The Daily Deal articles from November 2004

The Daily Deal archives from November 2004

Rusal prevails again in QA auction.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Greg Johnson For the second time in seven months, ZAO Russian Aluminum has bested rivals in an auction to buy a key division of Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. Moscow-based Rusal bid $461 million on Thursday, Oct. 28, to win...

NEGT exits bankruptcy after a year.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Ben Fidler After over a year in court, power producer and pipeline operator National Energy & Gas Transmission Inc. has emerged from Chapter 11. The Bethesda, Md.-based company's reorganization plan, which unseated Pacific Gas...

Applause sells trademark for $7.5M.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Erik Moser Applause LLC has had anything but a soft and fluffy couple of months. First, the CEO of the Woodland Hills, Calif.-based maker of stuffed animals and plush toys committed suicide on Aug. 20. Eleven days later, three...

Kiel Bros. sells properties in bulk.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Terry Brennan It took multiple bidding rounds before the $31.88 million offer by Bulk Petroleum Corp. captured an estimated 200 properties owned by bankrupt Kiel Bros. Oil Co. Marinette, Wis.-based Bulk Petroleum bested the $28...

UAL may default on DIP loan.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Soma Biswas by Soma Biswas UAL Corp., the parent of United Air Lines Inc., is warning it may default on its $1 billion debtor-in-possession loan because it may fail to meet mandates on fourth-quarter loan cov enants. ...

Gadzooks gets funding okay.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Jonathan Berke Judge Harlin DeWayne Hale of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas in Dallas granted Gadzooks Inc. interim approval on its $5 million emergency funding request on Friday, October 29. The...

Hollywood Casino sale up in air.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Jonathan Berke A federal bankruptcy judge was set to rule whether Hollywood Casino Shreveport can proceed with a sale to Eldorado Resorts LLC or line up a new auction for the casino-resort. Hollywood has a request to hold...

Restless rest stops.
November 1, 2004... Byline: edited by John E. Morris Last month TravelCenters of America Inc. staged an October surprise. The Westlake, Ohio-based truck stop operator, which Texas financier Robert M. Bass' Oak Hill Capital Partners LP has owned since November...

Bland day for another REIT IPO.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Phineas Lambert Digital Realty Trust Inc. traded flat Friday, Oct. 29, in its first day on the New York Stock Exchange, spending much of the morning hovering at its $12 a share opening price. The real estate investment trust...

IPO outlook: Nov. 1, 2004.
November 1, 2004... Byline: edited by Jon Asmundsson Hastings Funds selling unit in IPO Hastings Funds Management Ltd. said it plans to raise A$379 million ($282 million) from the sale of its shares in pipeline operator Hastings Diversified Utilities Fund...

IPO outlook: November 01, 2004.
November 1, 2004... Byline: edited by Jon Asmundsson edited by Jon Asmundsson Hastings Funds selling unit in IPO Hastings Funds Management Ltd. said it plans to raise A$379 million ($282 million) from the sale of its shares in pipeline operator...

Home base.
November 1, 2004... Byline: James L. Case and Steven Bernard With overall mergers and acquisitions activity accelerating, the household durable products industry is experiencing a new round of consolidation, offering investors a variety of opportunities to...

For the defense.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Jon Dubrow Thanks to two recent court cases, companies seeking to merge with or acquire competitors have a better chance of getting their deal through antitrust review. In both cases, the court rejected government challenges,...

Disney, Delaware and Justice.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Richard Morgan Not everybody in these environs feels as bonded to Hollywood as Rocky Justice. The retired cop, currently the chief of Chancery Courthouse security, was named after a movie actor -- a cowboy actor, to be precise,...

ContentGuard could spawn imbroglio.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Danny Fortson in London The European Commission looks set to block the acquisition of U.S. anti-piracy software developer ContentGuard Inc. by Microsoft Corp. and Time Warner Inc., according to published reports -- a move that would...

New & noteworthy: November 01, 2004.
November 1, 2004... Byline: edited by Greg Johnson edited by Greg Johnson Weyerhaeuser buys Brazil firm Weyerhaeuser Co. announced Friday it has acquired a two-thirds ownership in Aracruz Produtos de Madeira SA, a subsidiary of Aracruz Celulose SA....

In play: November 01, 2004.
November 1, 2004... Byline: edited by Greg Johnson edited by Greg Johnson Sponsor Cap exits Indoor Group Finnish retailer Kesko Corp. said Friday that its Keswell Ltd. subsidiary now has an agreement to acquire Finland's Indoor Group Ltd. furniture...

Black wants Hollinger Inc. buyout.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Peter Moreira Disgraced press baron Conrad Black wants to buy out minority shareholders in his Canadian holding company Hollinger Inc., though he has not yet said what he is willing to pay. Toronto-based Hollinger put out a...

International Deals of the Week: Oct. 29, 2004.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Gerald C. Magpily Sometimes it takes a deal to make a deal, and that's exactly what Ispat International NV's did when it merged with sister company LNM Holdings NV for $13.3 billion. That transaction eventually led to the combined...

Yahoo! bears down on MarketWatch.
November 1, 2004... Byline: David Shabelman in San Francisco and Peter Lauria in New York Yahoo! Inc. is emerging as a leading bidder for MarketWatch Inc., although the Internet giant will face stiff competition from CBS parent Viacom Inc. and other media...

SPX to sell BOMAG for $446m.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Peter Moreira Charlotte, N.C.-based technical products and systems provider SPX Corp. agreed Friday, Oct. 29, to sell BOMAG, its German compaction equipment business, for about $446 million in cash France's Fayat Group. SPX,...

Bezeq sale attracts eight bidders.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Neal Sandler in Tel Aviv There were few surprises on the list of bidders released Friday, Oct. 29, by the Israeli Ministry of Finance for the state's controlling interest in Bezeq Israel Telecommunications Co. Ltd. Eight groups...

EVN pays $345M for utilities.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Patricia Koza Bulgaria on Friday, Oct. 29, concluded the second of three deals to privatize its electricity distribution sector with an agreement to sell majority stakes in the Elektrorazpredelenie Plovdiv AD and...

Sagem to take over Snecma.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Ross Tieman in Toulouse, France Bucking the trend for industrial focus, the French government on Friday, Oct. 29, approved the selloff of state-owned engine maker Societe Nationale d'Etude et de Moteurs d'Aviation, known as Snecma...

Nexen buys EnCana assets.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Laura King in Toronto Calgary's Nexen Inc. is buying the British North Sea oil operations of larger cross-town rival EnCana Corp. for $2.1 billion in cash to help replace other fields that are declining. The deal gives Nexen a...

Analysts question Mondavi.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Chris Nolter Given its druthers, the management of Napa, Calif., winemaker Robert Mondavi Corp. would like to wait until after its Nov. 30 annual meeting is completed before it makes a final decision about the company's strategic...

Deals of the Week: Oct. 29, 2004.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Gerald C. Magpily It was the story of one company merging with another to become big enough to buy International Steel Group Inc. for $4.5 billion on Oct. 25 that registered as the No. 1 U.S. deal of the week. Ispat...

Manugistics wages survival fight.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Cheryl Meyer Manugistics Group Inc. said Friday, Oct. 29, that it has adopted a shareholder rights plan, renewing speculation that the embattled supply-chain software company could be prepping for a sale. A source said several...

Steel curtains.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Yvette Kantrow The American steel industry's obituary has been written many times. Most of us are familiar by now with how, in the course of 30 years or so, scores of once-mighty U.S. steel giants went belly-up, crushed by foreign...

SPX sells compaction business.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Andrew Bulkeley in Berlin Charlotte, N.C.-based technical products and systems provider SPX Corp. agreed Friday, Oct. 29, to sell Bomag GmbH, its German compaction equipment business, to France's Fayat Group to help pay off debt....

Charterhouse, CDC bid for TDF.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Ross Tieman in Toulouse, France France Telecom SA, the Paris-based phone operator, confirmed Friday, Oct. 29, that it has received an offer for its remaining 36% stake in Telediffusion de France, the broadcasting towers business,...

Movers & shakers: Week of Nov. 1, 2004.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Dennis Fitzgerald and Heidi Moore Tidbury tries Greenhill Hugh Tidbury, who has spent 18 years as a prominent chemicals banker at Deutsche Bank AG and its predecessor Morgan Grenfell, has jumped ship to the London office of...

Banking, the Beltway and Burson.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Heidi Moore Between August 2001 and July 2004, the media was Tom Nides' enemy. As Credit Suisse First Boston's chief administrative officer, Nides saw his passel of duties -- corporate communications, lobbying, human resources,...

Consumer clout.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Heidi Moore As Goldman, Sachs & Co.'s revenues go, so goes its partnership pool. Movers has to conclude that the firm's consumer-products investment banking group has been having a bang-up year, given that it recently produced...

Movers & shakers: Nov. 1, 2004.
November 1, 2004... Byline: compiled by Baz Hiralal Ulrich Cartellieri is quitting Deutsche Bank AG's supervisory board because of a difference of opinion with the bank's current strategy. Paul Kirchhof, director of the Institute for Finance and Tax Law and...

The trial.
November 1, 2004... Byline: David Marcus Delaware's Court of Chancery in Wilmington is located in a 2-year-old building that houses an array of the state's other courts. But Chancery has an entire floor to itself -- the 12th and highest floor -- so when you...

View from the City: London lists.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Brian Cattell in London Companies mulling a possible listing on the London Stock Exchange over the next few months are likely to face a tough decision. The U.K. stock market's performance over the past year has been sluggish,...

Deal sense.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Jeffrey Kanige A Nation Nonplussed: Day 12. As you read these words, it has been about two weeks since the world as we knew it was turned upside down. Millions of Americans are still perplexed. Bloody mayhem reigned in one of our...

CLEC connections.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Josh Karlen The news should come as no surprise: Supra Telecommunications and Information Systems Inc., a small, bankrupt, Miami-based telecommunications company, is poised to be acquired by a consortium of venture capital firms in...

Deal diary.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Dennis Fitzgerald The $1.3 billion unsolicited bid that Constellation Brands Inc. has made for Robert Mondavi Corp. has put Citigroup Global Markets Inc. in a situation worthy of "Falcon Crest," the '80s prime-time soap opera about...

Public trust.
November 1, 2004... Byline: William H. Donaldson While the [Securities and Exchange Commission] has made real and lasting progress against malfeasance, we are nonetheless waging an uphill fight. The latest UBS/Gallup index of investor optimism remains...

Editor's letter.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Robert Teitelman Just when you thought he'd become a permanent guest on the rubber chicken circuit, Eliot Spitzer reappears in a cloud of press releases, looking more ascetically monk-like than ever. His target this time, of...

The halfhearted bid.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Ron Orol Don't expect MSC Software Corp. directors to be sitting with bated breath waiting for a revised bid from ValueAct Capital Partners LP. In a letter disclosed Oct. 4, San Francisco-based ValueAct offered $9 a share, or...

Nifty at 50.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Claire Poole J. Larry Nichols didn't have a crystal ball that told him that oil prices would climb to over $50 a barrel 18 months after he bought Ocean Energy Inc. But the Devon Energy Corp. CEO is a deal junkie. When Devon bought...

KKR in talks for Duales System.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Andrew Bulkeley in Berlin Reacting to objections by Germany's competition regulator about its monopoly position, German packaging recycler Duales System Deutschland AG on Friday, Oct. 29, said it is in exclusive sale talks with...

Do it yourself.
November 1, 2004... Byline: David Carey Ira Kleinman still recalls the disparaging reviews from 2002. "Analysts said we were overpaying, buying at the high end of the cycle," says the Harvest Partners dealmaker about the aspersions aimed at his deal to buy...

J.W. Childs to cut razor deal.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Kelly Holman Boston buyout firm J.W. Childs Associates LP has put its portfolio company American Safety Razor Co. up for sale. The Cedar Knolls, N.J., maker of house brand razor blades and Burma Shave products could command $450...

Goldman still after Warner Chilcott.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Lisa Gewirtz The battle for Northern Ireland drugmaker Warner Chilcott plc isn't over yet. A bidding consortium led by Goldman Capital Partners -- which appeared to have lost the auction Wednesday, Oct. 27, to a group led by...

Onex invests in diagnostic imaging.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Laura King in Toronto Toronto-based Onex Corp. said Friday, Oct. 29, its Onex Partners LP private equity fund is buying Minneapolis-based Center for Diagnostic Imaging Inc. in a deal valuing the company at about $184 million,...

Getting a fix.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Jaret Seiberg The Department of Justice is giving companies the green light to craft solutions to anticompetitive mergers without first entering into an agreement with the agency's antitrust division. In its most in-depth comments...

Population control.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Olaf de Senerpont Domis Nearly 1,600 chip-equipment companies showed off their technology this past summer at Semicon West. And in a hyper-cyclical business notorious for its executives' go-it-alone mindsets, the industry's annual...

Med-Shred pulls in $7M.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Clifford Carlsen Toxic trash treatment vendor Med-Shred Inc. of Houston turned to its local first-round venture capital backer and four new Southern venture firms for its $7 million second round of funding, doubling the startup's...

Retailer Zappos taps Sequoia.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Phineas Lambert Online shoe retailer Zappos.com Inc. on Friday, Oct. 29, announced a $20 million Series E round of equity funding led by Sequoia Capital Partners of Menlo Park, Calif., and concurrently closed an increase of its...

DealFlow: November 01, 2004.
November 1, 2004... Byline: Author Here by Author Here Software Seanodes Colommiers, France-based Seanodes SA, a software company developing applications for Linux cluster computing systems, has raised [Euro]1.5 million ($1.91 million) from...

Examiner to probe casino auction.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Jonathan Berke Bankrupt Hollywood Casino Shreveport will be allowed to proceed with its reorganization plan, but it'll still have to convince a court-appointed examiner that it conducted a fair auction process. Hollywood Casino...

Five Rivers Electronics burns out.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Erik Moser Five Rivers Electronic Innovations LLC always held its own during years of fighting underpriced Chinese imports. But the last U.S.-owned television maker in the country was done in two weeks ago when Philips Consumer...

RCN seeks extra $20M.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Soma Biswas RCN Corp. is looking for court approval to increase its exit financing by $20 million to a total of $480 million. The company has lined up a $460 million exit financing package from Deutsche Bank AG, and it plans to...

Parmalat USA plots future.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Jonathan Berke Parmalat USA Corp., a unit of the insolvent Parma, Italy-based Parmalat Finanzaria SpA, is formulating a reorganization plan around its Farmland Dairies LLC division that has assets in New York and New Jersey. ...

Beal Bank backing Trump Hotels.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Jonathan Berke Beal Bank was chosen to provide Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts Inc. with a $100 million debtor-in-possession loan, late Monday afternoon, once Donald Trump's publicly traded casino empire files for bankruptcy. ...

CEO shuffle: Nov. 1, 2004.
November 2, 2004... Byline: David Ehrlich Plano, Texas-based J.C. Penney Co. Inc. has brought in Myron Ullman to lead the slimmed-down retailer, while Scott McGregor has returned from overseas to help boost sales at Irvine, Calif.-based Broadcom Corp. ...

Spokane diocese threatens Ch. 11.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Matt Miller The Catholic diocese of Spokane, Wash., is considering filing for bankruptcy, making it the latest jurisdiction to threaten Chapter 11 as a response to sex-abuse lawsuits. Bishop William Skylstad wrote parishioners...

Delta gets $500M funding.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Lou Whiteman in Atlanta Delta Air Lines Inc. said Monday, Nov. 1, it signed a commitment letter with GE Commercial Finance and other lenders to provide $500 million of financing, strengthening the airline's cash position as it...

IPO Outlook: November 1, 2004.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Compiled by Peter Moreira Tarpon Industries to raise $22.7m in IPO Marysville, Michigan-based steel tubing and steel storage rack maker Tarpon Industries Inc. on Monday, Nov. 1, told the Securities and Exchange Commission it...

Yellow Pages (Singapore) to debut.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Shu-Ching Jean Chen in Hong Kong Little over a year after being snapped up by CVC Capital Partners Asia Pacific LP and J.P. Morgan Asia Investment Partners LP for 220 million Singapore dollars ($132 million), Yellow Pages...

IPO outlook: Nov. 2, 2004.
November 2, 2004... Byline: edited by Jon Asmundsson Ceres Power to float shares Sussex, U.K.-based fuel cell maker Ceres Power Ltd. has announced plans to float on London's Alternative Investment Market stock exchange later this month. Ceres plans to...

In play: November 02, 2004.
November 2, 2004... Byline: edited by Greg Johnson edited by Greg Johnson Delta gets $500M funding Delta Air Lines Inc. said Monday it signed a commitment letter with GE Commercial Finance and other lenders to provide $500 million of financing,...

New & noteworthy: November 02, 2004.
November 2, 2004... Byline: edited by Greg Johnson edited by Greg Johnson Advent Venture sheds 2 units London-based Advent Venture Partners sold U.K. biotechs Upstate Group Inc. and DNA Research Innovations to a pair of U.S. corporate buyers for $270...

Oracle raises PeopleSoft bid.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Peter Moreira Redwood Shores, Calif.-based software giant Oracle Corp. on Monday, Nov. 1, raised its offer for PeopleSoft Inc. to $24 a share from $21, saying this was its final offer in the marathon hostile bid. Oracle put out...

BorgWarner adds Germany's Beru.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Andrew Bulkeley in Berlin U.S. car parts maker BorgWarner Inc. on Monday, Nov. 1, announced a two-part agreement to acquire Beru AG for [Euro]621 million ($791.9 million) in a deal that will double the money of the German target's...

Valero to buy Kaneb firms.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Peter Moreira San Antonio, Texas-based Valero LP, which owns energy pipeline and storage facilities, agreed Monday, Nov. 1, to buy Kaneb Services LLC and Kaneb Pipe Line Partners LP for about $2.8 billion to add pipelines in the...

Shell, Exxon sell Dutch assets.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Nick Watson The Dutch government on Monday, Nov. 1, said it has agreed to buy the gas transportation joint venture of Royal/Dutch Shell Group and Exxon Mobil Corp. for [Euro]2.78 billion ($3.54 billion). The agreement will...

DealEstate: Nov. 2, 2004.
November 2, 2004... Byline: compiled by TheDeal.com news staff BANKRUPTCY Oct. 28 Paul Allen unprotected in new reorganization Neither billionaire Paul Allen nor any of his officers will receive protection under a new amended reorganization plan...

Analysts ponder DoubleClick's options.
November 2, 2004... Byline: David Shabelman DoubleClick Inc.'s decision Sunday, Oct. 31, to hire Lazard for financial advice had analysts wondering just how hot other companies would view DoubleClick's chosen market niche. New York-based DoubleClick said...

Valero picks up Kaneb duo for $2.8B.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Claire Poole in Houston San Antonio energy products transportation and storage company Valero LP said Monday, Nov. 1, it agreed to buy Dallas rival Kaneb Services LLC and Kaneb Pipe Line Partners LP for $2.8 billion in cash, stock...

Oracle ups ante for PeopleSoft.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Cheryl Meyer This is really the last time, Oracle Corp. insisted Monday, Nov. 1, after it raised its bid to buy rival PeopleSoft Inc. to $24 per share, or roughly $8.9 billion. "It's our best and final offer," Oracle chairman...

Getronics returns to deal table.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Danny Fortson In its first major deal since its disastrous purchase in 1999 of Wang Global, Dutch information technology services group Getronics NV announced Monday, Nov. 1, a [Euro]338 million ($433 million) cash-and-stock bid...

L3 buys marine controls unit.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Lou Whiteman Rebuffed in its effort to buy something bigger, L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. has returned to its roots -- rolling up bit players in the defense industry. The New York-based defense contractor said Monday, Nov....

Crescent orders Church's Chicken.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Vyvyan Tenorio Atlanta private equity firm Crescent Capital Investments has struck an agreement to buy the Church's Chicken chain from AFC Enterprises Inc. for $390 million in cash. Church's is the latest in a string of restaurant...

Chalone Wine Group sold for $158M.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Chris Nolter Unveiling a transaction as complex as a first-growth Bordeaux, Chalone Wine Group Ltd. announced Monday, Nov. 1, that it would accept a buyout offer from vintner Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) that values the...

India's Tata buys Tyco assets.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Josey Puliyenthuruthel in Mumbai India's Tata Group gave its telecom ambitions a lift Monday, Nov. 1, when it bought Tyco International Ltd.'s global telecom network for $130 million, a fraction of what the scandal-ridden New...

Hicks Muse buying Regency Gas for $405M.
November 2, 2004... Byline: David Carey Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Inc. has agreed to purchase Regency Gas Services LLC, a natural-gas gathering, processing and transmission business, in a secondary buyout from Charlesbank Capital Partners LLC for $405...

Movers & shakers: Nov. 2, 2004.
November 2, 2004... Byline: compiled by Matthew Wurtzel Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein has hired Harry Culham, formerly of AIG, as global head of foreign exchange. While at AIG for three years, Culham was deputy head of foreign exchange and head of trading at...

Carlyle sells Beru to BorgWarner.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Andrew Bulkeley in Berlin Auto parts maker BorgWarner Inc. announced a two-part agreement Monday, Nov. 1, to acquire control of ignition components maker Beru AG for [Euro]621 million ($791 million) from Carlyle Group and other...

New Vision sells TV station.
November 2, 2004... Byline: Kelly Holman Washington, D.C., private equity firm Arlington Capital Partners said Monday, Nov. 1, that its portfolio company, New Vision Group, will sell Santa Barbara, Calif., TV station KSBY to Evening Post Publishing Co. for...