The Daily Deal articles from September 2003

The Daily Deal archives from September 2003

Federal-Mogul can't pursue CVC deal.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Soma Biswas A Delaware visiting judge has denied a motion by bankrupt Federal-Mogul Corp. that asked permission to enter into exclusive talks with Citigroup Venture Capital Equity Partners LP regarding a $350 million equity...

InterDent to propose debt-equity swap.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Ben Fidler Bankrupt dental supplier InterDent Inc. will trek to court Wednesday, Sept. 3, seeking to confirm a prenegotiated plan calling for a debt-for-equity swap. InterDent, the largest dental-practice management company in...

Neenah gets OK to use cash collateral.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Greg Johnson Neenah Foundry Co. on Thursday, Aug. 28, was given the right to use its cash collateral as the Wisconsin steel castings producer continues a pre-arranged reorganization. "We received final approval to use cash...

Pillowtex can be auctioned in pieces.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Terry Brennan Bidders for Pillowtex Corp. now have the option of either buying the entire company or three different parts of the textile maker. The creditors committee won court approval Thursday, Aug. 28, to accept separate...

Regus U.S. unit makes quick bankruptcy exit.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Lisa Clifford British serviced office provider Regus plc said last week that its U.S. division has emerged from Chapter 11 protection sooner than expected. The troubled unit, which was losing $4 million a month, has been...

Mosaic Group wins insolvency extension.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Laura King Insolvent marketing services company Mosaic Group Inc. said Friday, Aug. 29, its protection from creditors has been extended to Dec. 15. Toronto-based Mosaic has been under bankruptcy protection since last December after...

Broadband gear maker declares bankruptcy.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Cheryl Meyer AM Communications Inc. has declared bankruptcy after months of financial and managerial turmoil. The Quakertown, Pa., provider of broadband products and services sought Chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy...

TransTexas climbs out of Ch. 11.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Claire Poole in Houston Houston oil and gas explorer TransTexas Gas Corp. is out of bankruptcy. The company said Friday, Aug. 29, it has emerged from Chapter 11 after the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas...

Advanced Lighting faces creditor revolt.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Terry Brennan The creditors of Advanced Lighting Technologies Inc. are poised to file a rival reorganization plan and ask for a Chapter 11 trustee to be appointed. The creditors committee was expected to ask a court to...

Layoff Roundup: week ended Aug. 29, 2003.
September 1, 2003... Byline: David Ehrlich New claims for jobless benefits were up in the U.S. for the week ended Aug. 23, but the recent blackout could be to blame. The massive power outage that darkened wide swaths of the Northeast and Midwest may have...

Advisers named for big Asian IPO.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Shu-Ching Jean Chen in Hong Kong The Hong Kong government has appointed three financial advisers for the partial privatization of one of its most valuable assets, Hong Kong's airport. The appointment of UBS Investment Bank as...

Deduction dance.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Robert Willens For tax purposes, a liability gives rise to a deduction when the fact of the liability has been established by events and the amount of the liability can be determined with reasonable accuracy. ("Economic...

Court to weigh FCC media rules.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Ron Orol in Washington A federal appeals court may beat Congress to the punch in ruling on the Federal Communications Commission's controversial media ownership rules. As lawmakers return to Capitol Hill to debate the...

Puhca repeal takes center stage.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Donna Block in Washington The battle lines are drawn for what promises to be an electrifying debate on the nation's energy policy in the wake of the biggest blackout in U.S. history. The outage, which plunged 50 million people...

ArvinMeritor extends Dana offer.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Lou Whiteman Auto parts maker ArvinMeritor Inc. extended its offer to buy Dana Corp. late Thursday, Aug. 28, keeping alive the company's hostile $4.4 billion bid for its Toledo, Ohio-based rival. The Troy, Mich.-based company...

Revamped KMC in a buying mood.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Chris Nolter Earlier this summer, Bedminster, N.J.-based KMC Telecom Holdings completed a roughly $1.8 billion out-of-court restructuring, which the company and its advisers claim is the largest telecommunications debt...

Deregulation, drought drive Landmark deal.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Josey Puliyenthuruthel Australia's monopoly wheat exporter AWB Ltd. said Aug. 29 it was buying Wesfarmers Ltd.'s Landmark agricultural supplies business for A$825 million ($529 million) in cash and debt as part of a strategy to...

Deals of the Week: week ended Aug. 29, 2003.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Gerald C. Magpily Dealmaking was slow this week as dealmakers seemed to have taken an early vacation before the Labor Day weekend. The biggest U.S. deal for the week ended Aug. 29 was DST Systems Inc.'s complex $1.2 billion...

N.Y. developer wins GM Building.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Kelly Holman Macklowe Properties Inc., a New York real estate development and management company, said Friday, Aug. 29, it had agreed to buy the storied General Motors Building from bankrupt insurance company Conseco Inc. ...

Applied Micro broadens reach.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Sarah Cohen and Olaf de Senerpont Domis San Diego chipmaker Applied Micro Circuits Corp. has for months made it known that it might diversify away from the troubled telecom chip market by acquiring other kinds of technology. ...

Nokia ups stake in Symbian.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Brian Cattell in London Mobile phone maker Nokia Oyj on Friday, Aug. 29, threw its weight behind the Symbian operating software by increasing its stake in the namesake company, in a deal that could greatly affect software standards...

Russian deal makes BP No. 2.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Andrew Bulkeley in Berlin Showing confidence in the stability of Russia's economy, British oil group BP plc agreed Friday, Aug. 29, to sink an additional $1.35 billion into an oil joint venture that makes it the world's...

Korean Air gets help in rolling KAI takeover.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Roger du Mars in Seoul South Korea's flagship air carrier, Korean Air Co., has agreed to buy a 28.1% stake in Korea Aerospace Industries from Daewoo Heavy Industries and Machinery Co. for about $100 million -- despite the...

Slim fattens Brazilian mobile stake.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Mike Kepp in Rio de Janerio America Movil SA, Latin America's biggest mobile telephone company, agreed to buy control of Sao Paulo-based wireless company BCP SA for $625 million to consolidate its wireless operations in...

U.S. firm enters Drax fray.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Lisa Clifford in London A fourth bidder has joined the battle for troubled British power station Drax. New York-based energy group Miller, McConville, Christen, Hutchison & Waffel LLC entered the fray Friday, Aug. 29, with a...

Cerberus to pay $856M in Aozora deal.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Charles Smith in Tokyo New York's Cerberus Capital Management LP said Friday, Aug. 29, that it is set to boost its stake in Japan's Aozora Bank Ltd. to 61.85% with the purchase of stakes from Softbank Corp. and some other minor...

3 advance in U.K. pub auction.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Braude A joint bid from London-based private equity firms Cinven Ltd. and CVC Capital Partners has been picked as one of three offers for Scottish & Newcastle plc's 1,450-strong pub and hotel chain to go through to a third...

Temasek, StanChart launch $100M India fund.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Shu-Ching Jean Chen in Hong Kong Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd., the private sector investment arm of the Singapore government, deepened its bonds with Standard Chartered Private Equity last week by launching a $100 million private...

F&S swallows Hershey gum brands.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Tara Croft Divesting itself of several of its last noncore brands, Hershey Foods Corp. agreed Friday, Aug. 29, to sell three kinds of gum to Farley's & Sathers Candy Co. Terms were not disclosed, but analysts estimated the Fruit...

Canada's Cara may go private.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Laura King in Toronto The largest shareholder in Canadian restaurant and food services giant Cara Operations Ltd. is offering C$324 million ($232 million) to take the company private. Cara Holdings Ltd., which already owns 79%...

Haas Wheat reaps more from AMN.
September 1, 2003... Byline: David Carey Having already garnered $160 million in profits on an investment in AMN Healthcare Services Inc., Dallas buyout firm Haas Wheat & Partners LP is poised to reap even more in an upcoming share buyback. San Diego-based...

Top in Tech: week ended Aug. 29, 2003.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Paul Bonanos The closely watched data-storage sector continued to consolidate this week, as McData Corp. of Broomfield, Colo., struck three deals to keep up with its competitors. The company, known to be on the acquisition...

Palm offering raises $19M.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Cheryl Meyer Hand-held computer maker Palm Inc. said late Friday it has completed a $19.1 million equity offering, consisting of 1.2 million shares of Palm common stock sold at $15.90 each. The shares were issued Friday, Aug....

What's Hot: Aug. 29, 2003.
September 1, 2003... Byline: George White Although venture capital dealflow was up 9% for the week ended Aug. 29, funding continues to be sluggish. Startups raised $255.93 million in venture capital from 21 deals, up from the $234.75 million secured from 17...

American Fiber raises $6M.
September 1, 2003... Byline: Katherine Goncharoff American Fiber Systems Inc. of Rochester, N.Y., a provider of so-called dark fiber -- infrastructure used for metropolitan fiber-optic networks -- has raised $6 million for expansion in a fourth funding round....

France Telecom soaks up Orange.
September 2, 2003... Byline: Brian Cattell in London Debt-encumbered France Telecom SA on Monday, Sept. 1, announced a long-awaited move to bring its mobile arm Orange SA back under full control through a [Euro]7 billion ($7.7 billion)buy-back of all the...

International Power closes in on Drax.
September 2, 2003... Byline: Lisa Clifford in London Creditors of the troubled Drax power station have entered exclusive talks with International Power plc, ending months of speculation about the future of the plant which is struggling with debts of [pounds...

Challenger adds assets.
September 2, 2003... Byline: Josey Puliyenthuruthel Sydney-based Challenger Financial Services Group, controlled by Kerry Packer's CPH Investment Corp., said Monday, Sept. 1, it had bought the local operations of Switzerland's Zurich Financial Services AG for...

Reichmann in Canary Wharf talks.
September 2, 2003... Byline: Brian Cattell in London A consortium of Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs International and diamond entrepreneur Simon Glick that is vying to buy U.K. real estate company Canary Wharf plc is in talks about teaming up on its bid with...

Taylor Woodrow constructs deal.
September 2, 2003... Byline: Lisa Clifford in London Consolidation in Britain's house building sector gained pace on Monday, Sept. 1, with the announcement from acquisitive builder Taylor Woodrow plc that it had agreed to buy rival Wilson Connolly Holdings plc...

AIG, Newbridge close in on Hanaro.
September 2, 2003... Byline: Roger du Mars in Seoul American International Group Inc. and Newbridge Capital Inc. appear to have edged out their main Korean rival to buy the country's No. 2 broadband operator, Hanaro Telecom Inc., after the target's board of...

LNM to buy Polish Steel.
September 2, 2003... Byline: Patricia Koza in Warsaw London's LNM group, the world's No. 2 steelmaker, has reached a preliminary deal with Poland's Treasury Ministry to buy the country's largest steel maker, Polish Steel Mills, in a deal whose value could...

Alcan withdraws higher Pechiney bid.
September 2, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Braude Canadian aluminum maker Alcan Inc. said Monday, Sept. 1, it has reverted to an earlier lower offer for French rival Pechiney SA after the target's board rejected a more generous bid as undervaluing the company. ...

PE funds join New Look founder.
September 2, 2003... Byline: Laura Board in London Women's fashion chain New Look Group plc Monday, Sept. 1, confirmed it's received an indicative offer from a consortium including founder Tom Singh. In a short statement, the company said Singh, who is...

Aladdin Hotel reorg confirmed.
September 3, 2003... Byline: Shanon D. Murray A bankruptcy judge has confirmed Aladdin Hotel & Casino's reorganization plan, allowing for new owners to take over the Las Vegas landmark within a year. The plan would transfer ownership of Aladdin to a...

Creditors approve WorldCom plan.
September 3, 2003... Byline: Chris Nolter The vast majority of WorldCom Inc.'s creditors have voted in favor of the telecom's reorganization plan, clearing it to proceed to its confirmation hearing. But while the tally provides a resolution to one set of...

Tenet sells four more hospitals.
September 3, 2003... Byline: David Ehrlich Tenet Healthcare Corp. continued with its restructuring plan on Tuesday, Sept. 2, making a deal to sell four Arkansas hospitals to Triad Hospitals Inc. for $142 million in cash and debt. Santa Barbara, Calif.-based...

CEO shuffle.
September 3, 2003... Byline: David Ehrlich Tiscali SpA founder and chief executive Renato Soru announced Friday, Aug. 29, that he plans to step down next year so he can run for governor of his native Sardinia. Soru told a news conference that he would stay on...

Practicality and the pill.
September 3, 2003... Byline: Lawrence Lederman, Robert Reder and David Schwartz Warning that the "game is about to change" because of recent court decisions and forthcoming proposals of the Securities and Exchange Commission, M&A lawyer Charles Nathan recently...

GE gets EU nod for $2.3B buy.
September 3, 2003... Byline: Renee Cordes in Brussels General Electric Co. won European Union antitrust approval for its proposed $2.3 billion acquisition of Finland's Instrumentarium Corp. Tuesday, Sept. 2, after agreeing to sell Instrumentarium's Spacelabs...

Holly strikes out at Frontier.
September 3, 2003... Byline: Jaret Seiberg Holly Corp. served notice Tuesday, Sept. 2, that it plans an all-out fight to escape its merger with Frontier Oil Corp. In a counterclaim filed with the Delaware Court of Chancery, Holly, a Dallas oil refiner,...

Heller Ehrman acquires Venture Law.
September 3, 2003... Byline: David Marcus The ailing Silicon Valley legal market has claimed another victim. San Francisco-based Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe LLP said Tuesday, Sept. 2, that it would merge with Venture Law Group, a 65-lawyer firm in...

Antofagasta is shedding Quinenco unit.
September 3, 2003... Byline: The Deal Chilean copper miner Antofagasta plc said Tuesday it would shed its 33.6% stake in financial services conglomerate Quinenco SA to focus on mining and transportation. London-listed Antofagasta said it would offer the stake...

Astral Media shedding radio stations.
September 3, 2003... Byline: The Deal Montreal's Astral Media Inc. said Tuesday it is selling eight of its radio stations in Quebec to private investors for C$12 million ($8.7 million). The move comes after regulators rejected a deal with a subsidiary of...

Boise Cascade-OfficeMax clears antitrust.
September 3, 2003... Byline: The Deal Boise Cascade Corp. said Tuesday it has received antitrust approval for its $1.15 billion takeover of office supply chain OfficeMax Inc. The 30-day waiting period required by Hart-Scott-Rodino expired at midnight Aug. 29....

Brach's Confections sold to Callebaut.
September 3, 2003... Byline: The Deal Swiss chocolate and cocoa supplier Barry Callebaut AG said Tuesday it would buy Brach's Confections Holding Inc. in a transaction valued at $16 million. Barry Callebaut is making a symbolic $1 cash payment and assuming $16...

Canada's CAP buys Halifax building.
September 3, 2003... Byline: The Deal Toronto REIT Canadian Apartment Properties said Tuesday it has acquired a luxury high-rise apartment building in Halifax for C$9.7 million ($7 million). The property, Windows on the Commons, has 130 apartments and is near...

HVB readies real estate unit sale.
September 3, 2003... Byline: The Deal HVB Group AG, Germany's second-largest bank, said Tuesday it would spin off its real estate division on Oct. 6, moving [Euro]54 billion ($59 billion) in risk-weighted assets off its books as part of a reorganization. The...

LandAmerica Financial makes two buys.
September 3, 2003... Byline: The Deal LandAmerica Financial Group Inc. is moving to expand beyond title insurance. The Richmond, Va., real estate services company said Tuesday it bought two privately held financial services firms for $257 million. Land-...

Mitsubishi Motors eyes China auto stake.
September 3, 2003... Byline: The Deal Mitsubishi Motors Corp. is eyeing a stake in Southeast Motor Corp., China's second-largest light minivan maker. Talks are under way mainly between Mitsubishi and Southeast Motor's Taiwanese shareholder, China Motor Corp....

Zimmer Holdings extends Centerpulse bid.
September 3, 2003... Byline: The Deal Having received enough shares of Centerpulse AG, Warsaw, Ind., orthopedics maker Zimmer Holdings Inc. on Tuesday extended a $3.3 billion tender for its Swiss rival. Zimmer had received 68% of Centerpulse's shares by last...

Taiwan mobile deal still alive.
September 3, 2003... Byline: Shu-Ching Jean Chen in Hong Kong Far EasTone Telecommunications Co. Ltd., Taiwan's third-largest mobile telephone operator, is acting to salvage a planned $47 billion New Taiwan dollar ($1.4 billion) merger with its smaller rival,...

Midland holders may nix buyout.
September 3, 2003... Byline: Lisa Clifford in London Disgruntled Midlands Electricity bondholders may this week reject Scottish and Southern Energy plc's [pounds sterling]1.1 billion ($1.7 billion) takeover bid for the debt-ridden company. The bondholders,...

Brut smells good to Helen of Troy.
September 3, 2003... Byline: Tara Croft The sweet-smelling sale of Unilever NV's Brut cologne to Helen of Troy Ltd. for $55 million in cash may mean something more foul for the buyout group at Lehman Brothers Inc. Helen of Troy, an El Paso, Texas-based...

Customers may bid for El Paso gas pipeline.
September 3, 2003... Byline: Josey Puliyenthuruthel Australian gas and electricity distributor Alinta Ltd. and the energy division of grains trader Wesfarmers Ltd. said Tuesday, Sept. 2, they may bid for a gas pipeline in Western Australia controlled by...

Details remain for Vivendi, NBC.
September 3, 2003... Byline: Peter Lauria General Electric Co. released details of its proposal to merge its television unit with the Hollywood assets of Vivendi Universal SA Tuesday, Sept. 2, after the Paris-based company's board announced that it would enter...

Movers & Shakers: Sept. 3, 2003.
September 3, 2003... Byline: Lisa Gewirtz Boston-based private equity firm, Advent International, has made Beverly Berman a partner. She will be in charge of investor relations and fund marketing in North America. Before joining Advent, Berman was a partner at...

Carlyle wins terra cotta auction.
September 3, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Braude in London The battle for the terra cotta tiles and bricks business of France's Cie. de Saint-Gobain SA concluded Tuesday, Sept. 2, after a private equity consortium led by Carlyle Group and Eurazeo SA trumped the...

Private Capital People: Sept. 2, 2003.
September 3, 2003... Byline: George White September 2, 2003 Following the holiday weekend, venture capital firm Atlas Venture is returning to work with three new appointments. The firm appointed Donald MacKenzie to the position of chief operating officer...

AutoLogic receives offer.
September 3, 2003... Byline: Jonathan Braude in London British automotive industry logistical services specialist AutoLogic Holdings plc announced Tuesday, Sept. 2, that it's in play. The London-based company said it had received an approach from an...

Circle Peak launches pay-play fund.
September 3, 2003... Byline: Kelly Holman Circle Peak Management LLC, a nascent New York private equity firm that plans to draw on a select group of investors intrigued by the smaller end of the investment market, announced its launch Tuesday, Sept. 2. ...

Burger King gives Diageo heartburn.
September 3, 2003... Byline: Josh Kosman In December, Diageo plc sold its troubled Burger King franchise for the discounted price of $1.4 billion to focus on its core liquor brands, including Johnnie Walker, Guinness and Smirnoff. More than nine months...

Tech Lawsuit Tracker: Sept. 2, 2003.
September 3, 2003... Byline: Paul Bonanos A California state court's decision this week poses the latest threat to future investment in venture capital funds by public institutions. A Superior Court judge in Alameda County, Calif., ruled Thursday, Aug....

CFIUS set to rule on Global Xing.
September 3, 2003... Byline: Ron Orol in Washington and Chris Nolter in New York A federal task force is expected to complete its probe into Singapore Technologies Telemedia Pte. Ltd.'s acquisition of bankrupt Global Crossing Ltd. by the end of the week,...

Intuit gets Innovative.
September 3, 2003... Byline: David Shabelman Mostly quiet on the acquisition front in 2003, accounting software maker Intuit Inc. made a small deal Monday, Sept. 2, acquiring Innovative Merchant Solutions, a provider of credit and debit card processing...

DioMed seeks to overcome history.
September 3, 2003... Byline: Clifford Carlsen DioMed Holdings Inc. has raised $21.3 million in the largest single financing in its 14-year history and hopes to use the new capital to rise above a controversial public stock trading past to boost its medical...

Mobility Electronics nabs $15M.
September 3, 2003... Byline: Sarah Cohen Publicly traded Mobility Electronics Inc. parlayed a recent surge in revenue into a successful appeal for a $15 million PIPE financing Tuesday, Sept. 2, led by Pinnacle Fund LP of Plano, Texas. The Scottsdale,...

Diomed Holdings.
September 3, 2003... Byline: The Deal Etrials Worldwide Inc. of Research Triangle Park, N.C., has raised a $2.5 million private placement of Series A convertible preferred stock. Venture capital firm Prodea led the round, which included existing investor...

KVS.
September 3, 2003... Byline: The Deal Redding, U.K.-based KVS Inc., an e-mail management and content archiving company, has raised $17 million in second-round financing, resulting in a 2-1/2 times increase in KVS' valuation, according to CEO Mike Hedger....

Mobility Electronics.
September 3, 2003... Byline: The Deal Mobility Electronics Inc., a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based maker of portable computing devices, has received $15 million in private equity financing from unnamed institutional investors. The company sold 2.4 million shares of...

Mobixell Networks.
September 3, 2003... Byline: The Deal New York- and Ra'anana, Israel-based Mobixell Networks Inc., a provider of multimedia processing and delivery systems for mobile telephones, said it has raised $5 million in a round of financing led by Apax Partners and...

Vocera Communications.
September 3, 2003... Byline: The Deal Cupertino, Calif.-based Vocera Communications Inc., maker of a wireless voice recognition communication device that users pin to their chests, has raised just over $3 million in strategic funding from corporate investors...

Judge OKs sale of Conseco units.
September 4, 2003... Byline: Terry Brennan A Chicago judge Wednesday, Sept. 3, approved a $27.5 million contested bid by Long Term Care Global Solutions Inc. for the stock of two units of bankrupt Conseco Inc. Judge Carol Doyle of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court...

Embratel bids for AT&T Latin America.
September 4, 2003... Byline: Chris Nolter AT&T Latin America Corp. announced Wednesday, Sept. 3, that Brazilian telecom Embratel Participacoes SA had placed a $110 million stalking-horse bid for its operating subsidiaries in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia...