The Daily Deal articles from November 2003

The Daily Deal archives from November 2003

Bean counter's quarrel.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Richard Morgan For former talk-show host Rosie O'Donnell and Gruner + Jahr USA Publishing chief Dan Brewster, the gloves came off months ago. And their very public bout over who killed the magazine bearing Rosie's name already...

Enron plan could face more objections.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Berke Enron Corp. has to fend off high-profile objectors such as Warren Buffett and possibly Enron North America's examiner, Harrison Goldin, before it can get its disclosure statement approved in three weeks. Goldin...

UAL cleared to sell Orbitz shares.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Soma Biswas A Chicago judge gave bankrupt UAL Corp. approval to sell its shares in Orbitz Inc. at a hearing Thursday, Oct. 30. UAL is selling the Orbitz stake in connection with an upcoming initial public offering of the online...

France may loosen bankruptcy law.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Ross Tieman in Toulouse, France When several French banks agreed to extend [Euro]3.5 billion ($4.1 billion) in credit to help rescue troubled engineering company Alstom SA, a top French politician skewered them for "soutien...

Seitel creditors to push rival plan.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Paul Burton Unsecured creditors of Houston oil and gas drilling data supplier Seitel Inc. are set to troop into court Monday, Nov. 3, to present a competing reorganization plan. The plan from the creditors committee would...

ANC files liquidation plan.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Shanon D. Murray ANC Rental Corp. has filed its liquidation plan and disclosure statement outlining how the company intends to wind down its operations after nearly two years under Chapter 11 protection. In August, Chief Judge...

Radio Unica files for Chapter 11.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Greg Johnson New York radio broadcaster Radio Unica Communications Corp. has filed for Chapter 11 in connection with its upcoming sale to Multicultural Radio Broadcasting Inc. Under a prepackaged petition filed with the U.S....

S&W wins approval to end Ch. 11 case.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Soma Biswas Stone & Webster Inc. won a go-ahead Friday, Oct. 31, to close its bankruptcy case, which has been ongoing since July 2000. But the actual confirmation order terminating the case will be entered on Nov. 18, said...

MCI cleared to exit Chapter 11.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Berke MCI stands ready to put its past mistakes behind it -- as well as its former corporate moniker, WorldCom Inc. -- after the confirmation of its reorganization plan effectively brought its historic 15-month bankruptcy...

Consolidation.
November 3, 2003... Byline: edited by John E. Morris At a time when many technology venture capital firms have been trying to recast themselves as life sciences investors, one fund has avoided making the choice. With the $70 million first closing of its...

Movers & Shakers: Week of Nov. 3, 2003.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Dennis Fitzgerald and Heidi Moore The theme is clients Stephan F. Newhouse, who is about to become president of Morgan Stanley, is glad to see his firm land the role of sell-side adviser in what is arguably the deal of the year...

Hagemeyer in talks about restructuring.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Braude in London Struggling Dutch distribution business Hagemeyer NV is in restructuring talks with its banks and at least one private investor, the company said Friday, Oct. 31. The private equity group is believed to be...

Cepsa narrowly accepts Santander bid.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Danny Fortson in Barcelona The bitterly divided board of Spanish oil company Cepsa approved by a slim margin the controversial [Euro]1.2 billion ($1.4 billion) offer by shareholder Santander Central Hispano SA to nearly double its...

Healthy deals.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Dennis Fitzgerald Merrill Lynch & Co. last week found out exactly how much it missed Casey Safreno, who left his position as co-head of healthcare in August. Safreno, now global head of healthcare banking at Lehman Brothers Inc.,...

Merger mania.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Dennis Fitzgerald Oct. 27's merger mania was a boon for all of Wall Street. But it was particularly good for Goldman, Sachs & Co., which worked on four of the deals announced that day, including the biggest, Bank of America Corp.'s...

Deal sense.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Matt Miller It was 1980, just one year after Sony Corp. set music free and cast teenagers deeper into their self-contained worlds with a portable tape player called the Walkman. In Tokyo, I was attempting to decipher the Japanese...

Editor's letter.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Robert Teitelman In your hand rests The Deal, Vol. 2, No. 1. It's been a year since we launched this weekly, and, clearly in recognition of that anniversary, the deal markets presented us with a dandy gift last week: deals. Big...

Virgin Blue taxis toward IPO.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Josey Puliyenthuruthel in Bangalore, India Australian discount airline Virgin Blue Airlines Pty. Ltd., controlled in part by British tycoon Richard Branson, on Oct. 31 put a price tag of A$500 million ($352 million) on its upcoming...

Biotech buffeted.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Andrew Morse and Frances A. McMorris With so many biotechnology issues lined up waiting to go public, the postponement by Aderis Pharmaceuticals Inc. appeared to be a blow to a surging initial public offering market. Aderis...

Two strong IPOs cap busy week.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Greg Johnson and Frances A. McMorris Five years after pulling a planned initial public offering, the Richmond, Va.-based motor carrier is back on Wall Street. Overnite was just one of a pair of companies that turned in strong...

Spun out.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Michael Geczi As restructurings and Chapter 11s seemingly replace M&A as the focal point both of corporate strategy and the media's financial coverage, it is appropriate to send up a warning signal: The same type of "spinning" that...

Reality check.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Cheryl V. Reicin and Adam Braverman The past few years have featured an unprecedented wave of accounting scandals, restatements of financial statements and corporate fraud. Following closely on the heels of these debacles are...

Corporate shelters.
November 3, 2003... Byline: William J. McDonough The [Public Company Accounting Oversight Board] has a variety of tools to help address problems caused by the use of complex structured transactions designed to inflate financial statement earnings. First,...

News Corp. could tweak DirecTV deal.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Ron Orol in Washington Despite signs that News Corp.'s $6.6 billion acquisition of DirecTV is encountering resistance at the Federal Communications Commission, the media giant may not need to substantially sweeten its proposed...

New twist for Newbridge in China.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Shu-Ching Jean Chen in Hong Kong U.S. private equity firm Newbridge Capital Inc. has taken a dispute over its purchase of a controlling stake in China's Shenzhen Development Bank Co. Ltd. to international arbitration in Paris. ...

Anthem deal gets upbeat prognosis.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Jaret Seiberg in Washington Opponents of Anthem Inc.'s $15 billion acquisition of WellPoint Health Networks Inc. have little hope of delaying the deal, let alone stopping the creation of the country's largest health insurer. ...

Judge OKs Wall Street research settlement.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Shanon D. Murray A federal judge approved the $1.4 billion global settlement the Securities and Exchange Commission reached with 10 investment firms and two former high-profile research analysts, the regulator said Friday Oct. 31....

Italy's banking foundations remain intact.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Heather O'Brian in Milan Italian nonprofit banking foundations' sometimes outsized influence over bank mergers in the country will remain intact but perhaps become less political in nature in the wake of a recent decision by the...

St. Gobain tacks on plastics maker.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Ross Tieman in Toulouse, France Paris-based glass and materials group Cie. de Saint-Gobain SA said Friday, Oct. 31, that it would buy PUM Plastiques from Arcelor SA, the world's biggest steelmaker, for [Euro]185 million ($215...

DreamWorks poised to sell music biz.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Peter Lauria How bad is the current state of the music business? Consider that David Geffen, one of the industry's most prominent figures and staunchest believers, is a few signatures away from selling DreamWorks SKG's music unit...

BofA gives rivals $47B lesson in geography.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Peter Moreira When Bank of America Corp. chief executive Kenneth Lewis outlined his $47 billion, all-stock purchase of FleetBoston Financial Corp. to investors a week ago, he opened with a map of the U.S. showing the concentration...

Yukos raid may hit Russian M&A.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Andrew Bulkeley in Berlin and Patricia Koza in Warsaw Though Moscow's stock market was recovering a day after President Vladimir Putin's government seized a 44% stake in Russia's largest oil company, the aggressive tactics may have...

Merrill exercises UniCredito option.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Heather O'Brian in Milan Merrill Lynch & Co. has exercised an option to acquire a 3.9% stake in Milan-based lender UniCredito Italiano SpA for [Euro]1 billion ($1.2 billion). Nonprofit foundation Cariverona confirmed Friday,...

Buy makes Rexam king of cans.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Lisa Clifford in London and Michael Kepp in Brazil British consumer packaging company Rexam plc became the world's leading beverage can producer Friday, Oct. 31, announcing an agreement to buy Brazil's Latas de Aluminio SA for $462...

Teva drops $3.4B for rival Sicor.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Andrew Morse with Neal Sandler in Tel Aviv In the largest Israeli acquisition ever, Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd., one of the largest makers of generic drugs in the world, said Friday, Oct. 31, that it would acquire...

Starcraft grabs Wheel to Wheel.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Lou Whiteman Auto-parts supplier Starcraft Corp. said Friday, Oct. 31, it would acquire privately held Wheel to Wheel Inc., moving to take full control of a jointly owned subsidiary that provides the buyer with most of its revenue....

Deals of the Week: Oct. 31, 2003.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Paul Bonanos and Matthew Wurtzel While Bank of America Corp.'s $47 billion acquisition of FleetBoston Financial Corp. received most of the press, the real M&A news this week centered on the healthcare and life-sciences sectors,...

Saban hears call of Warner Music.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Richard Morgan All the dickering over Time Warner Inc.'s music assets could come to an abrupt halt now that Haim Saban has entered the fray. Sources confirmed Friday, Oct. 31, that Saban, the billionaire entertainment...

Globalized.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Yvette Kantrow It seemed like old times last Monday when no fewer than five deals -- including one bona fide megadeal -- made their debuts. But from a media standpoint, things weren't quite the way they used to be. The Wall Street...

Remembering Gordo.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Heidi Moore The Gordon A. Rich Memorial Foundation dinner, held Oct. 23 in Credit Suisse First Boston's Madison Avenue art deco lobby, was a bittersweet event that combined touching eulogies with lots of wisecracking. To hear...

Steady Eddie hits the boards.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Brian Cattell in London The guardian of British monetary policy for a decade, Edward George has put his public service days behind him and joined the board of N M Rothschild & Sons Ltd., the family's U.K. branch, as a nonexecutive...

High on life at Vulcan.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Dennis Fitzgerald Paul Allen, the Microsoft Corp. co-founder known for myriad enthusiasms including computers, cable TV, rock music and sports, has been on a life sciences kick of late. In September, he pledged $100 million to the...

Movers & shakers: Nov. 3, 2003.
November 3, 2003... Byline: compiled by Matthew Wurtzel FTI Consulting Inc.,a provider of turnaround, bankruptcy and litigation-related consulting services, announced four senior-level hires. Steven Joffe has joined FTI as senior managing director in its...

Parr values.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Yvette Kantrow and Robert Teitelman On Oct. 24, Gary Parr made a simple prediction: Over the next few years, financial services companies will be responsible for more than 20% of U.S. merger activity. "There's a fair amount of...

View from the City: Man the barricades!
November 3, 2003... Byline: Brian Cattell The spectacular removal earlier this month of ITV plc chairman designate Michael Green has put Britain's boardrooms on notice that they have a new and potent force to reckon with: shareholder activism. It also may...

Pitching the hedge.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Ron Orol The Securities and Exchange Commission is throwing a bone to hedge fund managers who will probably soon have to grapple with the hassles and expense of new compliance and registration requirements. Most of the SEC...

Shot in the arm.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Andrew Morse Since its inception 23 years ago, Amgen Inc. had been a remarkable go-it-alone success story. But in December 2001, it entered a $16 billion stock-and-cash merger with rival Immunex Corp., a milestone in its rise from...

Carlyle plans to exit KorAm Bank.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Roger du Mars in Seoul Standard Chartered plc, Citigroup Inc. and HSBC Holdings plc may face off in an auction for a 36.6% stake in South Korea's KorAm Bank currently held by Carlyle Group and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Carlyle...

Dollar deployment.
November 3, 2003... Byline: David Carey David Rubenstein may be the strategist-in-chief and most visible partner at Carlyle Group, a $16 billion global private equity empire headquartered in Washington, but William E. Conway Jr. is the private equity...

Wellspring wraps up JW Aluminum.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Kelly Holman In its third deal of the year, Wellspring Capital Management LLC has signed an agreement to acquire JW Aluminum Co. from Walter Industries Inc. of Tampa, Fla., for $125 million. Mount Holly, S.C.-based JW Aluminum...

National Medical gets $80M shot.
November 3, 2003... Byline: David Carey New Mountain Capital LLC plans to pay $80 million for a controlling stake in National Medical Health Card Systems Inc., a publicly traded pharmacy benefit manager. New Mountain, a New York private equity firm, said...

Cinar sold after two-year tussle.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Ron Orol in Washington and Laura King in Toronto After pressuring ailing Canadian education and entertainment company Cinar Corp. for two years to sell itself, activist investor Robert Chapman finally got the deal he wanted. ...

Minority report.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Jaret Seiberg Bank of America Corp.'s $47 billion acquisition of FleetBoston Financial Corp. may be the last hurrah for the Community Reinvestment Act, a 1970s-era law that for years has been a thorn in the side of acquisitive...

Return to normalcy?
November 3, 2003... Byline: David Marcus For lawyers who had grown accustomed to pro-shareholder rulings from the Delaware courts in the past year and a half, Chancellor William Chandler III's decision in Beam v. Stewart was a welcome departure. In a 47-page...

Commerce One explores sale.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Peter Moreira Internet software maker Commerce One Inc., after reporting its quarterly loss had narrowed, said Thursday it had appointed investment boutique Broadview International llc to review strategic options including a...

Top in tech: Oct. 31, 2003.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Paul Bonanos Dealmaking news centered on the healthcare sector this week, with a $3 billion pharmaceutical deal, and three biotechnology companies IPOs that registered solid performances. Even among venture deals, biotech companies...

What's Hot: Oct 31, 2003.
November 3, 2003... Byline: George White After sinking to one of its lowest points of the year, venture capital dealflow turned higher for the week ended Oct. 31. Startups raised $309.15 million in new funding, up 74% from the $177.7 million secured in...

Venture Well: Big profits in small packages?
November 3, 2003... Byline: Claire Poole When Steve Jurvetson came to Houston a few weeks ago to speak at Rice University on a subject near and dear to his heart -- nanotechnology -- it was like he was preaching to the choir. The city is pinning some of...

DoveBid raises $28M round.
November 3, 2003... Byline: Clifford Carlsen For many venture capitalists, "B2B e-commerce" remain dirty words. But backers of DoveBid Inc. have put up $28 million in debt and equity in what's expected to be the final financing round for the online...

Redback seeks bankruptcy protection.
November 4, 2003... Byline: David Shabelman in San Francisco Once viewed as a potential rival to technology giant Cisco Systems Inc., Redback Networks Inc. on Monday, Nov. 3, declared bankruptcy. In a prepackaged filing, the San Jose, Calif.-based maker of...

Noteholders lean on HealthSouth.
November 5, 2003... Byline: Terry Brennan Embattled HealthSouth Corp. has run into a roadblock on its out-of-court restructuring as noteholders threaten to call their debt. The Birmingham, Ala., healthcare giant, in default since April 1 on $349.9 million...

Rival emerges for Berkshire in Seitel bidding.
November 5, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Berke Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. found out Tuesday that it will have competition in the bidding for bankrupt Seitel Inc. Judge Peter Walsh of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in...

Mirant finishes Birchwood stake sale.
November 5, 2003... Byline: Claire Poole Bankrupt power producer Mirant Corp. said Tuesday, Nov. 4, it closed the sale of 49.5% of its 50% stake in the 242-megawatt Birchwood power plant in Fredricksburg, Va., to the finance unit of General Electric Co. for...

NASD cuts Amex loose.
November 5, 2003... Byline: Donna Block After five years under the wing of the NASD, the American Stock Exchange LLC is going to be on its own again. The NASD, formerly the National Association of Securities Dealers, is transferring the exchange back to...

IPO Outlook: Nov. 5, 2003.
November 5, 2003... Byline: Shu-Ching Jean Chen in Hong Kong and Josey Puliyenthuruthel in Bangalore, India TolerRx Biopharmaceutical company TolerRx Inc. said it is selling 4.7 million shares in a $12 to $14 per share range, according to an amended...

ALE Property Group.
November 5, 2003... Byline: The Daily Deal A new property trust floated by Australia's Foster's Group Ltd. raised A$62 million ($44 million) Monday in an initial public offering intended to help finance a deal to buy real estate assets owned by the brewer's...

Trevisan.
November 5, 2003... Byline: The Daily Deal Shares of aluminum coating group Trevisan SpA have been priced at [Euro]3.1 per share, towards the low end of a previously announced range of [Euro]3 to [Euro]3.4 per share, the company said Monday. Investor demand...

HealthSouth ex-chief hit with SOX.
November 5, 2003... Byline: David Marcus The U.S. Department of Justice unveiled an 85-count indictment Tuesday, Nov. 4, against Richard M. Scrushy, the former chief executive of HealthSouth Corp., accusing him of adding $2.74 billion dollars of "fictitious...

Outlets press for abolition of media rules.
November 5, 2003... Byline: Ron Orol in Washington Contending new limits on mergers among radio, television and newspaper companies are illegal, media outlets Tuesday, Nov. 4, urged a federal appeals court to abolish all restrictions on dealmaking. "Given...

3i hooks up to Total Home Entertainment.
November 5, 2003... Byline: The Daily Deal British venture capital house 3i Group plc said Monday it bought 49.5% of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire-based Total Home Entertainment for [pounds sterling]28 million ($47 million). 3i said Total Home, which supplies...

France sheds last of Thomson stake.
November 5, 2003... Byline: The Daily Deal The French government on Tuesday sold its remaining 18.5% stake in Paris-based electronics group Thomson SA, raising about [Euro]950 million ($1.1 billion). The sale of the shares came only a day after Thomson...

FuelCell holders back Thermoelectric deal.
November 5, 2003... Byline: The Daily Deal Danbury, Conn., alternative power provider FuelCell Energy Inc. said Friday its shareholders approved its purchase of Calgary, Alberta, counterpart Global Thermoelectric Inc. for $80 million in stock. Closing is set...

Ashford Hospitality acquires Noble hotels.
November 5, 2003... Byline: The Daily Deal Dallas-based Ashford Hospitality Trust Inc. said Friday it signed a deal to acquire four hotels for $33.85 million from privately held Atlanta hotel management company Noble Investment Group LLC. The portfolio...

Grant, Lannin, Michaels launch LBO firm.
November 5, 2003... Byline: The Daily Deal Three veteran dealmakers said Tuesday they had formed Stone Arch Capital LLC. The Minneapolis LBO firm will purchase middle-market companies in the Midwest. Founders Peter Grant, who in July resigned as U.S. chairman...

Hana Bank takes control of Qingdao Bank.
November 5, 2003... Byline: The Daily Deal South Korea's No. 4 bank Hana Bank agreed Friday to acquire a 72.2% stake in China's Qingdao International Bank for $24.5 million. Qingdao, which has $20 million in capital, was formed in 1996 as 50-50 joint venture...

Israel creating venture capital rules.
November 5, 2003... Byline: The Daily Deal The Israel Venture Association is formulating a nonbinding code of ethics for the local venture capital industry. The move is part of an effort to more clearly define the relations between funds and investors as well...

Kone sheds forest machines division.
November 5, 2003... Byline: The Daily Deal Finnish engineering company Kone Corp. said Tuesday it is selling its forest machines unit to Japanese mining equipment maker Komatsu Ltd. for [Euro]120 million ($138 million). In September, Kone sold its tractor...

Metro gives up on property unit sale.
November 5, 2003... Byline: The Daily Deal As expected, German retailer Metro AG on Friday abandoned a three-year quest to sell its 49% stake in its property management division amid tax questions and after it attracted only one bidder. Dusseldorf-based Metro...

Quovadx getting Rogue Wave Software.
November 5, 2003... Byline: The Daily Deal Englewood, Colo., healthcare industry software maker Quovadx Inc. said Tuesday it would buy Boulder, Colo., competitor Rogue Wave Software Inc. in deal valued at $71 million. Quovadx will pay $38 million, or $4.09 a...

Rabobank to buy Ag Services.
November 5, 2003... Byline: The Daily Deal Rabobank Group, the Utrecht, Netherlands-based bank, agreed Monday to expand its U.S. business by buying fellow agricultural lender Ag Services of America Inc. for about $47 million. Rabobank, which lends mainly to...

Radio Unica files for Chapter 11.
November 5, 2003... Byline: The Daily Deal New York radio broadcaster Radio Unica Communications Corp. has filed for Chapter 11 in connection with its upcoming sale to Multicultural Radio Broadcasting Inc. Under a prepackaged petition filed with the U.S....

Slim could win Empresas ICA in offering.
November 5, 2003... Byline: The Daily Deal ICA, Mexico's largest construction company, is raising 2.48 billion pesos ($225 million) through a rights issue backed by billionaire Carlos Slim. The Mexican financier may end up holding about 45% of ICA, formally...

SunOpta to buy snack maker Sonne Labs.
November 5, 2003... Byline: The Daily Deal Toronto natural and organic foods supplier SunOpta Inc. confirmed Friday it had agreed to buy Sonne Labs Inc., a Wahpeton, N.D., company that makes natural and organic snack foods using soy, corn and sunflower...

Letter from Delaware.
November 6, 2003... Byline: Shanon D. Murray, with staff reports Stalking-horse bidders in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware must be feeling nervous. There have been several incidents recently in which a stalking-horse bidder had to forgo...