(Reuters) – India’s Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group plans to sell a stake in Reliance Communications’ (RLCM.BO) telecoms tower unit to GTL Infrastructure (GTLI.BO) and a private equity investor, the Mint reported on Monday. The sale in Reliance Infratel will be through a combination of cash and stock, the paper said citing bankers, and would take […]
(Reuters) – Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners is close to agreeing a deal to buy a 30 percent stake in theme park operator Merlin Entertainments, the Financial Times reported in its Monday edition. CVC would buy the minority stake from Merlin’s existing shareholders, which include U.S private equity group Blackstone (BX.N), KIRKBI A/S, a […]
(Reuters) – Chinese retailer Red Star Furniture Group got a cash injection of 2.6 billion yuan ($381 million) from U.S. private equity firm Warburg Pincus and several other investors to help fund its expansion. Red Star, which operates 66 retail outlets in China, selling furniture and home furnishings, aims to expand the number of its […]
(Reuters) – Private equity fund MBK Partners is the sole bidder submitted a letter of intent to buy a $4 billion controlling stake in Korea Exchange Bank (004940.KS), Yonhap news agency said on Monday. Other potential bidders, including Australia’s ANZ Banking Group (ANZ.AX) and Asia-focused British bank Standard Chartered (STAN.L)(2888.HK), did not submit proposals as […]
SunTrust Financial should just face it: It may need to sell asset management unit RidgeWorth Investments to a financial buyer. The Atlanta-based bank thought it had a deal to sell portions of Ridgeworth to UK investment manager Henderson Group, but late yesterday said that talks had died (adding that it would continue to review “strategic options”).
IK Investment Partners has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Scandanavian dental care company Norwegian Colosseum Dental. No financial terms were disclosed.
KKR has agreed to acquire Intelligence Ltd., the recruitment services subsidiary of Japan's Usen Corp., for approximately $356 million.
Asset management M&A, which was hot in 2009, has remained somewhat dormant this year. But the sector is still ripe for PE investment since multiples have bounced back. Several banks sold their asset management units in 2009 to raise cash and pay off TARP. Lincoln Financial sold Delaware Investments to Macquarie Group. Morgan Stanley sold […]
Dow Chemical Co. has completed the sale of its Styron plastics unit to Bain Capital for $1.63 billion. Dow retained a 7.5% equity position, although it had an option to retain up to 15 percent.
Two years after famously acquiring TV Guide for just $1, OpenGate Capital says that the weekly magazine has reached profitability. I met earlier today with OpenGate CEO Andrew Nikou, who was in New York for undisclosed reasons (it probably rhymes with "booze leak"). He told me that TV Guide was unprofitable and generating double-digit losses when acquired by OpenGate, in a deal that included around $50 million in assumed liabilities. Now, however, the slimmed-down company apparently is generating income in the mid-to high single digit millions. "It was the gem that not many people realized existed," Nikou said. "Four to five years ago they were a $500 million business, but they've downsized to reflect the current business model." Indeed, cutting back has been TV Guide's path to profitability. Its ad pages, for example fell 16% year-over-year, according to data from Media Monitor. Paid circulation also dropped, from 3.2 million in 2008 to 2 million today. Nikjou acknowledged the circ figures, but argued that it was a planned pruning in which the company eliminated unprofitable subscribers to focus on "clean" ones. Moreover, he said the company refocused on "TV enthusiasts" who still consider TV Guide as the source to find "what’s worth watching."