The Daily Deal articles from September 2002

The Daily Deal archives from September 2002

AEP completes CitiPower sale to CKI, HKE for $855M.
September 2, 2002... Columbus, Ohio, utility giant American Electric Power Co. said last week it closed the sale of CitiPower, its electric and gas utility in Melbourne, Australia, to Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Ltd. and Hongkong Electric of Hong Kong for...

Belgacom opens talks for Vivendi's Canal Plus.
September 2, 2002... Belgium telecom Belgacom SA admitted last week that it has held exploratory talks with French media giant Vivendi Universal SA about buying the Belgian assets of Vivendi's pay TV unit Canal Plus. Vivendi wants to sell certain non-core assets to...

BroadSoft.
September 2, 2002... Gaithersburg, Md.-based voice applications provider BroadSoft Inc. has secured a $33 million fourth round of funding, which follows a $19.5 million round in January that was intended to take the company to profitability. Grotech Capital Group...

Brown & Jackson sheds chains.
September 2, 2002... Leeds, U.K.-based Brown & Jackson plc said Friday it agreed to sell its four money losing retail chains to Tradegro Ltd. for ?million ($73 million). After the sale of Your More Store Ltd., What Everyone Wants Ltd., The Famous Brunswick...

Celeris.
September 2, 2002... Hinwill, Switzerland-based managed security service company Celeris SA said late last week that it had closed a SFr5 million ($3.3 million) second round of financing led by Armada Venture Group, a Zurich-based venture capital fund founded by...

Coke buys Chinese drink plant.
September 2, 2002... Coca-Cola Co., the world's largest beverage company, has taken over sole ownership in its non-carbonated soft drinks plant located in the southern Chinese city of Dongguan by paying RMB$193.5 million ($23.4 million) to Swire Coca-Cola Hong Kong...

First Federal Bancorp urged to seek sale.
September 2, 2002... An investor wants to see Zanesville, Ohio-based First Federal Bancorp Inc. sold to another thrift. According to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing made last week, Harry C.C. MacNealy of Canton, Ohio-based MacNealy Hoover...

KBC Bank acquires Ergo from PSIS.
September 2, 2002... Belgium's KBC Bank & Insurance Group has agreed to acquire 65% of Slovakian insurance company Ergo from Slovakian holding company PSIS for an undisclosed amount. The move marks KBC's first foray into that country's insurance market. KBC will...

Kaupthing formally announces offer for Nordiska.
September 2, 2002... Iceland's Kaupthing Bank last week announced a public offer for the 72% of Swedish brokerage JP Nordiska AB that it doesn't already own. The bid values the Swedish company at SKr727.6 million ($78.23 million). Reykjavik-based Kaupthing, which...

Kingfisher.
September 2, 2002... LONDON -- United Kingdom-based retailer Kingfisher plc reiterated its plans to float its electrical retailing operations by April 2003 on Paris Euronext. In May, Kingfisher stated that it planned to separate its home improvement activities and...

Mackenzie Financial sells US unit.
September 2, 2002... Canadian fund manager Mackenzie Financial Corp. is selling its U.S. subsidiary, Mackenzie Investment Management Inc., to Waddell & Reed Financial Inc. of Kansas City, Mo., in a C$116 million ($74 million) deal. Mackenzie began a review of its...

Miravant Medical.
September 2, 2002... Santa Barbara, Calif.-based Miravant Medical last week raised $2.5 million in a private placement of unregistered public stock at 50 cents a share to an undisclosed group of private equity investors. The sale comes at about a 20% discount to...

Parthus sets vote for merger with DSP chip unit.
September 2, 2002... Ireland's Parthus Technologies plc said last week that its shareholders would vote Sept. 26 on a proposed merger with the Silicon Valley wireless chip unit of DSP Group Inc. The proposed deal would create a company worth $600 million when it...

RBC Centura gets Admiralty.
September 2, 2002... RBC Centura Banks Inc., the Rocky Mount, N.C., division of Toronto's Royal Bank of Canada, is buying the 10-branch Admiralty Bancorp Inc. of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., in a deal worth $150 million. Royal said it expects the deal to boost profits...

SupplyScience.
September 2, 2002... Boston-based SupplyScience Inc. raised $2.5 million from previous investors in a third round that will carry the company forward for another year. Israel Seed Partners, Israel Infinity Venture Capital and Millennium 3 Opportunity Fund put up...

Terex finishes buy of Demag Mobile Cranes.
September 2, 2002... Westport, Conn.-based equipment manufacturer Terex Corp. said last week it has completed its purchase of Germany's Demag Mobile Cranes GmbH & Co. On May 18, Terex said it would pay about $150 million in cash to acquire Demag, the lattice boom...

Westar Energy to sell 45% stake in Oneok.
September 2, 2002... Topeka, Kan., utility and security company Westar Energy Inc. said last week that its Westar Industries Inc. unit would sell all or some of its 45% stake in Tulsa, Okla., natural gas distributor Oneok Inc. Oneok had until Wednesday to buy the...

Fleet Street.
September 3, 2002... Byline: Peter Moreira LONDON - Philip Green once again dominated the coverage in Britain's Sunday newspapers. The flamboyant retail industry entrepreneur on Thursday, Aug. 29, increased his bid for Arcadia Group plc, which owns several...

Bertelsmann unit to sell Net assets.
September 3, 2002... Byline: Joshua Jaffe in London Little more than a month after former chief executive Thomas Middelhoff's abrupt resignation, Bertelsmann AG is looking to return its book clubs business to its pre-Internet origins. The German media...

Green's bid for Arcadia still alive.
September 3, 2002... Byline: Nicola Hobday in London British retail entrepreneur Philip Green is likely to announce a new proposal to acquire retailer Arcadia Group plc Tuesday, Sept. 3 that will allow him to buy the whole company and sell its youth fashion...

S. Korean cable auction down to the wire.
September 3, 2002... Byline: Roger du Mars in Seoul The third time is not usually the charm in South Korea's historically slow-moving privatization program, but Korea Electric Power Corp. hopes to beat the odds Wednesday, Sept. 4 when it attempts again to...

Royal Precision cuts offer to take it private.
September 3, 2002... Byline: Claire Poole in Houston Royal Precision Inc., a Torrington, Conn.-based maker of golf club shafts and grips, said Friday, Aug. 30. that private holding company Royal Associates Inc. led by management is continuing its efforts to...

Lehman nears $800M Woori deal.
September 3, 2002... Byline: Roger du Mars in Seoul Lehman Brothers is set to acquire this month a stake in Woori Finance Holdings Co., a stake in Woori Asset Management and possibly some bad loans, too, from the South Korean government-owned financial...

Viasystems to file Chapter 11.
September 3, 2002... Byline: Kelly Holman St. Louis-based Viasystems Group Inc., a portfolio company of Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Inc., said Friday, Aug. 30 it expects to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in mid-September as part of a pre-packaged...

British fitness club ponders $277M takeover offer.
September 3, 2002... Byline: Peter Moreira in London LONDON ? Upmarket British fitness club operator Holmes Place plc said Monday, Sept. 2 it has received several approaches about a takeover, including one from rival Cannons Group, which is owned by Royal...

Chohung near credit card stake sale.
September 3, 2002... Byline: Roger du Mars in Seoul Chohung Bank is nearing a sale of a stake in its credit card business, as South Korea's third-largest lender pursues a broad restructuring. Bongki Jang, a senior manager at the bank, said Tuesday, Sept....

Level 3 goes shopping.
September 3, 2002... Byline: Chris Nolter Undeterred by the rejection of its bid for Williams Communications Group, Broomfield, Colo.-based bandwidth merchant Level 3 Communications Inc. is embarking on another round of shopping. With the vast array of...

HSR early terms - Sept. 3, 2002.
September 3, 2002... Byline: Jaret Seiberg The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday, Sept. 3, that it does not have antitrust objections to a deal involving ARAMARK Corp. and Premier Technology Management Inc. Also receiving early termination notices under...

Vodafone unlikely to wrest SFR.
September 3, 2002... Byline: Brian Cattell in London The British mobile phone company Vodafone Group plc is unlikely to make an unsolicited bid for SFR, the French mobile operator controlled by the debt-laden conglomerate Vivendi Universal SA. A source...

Elektrim held to repayment pact.
September 3, 2002... Byline: Patricia Koza WARSAW -- Bondholders of debt-plagued Polish conglomerate Elektrim SA on Tuesday, Sept. 3, hinted at a future compromise over repayment of [Euro]440 million($447 million) in defaulted bonds, provided Elektrim first...

DSM to pick up Roche vitamins.
September 3, 2002... Byline: Renee Cordes BRUSSELS -- Dutch chemicals company DSM NV became the world's largest vitamin manufacturer Tuesday, Sept. 3, after agreeing to swallow Roche AG's vitamins and fine chemicals division for a bargain [Euro]2.25 billion...

Springer wins injunction against Kirch.
September 3, 2002... Byline: Jonathan Braude As if things weren't dire enough already, Leo Kirch's woes are continuing to build. The latest bad news for the 76-year-old chief of failed German media empire Kirch Group came Tuesday, Sept. 3, when Axel...

Legal tussle over Hershey begins.
September 3, 2002... Byline: David Marcus Reporters, risk arbitrageurs and community activists crowded into Dauphin County Orphans Court Tuesday, Sept. 3, as Judge ?ren Morgan considered whether to stop a possible sale of Hershey Foods Corp. Throughout the...

Kraft nixes Mexican juice deal.
September 3, 2002... Byline: Tara Croft Kraft Food Inc.'s tentative deal to buy Mexico's second-largest juice company has collapsed after the two parties failed to come to terms. Kraft had entered into a nonbinding agreement to buy juice-maker Jugos del Valle...

Banorte to stay solo?
September 3, 2002... Byline: Daniel J. McCosh in Mexico City As Mexico's last remaining big independent bank, it's only natural that Grupo Financiero Banorte's shares should soar following yet another foreign acquisition of another Mexican bank in August. ...

Quest, FTC reportedly scoping out asset buyers; Quest, FTC reportedly scoping out asset buyers.
September 3, 2002... Byline: Scott Stuart See today's Arbitrage situations chart. The spread on Quest Diagnostics Inc.'s proposed acquisition of Unilab Corp. moved in sharply early last week, but has held since. A cloud has hung over the deal for risk...

Clearview closes $70M fund.
September 3, 2002... Byline: Alison Rogers On the backs of 16 limited partners, all of whom are individuals or family investment trusts, Clearview Capital LLC has closed its second fund at $70 million. "In a environment like this, nobody wants to take a...

Private Capital People -- Sept. 4, 2002.
September 3, 2002... Byline: compiled by Matthew Wurtzel Movers & Shakers - Aug. 29, 2002 David Britts, a venture capitalist who left J.P. Morgan Capital Partners this summer, has just joined Palo Alto, Calif.-based early-stage venture firm ComVentures....

Bridgepoint leads Nocibe buyout.
September 3, 2002... Byline: Jonathan Braude in London LONDON -- Sensing the sweet smell of opportunity, London private equity firm Bridgepoint Capital and the smaller French buyout firm TCR Industrial Managers are leading the buyout of the up-market French...

Carlyle tapped in QinetiQ auction.
September 3, 2002... Byline: Joshua Jaffe LONDON -- Four years after considering the partial privatization of the research laboratory owned by the Ministry of Defense, the British government said Tuesday, Sept. 3, it chose The Carlyle Group, the...

ev3 buys Centerpulse division.
September 3, 2002... Byline: David Carey and Laura Board ev3 Inc., a medical device maker backed by New York private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC, sealed a deal to acquire IntraTherapeutics Inc., a subsidiary of Switzerland's Centerpulse AG, for $95 million,...

ePartners clinches $10M.
September 3, 2002... Byline: Katherine Goncharoff Despite a clouded outlook for the information-technology services market, ePartners Inc., an IT consultant and software provider, has managed to land $10 million from two Texas venture capital firms. The...

Axerra lands another $10M.
September 3, 2002... Byline: Tyson Freeman The emergence of the Internet as a communications network has led to significant investments by telecommunications service providers in so-called Internet Protocol (IP) infrastructure. Problem is that IP's day as...

3-way deal shores up SynQuest.
September 3, 2002... Byline: Clifford Carlsen Driven into each other's arms by an ailing market, Atlanta-based software companies SynQuest Inc. and Viewlocity Inc. have merged and acquired a third rival on the verge of shutting down. The newly combined...

AssetHouse.
September 4, 2002... London-based telecommunications software startup AssetHouse Technology Ltd. said Monday it has secured a ?illion ($6.2 million) second round of funding led by LMS Capital, the VC arm of London Merchant Securities. British venture capital firm...

Astral Media sheds radio stations.
September 4, 2002... Montreal's Astral Media said Tuesday it is selling its Quebec AM radio stations and one FM station to TVA Group Inc., the broadcast unit of Quebecor Media Inc., and partner Radio Nord Communications Inc. for C$12.75 million ($8.21 million) in...

BitBand.
September 4, 2002... Tel Aviv-based BitBand Ltd. has raised $6 million in a second round of financing led by the Challenge Fund. Other investors were the Fantine Fund, Kardan Fund and the Sequoia Capital Seed Fund. Founded in 1999, BitBand manufactures video...

Catapult completes aquisition of Tekelec network.
September 4, 2002... Catapult Communications Corp., a Mountain View, Calif., telecom software maker, said Tuesday that it completed the purchase of the network diagnostics division of Calabasas, Calif., telecom equipment maker Tekelec. Catapult paid Tekelec $42.5...

Central AfricanMining & Exploration.
September 4, 2002... LONDON -- British mining company Central African Mining & Exploration Co. (CAMEC) said Monday it will float on London's Alternative Investment Market. The company hopes to raise ?,000 by selling 25 million shares at 3 pence each. CAMEC will...

CenturyTel finishes buy of Verizon rural lines.
September 4, 2002... Rural phone service provider CenturyTel Inc. has completed its purchase of 350,000 Missouri phone lines from Verizon Communications Inc. The transaction concludes a two-part $2.16 billion cash deal signed in October 2001. The first phase, which...

Chesapeake closing acquisitions worth $168M.
September 4, 2002... Oklahoma City oil explorer Chesapeake Energy Corp. said Tuesday it completed three of its previously announced natural gas acquisitions and will close the fourth this week, totaling $168 million. The purchases included properties in western...

Dana completes sale of real estate division.
September 4, 2002... Dana Corp., the Toledo, Ohio, maker of auto parts components, said Tuesday that it has completed the sale of its Austin, Texas-based Real Estate Services Group unit. RESG is part of Dana Credit Corp. The sale, to a fund managed by Fortress...

Divergence.
September 4, 2002... St. Louis-based Divergence Inc. has raised $3 million from Prolog Ventures LLC of St. Louis and individuals. The money will allow Divergence to further develop environmentally sound products to control parasites. www.TheDeal.com

FTI Consulting buys PricewaterhouseCoopers unit.
September 4, 2002... FTI Consulting Inc., an Annapolis, Md., adviser that offers turnaround, bankruptcy and litigation-related consulting services, announced on Tuesday that it has completed the acquisition of the U.S. Business Recovery Services Division of...

Glimcher closes on sale of 13 shopping centers.
September 4, 2002... Glimcher Realty Trust said Tuesday it closed on the sale of 13 of its shopping centers for $106 million. This represents the initial closing on a sale of portfolio of 22 assets announced in June. The purchase, made by private investors,...

Itron acquires eMobile Data.
September 4, 2002... Itron Inc., a provider of data collection software to the electric, natural gas and water industries, said Tuesday it agreed to acquire eMobile Data Corp., a Richmond, British Columbia, provider of Web-based workforce management software for...

Moore Loans sold to C&F Financial.
September 4, 2002... C&F Financial Corp., the West Point, Va., holding company of Citizens and Farmers Bank, announced Tuesday the acquisition of Richmond, Va.-based Moore Loans Inc. in a transaction valued at $19.28 million. Under the terms, C&F is parting with...

Mosaid Tech sells Atmos stake.
September 4, 2002... Ottawa-based semiconductor designer Mosaid Technologies Inc. said Tuesday it is selling an equity stake in Atmos Corp. of Kanata, Ontario, to Monolithic System Technology Inc. for C$3.3 million ($2.1 million). Atmos, which offers chip...

NextMedia buys Flack Outdoor.
September 4, 2002... Denver-based radio broadcasting and outdoor advertising company NextMedia Group Inc. said Tuesday it has acquired Flack Outdoor Advertising Inc. for $24.9 million cash. Flack owns 1,600 display boards in northern Colorado, Wyoming and Missouri....

SWT.
September 4, 2002... Orly, France-based SWT SA, an electronic document management software developer, has raised $3.8 million in financing from Matignon Investissement et Gestion, SPEF Venture and BNP Private Equity. The funding will be used to expand its business...

TomoTherapy.
September 4, 2002... Madison, Wis.-based medical device maker TomoTherapy Inc. said Tuesday it has raised $9 million The Endeavors Group LLC of Milwaukee led the deal. TomoTherapy develops radiotherapy devices that precisely locate radiation treatments for cancers...

W.P. Carey in sale-leaseback.
September 4, 2002... New York real estate investment firm W.P. Carey & Co. LLC said Tuesday that it has paid about $33 million for the corporate headquarters and primary manufacturing plant of Hologic Inc., a Bedford, Mass.-based supplier of diagnostic imaging...

WellChoice.
September 4, 2002... New York-based health services provider WellChoice Inc. filed with federal regulators on Aug. 30 to raise as much as $400 million in an initial public offering of its common stock. The company added that it will receive no proceeds from the...

StanChart weighs Hong Kong IPO.
September 4, 2002... Byline: Shu-Ching Jean Chen HONG KONG -- Emerging markets specialist bank Standard Chartered plc reportedly intends to apply for an initial public offering with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Standard Chartered, which is already listed...

IPO Outlook -- Sept. 4, 2002.
September 4, 2002... Byline: edited by Nicola Hobday in London WellChoice New York-based health services provider WellChoice Inc. filed with federal regulators on Friday, Aug. 30, to raise as much as $400 million in an initial public offering of its...

Arrow International buys distributor.
September 5, 2002... Arrow International Inc., a Reading, Pa., maker of catheters and other medical products, said Wednesday that it has purchased Stepic MedicalCo., its New York distributor, from Horizon Medical Products Inc. for $12.7 million in cash. Horizon...

Brascan takes power plant stake.
September 5, 2002... Toronto financial and real-estate conglomerate Brascan Corp. said Wednesday it will acquire the 50% of the Lake Superior Power Generating Facility it doesn't already own from Duke Energy Corp. of Charlotte, N.C., for C$65 million ($41.4...

China sets major asset auction.
September 5, 2002... In what is said to be the largest auction in China, Great Wall Asset Management Corp. plans in October to sell bad assets with a book value of RMB19.8 billion ($2.4 billion) to domestic and foreign investors. Officials of Great Wall, one of...

Comnitel Technologies.
September 5, 2002... Mobile networking company Comnitel Technologies of Cork, Ireland, said it had raised [Euro]10 million ($9.9 million) in third-round financing. The company's investors included HgCapital of London, Hamburgische Landesbank of Hamburg, SAIC...

Construction Software Tech.
September 5, 2002... Construction-industry application developer Construction Software Technologies Inc. of West Chester, Ohio, has raised $5.5 million in its first round of institutional venture funding, one of its investors said. River Cities Capital Funds of...

EC refers Koninklijke-Hollandsche deal to Dutch.
September 5, 2002... The European Commission on Wednesday said it has referred a merger between Dutch construction companies Koninklijke BAM NBM and Hollandsche Betoen Group to competition authorities in the Netherlands. In June Royal BAM NBM agreed to acquire HBG...

GlassHouse Technologies.
September 5, 2002... Framingham, Mass.-based GlassHouse Technologies Inc., a services provider in the storage technology sector, has received $6.4 million in Series B funding from return investor Sigma Partners and new investors GrandBanks Capital and Jafco...

Gray getting Smith TV station.
September 5, 2002... Atlanta's Gray Television Inc. announced Wednesday it has agreed to buy KOLO-TV in Reno, Nev., from Smith Television Group Inc. for $41.5 million in cash. KOLO-TV, an ABC TV affiliate, operates on Channel 8 in Reno. Gray is in the middle of a...

Intel sets spinoff of network software division.
September 5, 2002... Intel Corp. on Wednesday unveiled plans to spin off its computer network management software unit to venture firms Vector Capital and vSpring Capital. Intel will retain a minority stake in the Salt Lake City-based business unit, which produces...

JAKKS extends deadline for Toymax takeover.
September 5, 2002... Malibu, Calif., toy maker JAKKS Pacific Inc. said Wednesday that it is extending the deadline for its acquisition of Plainview, N.Y., rival Toymax International Inc. until Dec. 31. The tender was set to expire Sept. 30. The move allows JAKKS...

MedSource Tech getting Cycam.
September 5, 2002... MedSource Technologies Inc., a Minneapolis provider of manufacturing services for medical device makers, announced Wednesday that it has acquired Cycam Inc. in a transaction valued at $23.73 million. Houston-based Cycam supplies reconstructive...

Mississippi Valley shareholders approve merger.
September 5, 2002... Mississippi Valley Bancshares Inc., a St. Louis parent to three regional banks, said Wednesday that its shareholders have approved a $502 million buyout by Milwaukee financial services company Marshall & Ilsley Corp. The deal is expected to...

Premcor to shut Illinois refinery.
September 5, 2002... Old Greenwich, Conn., oil refiner Premcor Inc. said it is closing its Hartford, Ill., refinery in early October after failing to find a buyer. Premcor announced it would either sell or close the facility in February after concluding it was too...

Rothschild sheds asset mgmt unit.
September 5, 2002... The Rothschild Group plans to sell its U.K. asset management business, Rothschild Asset Management, by year's end as the bank focuses on private banking and wealth management. RAM, which has about ?billion ($20.3 billion) in funds, will either...

The FeedRoom.
September 5, 2002... New York-based streaming media distributor The FeedRoom Inc. said it had raised $5.4 million in new third-round venture funding. The round's investors included hedge fund Circle T Partners of New York; investment firms Warburg Pincus Equity...

Napster ponders the grave.
September 5, 2002... Byline: David Shabelman SAN FRANCISCO -- Napster Inc.'s Web site on Wednesday, Sept. 4, displayed the company's cat logo on a tombstone with the phrase "Ded Kitty" written on it. Now, as Internet industry observers compete to write its...

Kotts wins DEC International.
September 5, 2002... Byline: Jonathan Berke Texas businessman John P. Kotts was cleared to buy DEC International Inc. on Wednesday, Sept. 4, after a federal bankruptcy judge approved the sale of the dairy equipment maker. Chief Judge Robert D. Martin of...

Heavy hitter.
September 5, 2002... Byline: Jonathan Berke Proceedings in Judge Gregg W. Zive's Reno, Nev., courtroom aren't normally as exciting as a game with winning ninth-inning home run or interviewing a Hall of Famer. But the chief judge for the U.S. Bankruptcy...

Dunlap to pay $500,000 SEC fine.
September 5, 2002... Byline: Shanon D. Murray Albert "Chainsaw Al" Dunlap, former chairman and chief executive of now-bankrupt Sunbeam Corp., has permanently been given the ax. The once-celebrated slash-and-burn cost-cutter has consented to a decree...