TOKYO (Reuters) – Permira, Bain Capital and a team of CVC Capital and Blackstone (BX.N) have made offers in the final round of bidding for Citigroup Inc’s (C.N) Japanese telemarketer Bellsystem24, seven people with direct knowledge of the deal said. The deal could fetch more than $1 billion, making it the largest private equity transaction […]
After a quiet September, private equity-backed bankruptcies came roaring back in October, with five LBO'd companies collapsing into Chapter 11. Two more minority stake deals also went belly-up, bringing our grand total of PE-backed busts to 74. That’s 66 control-stake deals and 8 minority stake deals. The biggest fall failure was KKR’s Capmark Financial, formerly part of GMAC. KKR invested $1.5 billion to buy the company, while taking on Capmark’s $7 billion in debt. It didn’t work out too well. THL Partners’ home ventilation products company, Nortek, also filed for a long-anticipated Chapter 11. The 2004 deal was valued at $1.75 billion, but THL Partners has already earned back 95% of its investment through dividend recaps.
As usual, we have a week’s worth of ratings actions on the debt of LBO-backed companies from ratings agencies Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services and Moody’s Investor Service. This week its bad news again, with two bankruptcies and a debt exchange. Even the upgrade in Vitamin Shoppe's debt isn't great news--the company went public but not at the price it was hoping for. Moody's warned about the company's small size, competitive and fragmented market, and narrow product focus. Company: Capmark Financial Group Inc.
Sponsor: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Five Mile Capital Partners LLC and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners are sponsors.
Ratings Action: S&P lowered its ratings on Capmark Financial Group Inc., including the local currency counterparty credit rating on the company, to 'D' from 'CC'.
Highlights: “We had expected the bankruptcy filing since September 2009, when Capmark Financial Group entered into an asset put agreement that gave it the right to sell its North American servicing and mortgage-banking businesses. We expect the firm to sell these, and possibly other, assets, through bankruptcy proceedings.”
American Industrial Partners has acquired the operating assets of Celerity Inc.'s systems integration business. No financial terms were disclosed. TPG Capital acquired Celerity in early 2006, and it also has received funding from Sovereign Capital and Tennenbaum Capital Partners.
(Reuters) – Rubio’s Restaurants Inc (RUBO.O) said its board has rejected an unsolicited takeover offer from a group consisting of Alex Meruelo and his affiliates. Rubio’s said it is evaluating strategic alternatives, including an evaluation of the expressions of interest received by the company. The board has engaged Cowen and Co to assist in its […]
Hamilton Robinson Capital Partners has led a buyout of Spartech Industries Inc., the wheels unit of Spartech Corp. No financial terms were disclosed.
Global Infrastructure Partners has acquired up to a 40% convertible preferred interest in Terra-Gen Power Holdings LLC, an owner and/or operator of over 800 megawatts of renewable power facilities in the U.S. The seller is Arclight Capital Partners, which will retain an interest in Terra-Gen. No financial terms were disclosed.
Charlesbank Capital Partners has bought five over-the-counter consumer products brands from McNEIL-PPC Inc., and has formed a related acquisition platform called Blacksmith Brands Inc. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which includes such products as Efferdent denture cleaner and Pediacare children's cough medicine. Blacksmith will be led by former Prestige Brands chief Peter Mann, while its CFO will be former J.W. Childs president Dana Schmaltz.
LONDON (Reuters) – The administrators of First Quench Retailing have cut 81 head-office jobs at the owner of British off-licence chains Threshers and Wine Rack and expects to make more redundancies as they look for a buyer. “Trading in the off-licence sector has become increasingly competitive in recent years, with the recession proving too much […]
TORONTO, Oct 29 (Reuters) – Cossette Inc (KOS.TO), Canada’s largest homegrown advertising agency, on Thursday urged shareholders to wait until its board reviewed a sweetened takeover offer from a North American private equity group before tendering their stock. Cosmos Capital Inc, made up of U.S. and Canadian investors, late Wednesday said it would make a […]