The Daily Deal articles from November 2001

The Daily Deal archives from November 2001

American River Ventures I.
November 30, 2001... Early-stage investment firm American River Ventures has completed a first closing of $48 million in committed capital for initial fund American River Ventures I LP. The new venture capital fund will focus on investing in early-stage...

BeamExpress.
November 30, 2001... Swiss optical componentry startup BeamExpress Inc. is expected to announce Friday it has closed a $4.5 million first round of financing from Geneva-based venture capital firm Index Ventures at an approximate valuation of $9 million. Stephanie...

Broadcasters oppose EchoStar move on DirecTV.
November 30, 2001... The largest association of broadcasters said Thursday that it would oppose EchoStar Communications Corp.'s $26 billion acquisition of DirecTV. "This merger would create the world's largest monopoly video delivery system," National Association...

CSK Auto assembling credit line.
November 30, 2001... Auto-parts retailer CSK Auto Corp. said Thursday that it would sell $50 million of newly issued securities to Investcorp as part of a new credit package it is assembling. A Bahraini bank and major private equity investor, Investcorp will...

Cellegy Pharma gets rival Vaxis.
November 30, 2001... South San Francisco specialty drug maker Cellegy Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Thursday it has acquired privately held Kingston, Ontario, rival Vaxis Therapeutics Corp. for less than $4 million. The purchase price will be paid primarily in...

Comdisco wins extension, auctions leasing unit.
November 30, 2001... Bankrupt Comdisco Inc. has begun auctioning off its multibillion-dollar equipment leasing portfolio. The auction wraps up this weekend, but Comdisco won't make an announcement for at least a month while it decides whether to sell the entire...

Garmin nabs Sequoia Instruments.
November 30, 2001... Garmin Ltd., a Cayman Islands supplier of aircraft navigation systems, announced Thursday it has paid $5 million in cash for Sequoia Instruments Inc., a Los Gatos, Calif., developer of avionics. Garmin said the deal will help in its...

Genscape.
November 30, 2001... Louisville, Ky.-based energy information company Genscape Inc. announced Monday that it received $3.55 million in its first round of venture capital funding. Chrysalis Ventures led the investment, joined by Prosperitas Investment Partners LP...

Green Fusion gets financing to buy chocolate maker.
November 30, 2001... Green Fusion Corp. will be able to cap its sweet tooth. The Blaine, Wash., company said Thursday it reached agreement with Bermondsey Investments Ltd. for $1.5 million in financing to complete its acquisition of gourmet chocolates maker House...

Innova/3.
November 30, 2001... Warsaw-based Innova Capital, a private equity fund, has started to make investments from Innova/3, its third fund in the Central and Eastern European market. Innova/3 was launched earlier this year with an initial target of $200 million and a...

Jeronimo Martins sells BEA stake.
November 30, 2001... Lisbon's Banco Comercial Portugues SA said Thursday that it has agreed to buy out the remaining 49.9% of Banco Expresso Atlantico that is owned by its joint venture partner, Portuguese retailing giant Jeronimo Martins & Filho Administrado a...

Lexington REIT buys partnerships.
November 30, 2001... New York real estate investment trust Lexington Corporate Properties Trust said Thursday it acquired two property partnerships, Net 1 LP and Net 2 LP for $136.8 million. Under the terms, Lexington will issue $32.3 million in common stock and...

Nova Group hired by Torvec.
November 30, 2001... Torvec Inc., a Rochester, N.Y., company that bills itself as a developer of automotive products, said Thursday that it has hired Nova Group to manage the sale of its Ice Technology division. Torvec had acquired Ice Technology in November 2000...

SnowShore Networks.
November 30, 2001... Chelmsford, Mass.-based SnowShore Networks added $5.6 million to a $20 million second round of venture capital first closed in July, bringing in London-based 3i Group plc to bolster its offerings of telecommunications products targeted at...

Time Inc. closes three magazines.
November 30, 2001... Time Inc., the magazine publishing division of New York-based media conglomerate AOL Time Warner Inc., said Thursday it will shutter three titles in its stable of more than 150. Parenting title Family Life, technology magazine On, previously...

Veritas, Petroleum Geo deal has $20M breakup fee.
November 30, 2001... Houston oilfield services company Veritas DGC Inc.'s proposed $770 million merger with Norway's Petroleum Geo-Services ASA has a $20 million breakup fee, according to a Thursday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Either...

Wells Fargo, US settle on deal for Texas Financial.
November 30, 2001... The Department of Justice agreed Thursday to drop antitrust objections to Wells Fargo & Co.'s acquisition of Texas Financial Bancorporation after the bank agreed to divest six branches with $250 million of deposits. Wells Fargo, San...

Bidders line up for bankrupt Hanbo.
November 30, 2001... Byline: Gina Chon SEOUL -- Three new potential buyers emerged for South Korea's bankrupt Hanbo Iron & Steel Co. On Nov. 30, South Korea's AK Capital, a Cargill Inc. affiliate, CHB Steel; and South Korea's Peace Iron & Steel Co. Ltd....

DIP warms Malden Mills.
November 30, 2001... Byline: Katie Anderson Bankrupt Malden Mills Industries Inc., which makes Polartec outerwear, received court approval Nov. 30 to tap $6.6 million of a $20 million debtor-in-possession financing being provided by a GE Capital Corp.-led...

SpeechWorks wants L&H auction reopened.
November 30, 2001... Byline: Tyson Freeman DENVER -- SpeechWorks International Inc., a losing bidder in an auction for the assets of Lernout & Hauspie Speech Product NV, filed an objection in U.S. bankruptcy court late Thursday, arguing the auction was...

SoCal Edison faces angry creditors.
November 30, 2001... Byline: Greg Johnson Cash-strapped Southern California Edison might be forced into bankruptcy by creditors angry that talks over back payments have broken down. The California Cogeneration Council said Nov. 30 it cannot reach an...

Court: At Home can cancel broadband pacts.
November 30, 2001... Byline: David Shabelman SAN FRANCISCO -- Creditors of At Home Corp. won a victory Friday when a federal bankruptcy court ruled that the Internet service provider can end contracts to deliver broadband service to its cable company...

Hynix to issue convertible bonds to banks.
November 30, 2001... Byline: Gina Chon SEOUL -- South Korea's ailing Hynix Semiconductor Inc., the world's third-largest chipmaker, said it would issue W3.2 trillion ($2.5 billion) in convertible bonds Nov. 29, as part of a bailout package to which creditors...

France to drive toll-road operator to IPO.
November 30, 2001... Byline: Alan Tillier PARIS -- The French government hopes to raise $1.4 billion by selling part of Autoroutes du Sud de la France SA, the operator of Europe's most-profitable toll highways. ASF said Nov. 30 that it expected the...

Credit Agricole promos IPO.
November 30, 2001... Byline: Nicola Hobday in London LONDON -- French mutual bank Credit Agricole SA moved closer to its initial public offering Nov. 30 to raise as much as [Euro]3.4 billion ($3 billion), which could help it take part in French banking...

Lawson IPO hopes to revive e-commerce.
November 30, 2001... Byline: Heidi Moore Remember e-commerce? In 2000, it was the sector that headlined the initial public offering show, only to disappear entirely. But e-commerce may have a chance to redeem itself with the IPO of Lawson Software Inc....

Trading error mars Dentsu debut.
November 30, 2001... Byline: Shu-Ching Jean Chen and Charles Smith Despite an unusual trading mistake, the initial public offering of Japan's largest advertising company, Dentsu Inc., staged a modest success. Shares in Dentsu closed bid-only at [yen]470,000,...

NTT DoCoMo may not buy SK Telecom stake.
November 30, 2001... Byline: Gina Chon SEOUL -- After two years of talks, South Korea's SK Group may not be able to reach an agreement to sell a 14.5% stake in its SK Telecom Corp. unit to Japan's NTT DoCoMo Inc. "The possibilities may not be so good,"...

Bill Gates cast as AT&T cable rescuer.
November 30, 2001... Byline: Peter Lauria AT&T Corp. probably needs a savior to keep its broadband unit from the clutches of Comcast Corp., and the phone giant's recent moves suggest it may have found deliverance in Bill Gates. With formal bids for AT&T...

Rabble Babble.
November 30, 2001... Byline: Stacy Mosher The news never rests, and nowhere is it busier than on the Internet bulletin boards. This column excerpts the choicest messages on the latest deals. Postings are selected from several sources, including Yahoo!,...

Newly public Deutsche Borse goes shopping.
November 30, 2001... Byline: Jonathan Braude BERLIN -- Frankfurt stock exchange operator Deutsche Borse AG is dipping into its billion-euro war chest for the first time since going public in February to buy German computer services company entory AG, for up...

NRG to buy FirstEnergy assets for $1.35B.
November 30, 2001... Byline: Claire Poole in Houston Minneapolis electricity producer NRG Energy Inc. said Nov. 30 it would acquire a portfolio of power-generating assets from Akron, Ohio, utility FirstEnergy Corp. for $1.35 billion in cash and $145 million...

C&W buys bankrupt Exodus.
November 30, 2001... Byline: Brian Cattell in London The jury is still out, but Cable & Wireless plc may be one big beneficiary of the dot-com debacle with its acquisition of Exodus Communications Inc. The British telecom reached into its overflowing war...

Rothmans bests rival RJR in bidding war.
November 30, 2001... Byline: Laura King TORONTO -- Rothmans Inc. has sweetened its bid for New Mexico cigarette maker Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co., topping a rival offer from giant R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc. Toronto-based Rothmans said Nov. 30...

Dynegy stakes claim to Enron pipeline.
November 30, 2001... Byline: Claire Poole in Houston Reiterating its claim to a valuable gas pipeline, Houston energy merchant Dynegy Inc. warned Nov. 30 that it must clear any bankruptcy filing by crosstown rival Enron Corp.'s Northern Natural Gas Co....

Oroweat sale proceeding slowly.
November 30, 2001... Byline: Soma Biswas George Weston Ltd. is not likely to settle on a buyer for Oroweat, a premium bread brand sold primarily on the West Coast, until late this month or early next year, according to sources. Weston, Canada's largest...

Tellabs buys Ocular for $355M.
November 30, 2001... Byline: Sarah Cohen Tellabs Inc. disclosed Nov. 30 it will acquire competitor Ocular Networks Inc. for $300 million in cash and $55 million options. In a conference call, Tellabs CEO Michael Birck said the acquisition shores up...

Pacific Dunlop unloads clothing and footwear unit.
November 30, 2001... Byline: Giles Parkinson SYDNEY -- Australian industrial group Pacific Dunlop Ltd. announced Nov. 30 the sale of its clothing and footwear business to private equity investors CVC Asia Pacific Ltd. and Catalyst Investment Managers for...

Parthenon acquires Pharmedica for $75M.
November 30, 2001... Byline: Kelly Holman Boston private equity firm Parthenon Capital closed its acquisition Nov. 30 of Pharmedica Communications Inc. in a deal valued at roughly $75 million, according to sources close to the transaction. J.P. Morgan...

Due diligence on Hyundai units resumes.
November 30, 2001... Byline: Gina Chon SEOUL -- A consortium led by the American International Group Inc. Nov. 30 resumed due diligence on three Hyundai financial units, after pulling out of the study more than four weeks ago. Jae Man Park, a manager at...

VCs see slow start to nanotech investing.
November 30, 2001... Byline: Charles Sisk BOSTON -- Is nanotechnology the next big thing for venture capitalists? Even its boosters don't seem to think so. Despite predictions that the market for nanotechnology -- microscopic devices and chemical...

AXA PE joins secondary market crush.
November 30, 2001... Byline: Vyvyan Tenorio Europe's secondary market isn't far behind the U.S. in gearing up for the feeding frenzy. AXA Private Equity, part of the Paris-based asset management firm AXA Group, closed its latest secondary fund last...

Cascade works for $8M round.
November 30, 2001... Byline: Clifford Carlsen San Francisco-based CascadeWorks bucked the B2B software trend, albeit with a slightly less ambitious outcome, landing $8 million in a third round of funding initially targeted at $12 million, it said Nov. 30....

What's Hot!
November 30, 2001... Byline: George White As venture capitalists still enjoyed their Thanksgiving leftovers, dealflow for the week ended Nov. 30 took a nosedive. The amount of funding hit its lowest level of 2001, a meager $286.31 million in only 39...

Bankruptcy bar waits, wonders about Enron.
November 29, 2001... Byline: Shanon D. Murray Shocked that Enron Corp. still hasn't sought Chapter 11 protection from creditors, bankruptcy attorneys theorize that the company is either trying to line up a debtor-in-possession financing or a buyer for its...

Bankrupt McCrory to sell inventory.
November 29, 2001... Byline: Terry Brennan Bankrupt McCrory Corp., the 119-year old retail chain controlled by dealmaker Meshulam Riklis, plans to start a going-out-of-business sale involving all of its inventory in early December and then move on to the...

Woes may hurt Enron asset sales.
November 29, 2001... Byline: Claire Poole in Houston Distracted by meetings with lenders and its unsuccessful $9 billion merger with Dynegy Inc., movement on Enron Corp.'s divestitures have slowed considerably and are expected to slow even more if the...

C&W may be close to buying Exodus.
November 29, 2001... Byline: David Shableman Exodus Communications Inc. may be close to finding a buyer. London-based global telecom Cable & Wireless plc is in advanced talks to buy the Web hosting company's assets, according to a report on FT.com. The...

Shareholder urges Cinar to clean house.
November 29, 2001... Byline: Ron Orol WASHINGTON -- Activist investor Robert Chapman and the two co-founders of Cinar Corp. are pressing the troubled animation company to find a buyer. Prospects for Montreal-based Cinar have dimmed since acquisition...

Lucent to sell Kenan by year-end.
November 29, 2001... Byline: Sarah Cohen Lucent Technologies Inc. expects to sell its customer billing software division by year's end, a source close to Lucent said Nov. 29. But the Murray Hill, N.J.-based networking equipment maker stands to lose a...

Layoff roundup: week ending Nov. 29.
November 29, 2001... Bucking the national layoff fad, Bank of America Corp., Bank One Corp. and Walgreens Co. all have decided to do some hiring. Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America announced plans to add 350 investment banking jobs barely a month after...

Chalco teams up with Alcoa as IPO looms.
November 29, 2001... Byline: Shu-Ching Jean Chen HONG KONG -- Braced for rising foreign competition on its home turf and a slide in world aluminum prices, Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., the world's third-largest aluminum producer, released details about a new...

IPO Outlook -- November 29, 2001.
November 29, 2001... Byline: Nicola Hobday in London Credit Agricole SA PARIS - Credit Agricole's central operating body, the Caisse Nationale de Credit Agricole, gave final approval Thursday to a [Euro]20 billion ($17.8 billion) listing plan for...

CSFB faces no criminal charges in IPO probe.
November 29, 2001... Byline: Heidi Moore The U.S. Attorney's Office dropped its criminal investigation into Credit Suisse First Boston's practices in allocating shares of hot initial public offerings, raising questions about whether the bank will emerge from...

Hermes ponders new bid for Edinburgh Fund.
November 29, 2001... Byline: Nicola Hobday Hermes Pensions Management Ltd., which is controlled by the pension fund of U.K. telecom giant BT Group plc, said Nov. 29 it may make an offer for Edinburgh Fund Managers Group plc even after the Scottish money...

Two German oil deals hit setbacks.
November 29, 2001... Byline: Jonathan Braude in Berlin and Victorya Hong in Brussels German regulators threatened Nov. 29 to stymie two multibillion dollar mergers unless the oil companies make concessions. The Federal Cartel Authority issued a...

Credit Lyonnais not to be divvied up just yet.
November 29, 2001... Byline: Alan Tillier PARIS -- A proposed Franco-German resolution to the crazy-quilt shareholding structure of Credit Lyonnais apparently is unraveling, less than a month after the French government thought it had found a solution. ...

South African Breweries expands in Latin America.
November 29, 2001... Byline: Siobhan Almond LONDON -- Considered by many observers this week as a possible takeover target, South African Breweries plc instead became a buyer Nov. 29, with a pair of deals that will make it the largest brewer and bottler in...

Alcoa blasts WMC for rejecting $5.9B bid.
November 29, 2001... Byline: Giles Parkinson SYDNEY -- The relationship between Alcoa Inc. and Australia's WMC Ltd. deteriorated further Nov. 29 after the Pittsburgh-based mining giant launched a scathing attack against its would-be takeover target. ...

AngloGold boosts cash bid for Normandy.
November 29, 2001... Byline: Giles Parkinson SYDNEY -- South Africa's AngloGold Ltd. kicked off a bidding war Nov. 29 against Newmont Mining Corp., adding a cash sweetener to it's A$3.2 billion ($1.7 billion) stock offer for Australia's Normandy Mining Ltd....

Japan's Orix may align with two insurers.
November 29, 2001... Byline: Charles Smith TOKYO -- Japanese leasing giant Orix Corp. said Nov. 29 it was considering an equity link with Fuji Fire and Marine Insurance Co. as one of several investment options for investing in the non-life insurance...

Israel Chemicals buys Cleveland Potash.
November 29, 2001... Byline: Neal Sandler TEL AVIV -- Israel Chemicals said Nov. 29 it agreed with Anglo-American plc to acquire Cleveland Potash Ltd. of Britain for $45 million. "This latest acquisition will make us one of the five largest potash and...

Rabble Babble.
November 29, 2001... Byline: Stacy Mosher The news never rests, and nowhere is it busier than on the Internet bulletin boards. This column excerpts the choicest messages on the latest deals. Postings are selected from several sources, including Yahoo!,...

FCC prepares to clean house.
November 29, 2001... Byline: Ron Orol The Federal Communications Commission is poised to unleash sweeping changes to rules that will most likely set off a wave of M&A. The FCC is planning to loosen or eliminate broadcast and cable rules such as the...

Eniro becomes possible PE target.
November 29, 2001... Byline: Brian Cattell in London and Siobhan Almond in Dublin The two companies seen as the most likely buyers of Swedish phone directories business Eniro AB both ruled out making a bid Nov. 29, raising the prospect that Eniro could...

Private Equity - New and Noteworthy.
November 29, 2001... Byline: Compiled by George White CSK Auto assembling credit line Auto-parts retailer CSK Auto Corp. said Thursday that it would sell $50 million of newly issued securities to Investcorp as part of a new credit package it is...

J.P. Morgan Partners buys Chromalox.
November 29, 2001... Byline: Kelly Holman Emerson, a diversified St. Louis engineering and technology company, announced Nov. 29 that it has sold its Chromalox division to J.P. Morgan Partners, the 17-year-old New York private equity arm of J.P. Morgan Chase...

XO restructuring hammers Forstmann Little.
November 29, 2001... Byline: David Carey Originally, Theodore Forstmann's peerless reputation in private equity rested on an uncanny knack for smart, glacially paced investing. Averaging just over one investment per year, his New York LBO firm, Forstmann...

Switzerland VCs have hand in optical startups.
November 29, 2001... Byline: Joshua Jaffe A number of recent venture capital financings firmly places Switzerland near Scotland among Europe's strongest producers of optical componentry startups. They also prove that companies with promising technologies...

Trade settlement software firm raises $15M.
November 29, 2001... Byline: Vyvyan Tenorio The fallout from terrorism has providentially landed at least one specialist software provider some new credibility and money. London-based Netik Holdings Ltd. plans to announce Nov. 29 a [pound]10.6 million...

Kana to reap up to $55M.
November 29, 2001... Byline: Lou Whiteman In an increasingly common sort of cross-bred deal marrying public companies with venture capitalists, Nasdaq-traded Kana Software Inc. said Nov. 29 it has secured as much as $55 million in cash. The money will...

Arris Group to buy Cadant.
November 29, 2001... Arris Group Inc., a Duluth, Ga., maker of broadband transmission equipment, said Wednesday it would acquire Cadant Inc., a privately held Naperville, Ill., maker of cable modem products, in a transaction valued at about $64.2 million. Arris...

Ascential takes Torrent Systems.
November 29, 2001... Ascential Software Corp. announced Wednesday it has acquired Torrent Systems Inc. for $46 million in cash. Westboro, Mass.-based Ascential, known as Informix Corp. until IBM Corp. purchased the company's database assets for $1 billion earlier...

CEZ offers to buy 49% stake in 3 Slovakia utilities.
November 29, 2001... Czech power utility CEZ AS said Wednesday that it has placed an indicative offer to buy 49% stakes in three regional electricity distribution companies in Slovakia. CEZ, which the Czech government is planning to privatize next year for about...

Cyber Agent makes two deals.
November 29, 2001... Japanese Internet advertising agency Cyber Agent Ltd. said Wednesday it would pay [yen]572 million ($4.64 million) for International Sports and Marketing Co. and [yen]141 million for a 37% stake in Internet research firm Cyber Br@ins Co. In...

Cycore.
November 29, 2001... To support the launch of its products into the Japanese market, 3D graphics software maker Cycore of Sweden has tapped investments of $500,000 from Sanyo Electric Software Co. and $200,000 from venture capital firm Japan Asia Investment Co....

Dynegy closes $600M acquisition of BG Storage.
November 29, 2001... Houston energy merchant Dynegy Inc., which walked away from its $9.3 billion deal with Enron Corp. Wednesday, managed to complete another deal the same day. Dynegy said it completed its acquisition of BG Storage Ltd. and its natural gas...

Eldorado.
November 29, 2001... The subscription period began Wednesday for shares in Eldorado SA, a wholesale and retail food trading company that plans to debut on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in early spring. It wants to sell 1.3 million shares at Zl15, worth about Zl20...

Helix Hearing agrees to buy NECP.
November 29, 2001... Helix Hearing Care of America Corp., a Montreal supplier of audiology services, said Wednesday it has acquired Denver's Auxiliary Health Benefits Corp. for $3.5 million in cash. Auxiliary, which operates as National Ear Care Plan, handles...

Korea Technology Investment.
November 29, 2001... Seoul-based Korea Technology Investment Corp. has formed a 21.3 billion won ($16.74 million) biotechnology and environmental investment fund, Asia Pulse reported. The fund, MOST No. 4, is backed by Korea Technology Investment Corp., the...

MGI Software admits buyout talks.
November 29, 2001... MGI Software Corp., a provider of visual media software, said Wednesday it is in buyout talks with a party it declined to identify. The Toronto company said it is negotiating a sale in the range of C$1.10 (69 cents) to C$1.20 a share but...

Ministers, banks huddle over Daewoo-FSO bailout.
November 29, 2001... Top government ministers and bank representatives met Wednesday to try to hammer out a rescue package for the Daewoo-FSO auto plant, the birthplace of Poland's auto industry and flagship of the bankrupt South Korean automaker's European...

Montedison in talks for Ausimont.
November 29, 2001... As it continues with the sale of nonenergy assets, Italian conglomerate Montedison SpA said Wednesday that it has begun direct negotiations with Brussels-based chemicals and pharmaceuticals group Solvay SA about buying its fine chemicals unit...

New York OKs National Grid's $8.9B buy of NiMo.
November 29, 2001... Syracuse, N.Y., utility Niagara Mohawk Holdings Inc. said Wednesday the New York Public Service Commission approved its acquisition by National Grid Group plc of the U.K. for $19 per share, or $8.9 billion. NiMo estimates the deal will save...