The Daily Deal articles from January 2003

The Daily Deal archives from January 2003

McLeodUSA closes sale of Illinois assets.
January 1, 2003... Byline: Scott Stuart As part of a bankruptcy plan, local exchange carrier McLeodUSA Inc. completed the $271.2 million sale Tuesday of its Illinois Consolidated Telephone Co. unit to Homebase Acquisitions Corp. McLeod emerged from...

Troubled Mosaic cuts jobs, CFO resigns.
January 1, 2003... Byline: Laura King in Toronto Troubled Mosaic cuts jobs and sees officer resign by Toronto-based marketing services company Mosaic Group Inc. said Tuesday, Dec. 31, it is cutting about 60 jobs, including the president of its...

Court approves UAL's $1.5B DIP.
January 1, 2003... Byline: Chris Nolter Although bankrupt airline UAL Corp. has received court approval to tap up to $1.5 billion in debtor-in-possession financing, the struggling carrier is scrambling to cut costs and stabilize operations while trying to...

Molina Healthcare files for IPO.
January 1, 2003... Byline: Frances A. McMorris Once a modest family-run medical clinic that served the health needs of the poor in southern California, Molina Healthcare Inc. filed to go public in a $115 million offering. Late Monday, the company,...

King buys three drugs from Aventis for $275M.
January 1, 2003... Byline: Scott Stuart King buys three drugs from Aventis for $275 million King Pharmaceuticals Inc. purchased rights to an antibiotic used to treat skin diseases as well as two asthma medications from Aventis SA of Strasbourg, France...

Big City Radio sells four New York stations.
January 1, 2003... Byline: Richard Morgan Big City Radio Inc. agreed Tuesday, Dec. 31, to sell its four New York radio stations to Nassau Broadcasting Holdings Inc. for $43 million in cash. The sale follows last week's disposal of three Los Angeles...

Aeterna boosts drug pipeline with Zentaris buy.
January 1, 2003... Byline: Scott Stuart In an effort to boost its pipeline of anticancer products, Canada's Aeterna Laboratories Inc. agreed to acquire a drug development unit of Germany's Degussa AG, for C$81.5 million ($51.7 million). Aeterna will...

Syncor shareholders approve Cardinal deal.
January 1, 2003... Byline: Tyson Freeman in San Francisco A majority of shareholders of scandal-racked Syncor International Corp. approved its proposed $715 million stock sale to Cardinal Health Inc. late Monday, Dec. 30, during a special meeting. The...

Vivendi closes sale of Houghton Mifflin.
January 1, 2003... Byline: Chris Nolter On New Year's Eve, French media conglomerate Vivendi Universal SA took another step toward putting its balance sheet in order, closing the $1.66 billion sale of its American publishing arm, Houghton Mifflin. ...

Markets end dismal year on sour note; Sense of the Market.
January 1, 2003... Byline: Frances A. McMorris Wall Street probably can't wait to ring out 2002 and bring in the New Year as stocks finished down for the third straight year. There was little good news as corporate America was besieged by accounting...

Bankruptcy exits.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Companies emerging from Chapter 11 protection since October www.TheDeal.com

Enron tower sold for $102M.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Claire Poole Real estate broker Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP said Thursday, Jan. 2, it closed the sale of Enron Corp.'s Enron Center South building in Houston to New York real estate firm Intell Management & Investment Co. at the...

Citibank to invest in Chinese lender.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Shu-Ching Jean Chen in Hong Kong Scoring a coup over its international rivals in China, Citibank NA agreed Thursday, Jan. 2, to buy a 5% stake in Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Co. Ltd., the nation's ninth-largest bank, for...

Inverness, Ostex to renegotiate merger terms.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Vyvyan Tenorio Inverness Medical Innovations Inc., a maker of women's health and nutritional products, and Ostex International Inc., a provider osteoporosis testing technologies, are discussing possible changes to the terms of a...

Mirant sheds more Asian assets.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Claire Poole in Houston Ailing Atlanta power producer Mirant Corp. continues to unload Asian assets, confirming Thursday, Jan. 2, the sale of two plants in recent days. Independent power producer Meiya Power Co. Ltd. of Hong...

ProxyMed acquires MedUnite for $23.4M.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Vyvyan Tenorio ProxyMed Inc., an electronic healthcare transaction processing services company, said Thursday, Jan. 2, it has acquired healthcare transaction company MedUnite Inc. for $10 million in cash and $13.4 million in 4%...

Fleet skates out of hockey deal.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Laura King in Toronto Another effort to sell the Ottawa Senators hockey club has collapsed, the team confirmed late Wednesday, Jan. 1. FleetBoston Financial Corp. bailed out of a refinancing plan that was needed to sell the...

Citi, Rothschild climb in Europe M&A.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Lou Whiteman The top two spots in European investment banking were unchanged in 2002, but the ability to grow even in a down year helped vault Citigroup/Salomon Smith Barney and Rothschild to within range of the title. For the...

Cognicase board accepts takeover.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Laura King in Toronto Cognicase Inc. has accepted a sweetened takeover offer from CGI Group Inc. following a 3 1/2-week battle between Canada's two largest information technology firms. Montreal-based Cognicase said in a...

Simplicity secures financing from Fleet Capital.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Vyvyan Tenorio Chicago's Fleet Capital Corp. said Thursday, Jan. 2, it has provided a $135 million senior secured credit facility for Simplicity Manufacturing Inc. to finance its acquisition of lawnmower manufacturer Snapper Inc....

Rohn sells plants to lenders.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Sarah Cohen Rohn Industries Inc. said Thursday, Jan. 2, it completed a transfer of assets to the providers of its credit facility in exchange for the extinguishment of $7.4 million in debt. Earlier this week, Rohn said that...

TriQuint buys Agere business.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Sarah Cohen TriQuint Semiconductor Inc. said Thursday it completed the acquisition of Agere Systems Inc.'s optoelectronics business for $40 million in cash. The transaction includes products, technology and some facilities...

Shareholders block Henderson takeover.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Shu-Ching Jean Chen in Hong Kong Minority shareholders in Henderson Investment Ltd. have rejected a bid by the company's parent, Hong Kong real estate company Henderson Land Development Co. Ltd., to take it private for HK$5.68...

Viacom sheds NYC kiosk business.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Richard Morgan and Claire Poole New York outdoor advertising firm Van Wagner Communications LLC said Thursday, Jan. 2, it has acquired the New York telephone kiosk advertising business from Viacom Outdoor Group Inc., a unit of...

Sun Communities buys Texas prefabs.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Donna Block Real-estate investment trust Sun Communities Inc. acquired three planned housing communities in Texas from Trident for $33.1 million, Sun said Thursday, Jan 2. Sun also said it bought out the ownership interest in a...

Allegheny sells two units.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Claire Poole Ailing Hagerstown, Md., utility Allegheny Energy Inc. said Thursday, Jan. 2, it sold two business units to Constellation Energy Group Inc. of Baltimore for $22.3 million in cash. The units include Fellon-McCord &...

Big City Radio signals another sale.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Donna Block Big City Radio Inc. disposed of yet another asset Thursday, Jan. 2, agreeing to sell its Highland Park, Ill., radio station, WXXY-FM, to HBC Illinois Inc., an affiliate of Hispanic Broadcasting Inc., for about $33...

Deutsche Bank sells boilermaker stake.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Braude in London Germany's Deutsche Bank AG said Thursday, Jan. 2, that it has booked a capital-gains-tax-free disposal of its 7.47% stake in German boilermaker Buderus AG for proceeds of about [Euro]100 million ($104.3...

Celgene closes Anthrogenesis buy.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Donna Block Pharmaceutical company Celgene Corp. said Thursday, Jan. 2, that it has completed its merger with privately held biotherapeutics company Anthrogenesis Corp. Warren, N.J.-based Celgene said the transaction was...

Cardinal closes Syncor deal.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Vyvyan Tenorio Prescription drug wholesaler Cardinal Health Inc. said Thursday, Jan. 2, it had completed its acquisition of scandal-ridden nuclear medicine distributor Syncor International Corp. Terms for the all-share deal,...

GN sells NetTest to consortium.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Brian Cattell Danish technology company GN Store Nord ASA has agreed to sell its unprofitable fiber-optics division, NetTest, to a consortium led by Danish private equity firm Axcel IndustriInvestor. Copenhagen-based GN Store...

CapMan raises $264M fund.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Vyvyan Tenorio Finnish private equity firm CapMan has raised [Euro]253.3 million ($264.1 million) for its seventh private equity fund, Reuters reported Tuesday, Jan. 2. Of the firm's [Euro]1.67 billion under management,...

Battle for Israeli fund heats up.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Neal Sandler in Tel Aviv The battle over Israel's Sadot Research and Development Fund Ltd. has heated up after Britain's Lewis Trust Group increased its previous offer by about 10% in an attempt to take over the Israel venture...

Venture-backed IPOs remained rare in 4Q.
January 3, 2003... Byline: Vyvyan Tenorio The market for venture-backed initial public offerings continued to limp along in the fourth quarter of 2002, with only four new stock listings in the period. According to the latest survey by Thomson Venture...

Psychic Friends presses WorldCom claim.
January 4, 2003... Byline: Chris Nolter Throughout the latter half of 2002, WorldCom Inc. incurred the wrath of lawmakers, regulators, a former U.S. attorney general, church groups, investors and just about anyone with access to a soapbox. On Tuesday,...

Chile business failures fell in 2002.
January 4, 2003... Byline: Daniel Joelson Despite the worldwide economic downturn, Chilean bankruptcies fell in 2002. Just 167 companies filed for bankruptcy in that South American nation, a drop of 5.65% from the 177 bankruptcies recorded in 2001,...

Losing bidder seeks Ch. 7 for Harvard Industries.
January 4, 2003... Byline: Terry Brennan After avoiding it in two earlier rounds of insolvency, Harvard Industries Inc. now wants to liquidate. But the auto-parts maker is having difficulty winding down operations during its third fling with bankruptcy...

Conseco faces 3 creditor panels.
January 7, 2003... Byline: David Weidner As it seeks to emerge from bankruptcy protection by the end of June, Conseco Inc. will have to assuage three groups of unsecured creditors under an order issued by its court-appointed trustee Friday, Jan. 3. A...

Polaroid seeks extension for liquidation plan.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Shanon D. Murray Polaroid Corp. wants what it calls a modest 31-day extension of its exclusive period to negotiate a liquidation plan. "We do still expect to have a plan on file fairly soon," said Fred S. Hodara, the unsecureds...

UAL unveils more job cuts.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Soma Biswas UAL Inc.'s latest announcement on job cuts and cost reductions is likely to require further talks with its unions. The parent of the world's second-largest airline has announced furloughs of 1,500 workers, including...

Ross welding BethSteel deal.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Greg Johnson Buyout veteran Wilbur Ross expects to make a firm bid of $1.5 billion for select assets of Bethlehem Steel Corp. within seven to 10 days. If things go as many expect, this would mark the end of BethSteel, which...

Advanced Glassfiber wins DIP approval.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Berke Advanced Glassfiber Yarns LLC received final approval on Monday, Jan. 6, on its $11 million debtor-in-possession financing from a federal bankruptcy judge. The loan, backed by Wachovia Securities Inc., will...

Microcell files disclosure statement.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Chris Nolter Canadian wireless provider Microcell Telecommunications Inc. on Monday, Jan. 6., released financial projections that it used to reach a consensual debt restructuring with creditors. Microcell expects service...

Furr's Restaurant Group files for Chapter 11.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Greg Johnson After posting poor financial results, Furr's Restaurant Group Inc. has filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The ailing Lubbock, Texas, eatery chain had closed some of restaurants in 2002 to try to...

Insolvency looms for Metromedia.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Chris Nolter The remains of the once-proud media and communications group built by John Kluge is running out of time and money, according to a quarterly financial report issued Monday, Jan. 6. Metromedia International Group...

Allegheny near $2B bank deal.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Claire Poole Hagerstown, Md., utility Allegheny Energy Inc. is close to an agreement on a $2 billion credit line from its banks that would keep it afloat for the next two years and possibly out of bankruptcy court, analysts said...

Goldman profits from Asian IPOs.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Shu-Ching Jean Chen in Hong Kong Goldman Sachs Group Inc. emerged as the leading bookrunner for international new equity issues in Asia Pacific excluding Japan last year, according to an annual survey by Thomson Financial. ...

Survey finds U.K. middle market pessimistic.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Nicola Hobday in London Managers of U.K. middle-market companies say they are less likely to do a deal in the coming year than they were in 2002, according to a survey published Monday, Jan. 6. Private equity firm Gresham found...

ADP spends $500M defending turf.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Olaf de Senerpont Domis in San Francisco Facing mounting competitive pressure, human resource outsourcing company ProBusiness Services Inc. said Monday, Jan. 6, that payroll service provider giant Automatic Data Processing Inc....

Sherritt again sweetens bid for Fording.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Laura King in Toronto Canadian coal producer Sherritt International Corp. has again sweetened its bid for Fording Inc., in another attempt to woo its larger rival from white knight Teck Cominco Ltd. Early on Monday, Jan. 6...

GM reports strong interest in Hughes.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Lou Whiteman General Motors Corp. executives said Monday, Jan. 6, they hope to announce within 60 days the fate of the company's Hughes Electronics Corp. unit, which last month called off a planned $18 billion union with EchoStar...

EU to re-examine cruise merger.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Renee Cordes in Brussels and Donna Block in New York European antitrust regulators are set to re-examine Miami-based cruise operator Carnival Corp.'s $5.3 billion merger with Britain's P&O Princess Cruises plc once the companies...

Will Vodafone flee Verizon venture?
January 7, 2003... Byline: Brian Cattell in London While Vodafone Group plc plays down speculation that it might exit its U.S. affiliate Verizon Wireless Corp., the shortcomings of its U.S. position are fueling speculation that the British giant wants a...

DealEstate -- Jan. 6, 2002.
January 7, 2003... Byline: compiled by Gerald C. Magpily Jan. 6, 2002 Eurohypo completes DB real estate buy German real estate bank Eurohypo AG said Monday, Jan. 6 it has completed the acquisition of Deutsche Bank AG's European real estate...

Brooklyn Bottling gets Iberia Foods.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Tara Croft In its drive for more of the Hispanic food market, Brooklyn Bottling Group sealed a deal Jan. 2 to buy Unilever NV's Iberia Foods Corp., one of the U.S.'s biggest distributors of Hispanic foods. Terms were not disclosed....

Wal-Mart's latest Amigo woe.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Jaret Seiberg in Washington Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has battled the Federal Trade Commission, a Puerto Rico court and a federal judge in San Juan for the right to acquire the Amigo supermarket chain. Now add the federal appeals...

Criimi Mae balks at MAC clause.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Berke Criimi Mae Inc. has until Thursday, Jan. 9, to accept Orix Capital Markets LLC's revised all-cash offer worth roughly $600 million for the company, but a controversial condition attached to the bid may prevent that...

Network Associates grabs spam fighter.
January 7, 2003... Byline: David Shabelman in San Francisco E-mail spam: Can't live with it, can't kill it off. That's the thinking behind Network Associates Inc.'s announcement Monday, Jan. 6, that it will buy Deersoft Inc., a privately held antispam...

Cantor, Indigo hover over Regus.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Braude in London Two investors boosted their stakes in Regus plc on Monday, Jan. 6, fueling speculation of at least one takeover attempt of the London-based office rental manager. New York-based mezzanine fund Indigo...

U.K.'s Yell buys National Directory.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Braude in London British telephone directory publisher Yell Group on Monday, Jan. 6, announced the completion of a $69 million deal to acquire U.S. yellow-pages publisher National Directory Co. from affiliates of New York...

Buyout firms back workers' comp insurer.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Kelly Holman Private equity firms Golden Gate Capital and Securitas Capital LLC, an affiliate of Swiss Reinsurance Co., have invested $55.3 million in the newly formed Employers Direct Corp. of Glendale, Calif., according to...

British LBOs slumped in 2002.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Braude in London British buyouts fell to their lowest level in six years in 2002, as economic uncertainty, unrealistic expectations by vendors and a general scarcity of quality deals hit home, according to research released...

American Capital backs trucking merger.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Kelly Holman American Capital Strategies Ltd., a publicly traded Bethesda, Md.-based buyout and mezzanine fund, said Monday, Jan. 6, that it has invested $28 million in the trucking industry merger of Charlotte, N.C.-based Dixie...

Nanosphere adds $5M to round.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Tyson Freeman Nanosphere Inc. of Northbrook, Ill., a developer of disease-screening systems based on nanotechnology, has added a new investor and another $5 million to its third-round funding. Led by previous investor Lurie...

Ethernet company raises $18M.
January 7, 2003... Byline: Clifford Carlsen With half its capital remaining from a previous round, connectivity specialist S2io Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., has raised $18 million more in a second round that gave it an increase in valuation. Expecting the...

Safety-Kleen faces lawsuit.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Shanon D. Murray Safety-Kleen Corp. is being sued for more than $400 million by a smaller rival that charges the environmental services company has conducted business unfairly since filing for bankruptcy nearly three years ago. ...

Judge clears UPC's reorganization.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Berke A Manhattan judge approved United Pan-Europe Communications NV's proposed reorganization Tuesday, clearing a path for the John Malone-controlled European cable network operator to emerge from bankruptcy once the plan...

For asbestos relief, ABB unit eyes Ch. 11.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Terry Brennan Swiss engineering giant ABB Ltd. was ready Tuesday, Jan. 7, to present a bankruptcy proposal as part of a $1.12 billion settlement for thousands of asbestos claims. ABB's troubled Combustion Engineering Inc....

Ottawa Senators slide toward bankruptcy.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Laura King in Toronto The cash-starved Ottawa Senators hockey team is expected to file for bankruptcy protection in Canada and the U.S. as soon as Wednesday, Jan. 8, in an effort to restructure its C$340 million ($217.7 million)...

United pilots OK wage cut.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Soma Biswas Members of UAL Corp.'s airline pilots' union voted in favor of a 29% temporary wage cut to which the union leadership agreed on Dec. 30. The pilots' wage cuts are part of a package agreed to by four of UAL's unions...

Hunter stalks U.K.'s Allders.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Laura Board in London U.K. retail entrepreneur Tom Hunter confirmed Tuesday that his West Coast Capital private equity venture may offer to buy department store operator Allders plc. West Coast Capital has built up a 6.9% stake...

FT lets Polish option lapse.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Patricia Koza in Warsaw France Telecom SA, struggling to reduce its huge debt, will not exercise an option that would have allowed it and a partner to take control of Poland's dominant telecom carrier, Telekomunikacja Polska SA....

T-Systems can't connect abroad.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Andrew Bulkeley in Berlin An attempt by German phone giant Deutsche Telekom AG to expand its computer services division abroad through partnerships and avoid investing sparse capital has failed to bear fruit, the company said...

Fiat lenders to weigh Colaninno bid.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Heather O'Brian in Milan Fiat SpA's creditor banks will have their first chance Wednesday, Jan. 8, to debate a proposal by former Telecom Italia SpA chief executive Roberto Colaninno to take a spin at the troubled automaker's...

3M ups stake in Japan venture.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Lou Whiteman in Atlanta Capitalizing on a joint venture partner's weakness, 3M Co. on Tuesday, Jan. 7, agreed to buy NEC Corp.'s 25% interest in Sumitomo 3M Ltd. for [yen]45 billion ($375 million) in cash. The acquisition gives...

Telefonica Moviles to increase Antena 3 stake.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Greg Johnson Telefonica Moviles said Tuesday, Jan. 7, it would increase its stake in Spain's television broadcaster Antena 3 by another 11.7%, giving it 59.2% and majority control. But the purchase, from Spanish bank Santander...

Konica, Minolta to merge.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Charles Smith in Tokyo and Cheryl Meyer in Los Angeles Succumbing to industry pressure to go digital and cut costs, Japanese camera and office equipment makers Konica Corp. and Minolta Co. Ltd. on Tuesday, Jan. 7, announced plans to...

Cerberus backs $186M Exco buyout.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Claire Poole New York investment firm Cerberus Capital Management LP agreed to put up $186 million in financing for a management-led buyout of Dallas oil explorer Exco Resources Inc., according to a 13D filing Tuesday, Jan. 7, with...

Vivendi to sell Hungarian telecom.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Brian Cattell in London London-based private equity firm GMT Communications Partners Ltd. and a fund managed by American International Group Inc. have agreed to buy Vivendi Universal SA's Hungarian telecom unit in a deal with an...

Investec buys Hargreaves portfolio.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Nicola Hobday Investec plc said it has acquired pound sterling100 million ($161 million) of funds under management from Hargreaves Lansdown, a Bristol, U.K.-based independent financial adviser, for an undisclosed sum. The...

Saratoga Partners to buy inks business.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Kelly Holman New York private equity group Saratoga Partners said Tuesday, Jan. 7, that it has agreed to acquire Sericol, the specialty printing inks unit of Burmah Castrol plc, in a transaction valued at close to $122 million,...

Quintiles auction heats up.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Josh Kosman and David Carey The sale of Quintiles Transnational Corp. has blossomed into a full-blown auction, with several private equity firms making nonbinding offers for the drug testing and sales company by a Monday, Jan. 6,...

CD&R gets pop in Remington recap.
January 8, 2003... Byline: Kelly Holman Legendary firearms manufacturer Remington Arms Co. Inc. said Tuesday, Jan. 7, that it was undergoing a recapitalization in a deal valued around $205 million. Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Inc., which had previously...

Private Capital People -- Jan. 8, 2002.
January 8, 2003... Byline: George White Jan. 6, 2003 Warburg Pincus, the private equity firm, has made several promotions. The firm has promoted three vice presidents to managing director and five associates to vice president. The new managing...