The Daily Deal articles from May 2004

The Daily Deal archives from May 2004

RCN sinks into Ch. 11.
May 28, 2004... Byline: Chris Nolter The Chapter 11 filing of cable operator RCN Corp. on Thursday, May 27, was hardly a surprise. Anyone not tipped off by a string of forbearance agreements with lenders and bondholders in recent months probably saw the...

Boot Town wants PE firm in charge.
May 28, 2004... Byline: Terry Brennan Attorneys for Boot Town Inc. will trek to court Friday, May 28, seeking to install private equity firm LKCM Capital Partners LLC as the interim manager of the bankrupt Western apparel retailer. Boot Town will...

Deadline looms for rival Coram bids.
May 28, 2004... Byline: Terry Brennan Three parties in the highly contentious bankruptcy of Coram Healthcare Corp. were scurrying Thursday, May 27, to meet a midnight deadline to file briefs on behalf of two rival reorganization plans. The Chapter...

Kaiser seeks another sale.
May 28, 2004... Byline: Greg Johnson Apparently eyeing an even bigger windfall than it got in a first sale, Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. is asking for another auction of its Alumina Partners of Jamaica division. The bankrupt Houston company on...

Ross getting Horizon Natural.
May 28, 2004... Byline: Greg Johnson Ashland, Ky., coal company Horizon Natural Resources Co. announced Thursday, May 27 that restructuring agreement with most of its second lien noteholders has been amended to include WLR Coal Holdings LLC, a new unit...

Layoff roundup: May 27, 2004.
May 28, 2004... Byline: David Ehrlich First-time jobless claims fell less than expected by analysts last week, but the four-week moving average kept near a 3-1/2 year low. Mitsubishi Motors Corp. also unveiled its reorganization plan, saying it will cut...

Trump Hotels keeps recap alive.
May 28, 2004... Byline: Jonathan Berke Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc. made a required $72.3 million interest payment to bondholders on Thursday, May 27, but its stiffest test in restructuring talks is ahead. Donald J. Trump's casino-hotel...

IPO outlook: May 28, 2004.
May 28, 2004... Byline: Olaf de Senerpont Domis Displaytech Longmont, Colo.-based Displaytech Inc., a maker of electronic viewfinders for cameras, unveiled plans Thursday, May 27, to raise up to $57.5 million in an initial public offering. In a...

Umbro cuts IPO price.
May 28, 2004... Byline: Lisa Clifford in London Doughty Hanson & Co.'s soccer clothing and equipment brand Umbro Holdings Ltd. looked set Thursday, May 27, to slash its initial public offering price in the U.K. buyout shop's second setback this week....

Biotech IPOs miss price ranges.
May 28, 2004... Byline: Andrew Morse in San Francisco Three biotechnology companies completed initial public offerings at below their expected price ranges, tugging enthusiasm from the recovering sector and suggesting that several IPO hopefuls may...

Republic shares enjoy smooth takeoff.
May 28, 2004... Byline: Lou Whiteman Shares of Republic Airways Holdings Inc. took flight Thursday, May 27, climbing from a lower-than-expected offering price to close at $13.77 per share, up 5.9%, in their first day of trading. The company's...

Firefight begins on GE-Honeywell.
May 28, 2004... Byline: Renee Cordes in Luxembourg A high-powered phalanx of lawyers representing General Electric Co. on Thursday, May 27, reopened the company's war with the European Commission over the U.S. conglomerate's aborted takeover of...

Feds play blame game.
May 28, 2004... Byline: Jaret Seiberg In its crackdown on corporate fraud, the U.S. Department of Justice has been dogged by questions over whom to hold responsible at companies that cook the books and cause investors to lose billions of dollars. A...

Reynolds-BAT deal on the bubble.
May 28, 2004... Byline: Jaret Seiberg R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc. plans to meet early next week with the Federal Trade Commission in a final effort to avoid a lawsuit to block the company's $2.5 billion acquisition of British American Tobacco...

Citigroup to sell Samba stake.
May 28, 2004... Byline: Peter Moreira Citigroup Inc., the world's largest bank, agreed on Thursday, May 27, to sell its remaining 20% stake in Samba Financial Group, the Saudi bank that its forebear Citibank established decades ago. In a press...

Long contest in Australia ends.
May 28, 2004... Byline: Josey Puliyenthuruthel Consolidation in Australia's A$15 billion ($11 billion) gambling market gained pace Thursday, May 27, as the nation's biggest gamer, Tabcorp Holdings Ltd., won support for an increased bid for second-ranked...

Agora halts Polsat chase.
May 28, 2004... Byline: Patricia Koza in Warsaw Polish media group Agora SA said Thursday, May 27, it is shelving plans to buy Telewizja Polsat SA amid reports that Germany's Axel Springer AG is in exploratory talks for a 33% slice of the privately...

Hanbo on sale fast track.
May 28, 2004... Byline: Roger du Mars in Seoul The South Korean state took a solid step toward offloading a burden Thursday, May 27, when it selected a consortium as the preferred bidder for the country's longest-running company under court receivership,...

Marks back in Green's cross-hairs.
May 28, 2004... Byline: Lisa Clifford in London British billionaire Philip Green said Thursday, May 27, he's considering another effort to buy ailing British retailer Marks and Spencer Group plc, a deal that could cost more than [pounds sterling]10...

Investor smacks InterCept.
May 28, 2004... Byline: David Shabelman InterCept Inc. faces an investor insurrection. Third Point Management Co. LLC blasted the financial data processing company Thursday, May 27, for failing to represent shareholder interest and called for the...

Hollinger narrows field for British assets.
May 28, 2004... Byline: Richard Morgan Hollinger International Inc. said after a directors meeting Thursday, May 27, that its auction efforts will now focus on its U.K. assets, which include The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph and The Spectator...

GAO: Oil mergers drove up gas prices.
May 28, 2004... Byline: Jaret Seiberg The General Accounting Office said Thursday, May 27, that six of the eight oil industry mergers that it studied resulted in higher wholesale gasoline prices, a finding that is likely to fuel criticism that the...

Movers & shakers: May 28, 2004.
May 28, 2004... Byline: compiled by Lisa Camerlengo The investment banking division of Banc of America Securities LLC has hired David Russell as a managing director and head of retail. Russell arrives from Credit Suisse First Boston, where he was...

Mobiltel buyers look for quick flip.
May 28, 2004... Byline: Brian Cattell in London The new private equity owner of Mobiltel EAD is considering quickly flipping the company in a sale to a top European telecom such as Vodafone Group plc, Deutsche Bank AG or Telekom Austria AG, a source...

Carlyle in talks with KDDI.
May 28, 2004... Byline: Charles Smith in Tokyo Washington-based Carlyle Group said Thursday, May 27, it had been granted priority negotiating rights to buy a stake in DDI Pocket Inc., an affiliate of Japanese telecoms operator KDDI Corp. The company...

Ripplewood in quick Japanese exit.
May 28, 2004... Byline: Charles Smith in Tokyo Just nine months after a group of investors led by New York buyout firm Ripplewood Holdings LLC bought Japan Telecom Co. Ltd. in a landmark acquisition, it is exiting with more than 4 times the cash it paid...

Alpha Natural gets recap.
May 28, 2004... Byline: Kelly Holman Buoyed by rising coal prices, private equity firm First Reserve Corp. expects to complete a $350 million recapitalization of coal producer Alpha Natural Resources LLC Friday, May 28. The recap will enable First...

Tech movers: May 27, 2004.
May 28, 2004... Byline: compiled by Matthew Wurtzel Pharmacopeia changing its name, appoints CEO. Pharmacopeia Inc. said on Thursday it is changing its name to Accelrys Inc. and named Mark Emkjer as its president and chief executive, following...

Cradle restructures, gets $12M.
May 28, 2004... Byline: Clifford Carlsen Programmable chip developer Cradle Technologies Inc. has raised $12 million in a second round of venture capital following a major restructuring, bringing total investment to $73.5 million, including $33.5...

Golden Gate bridge: $9M round.
May 28, 2004... Byline: Paul Bonanos Seeking to build on a year of sales growth since introducing its first product, Golden Gate Technology Inc. of San Jose, Calif., has turned to venture investors for a $9 million boost. The maker of specialized...

Arrow, creditors come to terms.
May 27, 2004... Byline: Lou Whiteman Arrow Air Inc. has reached an agreement with its creditors that the Miami-based cargo airline said will allow it to exit Chapter 11 protection. Leading the reorganization is an entity called Arrow Air II LLC...

Biogan to sell to nonbankrupt unit.
May 27, 2004... Byline: Terry Brennan Biogan International Inc. expected to win court approval Wednesday, May 21, on its disclosure statement so it can be sold to its nonbankrupt Canadian subsidiary HMZ Metals Inc. The mining company plans to...

Fleming plan vote looms.
May 27, 2004... Byline: Jonathan Berke If bankrupt Fleming Cos.' $320 million exit financing passes muster with a Delaware judge on June 1, the Lewisville, Texas-based company's creditors will finally get to vote on a plan that calls for its...

Norsk to bid for Kaiser unit.
May 27, 2004... Byline: Greg Johnson Norway's Norsk Hydro ASA will exercise its right of first refusal and will wage war with Russia's Rusal Trade Ltd. for Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp.'s 65% stake in Alumina Partners of Jamaica. "Norsk Hydro's...

IPO outlook: May 27, 2004.
May 27, 2004... Byline: compiled by Peter Moreira Fidelity Natl. Information Services Jacksonville, Fla.-based Fidelity National Information Services Inc., which provides information technology to banks and real estate firms, unveiled plans...

Shopping.com out to recapture magic.
May 27, 2004... Byline: David Shabelman Remember e-commerce? The market certainly does. In wake of last week's buoyant initial public offering of online jewelry seller Blue Nile Inc., Shopping.com Ltd. said Wednesday, May 26. it could raise up to...

IPO outlook: May 26, 2004.
May 27, 2004... Byline: Patricia Koza by Patricia Koza SAF Technika The first private-sector initial public offering in the Baltics since the late 1990s, Latvian wireless telecom equipment maker SAF Technika, was completed on Tuesday, May 25,...

Alstom posts record loss.
May 27, 2004... Byline: Ross Tieman in Toulouse, France Debt-laden French heavy engineering group Alstom SA began a global search Wednesday, May 26, for industrial partners after unveiling a revised restructuring plan designed to win approval from...

In play: May 26, 2004.
May 27, 2004... Byline: edited by Greg Johnson edited by Greg Johnson Bidvest eyes Bidcorp buyout South African investment firm Bidvest Group Ltd. has reached an agreement to buy the 41.4% of U.K. food wholesaler Bidcorp plc it does not already...

In play: May 27, 2004.
May 27, 2004... Byline: edited by Greg Johnson edited by Greg Johnson Holders OK J.P. Morgan-Bank One New York's J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Bank One Corp. of Chicago said their shareholders have approved J.P. Morgan's purchase of Bank One to...

New & noteworthy: May 26, 2004.
May 27, 2004... Byline: edited by Greg Johnson edited by Greg Johnson Fairborne Energy buys rival Case Calgary, Alberta, oil and gas explorer Fairborne Energy Ltd. said Tuesday it has agreed to buy crosstown rival Case Resources Inc. for...

New & noteworthy: May 27, 2004.
May 27, 2004... Byline: edited by Greg Johnson edited by Greg Johnson Cavell Energy sold for $108M Paramount Energy Trust said Wednesday it is buying Cavell Energy Corp. in a C$148 million ($108 million) deal that will boost its production,...

Beer rivals vie for Harbin.
May 27, 2004... Byline: Shu-Ching Jean Chen in Hong Kong A battle for the heart of a local government in northeast China is intensifying as brewing's most powerful rivals, Anheuser-Busch Cos. and SABMiller plc, pull out all the stops to secure Harbin...

Jones bumps bid for Maxwell Shoe.
May 27, 2004... Byline: Scott Stuart Jones Apparel Group Inc. raised its hostile offer for Maxwell Shoe Co. Wednesday, May 26, in the run-up to Jones' consent solicitation to replace the Maxwell board. New York's Jones raised its cash bid to $22.50...

Russia's UES goes hunting.
May 27, 2004... Byline: Nick Watson Russia's power monopoly RAO Unified Energy System of Russia said Wednesday, May 26, the company is in discussions over a series of acquisitions in central and Eastern Europe. The latest word about the talks came...

AgustaWestland loses British pedigree.
May 27, 2004... Byline: Heather O'Brian in Milan and Lisa Clifford in London Italy's Finmeccanica SpA agreed Wednesday, May 26, to buy out joint-venture partner GKN plc in helicopter maker AgustaWestland NV in a deal that ends Britain's involvement in...

Wells Fargo snaps up Strong funds.
May 27, 2004... Byline: Peter Moreira While its bigger banking brethren have been growing in leaps and bounds in the past year, San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. showed Wednesday, May 26, it's happy to build with baby steps by buying fund management...

Ratings Review: May 26, 2004.
May 27, 2004... Byline: Gerald C. Magpily Lend Lease Corp. Ltd. made a bid May 24 to become Australia's most diversified real estate company with its A$6.6 billion ($4.6 billion) offer for General Property Trust. In reaction to the announced bid,...

Microcell prepares defense.
May 27, 2004... Byline: Chris Nolter Canadian wireless carrier Microcell Telecommunications Inc. is preparing a detailed defense of its recommendation that shareholders reject a C$1.1 billion ($780 million) offer from fellow Canadian telecom Telus Corp....

Peoplesoft: No means no.
May 27, 2004... Byline: Olaf de Senerpont Domis in San Francisco For the fourth time in nearly a year, PeopleSoft Inc. has rebuffed Oracle Corp.'s latest acquisition offer. The Pleasanton, Calif.-based business software company said Wednesday, May...

MGM chief said to delay Sony talks.
May 27, 2004... Byline: Peter Lauria Sony Corp.'s exclusivity period on talks to acquire film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. expires May 27 and, according to a source, much has to be worked out before an agreement is signed. Make that if an...

Movers & shakers: May 27, 2004.
May 27, 2004... Byline: compiled by Lisa Camerlengo Lehman Brothers Inc. hired Javier Banon as co-head of its European Merchant Banking Group. Banon was most recently at Deutsche Bank AG's private equity arm, DB Capital Partners, overseeing private...

Goldman, MS say no to BDCs.
May 27, 2004... Byline: Vipal Monga Business development companies may be all the rage, but Morgan Stanley and Goldman, Sachs & Co. have decided they will not underwrite any initial public offerings by BDCs. According to several sources, both investment...

KKR takes 250% profit with Yellow sale.
May 27, 2004... Byline: David Carey Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. aims to sell its 19% stake in Canada's Yellow Pages Group, locking in a 250% gain on an investment the New York buyout firm made just 18 months ago. Yellow Pages Income Fund, a...

Carlyle in talks to buy Japan's DDI Pocket.
May 27, 2004... Byline: David Carey Carlyle Group, a Washington-based private equity firm, is negotiating to buy a majority of DDI Pocket, a wireless phone and data services provider, from Japan's KDDI Corp. for more than $2 billion, a person familiar...

KeyEye adds $15M.
May 27, 2004... Byline: Clifford Carlsen Conceived during the information technology depression of late 2001, and first funded amid the venture capital drought of late 2002, chip developer KeyEye Communications Inc. took advantage of a return to happier...

Two Swedish biotechs land funding.
May 27, 2004... Byline: Valerie Thompson Two venture capital financings announced Wednesday, May 26, in Sweden underscore the continuing role of local VCs in developing the country's relatively strong biotechnology sector. Stockholm-based InDex...

Calif.'s ManageStar is back dancing.
May 27, 2004... Byline: Paul Bonanos A year after raising what it thought would be its final round of venture funding, 6-year-old service management software maker ManageStar Inc. of Walnut Creek, Calif., has returned to the well for its fourth...

DealFlow: May 26, 2004.
May 27, 2004... Byline: Paul Bonanos by Paul Bonanos Computer hardware and software MessageOne Backup e-mail systems developer MessageOne Inc. of Austin, Texas, said it has raised $11.25 million in a fourth round. New investor QuestMark...

DealFlow: May 27, 2004.
May 27, 2004... Byline: Paul Bonanos by Paul Bonanos Computer hardware and software ManageStar Service management software developer ManageStar Inc. of Walnut Creek, Calif., has completed a $12 million fourth round of venture funding...

Dan River to clear up DIP mess.
May 26, 2004... Byline: Jonathan Berke Dan River Inc. expects to put its final debtor-in-possession financing documents to bed this week to avert unrest with its lender, Deutsche Bank AG. Dan River said in its quarterly earnings statement on Monday,...

Jillian's banks on DIP approval.
May 26, 2004... Byline: Terry Brennan Laywers for Jillian's Entertainment Corp. trooped to court late Tuesday, May 25, seeking the use of $3 million in debtor-in-possession financing. The bankrupt Louisville, Ky., restaurant and billiards parlor...

Owens Corning creditors want more.
May 26, 2004... Byline: Soma Biswas Emboldened by their ouster of U.S. District Court Judge Alfred Wolin from three major asbestos cases, two creditors of Owens Corning now want an examiner appointed. Kensington International Ltd. and Springfield...

Eddie Bauer is Spiegel's last asset.
May 26, 2004... Byline: Greg Johnson Spiegel Inc.'s sale of its flagship catalog division marks the end of an era in American retailing as well as a bow to reality. The Downers Grove, Ill., company on Monday, May 24, announced the sale of the unit...

GUS may spinoff of Experian.
May 26, 2004... Byline: Lisa Clifford in London Retail and financial-information group GUS plc hinted Tuesday, May 25, it may spin off its Experian credit checking arm as it announced a business-wide strategic review. The two-year assessment of GUS'...

Duke sheds Mexico stake.
May 26, 2004... Byline: Claire Poole in Houston Charlotte, N.C., energy company Duke Energy Corp. said Tuesday it agreed to sell its 30% stake in Mexican nitrogen producer and distributor Cia. de Nitrogeno de Cantarell to British industrial gas producer...

Rhodia sells water division.
May 26, 2004... Byline: Ross Tieman in Toulouse, France Restructuring Paris-based chemicals group Rhodia SA on Tuesday, May 25 sold its water treatment chemicals business to fast-growing Swedish specialist Feralco AB. The sale, for an undisclosed...

Findexa lingers below offer price.
May 26, 2004... Byline: Patricia Koza Despite market jitters, U.S. buyout company Texas Pacific Group went ahead Tuesday, May 25, with an initial public offering for dominant Norwegian phone directory publisher Findexa AS, raising 1.1 billion Norwegian...

China Minsheng out to clear name.
May 26, 2004... Byline: Shu-Ching Jean Chen in Hong Kong Beijing-based China Minsheng Banking Corp. Ltd., seeking to salvage its tarnished image ahead of a $1 billion listing in Hong Kong, said Tuesday, May 25, its board has approved measures to improve...

France's Snecma to go public.
May 26, 2004... Byline: Ross Tieman in Toulouse, France After a decade of delays, the French government has finally set in motion the privatization of Snecma SA in an initial share sale expected to value the world's fourth-largest aeronautical-engine...

IPO outlook: May 26, 2004.
May 26, 2004... Byline: Patricia Koza SAF Technika The first private-sector initial public offering in the Baltics since the late 1990s, Latvian wireless telecom equipment maker SAF Technika, was completed on Tuesday, May 25, raising 16.8 million...

GE's Genworth spinoff disappoints.
May 26, 2004... Byline: Peter Moreira General Electric Co. finally launched the initial public offering of its life and mortgage insurance unit, Genworth Financial Inc., but the initial response Tuesday, May 25, from the market was weak. The...

High court expert sides with EC.
May 26, 2004... Byline: Renee Cordes in Brussels After the indignity of seeing three of its merger calls overturned in court two years ago, the European Commission received a small respite Tuesday, May 25: The top adviser to the European Union's highest...

Alstom to shed assets for lifeline.
May 26, 2004... Byline: Ross Tieman in Toulouse, France, and Renee Cordes in Brussels Overindebted French engineering company Alstom SA must sell assets with [Euro]1.5 billion ($1.8 billion) of turnover, but has apparently overcome the last obstacle to...

Petro-Canada to get North Sea stake.
May 26, 2004... Byline: Peter Moreira Calgary, Alberta-based oil company Petro-Canada agreed Tuesday, May 25, to buy Intrepid Energy North Sea Ltd. of London, whose main asset is a 29.9% stake in the Buzzard oil field in the North Sea, for $840 million...

Deutsche Telekom buys out JV.
May 26, 2004... Byline: Brian Cattell in London After revealing only last month that it was back on the deal trail, Deutsche Telekom AG has deepened its involvement in the U.S. mobile market by agreeing to pay $2.3 billion to Atlanta-based Cingular...

Vodafone in $4.7B Japanese deal.
May 26, 2004... Byline: Brian Cattell Wireless giant Vodafone Group plc said Tuesday, May 25, it plans to spend [pounds sterling]2.6 billion ($4.7 billion) to buy out the minority shareholders of its two Japanese units and will then merge them. The...

BBVA buys Valley Bank for $17M.
May 26, 2004... Byline: Peter Moreira Spain's Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA has finally broken into the U.S. retail banking market, though on a smaller scale than observers in Spain and the U.S. had expected. BBVA, Spain's second-largest bank,...

Goldman, Cerberus buy homebuilder.
May 26, 2004... Byline: Jonathan Braude in London The Berlin city and state government said Tuesday, May 25, it had agreed to sell its housing construction unit, GSW Group, to a consortium of Goldman, Sachs & Co., Cerberus Capital Management LP and...

NeighborCare rejects offer.
May 26, 2004... Byline: Andrew Morse in San Francisco Baltimore-based NeighborCare Inc., a provider of pharmaceutical services to elderly patients, rejected Tuesday, May 25, an unsolicited $1.3 billion offer from rival Omnicare Inc. NeighborCare's...

Metrocall, Arch expect big savings.
May 26, 2004... Byline: David Shabelman Arch Wireless Inc. and Metrocall Holdings Inc. expect to save $200 million over four years by merging the paging services providers, the companies said in a regulatory filing. The synergies would come from...

Chevron sells Canadian O&G assets.
May 26, 2004... Byline: Laura King in Toronto Three Calgary-based companies are buying oil and gas properties in western Canada from U.S. giant ChevronTexaco Corp. for about C$1.09 billion ($796 million). In a joint deal announced Tuesday, Acclaim...

Movers & shakers: May 26, 2004.
May 26, 2004... Byline: compiled by Lisa Camerlengo Eugene McQuade, president of Bank of America Corp., announced that he will step down on June 30. McQuade, the former president and chief operating officer of FleetBoston Financial Corp., took the BofA...

Private capital people: May 25, 2004.
May 26, 2004... Byline: compiled by Lisa Camerlengo and Matthew Wurtzel May 25 Venture capital firm Highland Capital Partners Inc. has promoted Jon Auerbach and Fergal Mullen to general partners. Auerbach focuses on investments in...