The Daily Deal articles from March 2003

The Daily Deal archives from March 2003

CXO Systems </P><P>.
March 4, 2003... Boston-based CXO Systems has completed a $4.8 million first-round co-led by GrandBanks Capital and Kodiak Venture Partners. CXO, the Beacon Hill Group, will use the funds for sales growth and ongoing software development. -- G.W. ]]>

Centerstone Software.
March 4, 2003... Westwood, Mass.-based Centerstone Software Inc., a provider of workplace resource technology, has secured $3.2 million in venture capital funding from investors Egan-Managed Capital, Trans-National Group Services, Corning Technology Venture...

GlobeRanger.
March 4, 2003... Richardson, Texas-based GlobeRanger Corp. has received $9.7 million in second round venture capital funding. HO2 Partners led the investment , with Sevin Rosen Funds, CenterPoint Ventures and MMC Capital participating. GlobeRanger, founded in...

Shellcase.
March 4, 2003... Jerusalem-based Shellcase Ltd. has raised a $13.5 million third round, led by existing investors Clal Electronic Industries Ltd., Israel Infinity Venture Capital Fund, Ampal, Motorola Inc., Sanyo Semiconductors, Palladin Asset management LLC...

Wakesoft.
March 4, 2003... San Francisco-based enterprise software company Wakesoft has secured a $7.65 million second round from BlueStream Ventures. The supplier of application architecture for enterprise applications and services will use the funds for sales and...

excelleRx.
March 4, 2003... Philadelphia-based excelleRx Inc., a provider of medication consultation and distribution services, has received a $37 million equity investment from a group of investors led by LLR Partners Inc. in a late-stage recapitalization of the company....

Bankruptcy filings seen holding steady.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Claire Poole Bankruptcy filings by public companies will decline only slightly this year, and the total assets involved will be the third-highest in 16 years, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP predicts. In a report titled "The Phoenix...

Buffett drops bid for Burlington.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Greg Johnson Warren Buffett won't be adding bankrupt Burlington Industries Inc. to his empire after all. The buyout veteran's Berkshire Hawthaway Inc. was apparently miffed it didn't get its way on a breakup fee and has backed...

Superior TeleCom files for Ch. 11.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Terry Brennan Telecom equipment maker Superior TeleCom Inc. filed for Chapter 11 protection Monday, March 3, just a business day after its cash crunch pushed it into default. Superior TeleCom filed separately with 15 affiliates...

Allied Devices on the brink.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Berke Allied Devices Inc. is talking feverishly with its senior lenders to save the company from liquidation. The Hicksville, N.Y.-based maker of mechanical components was denied the use of $975,000 of cash collateral...

Broadcom finishes Gadzoox acquisition.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Olaf de Senerpont Domis Communications chipmaker Broadcom Corp. said Monday, Mar. 3, that it has completed its $5.8 million acquisition of bankrupt storage networking company Gadzoox Networks Inc. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for...

Mattress Discounters can sleep easy.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Soma Biswas Mattress Discounters Corp., the distributor of Sealy mattresses owned by Bain Capital, received court approval for its reorganization plan on Monday, March 3. The nod from U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of...

SLI to sell two units.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Greg Johnson Bankrupt lighting equipment maker SLI Inc. announced on Monday, March 3, that it has clinched deals for the sale of its miniature lighting and general lighting divisions for a combined $223 million. The Canton,...

CEO Shuffle: March 3, 2003.
March 4, 2003... Byline: David Ehrlich Scandals old and new plague the shuffle this week, as former ImClone Systems Inc. chief Sam Waksal pleads guilty to tax evasion and Interpublic Group of Cos. moves its CEO amid a federal investigation of its...

Chinese IPO is postponed.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Shu-Ching Jean Chen in Hong Kong Shanghai Forte Land Co. Ltd., the largest private real estate developer in Shanghai, said it had to delay its initial public offering Monday, March 3, because it could not fill its books. The...

South Africa cuts Telkom price.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Donna Block Just hours before the initial public offering of South African telecommunications giant Telkom SA was about to close to institutional investors, the government-owned company cut the price range of the deal -- the...

Softbank to trim Yahoo! Japan stake.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Charles Smith in Tokyo Japanese conglomerate Softbank Corp. said Monday, March 3, that it would sell an 8% holding in the Internet portal operator Yahoo! Japan Corp. in a deal that could be worth more than [yen]80 billion ($677...

UniCredito wins round over Generali.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Heather O'Brian in Milan Italy's second-largest lender, UniCredito Italiano SpA, won round one Monday in its fight for management control of giant Italian insurer Assicurazioni Generali SpA, Europe's fourth-largest insurer. A...

DealEstate: March 3, 2003.
March 4, 2003... Byline: compiled by TheDeal.com staff Feb. 28, 2003 Ranieri REIT files for $600M IPO A real estate investment trust created by former Salomon Brothers Inc. mortgage securities guru Lewis Ranieri filed a registration statement...

Sega: No new deal looms.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Cheryl Meyer in Los Angeles Sega Corp. dismissed rumors that Microsoft Corp. and Electronic Arts Inc. are considering individual bids for the troubled Japanese video game company, according to newswire reports. "We have not...

Catellus joins REIT parade.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Berke Industrial warehouse owner Catellus Development Corp. said Monday, March 3, it's converting to a real estate investment trust, joining several real estate owners doing the same. The deal means Catellus, a spinoff...

Liberty, Comcast scramble for QVC.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Peter Lauria By exercising the put option on its 42% stake in cable channel QVC, Liberty Media Corp. set in motion Monday, March 3, a chain of events that could result in the home shopping network falling into completely different...

Osmond launches Six Continents bid.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Braude and Nicola Hobday in London Entrepreneur Hugh Osmond launched his much-anticipated hostile bid for Six Continents plc Monday, March 3, with a pound sterling5.62 billion ($8.84 billion) cash-and-stock offer. Osmond...

Emmis buys Sinclair Texas stations.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Peter Lauria Emmis Communications Corp., the Indianapolis-based radio, television and publishing company, said Monday, Mar. 3, it acquired a 50.1% stake in a six-station radio cluster in Austin, Texas, from Sinclair Telecable Inc....

Celltech bid apt to draw rivals.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Joshua Jaffe in London British biotech company Celltech Group plc sent its pound sterling101.4 million ($159.6 million) cash tender offering document to biotechnology company Oxford GlycoSciences plc's shareholders Monday, March 3,...

Charles de Gaulle airport for sale.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Alan Tillier in Paris France has quietly added Charles de Gaulle International Airport, Europe's second busiest, to its list of asset sales designed to raise $7 billion this year. The government has opened preliminary talks...

VTech sues PwC over purchase.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Shu-Ching Jean Chen in Hong Kong Hong Kong-based consumer electronics maker VTech Holdings Ltd. is pursuing former auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in court after abandoning an attempt to reach an out-of-court settlement in a...

MobilCom may sell 3G assets.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Brian Cattell German mobile phone operator MobilCom AG said Monday, March 3, it is in talks with Dutch telecom Royal KPN NV and Britain's mmO2 about selling its third-generation wireless network. MobilCom said it aims to...

India offers banks, telecoms M&A deals.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Josey Puliyenthuruthel in Bangalore Indian Finance Minister Jaswant Singh's decision to lift foreign ownership levels in the country's banking and telecommunications industries -- alongside proposed new tax rules and a renewed...

P&G deal hinges on Wella clan.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Andrew Bulkeley in Berlin A much-anticipated sale of German cosmetics group Wella AG to household products makers Procter & Gamble Co. of Cincinnati or local rival Henkel KGaA would make sense -- if only the controlling Stroher...

Korea Thrunet spurns suitor, goes bust.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Roger du Mars in Seoul South Korea's No. 3 high-speed Internet access provider, Korea Thrunet Co., rejected an $838 million takeover offer Monday, March 3, from a small competitor and instead filed for receivership. Thrunet...

SCH buys Sanpaolo Imi unit for $150M.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Heather O'Brian in Milan Italian lender Sanpaolo Imi SpA said Monday, Mar. 3, it would sell its 50% stake in consumer credit unit Finconsumo SpA to Spain's Santander Central Hispano for [Euro]140 million ($151 million). ...

Electra unloads Cobleigh pubs.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Braude in London London-based private equity firm Electra Partners Europe has sold its Tom Cobleigh Holdings pub group to pubs operator Spirit Group, netting a return of over 30%. The sale to Burton-on-Trent-based...

Carousel backs stairmaker LBO.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Kelly Holman In the latest in a series of middle-market building products deals, Carousel Capital said Monday, March 3, that it financed the leveraged buyout of Marion, Va.-based Visador Holding Corp., a maker of stairs, for an...

Rome sells buildings to Carlyle.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Heather O'Brian in Milan U.S. private equity firm Carlyle Group said Monday, March 3, it has quadrupled its European real estate portfolio with the purchase of 36 properties from the Italian government for [Euro]230 million ($250...

Bain tapped to join GE Motors bid.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Josh Kosman and Kelly Holman Johnson Electric Holdings Ltd. has chosen Bain Capital Inc. as its partner in its $750 million bid for General Electric Co.'s motors division. The Hong Kong-based company made the choice among the three...

Silver Lake invests in Flextronics.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Sarah Cohen Flextronics International Ltd. said Monday, March 3, that private equity firm Silver Lake Partners has invested $200 million in the electronics contract manufacturer. Terms call for Menlo Park, Calif.-based Silver...

ExcelleRx gets $37M in recap.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Clifford Carlsen Philadelphia-based ExcelleRx Inc. has raised $37 million in a deal that will recapitalize the specialty-drug distribution company and buy out previous investors. LLR Partners Inc. of Philadelphia led the deal,...

CXO Systems completes $4.8M first round.
March 4, 2003... Byline: Tyson Freeman Database software developer CXO Systems Inc. announced Monday. Mar. 3, the completion of its $4.8 million first-round financing in a deal co-led by GrandBanks Capital of Newton Center, Mass., and Kodiak Venture...

Insilco sells most assets.
March 5, 2003... Byline: Shanon D. Murray Insilco Holding Co. said Tuesday it has auctioned off the bulk of Insilco Technologies Inc.'s assets for about $65 million. With an offer of about $14 million, Amphenol Corp. emerged as the successful bidder...

Bells fight WorldCom unsecureds.
March 5, 2003... Byline: Chris Nolter Three Baby Bells are fighting WorldCom Inc.'s unsecured creditors committee, asking the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York to deny the committee's request to pursue lobbying and litigation...

Ntelos files for Chapter 11.
March 5, 2003... Byline: Terry Brennan Private equity-backed telecom Ntelos Inc. filed Tuesday, March 4, for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after missing payments on two series of unsecured bonds valued at $375 million. Waynesboro, Va.-based Ntelos,...

Wheeling-Pitt options dwindle.
March 5, 2003... Byline: Greg Johnson Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp. was ready to dance but found it didn't have a partner in the Emergency Steel Loan Guarantee Board, which rejected a $250 million guaranteed loan for the bankrupt steelmaker. ...

UAL ESOP may lose majority stake.
March 5, 2003... Byline: Soma Biswas UAL Corp. announced that the Internal Revenue Service has issued a ruling that will allow the trustee of UAL's employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) to sell 3.9 million more UAL shares. After the 3.9 million shares...

Conseco Finance bids fly.
March 5, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Berke The bidding war for Conseco Finance between Berkshire Hathaway Co. and a Fortress Investment Group-led consortium heated up Tuesday, but no winner had been named by press time. The auction for Conseco Inc.'s...

IPO Outlook: March 5, 2003.
March 5, 2003... Byline: Nicola Hobday in London Promina Group LONDON -- Insurer Royal & Sun Alliance Group plc said Tuesday that the initial public offering for its Asia Pacific operations is on track for completion within the first half of this...

Telkom ends first day flat.
March 5, 2003... Byline: Donna Block South African telecommunications giant Telkom SA Ltd. watched its initial public offering seesaw in its debut Tuesday, March 4, on the Johannesburg and New York stock exchanges. The state-owned fixed-line telephone...

Sumitomo to buy Aozora stake.
March 5, 2003... Byline: Charles Smith in Tokyo Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, the owner of Japan's second-largest bank, has formalized an offer to buy Softbank Corp.'s 48.8% stake in Aozora Bank Ltd., according to Tokyo banking sources. Sumitomo...

FTC deals blow to Nestle deal.
March 5, 2003... Byline: Jaret Seiberg in Washington The Federal Trade Commission authorized a lawsuit Tuesday, March 4, to block Nestle SA's $2.8 billion acquisition of Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Inc. despite a last-ditch divestiture offer by the companies....

Covega.
March 6, 2003... Jessup, Md.-based Covega Corp. has been formed from a merger of Quantum Photonics Inc. and Codeon Corp. and has raised $17 million in new capital to boost integration of Quantum's optical components with Codeon's chip manufacturing business to...

Entrepia Ventures.
March 6, 2003... Entrepia Ventures Inc. has announced the closing of Entrepia Fund II L.P. and Le Fonds Entrepia Nord S.E.C, with an aggregate of $50 million of funds under management. Entrepia plans to begin investing in technology companies in the IT,...

Iconoculture.
March 6, 2003... Minneapolis-based market research startup Iconoculture secured $1.25 million in its first round of funding. The financing was led by Quatris Fund, which contributed about 80% of the funds, with participation from Portage Capital and Startec...

ItemField.
March 6, 2003... New York- and Tel Aviv-based ItemField Inc. has raised $4 million in a second round of financing. Investors in the round included Accel Partners, Gemini Israel Fund and Evergreen Venture Partners. Founded in February 2000, ItemField develops...

M-Stream.
March 6, 2003... Kfar Saba, Israel-based M-Stream Ltd. has raised $1.5 million in a first round of financing. Investors in the round were Applied Materials Ventures, the venture capital arm of Santa Clara, Calif.-based semiconductor equipment company Applied...

NewSouth Communications.
March 6, 2003... Greenville, S.C.-based telecom NewSouth Communications has received $62.5 million in equity financing from returning investors Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Wachovia Capital Partners and Vaxa Capital Partners LP. Also participating were new...

Platform Logic.
March 6, 2003... Glenwood, Md.-based Platform Logic Inc. closed a $3 million first round of financing led by Walker Ventures with participation from the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, as well as Platform Logic executives and...

United Platform Technologies.
March 6, 2003... Beijing-based United Platform Technologies Inc. has closed a $50 million first round of financing led by Walden International. Other investors in the round include Doll Capital, Intel Capital, Jerusalem Venture Partners, Morgenthaler Ventures,...

iWatt.
March 6, 2003... Power supply controller maker iWatt Inc. of Los Gatos, Calif., said it has secured $12.5 million in new venture funding. Led by Vantage Point Ventures, the company's second round also featured returning investors Horizon Ventures, PTI Alliance...

Letter from Delaware.
March 6, 2003... Byline: Shanon D. Murray with staff reports Add U.S. District Judge Alfred M. Wolin to the growing list of folks who believe in compensating the sickest claimants in asbestos-related bankruptcies first. In his recent order establishing...

DIP Dimensions: GenTek.
March 6, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Berke Sometimes debtor-in-possession financings come out of a specific need, not out of desperation. Witness bankrupt GenTek Inc. The Parsippany, N.J.-based manufacturing conglomerate sought Chapter 11 protection in...

Localized pain.
March 6, 2003... Byline: Nicola Hobday It wasn't exactly a French mob storming the Bastille, but when journalists working for bankrupt Bridge Information Systems Inc. crashed the company's first creditors' meeting in Paris, they, too, were taking a stab at...

Fleming makes $1.4B Kmart claim.
March 6, 2003... Byline: Soma Biswas As its stock price flirts with life below $2, Fleming Cos. has submitted a $1.4 billion claim against Kmart Corp. for lost profits from the 10-year supply agreement that the bankrupt discount retailer cancelled with the...

Conseco Finance sold in two parts.
March 6, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Berke After a heated auction, bankrupt insurer Conseco Inc. reached a tentative deal early Wednesday to sell its troubled consumer lending arm in two parts for at least $1.21 billion. The unit's original stalking-horse...

Longview files for Chapter 11.
March 6, 2003... Byline: Greg Johnson Longview Aluminum LLC, which hasn't warmed its smelters for more than two years, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The move was made after Longview won a restraining order last week against Bonneville...

Today's Man seeks Chapter 11 -- again.
March 6, 2003... Byline: Terry Brennan The rags-to-rags tale of Today's Man Inc. is creating doubts about whether the menswear retailer can survive bankruptcy, its second such stay in the past decade. The Moorestown, N.J.-based retailer filed for...

Landry's Restaurants picks up 2nd aquarium.
March 6, 2003... Byline: Greg Johnson Landry's Restaurants Inc., parent of the Joe's Crab Shack, Landry's Seafood House and Rain Forest Cafe eatery chains, now owns a second aquarium. The Houston company's $13.6 million offer was the winning bid for...

AOL sees cable IPO by summer.
March 6, 2003... Byline: Donna Block Media giant AOL Time Warner Inc. is proceeding with its plan to spin off its cable unit and brave the initial public offerings market by the end of the second quarter or late summer, the company's chief executive...

IPO Outlook: March 6, 2003.
March 6, 2003... Byline: Jennifer M. Hanawald Taiyo Life Insurance TOKYO -- Japan's Taiyo Life Insurance Co. announced a tentative price range of [yen]70,000 to [yen]90,000 ($594 to $764) per share for its initial public offering, giving the deal a...

China Re seeks foreign backers.
March 6, 2003... Byline: Shu-Ching Jean Chen in Hong Kong Faced with an end to its reinsurance monopoly, Beijing-based China Reinsurance Co. said Wednesday, March 5, it is close to naming a financial adviser to negotiate with potential foreign investors for...

Keynote investor plans proxy fight.
March 6, 2003... Byline: David Shabelman in San Francisco Gadfly investor James Mitarotonda has added Keynote Systems Inc. to the list of companies he wants to reform . Mitarotonda, CEO of New York-based Barington Companies Equity Partners, has filed a...

Vivendi's results could aid seller.
March 6, 2003... Byline: Peter Lauria For today at least, news coming out of France won't center on the nation's opposition to war, but will instead return to the more prosaic subject of Vivendi Universal SA. And if analysts following the beleaguered...

High-tech M&A: No relief in sight.
March 6, 2003... Byline: Cheryl Meyer in Los Angeles Although the capital markets showed signs of recovery late last year, 2003 is shaping up to be a tough year for sellers and strategic buyers, Ernst & Young LLP says in a report set for release the week...

GM may sell commercial mortgage arm.
March 6, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Berke General Motors Corp. said late Wednesday, March 5, it hired Morgan Stanley to explore the possibility of selling its lucrative commercial mortgage business. Part of GM's General Motors Acceptance Corp. unit, the...

Chunghwa Telecom offering flops.
March 6, 2003... Byline: Shu-Ching Jean Chen in Hong Kong The Taiwanese government suffered a serious setback in its renewed privatization drive Wednesday, when it sold less than one-tenth of the Chunghwa Telecom Co. shares it was hoping to in an auction....

Deals Deferred: March 5, 2003.
March 6, 2003... Byline: compiled by Gerald C. Magpily Motorola Inc. extended for a second time its tender offer to buy the shares of Next Level Communications Inc. it does not already own. The offer now expires Friday, March 7, at 5 p.m. EST, the...

Enel buys into Entergy venture.
March 6, 2003... Byline: Heather O'Brian in Milan In keeping with its geographic diversification strategy, Italian utility Enel SpA said Wednesday, March 5, it will invest up to [Euro]600 million ($653 million) to buy a 70% stake in its Bulgarian power...

Spanish share sale draws scrutiny.
March 6, 2003... Byline: Danny Fortson in Seville, Spain Spain's market regulator has launched a probe into whether a sale of shares in one of the country's largest real estate companies, Metrovacesa SA, was done in concert with its major shareholder, Bami...

Orange may sell Wind stake.
March 6, 2003... Byline: Brian Cattell in London Anglo-French mobile operator Orange SA said Wednesday, March 5, it is in talks to sell its 27% stake in Italian telecom company Wind Infostrada SpA in a deal that would further the efforts of Orange's...

Motorola extends Next Level offer.
March 6, 2003... Byline: David Shabelman in San Francisco Motorola Inc. said Wednesday it will extend until March 7 a tender offer to acquire the remaining stake in Next Level Communications Inc. Shares of Rohnert Park, Calif.-based Next Level, a maker...

StorageNetworks seeks sale.
March 6, 2003... Byline: Sarah Cohen StorageNetworks Inc. said Wednesday, March 5, that it hired an undisclosed investment bank to arrange a sale of the company or explore other strategic options. The Waltham, Mass.-based storage management software...

IPO plaintiffs push for data.
March 6, 2003... Byline: Heidi Moore Plaintiffs' lawyers want to vastly expand the scope of lawsuits filed against investment banks for their role in allocating shares of hot initial public offerings by seeking information about the roles played by the...

Heritage buys Canada's LifeMark.
March 6, 2003... Byline: Kelly Holman Boston private equity firm Heritage Partners Inc, said Wednesday, March 5, that its Phoenix-based portfolio company, RivienHealth, has acquired outpatient physical therapy company LifeMark Health Inc. for an...

Buyout firms resubmit Hayward bids.
March 6, 2003... Byline: Josh Kosman Suitors made new final bids Wednesday, March 5, in the $600 million auction for Hayward Pool Products. This action came after Bain Capital appeared to have made the winning bid last week, sources familiar with the sale...

ItemField scores first round.
March 6, 2003... Byline: Tyson Freeman ItemField Inc., a niche software maker led by entrepreneur Sam Somech, announced Wednesday, March 5, the close of $4 million in first-round financing from Accel Partners of Palo Alto, Calif., Gemini Israel Funds of...