NEW YORK (Reuters) – Private equity firm TPG Capital [TPG.UL] is investing $300 million in natural gas company Copano Energy (CPNO.O), which it will use to fund shale gas production developments, Copano said on Wednesday. TPG is making the investment through a purchase of convertible preferred equity priced at $29.05 per unit, convertible into common […]
(Reuters) – Private equity firm Blackstone Group LP (BX.N) is close to finalizing a deal to purchase real estate loans with a face value of around 100 billion yen ($1.14 billion) owned by Morgan Stanley’s (MS.N) Japanese operations, the Nikkei business daily reported. This would mark Blackstone’s first investment in Japan and could help breathe […]
LONDON (Reuters) – British satellite broadcaster BSkyB (BSY.L) has agreed to sell its business-to-business telecoms unit Easynet for 100 million pounds ($153 million) to LDC, a British private-equity firm backing Easynet’s management. BSkyB said it would retain the British network assets that it acquired as part of its 2005 Easynet acquisition to service its residential […]
Sara Lee's proposed sale of its bread business will generate some interest from strategics and private equity firms, but don't expect a hot bake-off. Downers Grove, Ill.-based Sara Lee, which seems to be always selling something, has hired Bank of America to advise on options for its food and bakery unit for around $1 billion, according to Crain's Chicago Business. Pepperidge Farms, which is owned by Cambpell Soup Co., has showed interest in the unit, Crain's says. Other potential bidders include Grupo Bimbo S.A. de C.V. and Flowers Foods Inc. Canada's George Weston, which owns Loblaw Co. Ltd. and Weston Foods, also could make a bid, one banker said. As for private equity names, there is Hostess Brands (fka Interstate Bakeries), which is 50% owned by Ripplewood Holdings.
LONDON (Reuters) – Private equity firms Blackstone Group LP (BX.N) and PAI Partners are considering selling Britain’s United Biscuits for more than 2 billion pounds ($3.06 billion), a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The duo have spoken to banks but have yet to pick advisers for a possible sale, which would probably […]
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Shares of Sara Lee Corp (SLE.N) rose more than 2 percent on Tuesday after reports that the company was shopping its bread business. A Sara Lee spokesman declined to comment on the reports on Crain’s Chicago Business and the Chicago Tribune websites. Crain’s reported in a story dated Monday that Hostess Brands […]
Primary Capital has completed its $31 million purchase of stationary retailer Paperchase Products Ltd. from Borders Group (NYSE: BGP).
Pioneer Investments is seeing more departures as the fund firm's possible sale looms. Jack O'Connor, head of Pioneer's U.S. institutional business, is leaving. His last day at Pioneer is Friday and he will begin a new, more expanded role at a rival at the end of August, peHUB has learned.
The RadioShack auction appears to be short-circuiting. TPG Capital plans to opt out. The Blackstone Group, which had wanted to launch a joint bid with TPG, doesn’t want to make an offer by itself. Bain Capital has already bailed and Best Buy never got involved. "This is a classic case of an investment banker [Goldman Sachs] getting a sale mandate, it not going well, and thus reaching as far as [they] can to resuscitate it," says one banker.
Antoine Dréan, founder and CEO Triago, expects a shakeout in the PE world that could see as much as half of buyout funds disappear. There were roughly 250 U.S. focused private equity funds raised between 2005 and 2007, raising $222 billion, according to data from Preqin. This compares to only 38 U.S. focused funds raising $32.1 billion in 2009. Dréan says that many of the new entrants were "me too" operations raised by institutional investors with little direct investing experience, and whose returns have been dreadful. “Most of these funds will have a tough time going forward. It will be difficult as to their next fundraising,” he says.
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