The Daily Deal articles from June 2004

The Daily Deal archives from June 2004

Charity files for Ch. 11.
June 3, 2004... Byline: Paul Burton A nonprofit organization accused of defrauding schools in the sale of fitness equipment throughout the U.S. has filed for bankruptcy protection in Salt Lake City. The National School Fitness Foundation of American...

Goldman hires CSFB's Narain.
June 3, 2004... Byline: Jonathan Berke Former Credit Suisse First Boston investment banker Dhruv Narain has joined Goldman, Sachs & Co. to head the investment bank's expanding restructuring advisory and financing efforts. Goldman Sachs declined...

Atlas files reorg plan.
June 3, 2004... Byline: Lou Whiteman Cargo carrier Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Inc. said Wednesday, June 2, that it has filed a reorganization plan, enabling the Purchase, N.Y.-based airline to depart from Chapter 11 protection by August. The company...

UFJ may seek aid from Toyota.
June 3, 2004... Byline: Charles Smith in Tokyo Japan's fourth-largest banking group, UFJ Holdings Inc., may ask for a capital infusion from Toyota Motor Corp. to strengthen its financial position, UFJ president Takamune Okihara said. In comments...

IMD joins spate of biotech IPOs.
June 3, 2004... Byline: Ross Tieman in Toulouse, France A tepid march by European biotechnology companies to public markets continued Wednesday, June 2, when France's private equity-backed Immuno-Designed Molecules SA announced plans for an initial public...

Gold Kist files for IPO.
June 3, 2004... Byline: Tara Croft From the chicken coop to the New York Stock Exchange, Atlanta-based chicken production cooperative Gold Kist Holdings Inc., filed Wednesday, June 2, for an initial public offering of 18 million shares to raise as much as...

Russia's Yukos begins tax defense.
June 3, 2004... Byline: Nick Watson Russian oil company OAO NK Yukos returned to court Wednesday, June 2, to dispute a $3.4 billion tax claim it says could bankrupt it -- but the company also has begun taking defensive measures amid speculation it's...

Marks & Spencer wins law firm tiff.
June 3, 2004... Byline: Lisa Clifford in London Marks and Spencer Group plc scored a small but satisfying victory Wednesday, June 2, against potential suitor Philip Green when a judge blocked law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer from acting for the...

Lawmakers bash FTC.
June 3, 2004... Byline: Jaret Seiberg in Washington Deborah Majoras appears headed for confirmation as chairman of the Federal Trade Commission after surviving a barrage of criticism Wednesday, June 2, regarding the agency's handling of petroleum industry...

Senators back state officials.
June 3, 2004... Byline: Donna Block in Washington Sens. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., vowed Wednesday, June 2, to defend state regulators against attempts by Wall Street to curb their role in securities law enforcement. "It is my...

House changes Tunney Act.
June 3, 2004... Byline: Jaret Seiberg in Washington The House on Wednesday, June 2, passed an antitrust reform bill that includes a measure giving judges greater authority to scrutinize consent decrees between the Department of Justice and companies...

In play: June 03, 2004.
June 3, 2004... Byline: edited by Greg Johnson edited by Greg Johnson Harbin rejects SABMiller again China's Harbin Brewery Group Ltd., the target of an intense takeover battle, stepped up its defense against SABMiller plc by repeating its...

New & noteworthy: June 03, 2004.
June 3, 2004... Byline: edited by Greg Johnson edited by Greg Johnson Ascott buys rest of Citadines Singapore's Ascott Group Ltd., Asia's largest luxury residential property operator, agreed to buy the remaining half of French luxury residence...

Scottish Power buys U.K. plant.
June 3, 2004... Byline: Lisa Clifford in London Utility company Scottish Power plc said Wednesday, June 2, it has snapped up a large U.K. power plant that New Orleans-based energy company Entergy Corp. built in 2001 and then handed over to creditors a...

Oracle, DOJ set to battle.
June 3, 2004... Byline: Jaret Seiberg U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker will hear two strikingly different stories Monday, June 7, when the Department of Justice and Oracle Corp. kick off a trial over the technology company's $7.7 billion hostile tender...

Depositions could haunt Oracle.
June 3, 2004... Byline: Olaf de Senerpont Domis in San Francisco In a trial set to start Monday, June 7, the U.S. Justice Department plans to invoke the words of Oracle Corp.'s own senior executives to help prove that the business software company's $7.7...

Bell loses court bid to block Allstream.
June 3, 2004... Byline: Laura King in Toronto An Ontario court has rejected an appeal by Bell Canada to block the C$1.7 billion ($1.2 billion) takeover of rival Allstream Inc. by Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. In a decision released after the markets...

Movers & shakers: June 3, 2004.
June 3, 2004... Byline: compiled by Lisa Camerlengo You read it here first, folks. Last week, Movers reported that Jim Volkwein, former head of private placements at Barclays Capital, had left the firm to join Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. This...

PE firms flood the market with BDCs.
June 3, 2004... Byline: George White Business development companies have undoubtedly become the hottest new trend in raising capital for private equity firms. In the last few months at least to raise over $6.7 billion. With the IPO market swiftly...

Private Capital People: June 2, 2004.
June 3, 2004... Byline: compiled by Lisa Camerlengo Mesirow Financial has hired Marc Sacks as senior managing director and head of its private equity partnership group. Sacks arrives from Adams Street Partners LLC, where he was a partner. Previously,...

SyChip accepts unsolicited $20M.
June 3, 2004... Byline: Paul Bonanos Back in October 2003, SyChip Inc. insisted its third round would be its last, yet the wireless chipmaker simply couldn't resist an unsolicited offer for further funding from three new investors. Plano, Texas-based...

AmberWave pulls in late-stage $21M.
June 3, 2004... Byline: Clifford Carlsen AmberWave Systems Corp. got a $21 million endorsement from late-stage investors betting that its technology -- 10 years in the making -- is about to pay off. AmberWave drew new investor 3i Group plc to lead the...

DealFlow: June 03, 2004.
June 3, 2004... Byline: compiled by George White compiled by George White Computer hardware and software AmberWave Systems Semiconductors startup AmberWave Systems Corp. of Salem, N.H., raised a $21 million Series D round led by 3i Group...

It's good to be the king.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Richard Morgan Mel Karmazin's exit from Viacom Inc. on Tuesday, June 1, cast another bright light on how few executives are qualified to run the behemoths that media-and-entertainment conglomerates have become. But that's putting...

Multicanal battles U.S. creditors.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Terry Brennan A legal showdown took place Friday, June 4, over the right of foreign debtors to protect their assets from U.S. creditors while they restructure in their homelands. Holders of $500 million in U.S.-issued bonds...

Stay blocks suits against Durango.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Terry Brennan Mexican papermaker Corp. Durango SA de CV won the right Friday, June 4, to block its creditors from moving against its U.S. assets until June 30. Judge Robert Drain in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern...

Cornerstone creditors hatch deal.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Jonathan Berke Creditors of Cornerstone Propane Partners LP have decided to seize the day -- and the company. A deal the creditors have negotiated gives them control of the Watsonville, Calif.-based company through a Chapter 11...

Chanin woes mirror Ch. 11 slowdown.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Soma Biswas In a sign that the recent wave of bankruptcy filings has abated, Chanin Capital Partners has quietly closed its Dallas office. The restructuring firm, known for advising creditors, has also lost several...

Wolin to step down at month's end.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Soma Biswas Alfred Wolin, the U.S. District Court judge removed from three major asbestos bankruptcy cases, will retire at the end of the month. Edward Becker appointed Wolin in 2001 to handle five major asbestos bankruptcy...

Adelphia alters exit loan terms.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Peter Lauria Adelphia Communications Corp. has amended its $8.8 billion exit loan to allow for a termination or reduction if the Greenwood Village, Colo., cable system reaches a deal to sell its assets before emerging from Chapter...

Parmalat gives update, but no details.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Heather O'Brian in Milan Insolvent Italian dairy group Parmalat Finanziaria SpA on Friday, June 4, provided a progress report on the group's restructuring, but gave unsecured creditors no details on the expected ratios of a planned...

Factory-2-U gets extension.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Jonathan Berke Judge Peter Walsh of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington granted Factory-2-U Stores Inc. until December 3 to file its reorganization plan. The order was granted in response to...

Penn Traffic's losses narrow.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Paul Burton The losses of bankrupt grocer Penn Traffic Co. fell to $110,000 in April, following three months of multi-million red ink. But the Syracuse, N.Y.-based company, in its second bankruptcy, admitted the five-week...

A welcome break.
June 7, 2004... Byline: edited by John E. Morris Investcorp has backed down and offered to dip into its own pockets to pay off bondholders of its troubled portfolio company Welcome Break Group Ltd. In 1997, New York- and Bahrain-based Investcorp paid...

Ssangyong creditors look for buyer.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Roger du Mars in Seoul Creditors of South Korea's Ssangyong Motor Co. are pressing ahead with attempts to find a buyer after a near deal hit the skids earlier this year. An official at Ssangyong's adviser, Samil...

Dolly the Sheep firm goes private.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Andrew Morse PPL Therapeutics plc, the Edinburgh, Scotland-based company that produced Dolly the Sheep, will go private in a deal that returns [pounds sterling]7.35 million ($13.5 million) to shareholders. According to filings...

Tech banking.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Dennis Fitzgerald Tech bankers at Citigroup Global Markets Inc. must have been disappointed when Advanced Fibre Communications Inc. hired David St. Jean and David Handler of Bear, Stearns & Co. for negotiations leading to an...

Snecma IPO approved.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Ross Tieman in Toulouse, France A day after the French government approved Snecma's partial privatization through an IPO that would value the aviation engine maker at up to [Euro]4.6 billion ($5.6 billion), its chief said Friday,...

Digital Multimedia prices IPO.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Heather O'Brian in Milan Milan-based Digital Multimedia Technologies SpA set a price range Friday, June 4, for an initial public offering aimed at raising up to [Euro]295 million ($361 million) in one of the year's few planned...

Macquarie to sell Cintra shares.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Danny Fortson in London Australia's Macquarie Bank Ltd., part-owner of Cintra SA de CV, will trade its shares for cash in an initial public offering of the Mexico-based airport and toll road manager expected to raise up to [Euro]1...

Warburg Pincus in Czech drug IPO.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Patricia Koza in Warsaw Czech drug company Zentiva a.s. is expected to raise up to $100 million in new capital through an initial public offering, sources involved in the deal said Friday, June 4, -- the first IPO on the Prague...

Cerberus rings up profits.
June 7, 2004... Byline: David Carey Cerberus Capital Management LP began the week reverse merging a portfolio company into a public company and ended the week on Friday, June 4, saying it hopes to take another company public. The New York hedge fund and...

Salesforce finds talk is costly.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Peter Moreira Salesforce.com Inc. warned Friday, June 4, that it may have to repurchase shares it expects to sell in a planned initial public offering because of an interview its top executive gave to The New York Times. In a...

IPO outlook: June 7, 2004.
June 7, 2004... Inhibitex Atlanta-based biotech company Inhibitex Inc. priced its 5 million-share initial public offering Thursday at $7 a share, hours after lowering its price range for the second time in two weeks. The company, which had also...

IPO outlook: June 07, 2004.
June 7, 2004... Inhibitex Atlanta-based biotech company Inhibitex Inc. priced its 5 million-share initial public offering Thursday at $7 a share, hours after lowering its price range for the second time in two weeks. The company, which had also...

New kids on the block.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Ken Hurwitz The non-utility power plant sector, which today accounts for about 25% of the nation's energy, is not what it used to be. A glut of plant construction and financial woes brought on by the Enron scandal and accusations...

In play: June 07, 2004.
June 7, 2004... Byline: edited by Greg Johnson edited by Greg Johnson Allstream sale to MTS closes Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. said Friday it has completed its C$1.7 billion ($1.3 billion) takeover of rival Allstream Inc. despite an attempt by...

New & noteworthy: June 07, 2004.
June 7, 2004... Byline: edited by Greg Johnson edited by Greg Johnson Intec Telecom gets ADC unit U.K. software maker Intec Telecom Systems plc agreed Friday to buy Singl.eView, the retail billing software unit of Eden Prairie, Minn., telecom...

Marks & Spencer holds off Green.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Lisa Clifford in London After the most exciting week for takeover battles in the British clothing trade for years, the consensus score in the City of London was this: Brash billionaire predator Philip Green, 0; stuffy retailer...

Accredo buys hemophilia company.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Andrew Morse in San Francisco Memphis-based pharmacy services company Accredo Health Inc. said Friday, June 4, one of its units was buying a privately held HRA Holding Corp. division for an undisclosed amount. The deal, which...

International Deals of the Week: June 4, 2004.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Gerald C. Magpily The British are coming. The British are coming. Four of this week's bidders in the Top 15 International Deals hailed from the U.K. led by Vodafone Group Plc. The London-based telecommunications company made an...

Deals of the Week: June 4, 2004.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Gerald C. Magpily Deal valuations on the domestic front did not surpass the billion dollar mark this week. But there were still a number of significant mergers that caught the attention of the deal community. Boston Scientific...

Iamgold-Wheaton looks shaky.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Laura King in Toronto With just two business days before votes on a planned $2.2 billion takeover of Wheaton River Minerals Ltd. by rival Canadian gold miner Iamgold Corp., a key shareholder advisory service recommended Friday,...

M&A in Brief: June 4, 2004.
June 7, 2004... Byline: compiled by TheDeal.com news staff French to review Accor-SHCLB The European Commission said Friday that French authorities should review the impact of the planned merger between Accor Casinos and Societe Hoteliere de la Chaine...

Bud out.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Yvette Kantrow Is Miller Brewing Co., which South African Breweries purchased in 2002, South African-owned? No, this is not a trick question on a sobriety test, but one of several issues being debated in court by Miller and its...

Movers & shakers: Week of June 7, 2004.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Dennis Fitzgerald and Heidi Moore Life after Delaware Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP last week renewed a long-standing professional relationship when it named E. Norman Veasey as a senior partner focusing on corporate governance...

Leader of the brand.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Heidi Moore Think of a major deal involving a consumer brand and a private equity firm in the past 18 months, and Bruce Evans, a consumer-products banker at Goldman Sachs & Co., has probably been involved. Evans, for instance,...

The bold and the beautiful.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Dennis Fitzgerald Howard Rubenstein has acted as Mr. Fixit for legions of boldfaced names, but don't say he runs a celebrity crisis management PR firm. Rubenstein Associates Inc., he reminds us, also represents corporations,...

Movers & shakers: June 7, 2004.
June 7, 2004... Byline: compiled by Lisa Camerlengo Sagent Advisors spilled what was quite possibly the worst kept secret on Wall Street, when it formally announced its existence on June 4. The new boutique, the brainchild of former Donaldson, Lufkin...

View from the City: Europe, c'est moi.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Jonathan Braude German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder is rapidly discovering that cooperation with his French counterpart, President Jacques Chirac, in creating European industrial champions may prove as unrewarding for German...

Fear factor.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Donna Block in Washington Stock options: They are the 21st century's manifestation of the American Dream. The premise is simple -- work hard and you will be rewarded with ownership in the company you help create. Many fear,...

Follow the Money.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Vipal Monga Dividend deals continue to come to the high-yield market, despite a recent pullback by investors who have started to take their money out of the market. Proceeds from a $685 million two-tranche offering by Colton,...

Softbank's rising sun.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Charles Smith Remember Softbank Corp., the Japanese Internet conglomerate that once owned 31% of Yahoo! Inc. and zoomed past Toyota Motor Corp. to become the third most valuable company on the Tokyo Stock Exchange at the height of...

Deal sense.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Matt Miller "E-commerce takes off," The Economist cover screams. I check the date to make sure some joker hasn't slipped an old issue on top of the pile. Nope. The type may be small, but it most definitely reads 2004, not 1999. ...

Editor's letter.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Robert Teitelman Has anyone seen Mr. Homo Economicus? He was just in the tub, calculating his self-interest. Mr. Economicus is a man of many decisions and revisions. The more he learns, the more abstruse his calculations become. He...

Game changer.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Olaf de Senerpont Domis By buying PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting for the relatively low price of $3.5 billion in October 2002, IBM Corp. was betting on what some of its executives at the time were calling a "game changer" -- a...

GTCR to recap VeriFone.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Kelly Holman and Cheryl Meyer GTCR Golder Rauner LLC is recapitalizing VeriFone Inc., a credit card transaction processor it controls. The new financing will allow the company to pay GTCR and other investors a special dividend. ...

Hayes Quits CalPERS for Oak Hill.
June 7, 2004... Byline: David Carey Richard Hayes, who oversaw the private equity and alternative investments at the California Public Employees' Retirement Fund, has quit the giant pension fund to join Oak Hill Capital Management Inc. In a statement...

One size fits none.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Jaret Seiberg Antitrust regulators have a message for business leaders calling for a universal system of notifying governments around the world of a deal: Be careful what you wish for. Although a common premerger notification form...

Practice makes perfect?
June 7, 2004... Byline: David Marcus A few weeks ago in this space, we discussed a recent article by Guhan Subramanian in which the Harvard Law School professor analyzes freeze-out transactions, those in which a majority shareholder in a public company...

Nuanced about nanotech.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Joshua Jaffe New technology can be transformative -- not just for its users or shareholders of the company that developed it but also for the countries that nurture it. That's why nations around the globe are always trying to...

Skepticism greets McCaw.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Chris Nolter Telecom pioneer Craig McCaw and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell share at least one enthusiasm: wireless broadband. The FCC this week will continue its effort to spur expansion of the...

What's hot: June 4, 2004.
June 7, 2004... Byline: Matthew Wurtzel Dealflow in the week ended June 4 fell 25% over the prior week, to $276 million from $369 million, due to the three-day Memorial Day weekend that kicked off the business week. The lack of Monday dealmaking was...

Jeunique International files Ch. 11.
June 8, 2004... Byline: Paul Burton Facing a lawsuit from a company it bought out three years ago, intimate-apparel distributor Jeunique International Inc. has filed for Chapter 11. Jeunique founder and CEO Mulford J. Nobbs blamed the company's...

Farmland sues to recover payments.
June 8, 2004... Byline: Terry Brennan Farmland Industries Inc. seeks to recoup hundreds of alleged preferential payments it made to two former executives, 500 bondholders and 200 trade creditors before it filed for bankruptcy. The one-time largest...

UAL asks for more time.
June 8, 2004... Byline: Soma Biswas UAL Corp. has furnished required data to the Air Transportation Stabilization Board and is waiting for a decision from the agency to guarantee a $2 billion exit loan. The parent of United Air Lines Inc. disclosed...

NextWave sale could raise $1B.
June 8, 2004... Byline: Chris Nolter Just one day before the sixth anniversary of its Chapter 11 filing, NextWave Telecom Inc. Monday, June 7, announced plans for a wireless spectrum auction that could raise more than $1 billion and allow the company to...

Now AmeriDebt needs help.
June 8, 2004... Byline: Greg Johnson AmeriDebt Inc., a company that specializes in debt counseling, now needs it. The Germantown, Md., company filed for Chapter 11 Saturday, June 5, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland, Greenbelt...

DB Cos. runs out of gas.
June 8, 2004... Byline: Renata Schloss Claiming that competition from small, family-owned chains squeezed it on one end and large national players on the other, midsize convenience-store operator DB Cos. has filed for bankruptcy protection. In doing...

Auburn Foundry asks for extension.
June 8, 2004... Byline: Greg Johnson Auburn Foundry Inc. is now soliciting creditors to support a consensual reorganization. The bankrupt Auburn, Ind., maker or iron castings for automakers and hopes to file the plan sometime this week with the U.S....

Owens Corning files new plan.
June 8, 2004... Byline: Soma Biswas Owens Corning announced late Monday, June 7, a new reorganization plan that has gained the support of holders of $1.39 billion in bonds and may be an attempt at a cramdown over the objections of bank debt holders. ...

UFJ to sell Aplus stake.
June 8, 2004... Byline: Charles Smith in Tokyo Beleaguered Japanese banking group UFJ Holdings Inc. has begun negotiations with three foreign companies on the sale of its stake in consumer loan specialist Aplus Co. Ltd. as it prepares for talks with a...

CEO shuffle: June 7, 2004.
June 8, 2004... Byline: David Ehrlich Turin-based Fiat SpA named its fifth CEO in two years last week, while New York's Viacom Inc. pushed out Mel Karmazin and set up two possible successors to the media throne. Turnaround expert Sergio Marchionne,...

Cydsa bondholders get firm.
June 8, 2004... Byline: John Moody in Mexico City Mexican textiles and chemicals maker Cydsa SA has agreed to accept a $159 million deal to make good on past-due bonds, giving bondholders a 60% stake in the company. The transaction includes Cydsa...