The Daily Deal articles from December 2001

The Daily Deal archives from December 2001

South Korean execs will pay.
December 2, 2001... Byline: Gina Chon SEOUL -- South Korean President Kim Dae Jung promised that executives at banks and corporations, along with government officials, will be held accountable for the misuse of $5.1 billion in public funds distributed to...

Enron files for Chapter 11.
December 2, 2001... Byline: David Weidner in New York and Claire Poole in Houston Enron Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection Dec. 2 and also hit its estranged merger partner, Dynegy Inc., with a breach-of-contract lawsuit seeking at least $10 billion for...

Regulators reject Seoul Bank plan.
December 2, 2001... Byline: Gina Chon SEOUL -- The South Korean government's Financial Supervisory Commission has asked Seoul Bank, which was taken over by the government in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, to resubmit its restructuring plan to...

Wall Street 10005.
December 2, 2001... Byline: Robert Teitelman There have been few more tantalizing targets on Wall Street of late than the great wounded beast Enron Corp. In its death throes, Enron offers something for every far-flung fiefdom of the fully integrated, Home...

Fleet Street.
December 2, 2001... Byline: Joshua Jaffe in London London's Sunday papers made a meal of the financial woes of energy trading company Enron Corp. and the impact of the Houston concern's collapse on its British subsidiaries, bank lenders and the 1,100...

Berlin bank to shed debt-laden units.
December 2, 2001... Byline: Jonathan Braude BERLIN -- Troubled city-owned banking group Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG plans to hive off its risk-ridden property lending arms IBG and IBAG to extricate itself from its financial problems, but the move raises doubts...

Rothmans tops RJR bid for Santa Fe.
December 2, 2001... Byline: Laura King TORONTO -- Rothmans Inc. has sweetened its bid for New Mexico cigarette maker Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co., topping a rival offer from giant R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc. Toronto-based Rothmans said Friday it...

Abattia.
December 3, 2001... London-based member relationship management software company Abattia Group Ltd. has netted [pound]500,000 ($712,288) in second-round funding from a group of unnamed new and existing investors. The money will be used for product development....

Aramark completes ServiceMaster acquisition.
December 3, 2001... Aramark Corp., a managed services provider in Philadelphia, closed its acquisition of ServiceMaster Management Services, the facility services unit of Downers Grove, Ill., outsourcing services provider ServiceMaster Co. Aramark didn't disclose...

Asphalt Paving acquires ABS.
December 3, 2001... Asphalt Paving International Inc., an Ocee, Fla., maker of asphalt paving equipment that was looking for a new industry to enter, said Friday that is has agreed to acquire U.K. banking software provider Advanced Banking Solutions Ltd. in a...

Carlyle Group to net $153.3M if UDI debut goes well.
December 3, 2001... Washington buyout firm The Carlyle Group will rake in at least $153.5 million in profits if United Defense Industries Inc.'s initial public offering goes as planned. The Arlington, Va.-based military contractor said Friday it aimed to sell 21.1...

Colonial merges with Mercantile.
December 3, 2001... Colonial BancGroup said Friday that it has agreed to merge with Mercantile Bancorp Inc., the Dallas parent of First Mercantile Bank, in a $67 million stock swap. Colonial, the Montgomery, Ala., parent of Colonial Bank, said the exchange ratio...

Creditors may force SoCal Ed into bankruptcy.
December 3, 2001... Cash-strapped Southern California Edison might be forced into bankruptcy by creditors angry that talks over back payments have broken down. The California Cogeneration Council said Friday it cannot reach agreement with SoCal Edison for $140...

Entercom buys two radio stations.
December 3, 2001... Entercom Communications Corp., a Bala Cynwyd, Pa., radio broadcaster, said Friday that it is purchasing two radio stations in Greensboro, N.C., from Bahakel Communications Ltd. of Charlotte, N.C., for $20.5 million. The acquisition of the two...

Gazelle Systems.
December 3, 2001... Newton Upper Falls, Mass. customer relationship management provider for the hospitality industry, Gazelle Systems Inc., announced Friday a $3.25 million third round of equity capital from Zero Stage Capital and Pennsylvania Early Stage...

Innogy Holdings eyes Enron assets.
December 3, 2001... British utility Innogy Holdings plc said Friday it is interested in buying some of the U.K. generation and retail assets of ailing Houston energy giant Enron Corp. A spokesman for Innogy said the company is considering purchasing Enron's 50%...

K-Tron buys Pneumatic Conveying.
December 3, 2001... K-Tron International Inc. announced Friday that it has acquired Pneumatic Conveying Systems Ltd., a privately held U.K. maker of pneumatic conveying systems, for [pound]600,000 ($855,500). PCS' equipment is used in the food, pharmaceutical,...

Nokia.
December 3, 2001... Finnish wireless giant Nokia Oy will announce today a [Euro]40 million ($35.8 million) corporate venture fund earmarked for new business ideas within the company that fall outside the current core businesses. It complements existing efforts...

Pepco settles with Maryland on $2.2B Conectiv buy.
December 3, 2001... Washington, D.C., utility Potomac Electric Power Co., or Pepco, said Friday it had reached a settlement agreement with various groups in Maryland that moves it closer to completing its $2.2 billion acquisition of Wilmington, Del., utility...

Quintiles Transnational.
December 3, 2001... Research Triangle Park, N.C.-based biotech Quintiles Transnational Corp. took an equity stake in Chicago's First Genetic Trust Inc. as part of a strategic alliance. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The alliance of Quintiles and...

United Defense Industries.
December 3, 2001... Arlington, Va.-based United Defense Industries Inc. said it will sell 21.1 million shares at $18 to $20 per share in its initial public offering that will total up to $422 million. The company produces combat vehicles, artillery and missile...

Tyco, GE Capital head bidding for Comdisco unit.
December 3, 2001... Byline: Danny Fortson in San Francisco Tyco International Ltd. and GE Capital Corp. are in a two-horse race to buy the information technology equipment leasing business of bankrupt Comdisco Inc., with bidding on the unit at $800 million to...

Uncertain future for Enron's European units.
December 3, 2001... Byline: Peter Moreira LONDON -- Administrators handling the collapse of Enron Corp.'s European businesses are examining strategic issues for the units and will decide this month which of them will be sold, according to a source. Tony...

Enron collapse roils Japanese financial institutions.
December 3, 2001... Byline: Charles Smith TOKYO -- The bankruptcy of Enron Corp. sent shock waves through Japan's financial sector Dec. 3 because of its impact on money management funds and the financial institutions that run them, mainly affiliates of major...

Digimarc buys Polaroid's ID business.
December 3, 2001... Byline: Shanon D. Murray A Delaware bankruptcy judge approved on Monday Digimarc Corp.'s $56.5 million cash bid to buy Polaroid's identification business in a court-supervised auction, besting the stalking-horse bid by more than $24...

N.Y.'s record lures Enron bankruptcy.
December 3, 2001... Byline: Terry Brennan The largest bankruptcy in U.S. history began Dec. 3 in the lower Manhattan courtroom of Judge Arthur Gonzalez. In a welter of first-day motions, attorneys for bankrupt Enron Corp. sought approval for, among other...

Sector watch: CLECs.
December 3, 2001... Byline: Leon Lazaroff It was with some trepidation last week that Robert Blau, the chief Washington, D.C., lobbyist for BellSouth Corp., ventured to the industry gathering of the competitive local exchange carriers, or CLECs. Blau had...

IPO Outlook -- December 3, 2001.
December 3, 2001... Byline: Soma Biswas in New York and Nicola Hobday in London Intra-Asia Entertainment Corp. Los Angeles-based Intra-Asia Entertainment Corp. filed for a $12.88 million initial public offering. The company has yet to specify the number...

Fledgling CDC Ixis bank plans debut.
December 3, 2001... Byline: Alan Tillier PARIS -- The mammoth, two-century-old French state savings institution, Caisse des Depots et Consignations said Dec. 3 that 47% of its investment bank, CDC Ixis SA, would be floated in an initial public offering next...

Micron, Hynix in merger talks.
December 3, 2001... Byline: Gina Chon SEOUL -- Micron Technology Inc., America's most vocal critic of South Korean chipmakers, looks set to turn the tables on its Asian rivals by entering into merger negotiations with embattled Hynix Semiconductor Inc. ...

Advisers to U.S. M&A Targets - Dec. 4, 2001.
December 3, 2001... For more M&A stats, please see M&A Watch Scoreboard. www.TheDeal.com

Liberty may have to rejig German deals.
December 3, 2001... Byline: Brian Cattell LONDON -- John Malone may have to revise the structure of his bid to take control of Germany's cable market or face the prospect that the country's competition regulator will scuttle his various deals, industry...

Vattenfall buys Mirant out of Berlin city utility.
December 3, 2001... Byline: Jonathan Braude BERLIN -- In a surprise coup Monday, Swedish state-owned electricity company Vattenfall AB signed an agreement to buy out Mirant Corp.'s 44.8% stake in Berlin city utility Bewag AG for $1.63 billion, leaving it free...

Enron looks to shed stake in Korean gas unit.
December 3, 2001... Byline: Gina Chon SEOUL -- Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Credit Suisse First Boston are handling the sale of bankrupt Enron Corp.'s 50% stake in SK-Enron Co. Ltd., a natural gas distribution company in South Korea with a 25% share of the local...

Hyundai talks face further difficulty.
December 3, 2001... Byline: Gina Chon SEOUL -- South Korean Finance Minister Jin Nyum said Dec. 3 that talks to sell three Hyundai financial units to a consortium led by American International Group Inc. are not going well. Jin conceded at a press...

E.ON's buy of Ruhrgas under threat.
December 3, 2001... Byline: Jonathan Braude BERLIN -- In its second warning to E.ON AG in less than a week, the German Cartel Authority said the utility's acquisition of a majority of gas supplier Ruhrgas AG would create a dominant position in gas and...

Bayer faces review of Aventis bid.
December 3, 2001... Byline: Victorya Hong BRUSSELS -- European Union regulators are set to launch an in-depth investigation Dec. 4 into German conglomerate Bayer AG's [Euro]7.25 billion ($6.5 billion) acquisition of Aventis CropScience SA, extending the EU's...

Rabble Babble.
December 3, 2001... Byline: Stacy Mosher The news never rests, and nowhere is it busier than on the Internet bulletin boards. This column excerpts the choicest messages on the latest deals. Postings are selected from several sources, including Yahoo!, Raging...

Time buys Synapse subscription renewal service.
December 3, 2001... Byline: Peter Lauria Time Inc. and Michael Loeb struck a deal Dec. 3 that moves their working relationship, one previously marked by tension, into closer alignment. AOL Time Warner Inc.'s publishing unit agreed to acquire "the...

PE buyers nab two Aussie steel businesses.
December 3, 2001... Byline: Giles Parkinson SYDNEY -- Smorgon Steel Group Ltd. and OneSteel Ltd. on Monday sold two jointly owned units to InterBank Capital Partners Pty Ltd. and Quadrant Capital Ltd. for A$67 million ($35 million), continuing a recent string...

CDC Equity Capital targets $403M for French fund.
December 3, 2001... Byline: Nicola Hobday LONDON -- In a bid to scale up its role in France's growing buyout market, CDC Equity Capital, the private equity affiliate of Caisse des Depots, said it has set a [Euro]450 million ($403 million) target for its...

Collins & Aikman, Textron rekindle deal.
December 3, 2001... Byline: Josh Kosman Collins & Aikman Corp. announced Dec. 3 a new deal to buy Textron Inc.'s auto trim business for approximately $1.24 billion. The deal hinges on the lenders backing the leveraged buyout -- J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.,...

Finland's Nokia launches novel $35M fund.
December 3, 2001... Byline: Vyvyan Tenorio Offsetting lackluster forecasts for wireless markets next year, Finnish telecom giant Nokia Oy plans to announce today a new [Euro]40 million ($35.5 million) corporate venture fund to incubate employee ideas. ...

Optical gear enters commercial nanotechnology realm.
December 3, 2001... Byline: Lou Whiteman A Princeton University spinout that is among the first to apply nanotechnology research to the optical components business has secured an unusually large first round funding of $16 million. Co-leading the round for...

ExonHit lands $26.8M to treat central nervous system disorders.
December 3, 2001... Byline: Joshua Jaffe In the second-largest funding by a French biotech startup this year, Paris-based functional genomics company ExonHit Therapeutics SA said Monday it has closed a [Euro]30 million ($26.8 million) third round of...

Drug marketer Pharmion lands $65M.
December 3, 2001... Byline: Lou Whiteman Specialty drug marketer Pharmion Corp. has raised $65 million to fund its plan to return the controversial drug thalidomide to the market in Europe and Australia. Pharmion, based in Boulder, Colo., does not develop...

Avolent seen charting $40M round.
December 3, 2001... Byline: Vyvyan Tenorio E-commerce doesn't carry the same cachet as it once did, but San Francisco electronic billing software provider Avolent Inc. aims to prove that B2B and B2C were just a little ahead of their time. Avolent,...

Arsenal Digital raises $23M for data storage plan.
December 3, 2001... Byline: Clifford Carlsen Durham, N.C.-based Arsenal Digital Solutions raised $23 million in a third round of venture capital to take its long-suffering, frequently altered, outsourced data storage business to profitability. The storage...

Amnis.
December 4, 2001... Amnis Corp., a Seattle developer of cell imaging and analysis technology, announced Monday it has completed an $8.75 million second-round financing. Participants include Orbimed Advisors llc, Emerging Technology Partners, TVM Techno Venture...

Armor Holdings gets Identicator.
December 4, 2001... Armor Holdings Inc., a Jacksonville, Fla., supplier of security products and armorer of vehicles, said Monday it has paid $5.4 million in stock to buy Identicator Inc., an El Segundo, Calif., provider of fingerprint I.D. products. Under the...

BidPath.
December 4, 2001... Seattle-based auction software company BidPath Corp. has completed a $12 million Series B financing. Venture Strategy Partners of San Francisco led the round, with participation from Timberline Venture Partners and eFund llc. Bidpath makes...

C-MAC, Solectron complete $2.3B merger.
December 4, 2001... Solectron Corp., a Milpitas, Calif. provider of electronics manufacturing and supply-chain management services, said Monday it has completed its $2.3 billion merger with C-MAC Industries Inc., a Montreal designer and maker of integrated...

Centerstone Software.
December 4, 2001... Westwood, Mass.-based Centerstone Software Inc., a provider of a corporate workplace resource management platform, said Monday it has secured $5.5 million in its initial institutional round of funding led by Boston-based Egan-Managed Capital....

Clear Channel buys Italian concert promoters.
December 4, 2001... Citing the strong market for live entertainment in Italy, New York-based Clear Channel Entertainment said Monday that it has acquired Italy's two leading music promotion businesses, Milano Concerti and Trident Agency. A price for the...

Conoco sells south Texas oilfields.
December 4, 2001... Houston natural gas and oil producer Houston Exploration Co. said Monday it has agreed to acquire 28,000 acres of south Texas oilfields from Conoco Inc. for $69 million in cash. The deal will boost Houston Exploration's existing south Texas...

Coresma.
December 4, 2001... Haayin, Israel- and Palo Alto, Calif.-based Coresma Ltd. has obtained a $3 million bridging loan from Israel's BVR Technologies Ltd., making BVR the startup's largest investor with a 50% stake in the company. Founded in 2000, Coresma designs...

Crompton Corp. sells color division.
December 4, 2001... Greenwich, Conn., specialty chemicals maker Crompton Corp. said Monday it has sold its Crompton Color Inc. division to Milwaukee food flavoring supplier Sensient Technologies Corp. for $32 million in cash. Sensient, which also makes coloring...

IXI Mobile.
December 4, 2001... Raanana, Israel- and Palo Alto, Calif.-based IXI Mobile Inc. has raised $12.5 million in a first round of financing. The funds were raised from Draper Fisher Jurveston and Gemini Israel Fund. No valuatio0n was given. IXI Mobile, which was...

Intra-Asia Entertainment.
December 4, 2001... Los Angeles-based Intra-Asia Entertainment Corp. filed for a $12.88 million initial public offering. The company has yet to specify the number and price of shares. Intra-Asia manages and controls the Weifang Fuhua Amusement Park in the City of...

Intraco Systems gets $15M invest.
December 4, 2001... Intraco Systems Inc., a Boca Raton, Fla., supplier of communications technology, said Monday that First International Finance Corp. has taken over the company. The Miami investment firm will invest $15 million of the stock of London mining...

Intraspect Software.
December 4, 2001... Brisbane, Calif.-based Intraspect Software Inc., an enterprise collaboration systems provider, said it has completed a $33 million Series E round of private financing, a down round from previous round in 2000 totaling $26 million. The financing...

Invensys hires two advisers.
December 4, 2001... British engineering company Invensys plc has hired two investment banks to help it sell two units, according to a source close to the company. Morgan Stanley has been instructed to find a buyer for its battery technology business, while J.P....

Lenders limit Royal KPN to $134.4M in deals a year.
December 4, 2001... Dutch telecom Royal KPN NV said Monday that it can't spend more than [Euro]150 million ($134.4 million) on acquisitions a year and requires approval from lenders to merge, under conditions attached to a [Euro]2.5 billion credit line it secured...

Liberty Media, UnitedGlobalCom redo their deal.
December 4, 2001... Denver-based cable concerns Liberty Media Corp. and UnitedGlobalCom Inc. restructured their transaction agreement yet again Monday. The latest version is essentially the same as the May revision except Liberty will retain its Argentine and...

Nera threatens lawsuit after Thrane junks deal.
December 4, 2001... Norwegian telecom equipment maker Nera ASA said it would consider legal action against Thrane & Thrane AS after the Danish communications equipment manufacturer pulled out of deal to combine assets and build a broadband joint venture. Without...

NuGEN Technologies.
December 4, 2001... San Carlos, Calif.-based NuGEN Technologies Inc., a genetic analysis company, said Monday it raised $10.8 million from an investor group led by Pequot Ventures. Other investors included SoftBank LifeScience Ventures, Radius Venture Partners,...

Petrolex rules out asset sale to Auburn Argyle.
December 4, 2001... Canada's Petrolex Energy Corp. said Monday it will not sell its 80% stake in Colombia's Rubiales oil field to Auburn Argyle Ltd. Toronto-based Petrolex did not provide further details, saying only that it will continue to look for partners for...

Public Power.
December 4, 2001... LONDON -- The final price range for the initial public offering of Greece's Public Power Corp. was fixed Sunday at [Euro]12.3 to [Euro]14.7, the same price range that had been set Nov. 25. Public Power, which is Greece's largest electricity...

StarVox.
December 4, 2001... Network software provider StarVox Inc. of San Jose, Calif., has beamed in more than $10 million in fourth-round financing from previous backers Aspen Ventures, Compass Technology Partners and Novus Ventures. New investors Technology Partners,...

Swift Energy in New Zealand deal.
December 4, 2001... Houston oil and gas explorer Swift Energy Inc. said Monday its unit, Swift Energy New Zealand Ltd., reached an agreement with an affiliate of Shell New Zealand, a unit of Royal Dutch/Shell Group of The Hague, to acquire Southern Petroleum (New...

Talkway Communications.
December 4, 2001... Fremont, Calif.-based multimedia software company Talkway Communications Inc. said Monday it has secured $5.2 million in its second round of equity financing. Silicon Valley-based Asset Management Partners, an existing shareholder, led the...

TechTracker.
December 4, 2001... Portland, Ore.-based TechTracker Inc., a security software developer, has closed its Series C round of funding at $1.7 million, the company said Monday. Smart Forest and Internet.com co-lead the round, in which current investors and the board...

Hanbo Iron & Steel may have a buyer.
December 4, 2001... Byline: Gina Chon in Seoul SEOUL -- Bankrupt Hanbo Iron & Steel Co.'s most persistent suitor, South Korean private equity firm AK Capital llc, is expected to be named the buyer of the company that kicked off the Asian financial crisis four...

Bankrupt Midway Airlines believes it can fly.
December 4, 2001... Byline: Lou Whiteman WASHINGTON -- Midway Corp.'s plan to resume operations might have won over government officials and local politicians, but aviation industry experts said there are many reasons to question the carrier's long-term...

Enron Direct sold to Centrica for $137M.
December 4, 2001... Byline: Claire Poole in Houston and Alan Tillier in Paris British utility Centrica plc said Dec. 4 it agreed to acquire Enron Direct, the European retail arm of Houston energy merchant Enron Corp., for [pound]96.4 million ($137.1 million),...

AT&T scraps At Home deal.
December 4, 2001... Byline: David Shabelman in San Francisco As cable company executives patched together temporary broadband service contracts with At Home Corp., AT&T Corp. withdrew its $307 million deal to purchase the Internet company's high-speed...

Pipeline key to Enron's DIP and future.
December 4, 2001... Byline: Jonathan Berke If you're looking for a hint of what bankrupt Enron Corp. might look like when it leaves Chapter 11, look no further than the $1 billion tranche of its $1.5 billion debtor-in-possession financing and how it will be...

Bankers find this year's secondary offerings trickier.
December 4, 2001... Byline: Heidi Moore In this dismal dealmaking year, how does an investment bank convince investors to buy shares in an initial public offering and secondary offering for the same company not just once, but twice within months? Ask...

Normandy fight back with regulators.
December 4, 2001... Byline: Giles Parkinson SYDNEY -- The struggle for control of Australia's Normandy Mining Ltd. was referred Dec. 4 to the country's Takeovers Panel for the fifth time in two weeks, when Newmont Mining Corp. sought a ruling against rival...

Rothmans exits Santa Fe battle.
December 4, 2001... Byline: Laura King A takeover by Canada's Rothmans Inc. of Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co. was snuffed out Dec. 4 but the Toronto-based company will walk away from the collapsed deal with an $11 million break-up fee. Rothmans, Canada's...

Former bank chief looking at Seoul Bank.
December 4, 2001... Byline: Gina Chon SEOUL -- Former Seoul Bank chief executive Bok Young Shin has joined a consortium of foreign and domestic companies interested in acquiring a stake in the bank. Shin headed Seoul Bank from August 1997 to September...

Diageo to put Malibu on the block.
December 4, 2001... Byline: Soma Biswas Diageo plc will start the sale of Malibu, its biggest rum brand, in about two weeks through a formal auction process, according to bankers and analysts. Diageo will put the brand on the block in an attempt to get...

Talks for Hyundai units advance.
December 4, 2001... Byline: Gina Chon SEOUL -- Deadlocked talks for the acquisition of three Hyundai financial units by a consortium led by American International Group Inc. got a boost Dec. 4, when one of the units agreed to a key demand by the consortium....

Japanese drug merger dead.
December 4, 2001... Byline: Charles Smith TOKYO -- A quarrel over control of a planned ethical-drugs unit may have led to the collapse earlier this week of two of Japan's major pharmaceutical companies. Taisho Pharmaceutical Co. and Tanabe Seiyaku Co....