Wednesday that it has acquired OneStopPlus Group. Financial terms weren't announced. PPR, the Paris-based luxury and sport & lifestyle group, is the seller. Webster Capital is also investing. New York-based OSP is a catalog retailer and online marketplace for plus-size consumers. Michael O'Hara of Consensus Advisors provided financial advice to Charlesbank, while Peter J. Solomon Company acted as financial advisor to PPR.
YourMembership.com, which is backed by The Riverside Company, has invested in Affiniscape. Financial terms were not announced. Austin-based Affiniscape provides association management software and career board job posting services for associations. Deerpath Capital provided financing for the transaction.
NewBay Media, which is backed by The Wicks Group of Companies, has acquired Intent Media. Financial terms were not announced. U.K.-based Intent Media produces business publications, websites and events targeted to the entertainment, technology and leisure markets. The Jordan, Edmiston Group advised Intent Media.
Omega Environmental Technologies has merged with Global Parts Distributors and Santech Industries. Financial terms were not announced. The seller is Global Temperature Control, which is backed by Owner Resource Group. River Associates Investments is majority shareholder of Omega, and Owner Resource Group will be a minority investor in the company. Harris Williams advised Global Temperature Control. Irving, Texas-based Omega is a distributor of aftermarket automotive truck and off-road air conditioning products.
A story in yesterday’s Dealbook painted Warren Buffett as no friend of private equity. Buffett, 82, was asked during a lunch last week if there were any private equity investors that he admired, Dealbook says. "No," he flatly replied in the story.