The Daily Deal articles from June 2003

The Daily Deal archives from June 2003

Judge clears Lernout's U.S. liquidation.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Soma Biswas Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products NV, the Belgian speech recognition software company felled by a financial scandal in 2000, will finally see the U.S. part of its bankruptcy stay come to a close. Visiting Judge...

FERC wants to decide NRG-CL&P fight.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Greg Johnson The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has asked a New York bankruptcy court judge to butt out of a contract dispute between Xcel Energy Inc. unit NRG Energy Inc. and Connecticut Light & Power Co. until the federal...

Onex seeks hearing on Magellan investment.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Terry Brennan Onex Corp. firmed up its proposed $150 million capital injection for bankrupt Magellan Health Services by filing a commitment letter with the court. Onex also petitioned Judge Prudence Carter Beatty on Thursday,...

Sad end for Macheezmo Mouse.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Tara Croft Portland, Ore.-based Mexican fast-food chain Macheezmo Mouse Restaurants Inc. closed its last four stores and filed for bankruptcy Friday, May 30, finishing the last chapter in the company's brief and somewhat tragic...

Despite exit, Broadwater's fate is murky.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Berke Though President Casinos Inc. won a two-year fight to get its Biloxi, Miss., resort lifted out of bankruptcy, the fate of its St. Louis gaming hall may lead to an eventual sale of the entire company. The Biloxi...

Fourth down for Princeton Video.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Greg Johnson Bankrupt Princeton Video Image Inc. will troop back into court June 4 to find out if it can use its cash collateral to keep operating. "That's also when the court will consider the [debtor-in-possession...

Audiovox, Thomson win Recoton units.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Terry Brennan Recoton Corp. is expected to present two winning bids worth a combined $104.45 million Tuesday for its two divisions. With a $45 million bid, Hauppauge, N.Y.-based Audiovox Inc. emerged with the highest offer for...

Judge avoids Trump-Conseco fight.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Berke A federal bankruptcy judge decided to pass on confirming an arbitration panel's ruling that awarded the General Motors Building in New York to Conseco Inc. over Donald Trump. Instead, Judge Carol Doyle of the...

Horsehead seeks quick action on bid.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Terry Brennan Citing its technical default on a $50 million debtor-in-possession loan, bankrupt Horsehead Industries Inc. has asked a New York judge to decide quickly on an $88.7 million stalking-horse bid by Sun Capital Partners...

NextWave is hungry for spectrum.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Chris Nolter NextWave Telecom Inc. has introduced yet another wrinkle into its five-year Chapter 11 odyssey by asking for bankruptcy court approval to start a partnership that could purchase wireless spectrum licenses. The...

Japan may take control of Resona.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Charles Smith in Tokyo The Japanese government will "consider" holding a two-thirds stake in Resona Holdings Inc., the country's fifth-largest banking group, after agreeing in mid-May to bail it out with a [yen]1.96 trillion ($16.6...

Zimmer presses Centerpulse bid.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Renee Cordes in Brussels Pressing ahead with its pursuit of Switzerland's Centerpulse AG, Zimmer Holdings Inc., the world's largest maker of orthopedic devices, said Friday, May 30, that it has dropped two conditions related to its...

Kookmin buys out credit card unit.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Roger du Mars South Korea's largest consumer lender, Kookmin Bank, said Friday, May 30, it will take full control of a credit card subsidiary in order to merge it with a wholly owned credit card business and slash costs. The...

Sweden hires investment banks.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Lisa Clifford in London The Swedish government said Friday, May 30, that it had appointed a team of nine investment banks to act as advisers on the management of state-owned assets, including the Scandinavian flagship airline SAS AB...

M&A Calendar: May 2003.
June 2, 2003... Byline: TheDeal.com staff www.TheDeal.com

M&A Calendar: 2003.
June 2, 2003... Byline: The Deal.com staff www.TheDeal.com

Bank One buys half of Zurich Life.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Nicola Hobday in London Chicago-based Bank One Corp. said Friday it will pay $500 million in cash for half of Zurich Life, the U.S. life business of Swiss insurer Zurich Financial Services AG, to bolster its insurance and annuities...

Xstrata has backup if target snubs bid.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Andrew Bulkeley in Berlin Swiss mining group Xstrata plc said Friday, May 30, it has identified two other targets should its controversial $4 billion cash and debt bid to acquire Australian rival MIM Holdings Ltd. fail at the...

Deals of the Week: June 2, 2003.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Gerald C. Magpily The real estate sector in the land down under dominated this week's with three major transactions. Sydney-based Investa Property Group's $984.1 million (A$1.5 billion) offer to buy the Australian property...

Edison offloads pharma unit.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Heather O'Brian in Milan Italy's second-largest power company, Edison SpA, agreed late Thursday, May 29, to sell its pharmaceutical unit to Fidia Farmaceutici SpA for [Euro]157 million ($187 million). The sales price is equal...

Merck bets on Erbitux.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Andrew Morse In a dramatic refocusing of its business, Germany's Merck KGaA said on Friday, May 30, it is discontinuing research into several early-stage diabetes drugs to concentrate on oncology, a field in which it currently has...

Northridge team forms hotel fund.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Kelly Holman Washington-based hotel management company Interstate Hotels & Resorts and real estate investment firm Northridge Capital Inc. said Friday, May 30, they had formed a joint hospitality fund to acquire $400 million of...

Tellabs' M&A restraint pays off.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Sarah Cohen If companies such as Lucent Technologies Inc. and Nortel Networks Corp. were the gluttons of M&A during the telecom boom, Tellabs Inc. was the era's resident gourmet. While bigger rivals piled on debt while gorging...

PanAmSat CEO: Murdoch loves us.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Lou Whiteman in Ellenwood, Ga. The CEO of PanAmSat Corp. said Friday, May 30, that his company has a place inside media giant News Corp., discounting rumors that the satellite services provider could soon wind up on the auction...

Quick Cysive buyout riles investors.
June 2, 2003... Byline: David Shabelman in Chicago Shareholders of Cysive Inc. reacted angrily to news that the software engineering firm has approved a $92 million buyout offer from CEO Nelson Carbonell Jr. little more than two weeks after announcing it...

XO reaches for Global Crossing.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Chris Nolter Carl Icahn's XO Communications Inc. launched an offer late Friday for the assets of Global Crossing Ltd., becoming the second bidder to publicly challenge the bankrupt telecom's court-approved transaction with...

TechRx shareholders score gains.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Josh Karlen For venture capital investors in TechRx, the sale of the company has brought a healthy return on their initial investment. The New York venture capital firm Spencer Trask said Friday, May 30, that TechRx, a systems...

Advent picks up poultry breeder.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Braude in London Private equity firm Advent International had something to crow about Friday, May 30, announcing a [pounds sterling]255 million ($422 million) deal to buy Aviagen Group Ltd., the world's largest meat...

Candover plots trust takeovers.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Braude in London British private equity house Candover Partners Ltd. bought a majority stake in the trust and fiduciary services business of Anglo-Dutch bank Insinger de Beaufort NV Friday, May 30, for up to [Euro]197.5...

What's Hot: May 30, 2003.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Matthew Wurtzel Despite Monday's Memorial Day holiday in the U.S., venture capitalists kept a consistent pace in dealmaking last week. Dealflow for the seven days ending May 30 was down about 31% from the previous week to...

CytRx taps investors for $5.4M.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Clifford Carlsen Taking advantage of a 1,020% increase in its Nasdaq-traded stock value over the last two months, biotech developer CytRx Corp. tapped private investors for $5.44 million to advance drug research for obesity,...

iRobot vacuums up $13M from VCs.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Tyson Freeman IRobot Corp., which produced the first commercially available robotic vacuum cleaner, has raised another round of venture financing to expand production. The Burlington, Mass.-based company said Friday, May 30,...

H. Lundbeck sheds stake in Cephalon.
June 2, 2003... Danish pharmaceutical company H. Lundbeck AS said Monday, it had sold its stake in U.S. biotech firm Cephalon Inc. for $41 million. Lundbeck acquired the 1 million-share stake in Cephalon in 1999 for $12 a share as part of a research...

Hunter Douglas gets Thomas Sanderson.
June 2, 2003... Window coverings specialist Hunter Douglas NV said Monday that it bought Southampton, U.K.-based Thomas Sanderson Blinds Ltd. for an undisclosed sum from ISIS Private Equity Partners plc and other investors. Sanderson, a long-standing customer...

Minor Food sold to Royal Garden Resort.
June 2, 2003... Thai hotel operator Royal Garden Resort plc announced plans Monday to buy fast-food restaurant operator Minor Food Group plc in a $54 million deal. Royal Garden said that a wholly owned unit of the company will pay Bt70 ($1.68) per Minor Food...

Mitec Telecom selling Beve Electronics.
June 2, 2003... Montreal-based Mitec Telecom Inc. said Monday it is selling its Swedish subsidiary, Beve Electronics, to Swedish electronics equipment manufacture Partnertech AB for an undisclosed sum. Mitec said the sale, expected to close in the next six...

Polish PE investment slows down in 2002.
June 2, 2003... Private equity and venture capital funds invested Zl454 million ($120.1 million) in 86 Polish companies in 2002, a 20% drop from 2001 according to the Polish Private Equity Association. Last year Polish funds collected Zl457 million for new...

Securicor finally parts with consultancy.
June 2, 2003... U.K. security company Securicor plc said Monday it completed the sale of its consultancy business Securicor Information Systems to London private equity firm Kleinwort Capital Ltd. and management for up to [pounds sterling]30.3 million ($49.6...

Seminis merging with Mexico's Savia.
June 2, 2003... Oxnard, Calif.-based Seminis Inc., the world's largest seller of fruit and vegetable seeds, announced Monday that it has agreed to merge with privately held Mexican rival Savia SA de CV in a transaction valued at more than $650 million. Under...

Tropical Sportswear tabs Merrill Lynch.
June 2, 2003... Tampa, Fla., apparel maker Tropical Sportswear International Corp. said Monday it has hired Merrill Lynch & Co. as a financial adviser. In May, buyout icon Carl Icahn increased his stake in the clothing maker to 8.34% from 7.34%, claiming that...

Universal Industries goes to Foremost.
June 2, 2003... Calgary, Alberta's Foremost Industries Income Fund said Monday it is buying oil treatment services company Universal Industries LP for C$17.5 million ($12.8 million). Foremost said it will part with C$7 million in cash and issue 1.1 million...

Soros-owned grocer fails again.
June 3, 2003... Byline: Terry Brennan A George Soros-managed fund certainly can't be surprised that Penn Traffic Co. has gone bankrupt for the second time in less than four years. After all, the fund, operated by Soros Fund Management, bought the...

Canada's Slater Steel files for insolvency.
June 3, 2003... Byline: Laura King in Toronto Canada's Slater Steel Inc. on Monday, June 2, became North America's 34th steelmaker to go bankrupt since 1997 when it filed for protection from creditors in Canada and the U.S. Slater said it plans to...

XO's telecom play draws skepticism.
June 3, 2003... Byline: Chris Nolter While Carl Icahn's XO Communications Inc. has stepped to the forefront of the telecom M&A stage by offering to acquire the assets of Global Crossing Ltd., the $700 million bid may not be enough to upset a...

Lampert targets bankrupt WestPoint.
June 3, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Berke Already able to shape the fate of Kmart Corp., hedge fund manager Edward S. Lampert is now positioning himself for control of the future of bankrupt WestPoint Stevens Inc., according to a source. Lampert's ESL...

Marriott joins Aladdin bidding.
June 3, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Berke Marriott International Inc. is entering the bidding for the Aladdin Casino & Resort hotel in Las Vegas. The Bethesda, Md.-based hotelier would invest about $25 million with the Financial Capital Investment Co., a...

Farmland may appeal ruling.
June 3, 2003... Byline: Shanon D. Murray Farmland Industries Inc. may challenge a bankruptcy judge's ruling that blocks it from cutting retired workers' life insurance. Judge Jerry Venters of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of...

U.S. Unwired subsidiary to miss payment.
June 3, 2003... Byline: Chris Nolter Sprint PCS wireless affiliate U.S. Unwired Inc. said Monday, June 2, that its IWO Holdings Inc. subsidiary would miss an interest payment on its $240 million senior credit facility on June 4. IWO had previously...

CEO Shuffle: June 2, 2003.
June 3, 2003... Byline: David Ehrlich Federal investigations at Tenet Healthcare Corp. and a bankruptcy filing at WestPoint Stevens Inc. have cost two CEOs their jobs in the past week. Jeffrey Barbakow submitted his resignation as chief executive of...

Cablevision still chasing its Rainbow.
June 3, 2003... Byline: Richard Morgan A reshuffling of assets Monday left shareholders of Cablevision Systems Corp. with a much-strengthened hand without weakening the pie-in-the-sky dream of company patriarch Chuck Dolan. News that the Bethpage,...

IPO headwinds don't stop El Al.
June 3, 2003... Byline: Neal Sandler in Tel Aviv The Israeli government overcame last-minute difficulties and declared that it is proceeding with plans to privatize the national carrier, El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. Newspapers carried huge ads Monday,...

NASD to sell Amex for $110M.
June 3, 2003... Byline: David Ehrlich NASD said Monday, June 2, it has agreed in principle to sell the American Stock Exchange LLC, the third-largest options exchange, to Chicago private equity firm GTCR Golder Rauner LLC for $110 million in cash....

Brazil pulp giant buys rival.
June 3, 2003... Byline: Michael Kepp in Rio de Janeiro Aracruz Celulose SA, Latin America's biggest wood pulp maker and exporter, has agreed to pay $610.5 million in cash for a unit of Klabin SA, Brazil's largest paper producer, the latest deal in a...

Hollywood filmmaker bails out of Puma.
June 3, 2003... Byline: Andrew Bulkeley in Berlin Dutch-American film producer Monarchy Enterprise Holdings BV has sold its stake in Puma AG at a profit after helping make the German sneaker maker a must for hipsters and hoopsters alike. ...

Vivendi sells Spencer Gifts.
June 3, 2003... Byline: Tara Croft Vivendi Universal Entertainment on Monday, June 2, sold U.S. novelty knick-knack chain Spencer Gifts LLC (http://www.spencergifts.com/) to an investor group led by privately held Gordon Brothers Group LLC and...

Russia may sell majority of telecom.
June 3, 2003... Byline: Brian Cattell The Russian government is considering selling a majority stake in telecom holding company OAO Svyazinvest in a move intended to tempt international investors to participate in a multibillion-dollar deal. Any deal...

Altadis smokes rivals in Morocco auction.
June 3, 2003... Byline: Danny Fortson in Seville, Spain Spanish-French cigarette maker Altadis SA said on Monday it will pay [Euro]1.29 billion ($1.51 million) in cash for a majority stake in Morocco's state-owned tobacco monopoly and use it to expand...

No nibbles for McDonald's menu.
June 3, 2003... Byline: Josh Kosman McDonald's Corp.'s new CEO wants to get back to basics, but he is having a hard time selling the company's restaurant chains that do not operate under the golden arches, according to sources. In the past two...

PeopleSoft, J.D. Edwards to merge.
June 3, 2003... Byline: Cheryl Meyer in Los Angeles In one of the biggest software deals this year, developer PeopleSoft Inc. said Monday, June 2, it will acquire fellow business software giant J.D. Edwards & Co. for $1.7 billion in stock. Under terms...

Investor sues over Cysive buyout.
June 3, 2003... Byline: David Shabelman Robert Chapman, whose hedge fund Chapman Capital LLC owns a 6% stake in Cysive Inc., has sued the software engineering firm in connection with its approval of CEO Nelson Carbonell Jr.'s $92 million offer to take the...

Carlsberg to buy more of Turkish brewer.
June 3, 2003... Byline: Patricia Koza Carlsberg Breweries A/S said Monday, June 2, that it is in talks to acquire the 12.1% stake held by a Turkish investment company in Turk Tuborg Bira ve Malt Sanayii A.S. to increase its presence in Turkey's...

DealEstate: June 2, 2003.
June 3, 2003... Byline: TheDeal.com news staff June 2 Cousins Properties sells California retail center > ATLANTA- Cousins Properties Inc.announced the sale of Mira Mesa MarketCenter, a 464,000-square-foot retail project in Mira Mesa,...

Buyers hover over Cordiant.
June 3, 2003... Byline: Lisa Clifford in London The world's top advertising companies on Monday continued to circle troubled Cordiant Communications plc, with Publicis Groupe SA of France and WPP plc of Britain emerging as early top contenders to take...

ICN closes on Ribapharm.
June 3, 2003... Byline: Andrew Morse Costa Mesa, Calif.-based ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Monday, June 2, it would pay $168 million to purchase the nearly 20% of biotechnology firm Ribapharm Inc. it doesn't already own, ending the smaller company's...

CVC, Morgan buy SingTel unit.
June 3, 2003... Byline: Shu-Ching Jean Chen Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. on Monday, June 2, wrapped up a six-month auction for SingTel Yellow Pages by agreeing to a S$220 million ($127 million) joint cash offer from CVC Asia Pacific Ltd. and J.P....

Buyout values boom in Europe.
June 3, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Braude in London The soaring value of buyouts in the fourth quarter of 2002 pushed the total value of private equity deals in Europe to its highest level for 18 months, according to a study released Monday, June 2, by...

Permira invests in German eyeglasses maker.
June 3, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Braude in London London private equity house Permira Advisers Ltd. bought into German spectacles manufacturer Rodenstock GmbH Monday, June 2, taking a 49% stake alongside the company's management. The deal, for an...

GTCR's Amex buy raises doubts.
June 3, 2003... Byline: Donna Block After gracing the auction block for more than two years, the embattled American Stock Exchange is putting the finishing touches on a sale to Chicago-based private equity firm GTCR Golder Rauner LLC for $110 million. ...

ICV, Palladium in eyewear buyout.
June 3, 2003... Byline: Kelly Holman New York private equity firms ICV Capital Partners LLC and Palladium Equity Partners LLC said Monday, June 2, they had jointly acquired Hilsinger Co. LP, a Plainville, Mass.-based eyewear company, from Greenwich,...

TransDigm bidding could reach $1B.
June 3, 2003... Byline: David Carey With final-round bids due late Monday, June 2, four private equity groups remained in the running to pay as much as $1 billion for TransDigm Inc., a maker of engineered aircraft components. Sources familiar with the...

Advent bolsters Aspen Technology.
June 3, 2003... Byline: David Shabelman With the dearth of public financing for technology companies, Aspen Technology Inc. has taken the private route, announcing Monday, June 2, that private equity firm Advent International Corp. has invested $100...

Nanosys closes $38M second round.
June 3, 2003... Byline: Katherine Goncharoff Two-year-old nanotechnology startup Nanosys Inc. is expected to announce Tuesday, June 3, the completion of its second round of funding, a hefty $38 million, drawing in five new investors including Eastman...

VC valuations dipped in Q1.
June 3, 2003... Byline: Katherine Goncharoff San Francisco-based VentureOne Corp., a research firm that tracks venture capital funding trends, reported Monday, June 2, that valuations of venture-backed companies dipped slightly in the first quarter. ...

Customer list helps Permeo boost valuation.
June 3, 2003... Byline: Clifford Carlsen Safely past its first year as a stand-alone company, Dallas-based Permeo Technologies Inc. raised $12 million Monday, June 2, to finish building a corporate structure for selling security software products spun off...

Xoft changes course, draws $18M round.
June 3, 2003... Byline: Tyson Freeman Medical device maker Xoft microTube Inc., which last year abandoned the initial use for its miniature X-ray tube technology, has raised an $18 million second round of financing to break into what it thinks is a more...

Carphone Warehouse buys Hutchison.
June 3, 2003... U.K. mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse plc said Tuesday it has paid [pounds sterling]46.8 million ($76.2 million) to acquire German service provider Hutchison Telecommunications GmbH. London-based Carphone Warehouse said the acquisition...

Carvel Ice Cream clips coupons.
June 3, 2003... The owners of Carvel Ice Cream are moving into coupon mailers. Atlanta-based Roark Capital Group on Tuesday announced the closing of a buyout of Garden Grove, Calif.-based Money Mailer Holdings LLC. Money Mailer is a shared mail direct...

Hartcourt finishes Shanghai GuoWei.
June 3, 2003... Los Angeles investment holding company Hartcourt Cos. said Tuesday it has received governmental approval and completed its acquisition of computer store chain Shanghai GuoWei Technology Co. Ltd. in accordance with the April 30 agreement. Since...

Hongkong Electric to up venture stake.
June 3, 2003... Hongkong Electric Holdings Ltd. on Tuesday confirmed it wants to boost its 26% stake in Thailand joint venture Union Power Development Co. Ltd. A Hongkong Electric spokeswoman said negotiations were continuing but declined to reveal further...

IAC snaps up DayStar Telecom.
June 3, 2003... Information Architects Corp., a Deerfield Beach, Fla., provider of Web-based employee screening systems, Tuesday announced the acquisition of DayStar Telecom Inc. in a transaction valued at about $2.1 million. IAC said it would issue 1.5...

Integrated Alarm Services Group.
June 3, 2003... Albany, New York-based Integrated Alarm Services Group is planning to raise $172 million by increasing the amount of its IPO shares to be offered to 14.3 million from 13 million. Integrated Alarm will also conduct a concurrent sale of 666,667...

InterVideo Inc.
June 3, 2003... A provider of digital video and audio software, InterVideo Inc., lowered the number of shares and price range of its initial public offering Tuesday. The Fremont, Calif.-based company lowered the shares being sold to 2.64 million (including the...

LionOre Mining gets Dalrymple Resources.
June 3, 2003... Toronto-based nickel producer LionOre Mining International said Tuesday it is buying Australia's Dalrymple Resources NL in a C$147 million ($106.8 million) stock-swap deal. LionOre said in a statement that Dalrymple shareholders would receive...

SKM Growth purchases Schilling Corp.
June 3, 2003... SKM Growth Investors, the Dallas private equity affiliate of Stamford, Conn.-based buyout group Saunders Karp & Megrue, said Tuesday it acquired Schilling Corp., an El Cajon, Calif., trenching and conduit services company, from its founders,...