The Daily Deal articles from July 2002

The Daily Deal archives from July 2002

Apollo Management pumps $35M into Encompass.
July 1, 2002... New York private equity firm Apollo Management agreed Friday to invest an additional $35 million in Houston building maintenance company Encompass Services Corp. as part of a planned $72.5 million equity funding. Encompass also plans to raise...

Biopsytec Holding.
July 1, 2002... Berlin-based Biopsytec Holding AG has secured [Euro]5 million ($4.9 million) in a second round of financing. The deal was led by AM Sustainability Private Equity LP, with contributions from Deutsche Bank AG's venture capital fund, VCG, and...

Campbell Soup snaps up Erin Foods.
July 1, 2002... Camden, N.J.,-based food giant Campbell Soup Co. said Friday that is has agreed to pay $26 million for the Thurles, Ireland-based Erin Foods division of Dublin-based Greencore Group plc. The division makes dry soup mixes in Ireland. The deal...

Crompton sold to Akzo Nobel.
July 1, 2002... Akzo Nobel Surface Chemistry, a unit of the Akzo Nobel group, said Friday it has agreed to acquire the industrial specialties business of Greenwich, Conn., specialty chemicals and polymer maker Crompton Corp. for $95 million. Crompton posted...

Denbury wins Coho properties.
July 1, 2002... Dallas oil and gas explorer Denbury Resources Inc. said Friday it was the high winning bidder for Coho Energy Inc.'s Gulf Coast properties auctioned Thursday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas with a $50.3 million offer. Dallas-based Coho...

Hicks, Muse unit Claxon Interactive restructures.
July 1, 2002... Argentina's Claxon Interactive Group Inc. said Friday it plans to restructure $80 million in notes of its Imagen Satelital SA unit, offering $410 of new notes for every $1,000 of old notes. The Argentine multimedia company is controlled by...

Hollywood Casino seeks suitor.
July 1, 2002... Dallas casino owner Hollywood Casino Corp. said Friday that it's been working with its financial adviser, Goldman, Sachs & Co., on exploring sale of the company. The company said that in the past several months, an extensive sale process has...

IOS Brands finishes consolidation of FTD brands.
July 1, 2002... IOS Brands Corp., the Downers Grove, Ill., parent of Florists' Transworld Delivery Inc., or FTD, said Friday it has closed the purchase of the 15% of FTD.com Inc. it didn't already own. The move combines FTD with its online namesake. Under the...

IntesaBCI acquires Carinord 1.
July 1, 2002... Italy's largest bank, IntesaBCI, said Friday it has acquired 46.16% of Carinord 1, the holding company of northern Italy savings bank Casa di Risparmio Di Alessandria, for [Euro]172.6 million ($169 million). IntesaBCI said that the acquisition,...

Kimberly-Clark completes buyout of Australia unit.
July 1, 2002... Irving, Texas, tissue giant Kimberly-Clark Corp. said Friday it has completed a $390 million buyout of the 45% it didn't already own in its Kimberly-Clark Australia Pty. Ltd. subsidiary. Kimberly-Clark, which produces Kleenex and Huggies,...

Liberty Media locks up 16% of Telewest bonds.
July 1, 2002... John Malone's Liberty Media Corp. said last week that 16% of Telewest bondholders agreed to its previously announced tender offer. These holders will also receive an early tender payment of $30 for each $1,000 in notes tendered. Liberty's offer...

Meristem Therapeutics.
July 1, 2002... French biotech startup Meristem Therapeutics has closed a [Euro]21.15 million ($20.9 million) third round of financing. The funding was led by return investor Banexi Ventures Partners and joined by BNP Private Equity, Tethys, 3i Group plc,...

Philadelphia Suburban buys NUI.
July 1, 2002... Bryn Mawr, Pa., water utility Philadelphia Suburban Corp. said Friday it purchased privately held National Utilities Inc., which serves northeastern Pennsylvania, for $3.7 million. PSC said it acquired the troubled water system at the...

Reactive NanoTechnologies.
July 1, 2002... Baltimore-based materials science technology developer Reactive NanoTechnologies has raised $2 million in new financing. Toucan Capital Corp. of Bethesda, Md., led the funding, with the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development...

Sale near of France Telecom tower business.
July 1, 2002... France Telecom SA confirmed Friday that talks for the sale of Telediffusion de France, its broadcast transmission tower business, were advanced. France Telecom's financial director, Jean-Louis Vinciguerra, is optimistic about a sale to London's...

Sierra Gigante gets skin care firm.
July 1, 2002... Sierra Gigante Resources Inc., a Vancouver, British Columbia, operator of an online industrial equipment exchange, said Friday that it has agreed to purchase Mind Your Own Skin Products Inc., also of Vancouver, for $9.87 million in stock. Under...

Symmetricom, Datum get second DOJ request.
July 1, 2002... San Jose, Calif., phone maker Symmetricom Inc. said Friday that the Department of Justice has issued a second request for more details on its acquisition of Irvine, Calif., telecom electronics producer Datum Inc. Symmetricom said the companies...

Fleet Street.
July 1, 2002... Byline: Brian Cattell LONDON -- Amid an absence of earth-shattering deal news, Britain's Sunday newspapers focused on the ramifications the WorldCom Inc. debacle might have for British business. The left of center Observer's lead front...

Harlan meets Icahn steakhouse bid.
July 1, 2002... Byline: Josh Kosman Castle Harlan Inc. has called Carl Icahn's hand, matching the $15 a share offer for Morton's Restaurant Group Inc. The bids value the New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based steakhouse chain at $177 million. Morton's owns and...

Accredited Home Lenders.
July 2, 2002... Mortgage company, Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co., said Monday it is planning a $106.46 million IPO. The company said it expects to sell 5 million common shares for $8 to $10 per share. In its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange...

Carret takes Manchester Capital.
July 2, 2002... Castle Harlan portfolio company Carret and Co. announced Monday it acquired Manchester Capital Corp. The buyer and seller are both New York-based money management firms. Castle Harlan, a New York buyout firm, acquired Carret in 1997. Carret and...

Cellectricon.
July 2, 2002... Biotech equipment company Cellectricon AB of Gothenburg, Sweden has raised SKr45 million ($4.89 million) in new financing. InnovationsKapital, Karolinska Investment Fund and Investor AB participated in the round, which followed seed financing...

Choice Hotels buys Flag Choice.
July 2, 2002... Choice Hotels International Inc., a Silver Spring, Md., hotel franchiser, said Monday it has acquired a 55% controlling interest in Australia's Flag Choice Hotels, its Melbourne-based franchise partner. Under terms of the deal, Choice was also...

Commerzbank nabs Ferrari stake.
July 2, 2002... Commerzbank AG confirmed Monday it has acquired 10% of Ferrari, the luxury car unit of Italian automaker Fiat SpA, from Milan merchant bank Mediobanca SpA for [Euro]228 million ($225 million). The stake is part of a 34% holding in Ferrari...

GlobalCare.
July 2, 2002... Medical services company GlobalCare Inc. of Alpharetta, Ga., said Monday it has received $11 million in new equity financing. Insight Venture Partners of New York led the round, which also featured participation by C&B Capital LP of Atlanta and...

Holmes Place execs mull management buyout.
July 2, 2002... Upscale U.K. fitness club operator Holmes Place plc said Monday that executives are considering a management buyout. The company said its board gave CEO Allan Fisher and deputy CEO Lee Ginsberg the go-ahead to look into a buyout following an...

Italy's Tiscali denies report of sale negotiations.
July 2, 2002... Cagliari, Italy-based Internet service provider Tiscali SpA said Monday it is not in talks to sell itself to either France's Wanadoo SA or Germany's T-Online AG. Tiscali was responding to an article in the Financial Times that quoted an unnamed...

Jeronimo Martins sheds food chain.
July 2, 2002... Portuguese retailing giant Jeronimo Martins SGPS has found a buyer for its money-losing Brazilian supermarket chain Se. Jeronimo said Monday it's selling the food chain to Brazil's biggest retailer, Cia. Brasileira de Distribuicao, or CBD, for...

KPN might acquire all of bankrupt KPNQwest.
July 2, 2002... Royal KPN NV said Monday it would consider buying all of bankrupt telecom operator KPNQwest NV, although it still prefers taking only the northwest Europe parts of KPNQwest's network. KPN, which with Denver's Qwest Communications Corp., owns...

Kaz snaps up Honeywell unit.
July 2, 2002... Kaz Inc., a New York maker of vaporizers and humidifiers, has agreed to acquire Honeywell International Inc.'s air cleaning and seasonal products division in Southboro, Mass., for an undisclosed sum. As part of the deal, Centre Partners...

L90 acquires DoubleClick assets.
July 2, 2002... Los Angeles online marketing firm L90 Inc. said Monday it would acquire the North American media business of New York rival DoubleClick Inc. and form a new company, MaxWorldwide. DoubleClick gets 4.8 million shares, or 16%, of the new company...

Lawson gets Armature assets.
July 2, 2002... St. Paul, Minn., business software provider Lawson Software Inc. announced Monday it has acquired certain assets of Armature Holdings Ltd., a developer of merchandise management and supply-chain software, for pound sterling5 million ($7.6...

Medco Health.
July 2, 2002... Merck & Co.'s plans for a $1 billion spinoff of its pharmacy benefits managing subsidiary Medco Health Solutions Inc. was put on hold again. This time postponement of the hotly-anticipated initial public offering will be until after the Fourth...

NES sheds its trench shoring unit for $110M.
July 2, 2002... National Equipment Services Inc., an Evanston, Ill., renter industrial and construction equipment, said Monday it has completed the $110 million sale of its NES Trench Shoring division to Greenwich, Conn., rival United Rentals Inc. NES Trench...

Nomos.
July 2, 2002... Sewickley, Pa.-based Nomos Corp. has cut the size of its IPO and now will sell 2.5 million shares in a price range of $10 to $12 per share. That cuts $13 million from the IPO, now estimated at $27.5 million, according to a filing Monday with...

Pasta maker Barilla claims 90% of Kamps.
July 2, 2002... Italian pasta giant Barilla SpA said Monday that it has succeeded in acquiring about 90% of German bakery group Kamps AG in a takeover offer that concluded Friday. Barilla noted that this total exceeds the minimum acceptance level for the...

ProClarity.
July 2, 2002... Boise, Idaho-based ProClarity Corp. raised $7.75 million in additional investment from the Summit Accelerator Fund venture arm of Summit Partners to advance a strategic business intelligence software and services business. The company already...

Savvis Communications.
July 2, 2002... Publicly-traded managed Internet services company Savvis Communications Corp. of Herndon, Va., said Monday it had received $20 million in new funding from Constellation Ventures of New York. The funding follows a $158 million investment...

Teppco Partners finishes buy of Val Verde pipeline.
July 2, 2002... Houston's Teppco Partners LP said Monday that it has closed its $444 million purchase of New Mexico's Val Verde natural gas pipeline from Burlington Resources Gathering Inc. Burlington Resources is a division of Houston oil company Burlington...

Worldview, Walden.
July 2, 2002... Palo Alto, Calif.-based Worldview Technology Partners has slashed its $1 billion by 25% to $750 million, according to investors in the fund. The fund, focused on telecoms, with investments ranging from chips, to wireless, wireless local area...

XCounter.
July 2, 2002... Medical technology developer XCounter AB of Danderyd, Sweden has raised [Euro]21.2 million ($20.8 million) in new funding. British firm Abingworth led the round, which also featured participation from new investors Dansk Kapitalanlaeg, Alafi...

Late bids delay ACT auction.
July 2, 2002... Byline: Soma Biswas A hearing on the sale of bankrupt electronics manufacturer ACT Manufacturing Inc. was continued Thursday, June 27, in Worcester, Mass., said the company's lawyer, Richard Mikels of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky...

WorldCom creditors interview lawyers.
July 2, 2002... Byline: Leon Lazaroff Creditors of WorldCom Inc. interviewed three law firms Monday, July 1, in an effort to select a legal representative to handle negotiations with the beleaguered telecommunications provider. Sources said New York...

Foster Wheeler gets waiver extension.
July 2, 2002... Byline: Soma Biswas Troubled Foster Wheeler Ltd. said it has obtained extensions of its waiver under its current revolving credit facility and forbearance on its lease financing facility through July 31. The Clifton, N.J.-based...

Messier's fall could help Diller.
July 2, 2002... Byline: Peter Lauria The enemy of my enemy is my friend -- words to live by in war and boardroom politics. And so it seems in the relationship between Edgar Bronfman Jr. and Barry Diller, now that Vivendi Universal SA CEO Jean-Marie...

Yell, Focus Wickes hold back.
July 2, 2002... Byline: Nicola Hobday in London As stock markets slumped, the directories business Yell Group plc and the home-improvement retailer Focus Wickes plc both postponed their initial public offerings Monday, July 1, blaming the poor market...

Northrop reaches deal with TRW.
July 2, 2002... Byline: Lou Whiteman After months of negotiations, Northrop Grumman Corp. finally won control of TRW Inc. on Monday, July 1, agreeing to pay $7.8 billion for the Cleveland-based defense and auto parts group. TRW was put in play earlier...

Price Communications marathon deal nears vote; Price Communications marathon deal nears vote.
July 2, 2002... Byline: Scott Stuart See today's Arbitrage situations chart. Now that AT&T Corp. has confirmed it will go forward with its 1999 deal to buy all of AT&T Canada Corp., risk arbitrageurs don't have a long, drawn-out deal with a...

Puts, calls and ice cream.
July 2, 2002... Byline: David Marcus Who would have thought a transactional structure designed for a biotech deal would be equally functional for an ice cream manufacturer? That unlikely event came to pass June 17, when Switzerland's Nestle SA...

Northrop-TRW deal could spur M&A.
July 2, 2002... Byline: Lou Whiteman in Atlanta Northrop Grumman Corp.'s long-awaited deal to buy TRW Inc. for $11.8 billion could force some of the target's spurned suitors to look for other deals to keep pace, industry analysts said Monday, July 1. ...

Telstra takes over CSL for $475M.
July 2, 2002... Byline: Shu-Ching Jean Chen in Hong Kong HONG KONG -- Australian telecommunications giant Telstra Corp. wants to expand abroad, and Pacific Century CyberWorks Ltd. of Hong Kong desperately needs to reduce its debt load. The result,...

France Telecom up on buyback rumor.
July 2, 2002... Byline: Brian Cattell The future of France Telecom SA was thrown into further confusion Monday, July 1, after the French government denied reports that it was considering re-nationalizing the debt-stricken company. France Telecom shares,...

Uni-Invest draws $878M bid.
July 2, 2002... Byline: Peter Moreira The Dutch real estate investment company Merwede Group teamed up Monday, July 1, with Lehman Brothers to bid [Euro]884 million ($878 million) in cash for a rival, Uni-Invest NV, after the dominant owners agreed to...

Storebrand adrift as merger fails.
July 2, 2002... Byline: Patricia Koza Norway's largest bank, Den norske Bank ASA, joined a long procession of failed merger partners for Storebrand ASA, the country's largest insurer, when the two companies agreed late Sunday, June 30, to scrap their...

Ratings Review - July 2, 2002.
July 2, 2002... Byline: Gerald C. Magpily Allegiance Telecom Inc. purchased WorldCom Inc.'s customer premise equipment, or CPE, provisioning business and related maintenance operations for $30 million in cash on June 18. Credit rating agency Fitch...

CMGI grabs iLogistix for $41M.
July 2, 2002... Byline: Eric Young SAN FRANCISCO -- Internet incubator CMGI Inc. said Monday, July 1, it agreed to buy nearly all the assets of bankrupt Software Logistics Corp., a company that does business as iLogistix, for $41 million in cash. ...

Illinois tax hike may not deter casino bids.
July 2, 2002... Byline: Jonathan Berke Despite a huge state tax increase that will affect its crown-jewel gaming hall in Aurora, Ill., Hollywood Casino Corp. could still attract solid bids, analysts say. The Hollywood Casino Aurora in the Chicago...

Brazil's CBD buys Se for $155M.
July 2, 2002... Byline: Mike Kepp RIO DE JANEIRO -- Brazil's No. 1 supermarket chain, Cia. Brasileira de Distribuicao, said Monday it has paid R449 million ($155 million) for Brazilian supermarket chain Se, extending its dominance over France's Carrefour....

Battle for a bit of Brand.
July 2, 2002... Byline: David Carey A bidding battle for Brand Services Inc., an industrial scaffolding concern, has narrowed to about a dozen parties, including at least five prominent middle-market private equity houses, sources said late last week. ...

Eschelon lands $35M.
July 2, 2002... Byline: Clifford Carlsen The ongoing shakeout among regional broadband Internet and telecommunications providers has strengthened at least one survivor, Minneapolis-based Eschelon Telecom Inc., which said Monday, July 1, it has raised $35...

Aquila sheds power plant stake.
July 3, 2002... Kansas City, Mo., electricity and natural gas distributor Aquila Inc. said Tuesday it has agreed to sell its 16.58% stake in the Lockport Energy power plant near Buffalo, N.Y., to Fortistar Capital Inc. LLC of White Plains, N.Y., for $37.5...

Bioaxone Therapeutic.
July 3, 2002... Biotech startup Bioaxone Therapeutic Inc. of Montreal said Tuesday it has raised C$11.5 million ($7.5 million) in new funding from four Quebec venture capital firms. T2C2/Bio2000, Solidarity Fund QFL, Investissement Desjardins and Innovatech of...

Disney unit sells office complex.
July 3, 2002... Shamrock Holdings of California Inc., the holding company for the Roy E. Disney family, said Tuesday it sold an office complex in Southern California for $90 million to Multi-Employer Property Trust, a Washington real estate fund. The complex,...

Duke Street pushes ahead with Esporta hostile bid.
July 3, 2002... Private equity firm Duke Street Capital continued with its pound sterling133 million ($204 million) hostile bid for fitness club operator Esporta plc on Tuesday, saying that its target has provided no evidence it has a recovery strategy. Duke...

Hilb, Rogal finishes $142M purchase of Hobbs.
July 3, 2002... Hilb, Rogal and Hamilton Co., a Glen Allen, Va., insurance intermediary, has completed its $142 million acquisition of Atlanta casualty insurance broker Hobbs Group LLC. Hobbs can receive another $102 million in earnout payments, which are...

ID Analytics.
July 3, 2002... Identity security startup ID Analytics Inc. of San Diego has raised $10 million in a first round funding from Canaan Partners of Rowayton, Conn., and Trinity Ventures of Menlo Park, Calif. ID Analytics, founded early this year, performs...

Image Metrics.
July 3, 2002... Manchester, U.K.-based Image Metrics plc, a provider of imaging technology, announced Tuesday it has completed a $4.2 million Series A funding round. New investors are Saffron Hill Ventures, MC Capital Europe (a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corp.)...

Interpeak.
July 3, 2002... Embedded security software developer Interpeak AB of Stockholm has announced a new SKr30 million ($3.3 million) round of funding. Two Scandinavian investors, SEB Foretagsinvest and Industrivarden, supplied the new capital. Industrivarden was...

Juniper Networks completes $375M Unisphere buy.
July 3, 2002... Juniper Networks Inc. has completed the acquisition of Unisphere Networks, a telecom equipment unit of Germany's Siemens AG, for $375 million in cash and 36.5 million shares, or $210 million in stock. Juniper, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based router...

KPMG gets Andersen consultancy.
July 3, 2002... McLean, Va.-based KPMG Consulting Inc. on Tuesday acquired Chicago-based Andersen LLP's business consulting operation in the U.S., agreeing to take on 140 partners and 1,400 staff members. The deal is part of KPMG Consulting's plan to purchase...

Loyalty Management.
July 3, 2002... London-based Loyalty Management announced Tuesday it has secured a commitment of pound sterling25 million ($38.2 million) in equity financing from Warburg Pincus, which employed two of its funds, Warburg Pincus International Partners LP and...

McAfee.com to shareholders: Wait for our move.
July 3, 2002... McAfee.com Corp. advised its shareholders Tuesday to wait for a recommendation from its board on whether to accept a bid from Network Associates Inc. to buy the 25% of the company it does not already known. Santa Clara, Calif.-based Network...

Natexis buys N.Y. broker.
July 3, 2002... France's Natexis Banques Populaires SA announced Tuesday it's buying broker Arnhold & S. Bleichroeder for [Euro]107 million ($105 million) in stock. The deal does not include the asset management business of Arnhold, which will be renamed...

Perot Systems takes ADI Tech.
July 3, 2002... Plano, Texas, information technology company Perot Systems Corp. said Tuesday it is acquiring Alexandria, Va., IT consultancy ADI Technology Corp. for about $32 million in cash. Under the terms, Perot will also part with up to $15 million in...

Softchoice nabs Beyond.com assets.
July 3, 2002... Toronto software supplier Softchoice Corp. said Tuesday it has agreed to acquire substantially all of the assets and customer contracts of bankrupt Beyond.com Corp.'s Government Systems Group for $3.3 million cash. Santa Clara, Calif.-based...

Telecom Italia divests tax business.
July 3, 2002... Continuing with asset sales, Telecom Italia SpA said it sold tax registry subsidiary Sogei to the Italian Economics Ministry in a deal worth [Euro]201 million ($197 million). Telecom Italia said late Monday the ministry will pay [Euro]36...

Unilever completes sale of 19 brands to ACH Food.
July 3, 2002... International food conglomerate Unilever NV, based in Rotterdam, said Tuesday it had completed the sale of 19 of its food brands to ACH Food Cos., a subsidiary of London-based Associated British Foods plc, for $360 million in cash. The...

Vivendi denies improper accounting in BSkyB deal.
July 3, 2002... Vivendi Universal SA on Tuesday denied a report in French newspaper Le Monde that it failed to meet U.S. and French accounting standards for the October sale of its BSkyB stock. The troubled French utility and entertainment company said...

ePocrates.
July 3, 2002... San Carlos, Calif.-based ePocrates Inc. said Tuesday it raised its third round of venture funding. The company, which creates databases that physicians can access using wireless handhelds, declined to reveal the amount or any terms....

Tokyo gets tough on delisting.
July 3, 2002... Byline: Charles Smith The Tokyo Stock Exchange said Tuesday, July 2, that it's planning to require the delisting of companies whose market capital falls below [yen]1 billion ($8.3 million) -- part of a package of measures aimed at...

Enron goes after smaller DIP.
July 3, 2002... Byline: Jonathan Berke Flush with $1.5 billion in cash from asset sales, bankrupt Enron Corp. on Tuesday, July 2, went to court to ask for something unusual in the world of insolvency: to reduce its debtor-in-possession financing facility...

PG&E creditors get OK from court.
July 3, 2002... Byline: Eric Young SAN FRANCISCO -- Pacific Gas & Electric Co.'s official creditors committee won the right to file its own reorganization plan for the bankrupt utility, according to a July 2 regulatory filing with the Securities and...

Jay Alix renamed AlixPartners.
July 3, 2002... Byline: Anthony Baldo Jay Alix & Associates, which is working on restructurings involving bankrupt Kmart Corp. and Burlington Industries, among others, has renamed itself AlixPartners LLC. Besides converting to a limited liability...

Beyond.com sells gov't software unit.
July 3, 2002... Byline: Laura King Toronto-based Softchoice Corp. said Tuesday, July 2, it has agreed to acquire the assets and customer contracts of bankrupt Beyond.com Corp.'s Government System Group for $3.3 million in cash. By making the...