The Daily Deal articles from May 2004

The Daily Deal archives from May 2004

Fantasyland.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Richard Morgan Hear about ABC's newest sitcom? It's called "Hunker Downs," and it features 11 directors of Walt Disney Co. lost in an isolated patch of Fantasyland. One of them professes to lead the pack back to reality, but that's...

Texas group bids for Core-Mark.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Jonathan Berke Perhaps sensing their last chance to make a deal while Fleming Cos. is in bankruptcy or foreshadowing what they may do once it exits, a group of Texas investors led by a former Wal-Mart Stores Inc. executive on...

Air Canada's loan package extended.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Peter Moreira General Electric Capital Aviation Services agreed Thursday, April 29 to extend its $1.5 billion loan package to Air Canada by five months on the condition that the insolvent carrier emerges from bankruptcy protection...

Oglebay gets exit loan.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Greg Johnson Oglebay Norton Co. has won approval for a $305 million exit loan from Silver Point Finance LLC that will keep it operating after it leaves Chapter 11. Silver Point is also providing Oglebay's $70 million...

Intrepid USA wins DIP approval.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Shanon D. Murray A judge gave final approval to Intrepid USA Inc.'s $25 million debtor-in-possession loan, allowing the home-care provider to now focus on either refinancing or selling itself. Judge Nancy Dreher in the U.S....

All bets off for American Wagering.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Jonathan Berke Michael Racusin may have lost a relationship, but he appears intent on getting his fee. Racusin is a self-employed Chicago stockbroker hired by Las Vegas-based American Wagering Inc. in 1994 to take it public....

Women First goes bankrupt.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Soma Biswas Unable to make an April interest payment, Women First HealthCare Inc., a San Diego-based specialty pharmaceutical company, has filed for Chapter 11 protection with an agreement to sell its biggest product to SkinMedica...

Trump Hotels to make payment.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Jonathan Berke Despite published reports that Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc. is heading to bankruptcy court, a company executive said Friday, April 30, that talks regarding a recapitalization proposal for the company will...

TransCanada wins NEGT auction.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Peter Moreira Calgary, Alberta-based oil pipeline company TransCanada Corp. announced Thursday, April 29, it has met all the conditions to buy National Energy & Gas Transmission Inc.'s Gas Transmission Northwest Corp. unit and will...

ISG reportedly eyes Georgetown.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Greg Johnson International Steel Group Inc. is reportedly interested in bankrupt Georgetown Steel Co. even though it hasn't even closed its purchase of Weirton Steel Corp. Georgetown Steel makes material used in steel-belted...

Eastern Pulp parties back in court.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Paul Burton In a contentious case that has lasted more than 30 months, it was hardly a surprise that the latest hearing involving bankrupt Eastern Pulp and Paper Co. dragged out longer than expected. Late Friday, April 30,...

Check-out time for KKR?
May 3, 2004... Byline: Ron Orol, Vyvyan Tenorio and John E. Morris Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. has been chalking up one exit after another in the past year, booking big profits on investments in Canada, the U.S. and Germany. But now it's taking heat for...

Beyond the rising sun.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Charles Smith in Tokyo NTT DoCoMo Inc., the dominant force in Japan's mobile phone market, has a problem. The world's second-biggest mobile company after Vodafone Group plc stands head and shoulders above its domestic rivals in...

What's your mode?
May 3, 2004... Byline: Chris Nolter NTT DoCoMo has used its overseas investments, such as its stake in AT&T Wireless, to introduce new markets to i-mode, a wireless offering that is somewhat akin to an Internet service, with special features, for mobile...

Alstom forecast: Cloudy.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Ross Tieman in Toulouse, France France's energetic new finance minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, will meet European competition commissioner Mario Monti Monday, May 3, as part of his drive to secure a future for troubled Alstom SA. ...

Winn-Dixie hires Blackstone.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Soma Biswas Winn-Dixie Stores Inc., the struggling supermarket chain that once dominated Florida and the rest of the South, said Friday, April 30, that it hired Blackstone Group to sell certain manufacturing assets and up to 111...

Lost deal.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Dennis Fitzgerald In the end, bankers and lawyers who worked with Switzerland's Novartis AG as it half-heartedly contemplated entering the fray as a white knight for Aventis SA didn't have a lot to crow about. The Franco-German...

IPO Outlook: May 3, 2004.
May 3, 2004... Byline: compiled by Peter Moreira Houston Exploration Brooklyn, N.Y.-based natural gas utility KeySpan Corp. said Friday it will sell or spin off its remaining 55% stake in natural gas producer Houston Exploration Co. this year. The 17...

Fadesa Inmobiliaria.
May 3, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal Spanish property developer Fadesa Inmobiliaria SA raised [Euro]455 million ($545 million) Friday in its initial public offering after its first day of trading, valuing the company as a whole at [Euro]1.43 billion....

Houston Exploration.
May 3, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal Brooklyn, N.Y.-based natural gas utility KeySpan Corp. said Friday it will sell or spin off its remaining 55% stake in natural gas producer Houston Exploration Co. this year. The 17 million shares were recently worth...

Intersections.
May 3, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal Chantilly, Va.-based consumer credit card services company Intersections Inc. priced its initial public offering Thursday of 6.25 million shares at $17 a share, atop the $15 to $17 price range. Intersections,...

MannKind.
May 3, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal Drug developer MannKind Corp. filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Friday its plan to raise $86 million in an initial public offering to be led by UBS Investment Bank. Valencia, Calif.-based MannKind is...

Dangerous ground.
May 3, 2004... Byline: Greg Storey It began life in the 1950s as a gleam in David Rockefeller's eye, a way to promote global commerce and boost the profits of the banks that serve it. It came to an end Sept. 11, 2001, in a smoky shower of death and...

FTC clears Footaction deal.
May 4, 2004... Byline: Jaret Seiberg in Washington The Federal Trade Commission has declined to expand its antitrust investigation into Foot Locker Inc.'s acquisition of the Footaction retail chain, clearing the way for the shoe company to close the $225...

Fresh Farms faces liquidation hearing.
May 4, 2004... Byline: Soma Biswas Fresh Farms Markets Inc. is facing a May 20 hearing that could convert its Chapter 11 case to a Chapter 7 liquidation. Diedre Martini, the U.S. Trustee for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of New...

Liberate seeks freedom.
May 4, 2004... Byline: Terry Brennan and Cheryl Meyer Bankrupt Liberate Technologies Inc. will troop to court Tuesday, May 4, in Wilmington, Del., seeking the use of its considerable bank accounts. The struggling interactive TV software developer...

Vanguarde Media sells Savoy.
May 4, 2004... Byline: Peter Lauria The first of magazine publisher Vanguarde Media Inc.'s titles -- Savoy -- was sold to Jungle Media Group for $375,000 Monday, May 3. Despite published reports that Time Warner Inc. would bid on the title, media and...

SSG Capital sheds EGI.
May 4, 2004... Byline: Greg Johnson Philadelphia investment firm SSG Capital Advisors LP disclosed Monday that it has completed the sale of bankrupt Executive Greetings Inc. to North Mankato, Minn., printing company Taylor Corp. for more than $70...

CEO shuffle: May 3, 2004.
May 4, 2004... Byline: David Ehrlich HealthSouth Corp., Key Energy Services Inc. and Nortel Networks Corp. have all shuffled their top spots amid federal investigations into alleged accounting irregularities. On Monday, May 3, HealthSouth said Jay...

Pension funds blast Safeway.
May 4, 2004... Byline: Ron Orol Institutional investors and labor groups are attacking Safeway Inc.'s plan to enhance its corporate governance. The Pleasanton, Calif.-based grocery giant said Monday, May 3, it will replace board members George...

Austrian chipmaker sets IPO.
May 4, 2004... Byline: Andrew Bulkeley in Berlin Austriamicrosystems AG aims to raise up to $251.4 million in an initial public offering May 17 to pay off debt and give its private equity owners a lucrative partial exit, the Austrian chipmaker said...

CNL now has the luxury of an IPO.
May 4, 2004... Byline: Jonathan Berke After rolling up luxury hotels during a lean period for the travel industry, CNL Hospitality Properties Inc. plans to go public in a $750 million offering amid the sector's rebound. An affiliate of CNL Financial...

IPO outlook: May 4, 2004.
May 4, 2004... Byline: compiled by Peter Moreira ISE International Securities Exchange Inc., the largest equity options exchange in the U.S., said Monday, May 3, it plans to become a publicly traded company in the second half of the year. The ISE,...

CNL Hospitality.
May 4, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal A month after closing its $2.2 billion purchase of KSL Recreation Corp., Orlando, Fla.-based luxury hotelier CNL Hospitality Properties Inc. has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public...

ISE.
May 4, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal International Securities Exchange Inc., the largest equity options exchange in the U.S., said Monday it plans to become a publicly traded company in the second half of the year. The ISE, while making its intent...

Memec.
May 4, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal San Diego-based semiconductor distributor Memec Inc. has filed a preliminary prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission outlining plans for an initial public offering to raise about $100 million. The...

Nasdaq threatens Global Crossing.
May 4, 2004... Byline: Chris Nolter Only months after Global Crossing Ltd. listed its stock on Nasdaq, the Florham Park, N.J.-based telecom said Monday, May 3, it has received a delisting notice from the exchange because of a recent disclosure that it...

Feds slap Gates with $800,000 fine.
May 4, 2004... Byline: Jaret Seiberg in Washington Don't accuse U.S. antitrust enforcers of never giving Bill Gates a break. Gates agreed Monday, May 3, to pay $800,000 to settle charges that he violated the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act in 2002 by acquiring...

B.C. clears Fortis-Aquila deal.
May 4, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal Canadian power producer Fortis Inc. said Monday that British Columbia regulators have approved its C$1.4 billion ($1 billion) takeover of Aquila Networks Canada. St. John's, Newfoundland-based Fortis announced the...

Providence Service bags PBCG.
May 4, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal Providence Service Corp., a Tucson, Ariz., provider of social services, said Monday it has spent $1.84 million in cash to acquire Pottsville Behavioral Counseling Group, a northeastern Pennsylvania provider of...

Sarkozy, Monti agree on Alstom.
May 4, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal French Finance Minister Nicolas Sarkozy and European Union Competition Commissioner Mario Monti said Monday that they have agreed to proceed quickly on how best to save troubled French engineering group Alstom SA....

Talisman expands in North Sea.
May 4, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal Calgary, Alberta-based Talisman Energy Inc. said Monday it is increasing its holdings in the North Sea with a $137.5 million acquisition of Intrepid Energy Ltd.'s stake in the Flotta Catchment Area. The deal includes...

XTO gets ExxonMobil assets.
May 4, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal Fort Worth oil explorer XTO Energy Inc. said Monday it agreed to purchase producing properties in West Texas' Permian Basin and Wyoming's Powder River Basin from ExxonMobil Corp. for $336 million to $341 million....

BNP Paribas sheds Cobeba stake.
May 4, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal French banking group BNP Paribas said Monday that it has sold 75% of its stake in Belgian private equity fund Compagnie Benelux Paribas, or Cobeba, to Cobehold, a Belgian family-owned holding company, for an...

Forte buying Oiltec Resources.
May 4, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal Forte Resources Inc. said Monday it is buying Oiltec Resources Ltd. in a friendly deal worth C$60 million ($43.7 million) cash, stock and debt. Both companies are based in Calgary, Alberta. Oiltech put itself on the...

Hooper Holmes gets MAAS.
May 4, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal Basking Ridge, N.J., risk assessment firm Hooper Holmes Inc. said Monday it bought privately held Omaha insurance rival Mid-America Agency Services Inc. for an undisclosed sum. Hooper Holmes said the buy would make...

James H. Drew sold to FDI.
May 4, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal Indianapolis holding company Fortune Diversified Industries Inc. said Monday it has acquired James H. Drew Corp. While Fortune would not disclose a purchase price, it said the buy of James H. Drew, an Indianapolis...

Mayne buys German drug unit.
May 4, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal Australian drugs and diagnostics company Mayne Group Ltd. has acquired the injectable pharma division of Germany's Wasserburger Arzneimittelwerk Dr. Madaus GmbH for about [Euro]40 million ($47.7 million). The...

Motiva sheds Delaware refinery.
May 4, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal Motiva Enterprises LLC, a Houston refining and marketing joint venture between Royal Dutch/Shell Group and Saudi Aramco, said Monday it closed the sale of its Delaware City, Del., refinery to Premcor Inc. for $925...

Hyundai reportedly to buy back stake.
May 4, 2004... Byline: Reuters FRANKFURT - DaimerChrysler AG will sell its 10% stake in Hyundai Motor Co. back to the South Korean carmaker, German newspaper Handelsblatt reported on Monday, May 3, citing industry sources. DaimlerChrysler...

Anheuser-Busch expands in China.
May 4, 2004... Byline: Tara Croft and Peter Moreira Facing off against its biggest competitor, this time in the Far East, St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc., the world's largest brewer, said Sunday, May 2, that it has bought 29% of China's...

MBNA in scramble for Egg.
May 4, 2004... Byline: Peter Moreira The world's largest credit card issuer, MBNA Corp., has done well by zigging when British banks are zagging. Now it hopes to clean up after an insurer that wants to exit the British banking market. The Wilmington,...

DealEstate: May 3, 2004.
May 4, 2004... Byline: compiled by TheDeal.com news staff Bankruptcy April 29 Amerco notches deal with WP Carey Amerco Inc. is now likely to complete the final phase of its reorganization after agreeing to terms on a $312.44 million...

Flex-N-Gate grabs auto plastics unit.
May 4, 2004... Byline: Brenon Daly Completing its fourth acquisition as many years, auto parts manufacturer Flex-N-Gate said Monday, May 3, that it will acquire a maker of plastics used in bumpers from German industrial conglomerate MG Technologies for...

Hedge fund outlines proxy challenge.
May 4, 2004... Byline: David Shabelman in San Francisco Hedge fund Jana Partners LLC is moving ahead with a plan to take control of InterCept Inc.'s board or directors. In a statement Monday, May 3, San Francisco-based Jana, which owns 8% of...

ProLogis, Eaton Vance acquire Keystone.
May 4, 2004... Byline: Jonathan Berke Leading industrial REIT ProLogis teamed up with Boston fund manager Eaton Vance Management to acquire one of its rivals, Keystone Property Trust, in a $1.5 billion buyout. Shareholders of the West Conshohocken,...

Movers & shakers: May 4, 2004.
May 4, 2004... Byline: compiled by Lisa Camerlengo New York-based investment bank M.R. Beal & Co. has named Stanley Grayson as its president. Grayson, who joined the firm as chief operating officer in July 2002, will retain that post in addition to...

REITs continue to go public.
May 4, 2004... Byline: Jonathan Berke The recent 15% average drop in the stock prices of real estate investment trusts has given Thomas Properties Group Inc. pause about going public as a REIT, but other new-issuance hopefuls aren't as daunted. When...

PE breaks loose in Central Europe.
May 4, 2004... Byline: Patricia Koza in Warsaw Eight Central European nations achieved their long-standing dream of joining the European Union, but even before their official accession on May 1, Western European and U.S. private equity firms were on the...

Sorenson Capital starts $250M fund.
May 4, 2004... Byline: David Carey Sorenson Capital, a 1-year-old Salt Lake City buyout firm funded and led by a handful of big-name dealmakers, said Monday, May 3, that it had garnered $250 million in commitments for its first investment fund. ...

Oak Hill flips Puerto Rican chain.
May 4, 2004... Byline: Kelly Holman Not long ago, flipping hamburgers was derided as unworthy of American ambitions, but U.S. private equity firms Castle Harlan Inc., Oak Hill Capital Partners LP and American Securities Capital Partners LLC set out to...

Sterling recaps shipping firm.
May 4, 2004... Byline: Kelly Holman Sterling Investment Partners LP, a Westport, Conn.-based private equity firm, said Monday, May 3, it had completed a $225 million recapitalization of portfolio company United States Shipping Master LLC, an Edison,...

Blackstone mulls exit from Nalco.
May 4, 2004... Byline: Lisa Gewirtz Seven months after the Blackstone Group, Apollo Management LP and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners bought chemical maker Ondeo Nalco Co. via a $4.3 billion leveraged buyout, sources say the company is now talking to...

GTCR buys Honeywell unit.
May 4, 2004... Byline: Lou Whiteman and Lisa Gewirtz GTCR Golder Rauner LLC is placing a second bet on the security monitoring industry, agreeing Monday, May 3, to buy the monitoring business of Honeywell International Inc. for $315.5 million in cash. ...

GS Capital, Penske gets Autocam.
May 4, 2004... Byline: David Carey Aurora Capital Group said Monday, May 3, it struck a deal to sell auto parts maker Autocam Corp. in a secondary buyout to Goldman, Sachs & Co.'s private equity arm and to auto industry investor Roger Penske for about...

Acologix lands new investors.
May 4, 2004... Byline: Paul Bonanos Biopharmaceutical developer Acologix Inc. has pulled in five new Japanese investors to help add $40 million to its coffers as it pushes six of its drug candidates into the second phase of clinical trials ...

What's hot: April 30, 2004.
May 4, 2004... Byline: Matthew Wurtzel After one of the year's slowest weeks for fundraising by startups, dealflow rebounded in the last week of April, nearly doubling the prior week's tally. Venture capitalists invested $351 million in 33 startups...

O'Neill joins Qcept at $4M round.
May 4, 2004... Byline: Clifford Carlsen Qcept Technologies Inc. has landed $4 million in new investment and added a marquee name to its board of directors, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, as the company begins marketing proprietary...

Acologix.
May 4, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal Drug developer Acologix Inc. has raised $40 million, primarily from Japanese investors, in its second round of venture funding. Lead investor Nomura Securities Co. Ltd. joined affiliated firm Nomura Research &...

Artificial Muscle.
May 4, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal Menlo Park, Calif.-based SRI International has spun-off Artificial Muscle Inc., a developer of components made of electroactive polymers that can work in a way similar to muscles. AMI has secured $2.5 million in...

Capnia.
May 4, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal Los Gatos, Calif.-based biomedical company Capnia Inc. has raised a $12 million Series B financing led by Teknoinvest Management AS. Other participants in the round included Asset Management Co.; Biotechnology...

DivXNetworks.
May 4, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal San Diego-based DivXNetworks Inc. has closed a $7 million Series C round led by Zone Ventures Management Co. LLC. Other investors included ALI Corp., Cardinal Venture Capital, Cyberlink International Technology...

Lockdown Networks.
May 4, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal Seattle-based Lockdown Networks Inc., formerly InteractNetworks Inc., has secured $4 million in a venture funding led by Ignition Partners. Cypress Nevada LLC is also an investor in the company, but it is unknown if...

Novak Biddle Venture Partners.
May 4, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal Bethesda, Md.-based early-stage venture capital firm Novak Biddle Venture Partners has closed a fourth investment partnership with commitments of $150 million. NBVP Fund IV will invest in early-stage technology...

Qcept Technologies.
May 4, 2004... Byline: The Daily Deal Atlanta-based Qcept Technologies Inc. raised $4 million in a second round of venture capital to support the sales of sophisticated measurement systems used in semiconductor manufacturing. The investment was led by...

Wrenn plans a comeback.
May 5, 2004... Byline: Paul Burton Twenty of the largest Wrenn Associates Inc. creditors will meet Friday, May 7, to map out their plans to get paid. The Merrimack, N.H., construction company, which has built stores for several department store...

Citigroup chairs Mirant committee.
May 5, 2004... Byline: Soma Biswas In a move likely to intensify the battle between Mirant Corp. and creditors, Citigroup Inc. has replaced Deutsche Bank AG and HVB Group as chairman on one of its two creditors' committees. Citigroup, one of two...

General Roofing sold to Republic Financial.
May 5, 2004... Byline: Greg Johnson General Roofing Services Inc. has slipped off its ladder. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., company, which bills itself as one of North America's largest roofing contractors, said Tuesday, May 4, that it has agreed to...

Netexit succumbs to Chapter 11.
May 5, 2004... Byline: Greg Johnson Netexit Inc., the telecom unit of bankrupt energy company Northwestern Corp., has filed for Chapter 11. In its filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington, the Sioux Falls,...

Fleming to reorganize rather than sell unit.
May 5, 2004... Byline: Greg Johnson Fleming Cos. said on Tuesday that it reached an amended agreement with its reclamation creditors. The company on April 19 announced in court that it had reached a deal creditors, such as Frito-Lay Inc., which had...

ISG inks deal for Georgetown.
May 5, 2004... Byline: Greg Johnson International Steel Group Inc. has agreed to buy bankrupt Georgetown Steel Co. for $16 million. ISG has yet to close its purchase of Weirton Steel Corp. Georgetown Steel makes material used in steel-belted...

Orion Electric gets interest.
May 5, 2004... Byline: Roger du Mars in Seoul Monitor display parts maker Orion Electric Co. moved a step closer to graduating from court receivership this week, with Hyosung Corp., Kolon Industries Inc. and Daewoo Electronics Corp. having expressed...

Bondholders nix HealthSouth again.
May 5, 2004... Byline: Terry Brennan Despite having their pot sweetened, HealthSouth Corp. bondholders are holding out for a larger, lump-sum payout. The Birmingham, Ala., provider of outpatient surgery and rehabilitation services is in default on...

BC Partners' C&C sets IPO date.
May 5, 2004... Byline: Jonathan Braude in London Irish drinks and snack foods company C&C Group plc said Tuesday, May 4, it plans to list on the London and Dublin stock exchanges May 19, beating expectations for an IPO in early June, and presented an...