Finally, my take on the one thing bloggers, finance reporters, Missouri politicians and beer drinkers can’t get enough of this summer—Anheuser Busch. God knows there’s been plenty of speculation. But hear me out. I want to talk about the theme parks. Even before InBev entered the picture, there’s been rumors about the potential sale of […]
Casino operator Penn Gaming announced this morning that it has terminated its proposed $6.1 billion buyout with Fortress Investments and Centerbridge Partners. We’ll have much more on this as the day progresses, but a couple quick reactions: 1. This is very surprising. Penn Gaming and its suitors have gone through regulatory hell to get this […]
I spent some time on the phone yesterday with Tom Hicks, who burst back onto the buyout scene this week by agreeing to take Graham Packaging public via his SPAC. The deal is valued at $3.2 billion, with Graham owner Blackstone Group agreeing to remain the company’s largest single shareholder for at least two years. […]
Q2 is officially in the books, and might eventually be optioned out for the next Wes Craven flick. Just a freaking mess, according to the 40-page M&A autopsy produced this morning by Thomson Reuters (download here: 2Q08.pdf). Private equity was hit particularly hard, with just $152.4 billion in global volume. That’s down nearly fourfold from […]
Today Tom Hicks and his SPAC vehicle, Hicks Acquisition, announced plans to do the world’s largest reverse IPO. The target is Blackstone Group-backed Graham Packaging, a $2.5 billion-revenue plastic packaging maker. Once the formal agreement goes through (today’s announcement was pre-merger agreement), shareholders of the SPAC, which went public in September 2007, must vote in […]
The end of Q2 is just hours away, which means that we’re in for a data deluge. Well, not from the VC-backed IPO market – can you be deluged with nothingness? – but from everywhere else. Full data from Thomson Reuters will be posted this afternoon, but here’s a quick preview of first half 2008 […]
Hedge funds Mason Capital Management and Sandell Asset Management have spent the past week fighting the good fight against board obstinance at UK oilfield services firm Expro International. But now they’ve lost, and had little other choice but to capitulate. Mason and Sandell had been publicly asking Expro to postpone proceedings on a £1.8 billion […]
The London newspapers this morning rang the death knell for UK private equity, based on a new report from the Centre for Management Buy-out Research (CMBOR). CMBOR, backed by Barclays Private Equity and Deloitte, has been very cleverly courting headlines with dramatic figures showing that the value of the buyout market has dropped from £24.5 […]
Apax Partners-backed Tommy Hilfiger may IPO in New York instead of on Euronext, the New York Post reported today. This is an interesting tale of brand equity, which is basically what buyout shops pay premiums for when they invest in consumer spending-reliant businesses. (Unless it’s a retailer that owns its own stores and real estate, […]
The firm puts out an M&A and private equity forecast every six months. It’s 2008 mid-year effort is due out this week, and I’ve boiled down the conclusions it’s drawn. The second half of 2008 will see the following, according to PwC: -US private equity shops will continue to take investments from foreign entities in […]