The Daily Deal articles from June 2002

The Daily Deal archives from June 2002

Bankruptcy calendar - June 2002.
June 1, 2002... Byline: Scheduled hearings, meetings and deadlines in active bankruptcies. www.TheDeal.com

Clean Harbors has funds for Safety-Kleen unit.
June 1, 2002... Byline: Jonathan Berke Braintree, Mass.-based Clean Harbors Inc. said Friday, May 31, that its received funding commitments for its proposed $46.3 million all-cash offer to acquire the chemical services business of the bankrupt...

Pyrex maker breaks down.
June 1, 2002... Byline: Soma Biswas Struggling World Kitchen Inc., the 82-year-old maker of Pyrex, Corelle and other famous-name cookware, said Friday, May 31, that it filed for Chapter 11 protection in a U.S. bankruptcy court in Chicago. World...

KPS, Hunt win preferred status.
June 1, 2002... Byline: Greg Johnson A $450 million bid for bankrupt Republic Technologies International LLC is now officially the one to beat. New York-based KPS Special Situations Fund and Dallas private equity firm Hunt Investment Group won...

AremisSoft reorganization approved.
June 1, 2002... Byline: Soma Biswas AremisSoft Corp., the Minneapolis-based bankrupt software maker, received approval for its reorganization plan from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, in Newark. A hearing on the confirmation...

Hyundai, Nordic shipper strike deal.
June 1, 2002... Byline: Gina Chon SEOUL -- South Korea's largest carmaker, Hyundai Motor Co., and shipping company Wallenius Wilhelmsen Lines of Norway have agreed to set up a joint venture to acquire the car-carrier fleet of Hyundai Merchant Marine Co....

Macerich gets Westcor for $1.5B.
June 1, 2002... Byline: Jonathan Berke The Macerich Co. formally agreed Friday, May 31, to acquire privately held Westcor Realty LP in a $1.475 billion deal that will significantly expand Macerich's regional mall presence in the West. The transaction...

Wendy's grabs Baja Fresh.
June 1, 2002... Byline: Padraic Cassidy Fast-food restaurant company Wendy's International Inc. is moving into the Mexican food casual dining market, buying up the Baja Fresh Mexican Grill chain from its founders and private equity backers for $275...

Glaxo, Bristol discuss merger.
June 1, 2002... Byline: Andrew Morse Two giant but weak pharmaceutical companies, GlaxoSmith Kline plc and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., are reportedly discussing a merger. If it happens, the resulting entity would be a titanic but equally weak drug company,...

Struggling to make rain in Texas.
June 1, 2002... Byline: Claire Poole in Houston Texas dealmakers, like their counterparts around the country, are wondering when the rain will start to fall again. While the state has remained a slightly more fertile environment for dealmaking, Texas has...

SK Teleco, KT talk severance.
June 1, 2002... Byline: Gina Chon SEOUL -- SK Telecom Co., South Korea's largest mobile phone carrier, is in negotiations with KT Corp., the country's top telecommunications company, to swap stakes to eliminate their cross-holdings in each other. ...

Diller makes timeshare foray.
June 1, 2002... Byline: Dennis Fitzgerald USA Interactive Inc., the Barry Diller-headed company formerly known as USA Networks until its entertainment assets were folded into Vivendi Universal SA last year, said Friday, May 31, that it is buying a...

June 2002 M&A Calendar.
June 1, 2002... www.TheDeal.com

Tier Tech collects Official Payments.
June 1, 2002... Byline: Greg Johnson Tier Technologies Inc. wants to make sending tax payments through the mail a thing of the past. The Walnut Creek, Calif., provider of IT consulting and system integration services said Friday, May 31, that it has...

Kingfisher chooses adviser.
June 1, 2002... Byline: Laura Board and Peter Moreira LONDON -- Dueling home-improvement chains Kingfisher plc and Castorama Dubois Investissements will submit a list of investment banks to a French court -- in hopes of agreeing on an independent party...

Hughes: Divestitures could end DirecTV sale.
June 1, 2002... Byline: Ron Orol In a filing last week with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Hughes Electronics Corp. said federal antitrust agencies could require divestitures in exchange for clearing its $27 billion deal to sell subsidiary...

RWE gains control of Trienekens.
June 1, 2002... Byline: Jonathan Braude BERLIN -- German utility group RWE AG has agreed to acquire the shares of regional waste-management business Trienekens AG that it does not already own, in a move to overhaul the scandal-tainted business. RWE...

Cypress charts the sun.
June 1, 2002... Byline: Olaf de Senerpont Domis Cypress Semiconductor Corp. chief executive T.J. Rodgers is placing another bet on a venture that is only tenuously linked to his Silicon Valley company's communications chip business. Cypress said...

Bondholders key to Energis network.
June 1, 2002... Byline: Brian Cattell LONDON - Private equity firms looking to take over the U.K. network of distressed telecom provider Energis plc will have to reach an agreement with the company's bondholders before any deal can be finalized, a...

Duke Street goes hostile.
June 1, 2002... Byline: Nicola Hobday LONDON - Private equity firm Duke Street Capital on Friday, May 31, took the unusual step of launching a hostile takeover bid, when it confirmed it would proceed with a [pound]133 million ($195 million) bid for...

Strong profit for Willis Stein.
June 1, 2002... Byline: Kelly Holman New York-based USA Interactive, the parent of Expedia, said Friday, May 31, that it agreed to acquire Miami-based timeshare company Interval International from Chicago buyout firm Willis Stein & Partners for $578...

Picolight lands $27M.
June 1, 2002... Byline: Sarah Cohen By keeping to a small niche among optical module makers and steering its products away from the deeply troubled long haul telecom market, Picolight Inc. may seem a relatively safe bet for venture capitalists. At...

What's Hot - May 31, 2002.
June 1, 2002... Byline: George White Startups made the most of a short holiday week, gathering $355.5 million for the seven-day period ended May 31. Although total deal flow slid 12% from the previous $402.85 million, the number of financings rose...

EarthWeb founder launches research firm.
June 1, 2002... Byline: Katherine Goncharoff Independent brokerage research firms are few and far between in this era of bulge-bracket investment houses. But Jack Hidary, who founded EarthWeb, figured the timing to start one might be just right. ...

Bayer pulls fibers unit off block, citing low bids.
June 3, 2002... German chemicals and pharmaceuticals group Bayer AG on Friday took its fibers unit off the market after failing to attract a high enough price from potential buyers. Bayer said that holding onto Bayer Faser GmbH "offers better prospects for...

Clean Harbors has funds for Safety-Kleen bid.
June 3, 2002... Braintree, Mass.-based Clean Harbors Inc. said Friday that it received funding commitments for its proposed $46.3 million cash offer to acquire the chemical services business of the bankrupt Safety-Kleen Corp. The deal also calls for Clean...

Great Lakes Hydro nabs plants.
June 3, 2002... Great Lakes Hydro Income Fund said May 31 it has acquired six hydroelectric power stations on the Androscoggin River in New Hampshire for $31.5 million. Great Lakes, based in Masson-Angers, Quebec, is 50% owned by conglomerate Brascan Corp. and...

Laurus shareholder won't oppose Casino takeover.
June 3, 2002... Laurus NV's majority shareholder on Friday said he will not stand in the way of a takeover by French supermarket operator Casino SA. This clears the way for the companies to finalize their agreement in early June, as planned. Eric Albada...

NJ judge approves Pepco's buy of Conectiv.
June 3, 2002... New Jersey administrative law judge Diana Sukovich recommended Friday that the state's Board of Public Utilities approve the settlement agreement regarding the $2.2 billion purchase of Wilmington, Del., utility Conectiv by Washington, D.C.,...

Praedium buys LA office building.
June 3, 2002... The Praedium Group LLC, a New York-based investment firm, teamed with ScanlanKemperBard Cos., a Portland, Ore., real estate merchant banking firm, to acquire a Class A office building in Los Angeles for $21.85 million from Japan's Sumitomo Life...

The Great Outdoors Grill is sold.
June 3, 2002... Barbeque, stove and fireplace maker CFM Corp. of Mississauga, Ontario, said is paying up to $24 million in cash and stock for The Great Outdoors Grill Co. of Joplin. Mo. CFM said last week it will pay $9.6 million and almost 196,000 of its...

True Energy gets Gresham.
June 3, 2002... Calgary, Alberta-based True Energy Inc. said May 31 it is acquiring Gresham Resources Inc. in an all-shares deal worth C$17 million ($11 million) that gives it a second core area in west central Alberta. The deal includes the assumption of...

United Pan-Europe gets July bank extension.
June 3, 2002... Amsterdam-based cable operator United Pan-Europe Communications NV said Friday that its banks have extended a debt default waiver until June 17, giving it extra time to strike a restructuring deal with creditors. The company, which Liberty...

Farmland spurns Smithfield.
June 3, 2002... Byline: Shanon D. Murray The largest agricultural cooperative in the United States, Farmland Industries Inc., spurned a last-minute acquisition proposal that may have been as high as $1.2 billion from meat producing giant Smithfield Foods...

KPNQwest files for bankruptcy.
June 3, 2002... Byline: Eric Young Dutch telecommunications company KPNQwest N.V. announced Friday, May 31 that it was filing for bankruptcy protection in the District Court of Haarlem after failing to avert a cash crunch through the sale of company...

Italian insurance merger opposed.
June 3, 2002... Byline: Heather O'Brian MILAN -- A group of minority shareholders of La Fondiaria Assicurazioni SpA lashed out at the Florentine insurer's planned merger with Turin-based counterpart Societa Assicuratrice Industriale SpA, claiming the...

Fleet Street.
June 3, 2002... Byline: Peter Moreira LONDON -- Along with reporting several large deals appearing on the horizon, Britain's papers this weekend also had plenty of news of deals sailing into trouble. As for new deals, French advertising giant Havas...

AT&T to issue shares for ATTC.
June 3, 2002... Byline: Laura King TORONTO -- AT&T Corp. said Friday, May 31 it will price an equity offering this week aimed at raising $2.25 billion to help pay for an acquisition of the 69% of ailing subsidiary AT&T Canada Inc. it doesn't already own....

OxyPete closes on Dolphin stake.
June 3, 2002... Byline: David Marcus Occidental Petroleum Corp. closed its acquisition of a 24.5% stake in Dolphin Energy Ltd., a natural gas joint venture in the United Arab Emirates. Los Angeles-based oil and gas company Occidental paid $310 million in...

Asset fight in Global bankruptcy.
June 3, 2002... Byline: Vyvyan Tenorio In the $22.4 billion bankruptcy of Global Crossing Ltd., the drama of the fiber-optic telecom's venture capital holdings has gone little noticed. But at 9:45 a.m. Monday, June 3, in a New York courtroom, several...

Alberta oil, gas firms make deals.
June 4, 2002... Two Alberta oil and gas companies said Monday they are buying smaller competitors. Impact Energy Inc. said it would acquire Encounter Energy Inc. for C$23 million ($15 million) and Equatorial Energy Inc. said it has agreed to buy privately held...

Aprimo.
June 4, 2002... Indianapolis-based Aprimo Inc., a provider of a Web-based platform that enables marketers to manage marketing tasks including sales leads, Web responses and direct and e-mail marketing efforts, has closed on a $12 million fourth round of...

Bayer finishes Aventis Crop Science sale purchase.
June 4, 2002... German conglomerate Bayer AG completed the purchase Monday of Aventis Crop Science SA from Franco-German pharmaceuticals group Aventis SA and 24% minority shareholder Schering AG for [Euro]7.25 billion ($6.8 billion). European Union and U.S....

Compete.
June 4, 2002... Boston-based business services firm Compete Inc. said Monday it raised more than $10 million in Series C financing in a round led by new investor St. Paul Venture Capital and including Charles River Ventures and North Hill Ventures, an...

Covansys gets PDA Software.
June 4, 2002... Farmington Hills, Mich., information services company Covansys Corp. said Monday it acquired Overland Park, Kan., software maker PDA Software Services Inc. for $16.5 million. Covansys provides system software development and IT services while...

Crosswalk.com is sold to Salem.
June 4, 2002... Salem Communications Corp., the Camarillo, Calif., Christian-themed broadcaster, said Monday that its OnePlace.com subsidiary has agreed to buy Crosswalk.com for $4.1 million. -- Greg Johnson www.TheDeal.com

Dominion completes $182M Mirant purchase.
June 4, 2002... Richmond, Va., energy company Dominion Resources Inc. said it closed its purchase of Mirant State Line Ventures Inc. from troubled Atlanta power producer Mirant Corp. for $182 million. Dominion announced the deal Feb. 26. The unit owns the...

Lucent Technologies spins off Agere Systems.
June 4, 2002... Lucent Technologies Inc. has completed the long-awaited spinoff of its microelectronics arm, Agere Systems Inc. The Murray Hill, N.J.-based telecom gear maker distributed 37 million shares of Agere Class A common stock and 908.1 million shares...

MMBI takes Fortress Bancshares.
June 4, 2002... Merchants & Manufacturers Bancorporation Inc., a New Berlin, Wis., holding company for four regional banks, said Monday it would pay $30 a share for Westby, Wis., rival Fortress Bancshares Inc. MMBI said that 45% of the purchase price would be...

Maxwell Tech acquires Montena.
June 4, 2002... Maxwell Technologies Inc., a San Diego maker of electronic components, said Monday it has agreed to buy Swiss competitor Montena Components Ltd. for $30 million in stock. Maxwell is offering 2.475 million shares of its common stock for Montena,...

Millennium passes up Occidental's Equistar stake.
June 4, 2002... Red Bank, N.J., chemical producer Millennium Chemicals Inc. said Monday it wouldn't exercise its right to buy Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum Corp.'s 29.5% interest in the Equistar Chemicals LP joint venture. This clears the way for...

Quantum Photonics.
June 4, 2002... Jessup, Md.-based Quantum Photonics Inc., an optical component startup, said Monday it has received a $3 million credit facility from Comerica Bank. The financing, which was supplied by Comerica's technology and life sciences division,...

Rio Alto says Can Nat Resources deal approved.
June 4, 2002... Calgary-based Rio Alto Exploration Ltd. said Monday that the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta approved it its C$2.4 billion ($1.6 billion) takeover by Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and shareholders will vote on the deal June 27. The deal,...

SBS sheds TVN stake for $150M.
June 4, 2002... Luxembourg-based SBS Broadcasting SA said Monday it would sell its 33% minority interest in Polish television broadcaster TVN Sp. z.o.o. to ITI Holdings SA for $150 million cash and stock. As part of the deal, ITI is transferring back 666,666...

SilverBack Technologies.
June 4, 2002... Billerica, Mass.-based SilverBack Technologies Inc., a provider of enterprise monitoring software to mid-tier companies, has completed a $9 million Series D round of financing led by Prism Venture Partners. Other financial backers in the round...

Symbion.
June 4, 2002... Nashville-based Symbion Inc. filed Friday for a $115 million IPO. The company gave no details about the numbers of shares or the price per share in the registration statement filed with the SEC. Symbion owns and operates nonemergency surgery...

TGS-Nopec Geo is buying A2D.
June 4, 2002... Seismic data supplier TGS-Nopec Geophysical Co. said Monday it is acquiring Houston petroleum log data provider A2D LP for $22 million. TGS-Nopec, a subsidiary of Norway's TGS-Nopec Geophysical Co. ASA, said it would pay $15.5 million in cash...

Creditors gain control of Hynix.
June 4, 2002... Byline: Gina Chon in Seoul Creditors of Hynix Semiconductor Inc. have acquired more than 80% of the failed South Korean chipmaker, clearing the way for a shakeup of the board and a sale of the company. The creditors now hold 4.2...

Metrocall files Ch. 11 petition.
June 4, 2002... Byline: Leon Lazaroff Beleaguered paging operator Metrocall Inc. filed for bankruptcy Monday, June 3, a year after a proposed Chapter 11 merger with industry rival Weblink Wireless Inc. broke down after the companies' creditors and bank...

Next lot: Sotheby's?
June 4, 2002... Byline: Kelly Holman Esteemed New York auction house Sotheby's may soon find itself under the gavel. Alfred Taubman, the company's majority shareholder and former chairman, and Sotheby's have agreed to "undertake a cooperative process"...

Metromedia Fiber likely to unravel.
June 4, 2002... Byline: Leon Lazaroff Bankrupt Metromedia Fiber Networks Inc. is preparing to begin negotiations this week with its creditors and bank lenders to eliminate more than $4.5 billion in debt through the sale of unprofitable parts of its...

More woes for Tyco.
June 4, 2002... Byline: Lou Whiteman Some institutional investors wonder if the downfall of L. Dennis Kozlowski, the architect of a decade-long buying spree that expanded Tyco International Ltd. into a $36 billion-sales conglomerate, could mean there is...

The music's over for Napster.
June 4, 2002... Byline: Cheryl Meyer LOS ANGELES -- Online music company Napster Inc. filed for bankruptcy relief Monday. The Redwood City, Calif., company, which once attracted 4.9 million users per month to its music-swapping Web site before it was...

Birmingham Steel files for Chapter 11.
June 4, 2002... Byline: Greg Johnson Birmingham Steel Corp. did as expected Monday, June 3, filing for Chapter 11 protection from creditors in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington. The move is part of a pre-arranged $615...

Judge to OK e.Spire sale.
June 4, 2002... Byline: Kelly Holman Wilmington, Del., bankruptcy judge Ronald Barliant is expected Tuesday, June 4, to sign an order approving the sale of bankrupt Herndon, Va.-based integrated communications company e.Spire Communications Inc. to...

PG&E creditors urged to OK plan.
June 4, 2002... Byline: Eric Young The official creditors committee in Pacific Gas & Electric Co.'s bankruptcy is urging creditors to approve both competing reorganization plans put forth by the utility and state regulators. "The committee is not at...

Asia Global bids disappointing.
June 4, 2002... Byline: Shu-Ching Jean Chen in Hong Kong HONG KONG -- Asia Global Crossing Ltd. put the best face on a disappointing set of bids for the company Monday, June 3, announcing that it had received "multiple indications of interest" in the...

Vestcom faces proxy showdown.
June 4, 2002... Byline: David Shabelman Vestcom International Inc. has a fight on its hands. Timothy Brog, managing director with New York-based V Investment Partners LLC, said he has the shareholder support to elect five directors to the company's...

Bell Canada leaves Brazil.
June 4, 2002... Byline: Laura King TORONTO -- Bell Canada International Inc. is selling its minority stake in Brazilian wireless carrier Telecom Americas to Mexican partner America Movil SA de CV, as the debt-burdened Canadian phone company prepares to...

Peregrine continues housecleaning.
June 4, 2002... Byline: Eric Young SAN FRANCISCO -- Software maker Peregrine Systems Inc., whose accounting irregularities prompted a management shakeup and a federal investigation, named a new chief executive Monday, June 3, and announced the...

Wyndham hopes to purge M&A debt.
June 4, 2002... Byline: Jonathan Berke Troubled Wyndham International Inc. has its banks on its side. But will it gain favor with junk bond buyers? That's the key issue for the Dallas-based hotelier as it plans a $750 million high-yield debt offering...

Woori sees demand for IPO.
June 4, 2002... Byline: Gina Chon in Seoul Competition to buy shares in the initial public offering from Woori Finance Holdings Co., South Korea's second-largest banking group, was higher than expected Monday, June 3. The subscription for the 90...

IPO Outlook - June 4, 2002.
June 4, 2002... Nexstar Broadcasting Group WASHINGTON -- Underwriters of Nexstar Broadcasting Group Inc. have set the terms of the company's pending initial public offering of Class A common shares at 9 million shares with a price range of $13 to $15 a...

Software firms set to trade.
June 4, 2002... Byline: Padraic Cassidy Three software companies top the list of initial public offerings set to trade this week. Their specialities range from the business back office solutions of Plumtree Software Inc. to Veridian Corp.'s defense and...

Amara pulls $65M Vicom bid.
June 4, 2002... Byline: Greg Johnson Amara Group Inc. has decided not to take over telecom and data services company Vicom Inc. At least not yet. Amara, a Irvine, Calif., buyout firm, said Monday, June 3, that it's withdrawing a friendly $65 million,...

Swiss banks turn the page.
June 4, 2002... Byline: Renee Cordes Increasingly hemmed in by global giants, two of Switzerland's venerable private banks, Lombard Odier & Cie. and Darier Hentsch & Cie., have ended centuries of independence by agreeing to a merger. Darier...

Ratings Review - June 4, 2002.
June 4, 2002... Byline: Gerald C. Magpily Fast-food chain Wendy's International Inc. added burritos to its menu with the purchase of Fresh Enterprises Inc. on May 31 for $275 million. Fresh Enterprises manages 169 Baja Fresh Mexican Grill fast-food...

Openwave bulks up and waits.
June 4, 2002... Byline: Cheryl Meyer in Los Angeles In some ways, Openwave Systems Inc. epitomizes the dilemma wireless software companies face today. It needs to acquire and develop the latest technologies, but it also must generate the financial gains...

Charter drowning in Adelphia rescue.
June 4, 2002... Byline: Peter Lauria As Adelphia Communications Corp. sinks closer to bankruptcy, the troubled cabler is also dragging down its would-be rescuer: Paul Allen's Charter Communications Inc. Shares of St. Louis-based Charter dipped another...

Will AT&T cross the border?
June 4, 2002... Byline: Scott Stuart See today's Arbitrage situations chart. Risk arbitrageurs are hoping that AT&T Corp. is on the verge of fulfilling its $4.7 billion obligation to acquire the shares of AT&T Canada Corp. AT&T is pricing an...

Barry Diller's discount doldrums.
June 4, 2002... Byline: Richard Morgan The stock of Barry Diller's USA Interactive plunged 12.6% Monday, June 3, as traders bailed on dilution fears raised by the company's $4.5 billion all-stock proposal to take out the equity interests it doesn't...

Duke sells stake in Canadian 88.
June 4, 2002... Byline: Laura King TORONTO -- Duke Energy Corp. said Monday, June 3, it is selling its 19% stake in Canadian 88 Energy Corp. of Calgary to a syndicate of underwriters for C$72.2 million ($47.2 million). The deal comes two weeks after...

Sprint takes directories bids.
June 4, 2002... Byline: Josh Kosman With its most likely suitors already bidding for Qwest Communications International Inc.'s larger phone directories business, Sprint Corp. has set a first-round bidding deadline of today, June 3, for its phone...

German shipbuilder deal bogged down.
June 4, 2002... Byline: Jonathan Braude BERLIN -- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder has stepped into a dispute over the planned sale of naval shipbuilder Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft to private equity firm One Equity Partners, denying a report that he...