The Daily Deal articles from March 2004

The Daily Deal archives from March 2004

Sound test.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Peter Lauria Pity the poor music industry. Things have gotten so bad that in mid-February it had one of its best weeks in 13 years, selling 17 million albums. With numbers like that, it's no wonder Sony Corp. and Bertelsmann AG...

Supra to search for buyer.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Paul Burton A court will rule March 10 on a request by bankrupt Supra Telecom Inc. of Miami to hire an investment banking firm to seek a buyer. Chief Judge Robert A. Mark of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District...

RBX bounces into bankruptcy again.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Shanon D. Murray Less than three years after emerging from its last foray into bankruptcy, rubber products maker RBX Corp. filed for Chapter 11 again, this time with a $17 million debtor-in-possession financing commitment from...

Kmart ruling claws back payments.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Soma Biswas An appeals court in Chicago ruled against $300 million in critical vendor payments made by Kmart Corp. when it was in bankruptcy and ordered several suppliers to give the money back. The ruling strikes at a common...

Keystone files, cites medical costs.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Greg Johnson Hoping to lower its worker and retiree medical costs, Keystone Consolidated Industries Inc. has filed for bankruptcy protection. The Dallas-based maker of steel and industrial wire listed $196.9 million in assets...

Adelphia escrow plan irks lenders.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Jonathan Berke As the criminal trial for the Rigas family begins Monday, March 1, in New York, the outlook for Adelphia Communications Corp. remains murky only days after it filed its reorganization plan. The plan calls for the...

Judge clears Aurora's Ch. 11 exit.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Soma Biswas A judge has denied a move by one of Aurora Foods Inc.'s biggest creditors to block its exit from bankruptcy. Judge Mary Walrath of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington rejected a...

No administrator for FAO.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Jonathan Berke A judge has refused to appoint an administrator to handle FAO Inc.'s liquidation. Instead, Judge Joel Rosenthal of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware ordered the toymaker to submit a plan to...

Silverman named examiner in UAL case.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Peter Edmonston A bankruptcy judge has appointed Ross O. Silverman as an examiner charged with investigating whether UAL Inc. misled its flight attendants in negotiations to reduce retiree medical benefits, according to a press...

Caterpillar takes Turbomach.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Greg Johnson Construction and earth-moving equipment giant Caterpillar Inc. said Friday, Feb. 27, that it will buy Swiss industrial gas turbines maker Turbomach SA for an undisclosed sum. The purchase is through the insolvency...

Hawaiian Air pilot submits reorg.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Greg Johnson Hawaiian Airlines Inc. has got its second reorganization plan Robert C. Konop, a Hawaiian Air pilot, filed a disclosure statement as an interested party on Thursday, Feb. 26, vowing to pay creditors back in full...

Doman ponders Interfor $209M bid.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Laura King in Toronto Insolvent forest products company Doman Industries Ltd. is weighing an unexpected C$280 million ($209 million) takeover offer from larger rival International Forest Products Ltd. and seeks an extension to its...

Doughnut chain Bess Eaton may file.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Tim Maddux Things have gone from bad to worse for New England pastry and coffee chain Bess Eaton. Laden with lawsuits, the much-smaller rival to Dunkin' Donuts, recently said it will file for Chapter 11 protection after its former...

Enron, Osprey investors settle.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Terry Brennan Investors in one of bankrupt Enron Corp.'s special-purpose vehicles will get $75 million cash and could get even more since they will retain the right to file a $3.6 billion claim against the Houston energy giant. ...

The check is in the mail.
March 1, 2004... Byline: edited by John E. Morris Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Inc. was overdue for some good news. And recently it has had good news in spades. After a spate of profitable exits in recent months, it is now trumpeting the fact that it has...

Japanese agency tackles key rescue.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Charles Smith in Tokyo After a lackluster beginning, the Industrial Revitalization Corp. of Japan has set its sights on its biggest deal to date -- the rescue of listed textiles and cosmetics maker Kanebo Ltd. -- which could...

Pepco loses on Starpower unit.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Claire Poole in Houston Washington utility Pepco Holdings Inc. took a $67 million write-down on its half stake in Lanham, Md., cable and telecom Starpower Communications LLC, which it put on the block in January. Starpower lost...

The Mouse and the Frog.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Dennis Fitzgerald It sounds like the plot of a children's movie. For years Muppet characters including Kermit, Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear try to join Mickey, Donald and Goofy in the Magic Kingdom, but to no avail. Finally, on Feb....

Deal sense.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Matt Miller The sale of AT&T Wireless? Doesn't ring enough bells. A Comcast takeover of Disney? Better, but still kid's stuff. For an acquisition that amateur and cognoscente, adult and child, can sink their teeth into, look no...

Editor's letter.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Robert Teitelman A big hostile deal. A down-to-the-wire auction. A flock of mega-bank deals. Some sizable chip and tech deals. The revival in deal activity has occasioned considerable comment, particularly as a flock of...

Actuating Actuant.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Matt Miller At the height of the bubble, an old-guard manufacturing company called Applied Power Inc. decided to spin off its highly acquisitive electronics division. It was a blatant attempt to cash in on the outrageously high...

IPO Outlook: March 1, 2004.
March 1, 2004... Cutera Cutera Inc., the maker of CoolGlide cosmetic lasers, said it hopes to raise $48 million in an initial public offering. The Brisbane, Calif.-based company said it would offer 3.5 million shares, priced at $14 to $16 a share. Based on...

Facing the music.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Jeffrey M. Liebenson and Michael S. Poster Music sales have dropped in the past few years, and the music industry is suffering from poor public perception. Yet music publishing assets have been attracting increasing amounts of...

Foundation work.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Laurie B. Smilan Not surprisingly, the recent spate of corporate scandals has had its effect on the D&O insurance landscape. As potential liabilities of corporate officers and directors increased because of legal developments...

Spin doctor.
March 1, 2004... Byline: William S. Dixon A groundbreaking new ruling on spinoffs by the Internal Revenue Service will all but nullify the traditionally all-important business-purpose requirement and make it far easier for taxpayers to be comfortable that...

Deficits' shadow covers short term as well as long.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Alan Greenspan The fiscal issues that we face pose long-term challenges, but federal budget deficits [also] could cause difficulties even in the relatively near term. Long-term interest rates reflect not only the balance...

Black bar boosts Desmond.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Brian Cattell in London British entrepreneur Richard Desmond said Friday, Feb. 27, he remains focused on buying The Telegraph following the decision of a Delaware court to block a deal that could have seen the paper fall into the...

Yukos-Sibneft demerger faces obstacle.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Nick Watson Undoing the megamerger of two Russian oil companies is proving to be far more complex than forging the linkup itself. In yet another setback, OAO NK Yukos announced Feb. 27 it had turned down a request by OAO...

Strine: No gray in Black.
March 1, 2004... Byline: David Marcus Vice Chancellor Leo E. Strine Jr.'s 130-page ruling against Conrad Black suggests that the Hollinger International case's bizarre facts will reduce its importance for Delaware law. "The most interesting corporate...

Feds clear Anthem-WellPoint.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Jaret Seiberg Anthem Inc. won antitrust clearance Feb. 27 to complete its $16 billion acquisition of WellPoint Health Networks Inc., a deal that will create the country's biggest Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance company. The...

Feds hold strong hand vs. Oracle.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Jaret Seiberg in Washington The Justice Department challenge to Oracle Corp.'s acquisition of PeopleSoft Inc. is likely to evolve into a two-pronged battle over how competition plays out in the market for business enterprise...

Alcoa sheds chemicals unit.
March 1, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal Alcoa Inc. said Feb. 27 that the $342 million sale of its Alcoa Specialty Chemicals unit to London private equity firm Rhone Capital LLC and Teachers' Merchant Bank, the Toronto private equity arm of the Ontario...

No administrator for FAO.
March 1, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal A judge has refused to appoint an administrator to handle FAO Inc.'s liquidation. Instead, Judge Joel Rosenthal of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware ordered the toymaker to submit a plan to pay...

Rofin-Sinar gets Optoskand.
March 1, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal Plymouth, Mich., industrial laser maker Rofin-Sinar Technologies Inc. has agreed to buy 90% of Swedish rival Optoskand AB for an undisclosed sum. Rofin-Sinar Laser GmbH is buying the shares from Permanova Holdings...

Sudzucker selling Ebro stake.
March 1, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal German sugar producer Sudzucker AG is selling its 14.2% stake in Spain's largest food group, Ebro Puleva SA, in a [Euro]196 million ($245 million) placement to institutional investors. Spain's market regulator lifted...

VeriSign completes Guardent buy.
March 1, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal Mountain View, Calif., Web and telecom support company VeriSign Inc. said Feb. 27 that it has completed its purchase of Waltham, Mass., competitor Guardent Inc. Under terms of the deal, first announced Dec. 17,...

Caterpillar takes Turbomach.
March 1, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal Construction and earth-moving equipment giant Caterpillar Inc. said Feb. 27 that it is buying Swiss industrial gas turbines maker Turbomach SA for an undisclosed sum. The purchase is through the insolvency...

CVC Capital to shed Itevelesa.
March 1, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners plans to sell Grupo Itevelesa, Spain's third-largest vehicle inspection company, a source said. CVC managing partner Javier de Jaime could not be reached for comment Feb. 27,...

J&J buys out Merck stake.
March 1, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal Shanghai-listed Jinbei Automotive Co. Ltd. has agreed to sell its 25% stake in money-losing Jinbei GM Automotive to Shanghai General Motors, a joint venture between General Motors Corp. and Shanghai Auto Industry....

King's Motorsports is sold.
March 1, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal American Busing Corp., the Salem, Ohio, parent of motorcycle seller W.W. Cycles, announced Feb. 27 that it has agreed to acquire privately held King's Motorsports Inc. King's Motorsports, which does business as...

Leeds United credit pact expires.
March 1, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal British soccer club Leeds United plc said creditors have failed to renew a standstill agreement that expired Feb. 27 but insisted banks and bondholders continue to back the struggling team. With no agreement, the...

NEC exits South Korean venture.
March 1, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal Japanese electronics maker NEC Corp. said Feb. 27 it has decided to exit a joint venture with South Korea's Samsung Corp., which is developing a new technology for flat-panel displays. NEC will sell its 49% stake in...

Genzyme to acquire Ilex for $1B.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Greg Johnson and Cheryl Meyer Aiming to boost its own cancer research, Genzyme Corp. announced Thursday, Feb. 26, it will acquire ILEX Oncology Inc. in an all-stock deal worth about $1 billion. Genzyme said it would issue stock...

DoCoMo weighs Cingular options.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Charles Smith in Tokyo Japanese mobile-phone operator NTT DoCoMo Inc. is considering whether to hold or sell its minority stake in Cingular Wireless LLC after the U.S. operator completes its acquisition of AT&T Wireless Services...

Pru makes two S. Korean deals.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Roger du Mars in Seoul U.S. insurer Prudential Financial Inc. completed its acquisition of 80% of two nationalized South Korean money managers for W355.5 billion ($298.5 million) Feb. 27 in a deal that makes it the country's...

International deals of the week: Feb. 27, 2004.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Gerald C. Magpily Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. found the perfect prescription this week when it swallowed Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. for $7.8 billion on Feb. 24. The No.1 international deal of the week combines two...

Comcast faces tough fight.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Peter Lauria Tempting though it may be to equate a wave of votes against Walt Disney Co. CEO Michael Eisner with a stronger hand for Comcast Corp.'s takeover offer, the cabler still faces an uphill battle. Ahead of the Mouse...

SBC, BellSouth to raise billions.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Chris Nolter As Cingular Wireless LLC parents BellSouth Corp. and SBC Communications Inc. pull together the financing for their $47 billion acquisition of AT&T Wireless Services Inc., the companies will likely raise billions in...

PeopleSoft not out of the woods.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Cheryl Meyer If PeopleSoft Inc. was popping champagne corks following a Justice Department move to nix Oracle Corp.'s hostile bid, it had better prepare for a nasty hangover. Experts say the bitter takeover drama, which now...

Genzyme aims for pharma status.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Andrew Morse A year ago, two merging biotechnology companies were most likely clinging to each other to stay alive. Now a uniting biotech is telling the world it wants to be a major player. The latest acquisition to fit that...

Hollinger auction proceeds.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Richard Morgan in New York and Brian Cattell in London The stock of Hollinger International Inc. jumped 8% Friday, Feb. 27, in response to a Delaware Court of Chancery ruling aimed at protecting its value-maximizing "strategic...

Low bid may take Primtelefon.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Nick Watson Russian mobile phone company Far East Telecom is considering offers from two Russian rivals to sell its 50% stake in regional mobile operator Primtelefon, according to sources close to the talks, but paradoxically the...

International Power may sell assets.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Lisa Clifford in London Slumping wholesale prices have forced electricity company International Power plc to write down the value of its U.S. assets and launch a comprehensive review of the business. The London-based company...

Hooking up again in Europe.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Brian Cattell in London Plotting big European telecommunications deals is back in vogue. No large transactions have yet come to fruition, but it's only a matter of time before the Continent witnesses a deal that could...

Electrabel shelves asset buy plans.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Renee Cordes in Brussels Electrabel SA, Belgium's largest electricity provider, said Friday, Feb. 27, it has ended plans to purchase an estimated $5 billion in assets from Tractebel SA, the energy division of French conglomerate...

Blog-et.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Yvette Kantrow Maybe Henry Blodget, journalist, isn't such a bad idea, after all. A few weeks ago in this space, we whined about the second-coming of the disgraced Internet analyst as a reporter covering the Martha Stewart trial...

Movers & shakers: Week of March 1, 2004.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Dennis Fitzgerald and Heidi Moore After the fall Thomas Weisel Partners LLC debuted with a bang in 1999, rocketing in two years to $500 million in revenue and 800 employees. But the tech-focused firm, like its West Coast...

In Goldman's corner ...
March 1, 2004... Byline: Heidi Moore Sartorially staid, Alan Cohen, the new global head of compliance at Goldman, Sachs & Co., has a swashbuckling side. He rides a BMW motorcycle and, as a federal prosecutor, struck fear into the heart of a Genovese family...

Attention Kmart lawyers.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Dennis Fitzgerald Having become a restructuring power in the U.S., legal powerhouse Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP looks to do the same thing in Europe. To that end, N. Lynn Hiestand, a key member of the Skadden team that...

Movers & shakers: Mar. 1, 2004.
March 1, 2004... Byline: compiled by Lisa Camerlengo Middle-market buyout firm Morgenthaler Partners has promoted former associate Simon Feiglin to principal. He will be responsible for deal sourcing, due diligence, investment analysis and investment...

Running on empty.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Matt Miller The tale of Just For Feet Inc. should carry the subtitle: "Curse of the Jogging Shoes." In the late 1990s, Just For Feet was America's second-largest athletic shoes retailer. Since then, it's found itself mired in an...

View from the city: Unhatched Egg.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Laura Board Financial services companies in the U.K. and abroad that are casting covetous eyes over Prudential plc's controlling stake in online British bank Egg plc may be forgiven for thinking it's, well, cracked. Initial...

Follow the money.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Vipal Monga Philadelphia's Sovereign Bancorp Inc. issued $700 million in convertible securities last month, prompting some investment bankers and analysts to assert that the acquisitive bank has more M&A on its mind. "They...

Standards must keep pace with innovation.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Susan Schmidt Bies The improvements in technology, the quick pace of financial innovation and the evolving risk-management techniques almost ensure that businesses will increasingly use almost limitless configurations of products...

Venture Well: My VC.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Vyvyan Tenorio Things may have swung back to normal in Ventureland, but even plain old normal is enough to make venture capitalists giddy. Bouncing back from the technology downturn, the pace of venture investing has picked up...

Montagu to float funeral chain.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Lisa Clifford in London Britain's biggest funeral company said Feb. 27 it would float on the London Stock Exchange to raise cash for acquisitions. Dignity Funerals Ltd., which Montagu Private Equity Ltd. owns, hopes to raise...

Cerberus leads Guilford buyout.
March 1, 2004... Byline: John E. Morris New York vulture and private equity fund Cerberus Capital Management LP struck a deal last week to take auto textiles maker Guilford Mills Inc. private for $19 per share, in a deal valued at about $282 million...

Shape shifters.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Jaret Seiberg Companies can be forgiven if they have trouble understanding how antitrust enforcers define markets in software mergers. A review of enforcement actions by the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission show...

Patently offensive?
March 1, 2004... Byline: Douglas McCollam It's a truism within the appellate bar that the outcome of your appeal usually has a lot more to do with who's on your panel than what's in your brief. Nowhere does this idea hold more currency than among patent...

Unanswered questions.
March 1, 2004... Byline: Joshua Jaffe Juniper Networks Inc.'s $4 billion takeover last month of NetScreen Technologies Inc. -- the biggest high-tech hardware merger in three years -- sparked near unanimous praise from research analysts and investment...

Ormet gets full access DIP.
March 2, 2004... Byline: Peter Edmonston Aluminum producer Ormet Corp. has won full access to a $210 million debtor-in-possession financing, but the company must wait at least until Monday, March 15, to resolve a challenge to its hiring of O'Melveny &...

Genzyme bids $215M for Impath unit.
March 2, 2004... Byline: Terry Brennan Bankrupt Impath Inc. has signed a $215 million stalking-horse agreement to sell its Impath Physician Services Inc. unit to Genzyme Corp., which cut its second major deal within the past four business days. On...

SunCruz bidders: Put up or shut up.
March 2, 2004... Byline: Jonathan Berke Two online auto salesmen will let SunCruz Casinos Inc. know Tuesday, March 2, if they have the money to buy the bankrupt gamblers' cruise line. Arlen McBride and Bobby E. Hearn, who teamed up to sell cars on...

Another invest for Garden Ridge?
March 2, 2004... Byline: Jonathan Berke Bankrupt home decor retailer Garden Ridge Corp. said Monday, March 1, that its primary shareholder, New York private equity firm Three Cities Research, is considering another investment in the company. The...

Comalco, Kaiser Aluminum begin talks.
March 2, 2004... Byline: Paul Burton Rio Tinto plc's Comalco Ltd. is interested in acquiring the world's largest alumina refinery, in Gladstone, Australia, from bankrupt Kaiser Aluminum Corp. Houston-based Kaiser, looking for raise cash to exit Chapter...

Wendy's unit bags Bess Eaton.
March 2, 2004... Byline: Terry Brennan Coffee and pastry chain Bess Eaton Donut Flour Co. filed for Chapter 11 on Monday, March 1, to help sell its assets to a Canadian unit of Wendy's International Inc. The operator of doughnut shops has struck a...

Slater Steel wins extension.
March 2, 2004... Byline: Laura King in Toronto A bankruptcy judge has extended protection from creditors for insolvent Slater Steel until Friday, April 30, as the steelmaker and its unions attempt to work out a deal to sell the company's Hamilton steel bar...

Oregon Arena Corp. is bankrupt.
March 2, 2004... Byline: Jonathan Berke An arena company controlled by Paul Allen filed for bankruptcy protection on Friday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Oregon in Portland on Friday. Oregon Arena Corp. whose sole asset is the Rose...

Two IPOs in Aker Kvaerner revamp.
March 2, 2004... Byline: Patricia Koza Norway's Aker Kvaerner ASA has unveiled a large-scale restructuring plan to help it cut debt and boost earnings by splitting the conglomerate within six months into a holding group and two listed companies focused on...

CEO shuffle: March 1, 2004.
March 2, 2004... Byline: David Ehrlich Italy's Alitalia named a new chief executive Friday, Feb. 27, accepting the resignation of Francesco Mengozzi, who stepped down after failing to secure government support for his restructuring plans. The Rome-based...

Sprint joins wireless shuffle.
March 2, 2004... Byline: Chris Nolter In a move that highlights the growing importance of wireless operations for wireline telecoms, Sprint Corp. is recombining its PCS tracking stock that represents its mobile business with its FON stock. While the...

Lenders extend RCN forbearance.
March 2, 2004... Byline: Soma Biswas RCN Corp. said Monday, March 1, that its bank lenders and noteholders have stretched the deadline for negotiations yet again, this time to March 15, as the Princeton, N.J.-based cable company continues talks involving...

Tom Online to list on Nasdaq.
March 2, 2004... Byline: Shu-Ching Jean Chen in Hong Kong East Asian Internet service provider Tom Online Inc. announced Monday, March 1, that it plans to raise up to HK$1.5 billion ($198 million) in an initial public offering on Nasdaq and the Hong Kong...

Numis buys, floats U.K. publisher.
March 2, 2004... Byline: Brian Cattell in London British brokerage Numis Securities Ltd. has beaten off private equity and trade competition to win an auction for magazine publisher Centaur Communications Ltd., which it plans to float immediately. ...