PE Deals

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Citigroup Inc (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) may sell Primerica, its life insurance unit, to insurer Protective Life Corp (PL.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and private equity firm J.C. Flowers & Co, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. Flowers may invest in Protective, which could then buy Primerica, the news agency […]

Alpine Investors, a San Francisco-based private equity firm, is marketing its fourth fund, sources familiar with the situation said. The effort has a $175 million target with a $205 million hard cap, a slight jump over Alpine’s last fund. Alpine Investors III closed in March 2007 with $125 million in commitments. The firm is not using a placement agent and expects to hold a first close on November 1, one source said.

Warburg Pincus has sold ChartOne Inc. to Healthport, a portfolio company of Abry Partners. No financial terms were disclosed, although an earlier Dow Jones report said the deal was expected to include $150 million in debt financing being arranged by GE Capital and NewStar Financial. ChartOne is a Burlington, Mass.-based provider of medical record workflow solutions.

American Fibers and Yarns Co. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, in order to liquidate its assets. The company makes polypropylene fibers and yarns for home furnishings, automotive and industrial applications. Monitor Clipper Partners sponsored a management buyout of the company in late 1999 from a division of AP Amoco. www.afyarns.com

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve relaxed bank ownership rules, but it only goes so far in solving existing problems — banks will not get all the capital they need, and private equity firms will not get the control positions they seek. Senior private equity executives said while the move was a step in […]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Private equity investor J. Christopher Flowers has been cleared by U.S. regulators to buy a small bank in Missouri and could use the purchase as a base from which to acquire other banks. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency gave approval for Flowers to acquire First National Bank of Cainesville […]

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – Washington Mutual Inc (WM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the large U.S. savings and loan beleaguered by mortgage losses, is pressing ahead for a takeover deal by talking to multiple suitors, as well as exploring options to raise capital, sources familiar with the situation said on Tuesday. U.S. regulators are eager for […]

Advent International has acquired Grango Assado, an operator of highway restaurants in Brazil, from the company’s founding family. No financial terms were disclosed, although Grango Assado expects 2008 sales in excess of US$120 million. PRESS RELEASE Advent International, the global private equity firm, today announced that it has acquired 100% of Frango Assado, the leading […]

Seems the best way to get a deal done these days is to Do It Yourself. And by “It,” I mean the financing. Instead of relying on lenders or co-investors, firms are “in-sourcing” their deal finance. What better way to avoid dreaded contingencies, which these days, is a four letter word to the ears of sellers. Just look at the recent fundraisings of Sterling Partners and Insight Equity. Both firms raised side funds (one a co-invest, one a mezzanine) for the sole purpose of financing their own deals. It’s got the same flavor as the attractive one-stop shop lending we’ve seen from the likes of American Capital, GE and Allied’s Unitranche Fund, etc.

LONDON (Reuters) – Lehman Brothers is being replaced as agent on two European leveraged loans which backed the buyouts of UK forging industry manufacturer Firth Rixson and frozen food manufacturer Iglo Birds Eye Frozen Foods, senior banking sources said on Tuesday. The changes mark the start of the loan market’s effort to get to grips […]