Mergers & Acquisitions: The Dealmaker's Journal articles from April 2009

Mergers & Acquisitions: The Dealmaker's Journal archives from April 2009

Recuperation Takes Time.(Inside Word)
April 1, 2009... Byline: Ken MacFadyen Editor Last September, when the federal government propped up the banking system - or at least tried to - the fear was that Washington would take over lower Manhattan's role as the center of the financial universe....

Beltway Monitor.(Water Cooler)
April 1, 2009... Byline: Kelly Holman It finally happened Private equity's tax reprieve is over. With the release of President Barack Obama's budget proposal in February, LBO pros may finally be forced to swallow a hefty increase to the taxes they pay on...

Polite Conversation.(Water Cooler)
April 1, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff Warren Buffett again stirred the pot with his annual letter to shareholders, taking aim at private equity, "geeks bearing formulas," and even himself. All of the following was plucked from the letter. ...

Hostile Homework; The approach to due diligence is altered when buyers and sellers butt heads.(Round Up)
April 1, 2009... Byline: Danielle Fugazy As of press time, the Dow Jones Industrials Average was resting near lows that haven't been seen since 1997. To put that in perspective, that was the year the Spice Girls first set foot in the US and Dolly the...

The Restructuring Riddle; Distress is an obvious hot spot, though new efforts to target the market will be hard pressed to establish a lasting franchise.(Round Up)
April 1, 2009... Byline: Ken MacFadyen The shutdown of the traditional market for mergers and acquisitions has impelled many boutiques and merchant banks to seek out new areas of growth. Restructuring and bankruptcy M&A, quite predictably, has been an...

Quick Hits from Mergers Unleashed.(Round Up)
April 1, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff Mid-Market M&A Down 45% in 2009 Mid-market M&A has finally gotten mired in the same slowdown that large-cap buyers faced earlier in the global recession, a Robert W. Baird & Co. analysis concluded. The bank's...

Burning a Hole on the Balance Sheet; For the past 18 months the deal community has been waiting for strategics to emerge as buyers; so what's the holdup?(Round Up)
April 1, 2009... Byline: Ken MacFadyen The consensus among deal pros after the credit bubble burst was that strategic acquirers would reassume the mantle of top buyer in the M&A market. This was based on the premise that corporations - having been priced...

Quick Hits from Mergers Unleashed.(Round Up)
April 1, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff Survey: Credit Crisis Impacts 60% of Middle Market Managers of middle-market companies-those with revenues of $25 million to $1 billion-are not exactly upbeat in their outlook, according to a survey conducted...

PE Taxonomy; A recent study suggests private equity-backed companies are more aggressive when it comes to managing taxes, though fall short of truly pushing the envelope.(LBO Watch)
April 1, 2009... Byline: Ken MacFadyen It's usually assumed that private equity firms are going to push whatever boundaries they can find. Whether it is leverage, purchase price multiples or management fees, the asset class has been typecast in recent...

Buyout Bits from Mergers Unleashed.(LBO Watch)
April 1, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff WCAS Executes $100M Dental Deal Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe has invested $100 million in dental technology company GeoDigm Corp. Welsh Carson's investment will give it a majority interest in the...

In the Crosshairs; As Washington grows hungry for regulation, private equity professionals are watching the saga unfold with trepidation.(LBO Watch)
April 1, 2009... Byline: Jonathan Marino Wall Street was the first to get Washington's responsibility manifesto. The areas targeted by legislators, perhaps predictably, have been executive pay, corporate junkets, and transparency - in fact, far more...

ACG Board 0f Directors.(ACG)
April 1, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff Gary A. LaBranche President and CEO Harris Smith Chairman hsmith@gt.com Robert Blumenfeld Chapter Representative Director bobbyb@buccinoassociates.com Clifford Braly, III. ...

Creditors, Companies and Banks Spar Over DIPs; One early case, involving the bankruptcy of LyondellBasell, may impel loan-to-own buyers to look into DIPs.(Debt Monitor)
April 1, 2009... Byline: Richard Kellerhals A spate of disputes between companies and their creditors highlights just how anxious debt holders have become. At the heart of these disputes is how bankrupt companies plan to use the debtor-in-possession...

Credit Scope from Mergers Unleashed.(Debt Monitor)
April 1, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff Westwood One Refinances Westwood One, the programming company supplying content to radio and television stations, accepted from Gores Group LLC a refinancing package including $25 million in cash and a series...

The Big Spend; The stimulus bill will pour billions into the economy, but will the M&A market bite?(Cover Story)
April 1, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff In touting the $787 billion stimulus package, President Barack Obama has been making stops at police stations and businesses, primarily targeting areas where jobs have been saved. While it's unlikely he'll opt for...

The Renewed Focus on Infrastructure; Investors have long since recognized the need for infrastructure, but the stimulus package finally gives the government the tool to follow through on its end.(Cover Story)
April 1, 2009... Byline: Avram Davis In October 2008, Doug Dossey and Matthew Katz of FdG Associates, were considering the acquisition of Pittsburgh heavy construction and demolition contractor Joseph B. Fay Co. Dossey knew that the company was an...

Recuperative Efforts; Much of the stimulus efforts will plug state Medicaid holes, but dealmakers see opportunity in healthcare IT.(Cover Story)
April 1, 2009... Byline: Danielle Fugazy The $53 billion put aside for healthcare spending as part of the stimulus package comes as no surprise as reform in this area was an integral part of President Barack Obama's campaign platform. The actual dollar...

The Great Equalizer; The stimulus package may be more band-aid than spark, although deal pros have identified a few areas that should be able to capitalize.(Cover Story)
April 1, 2009... Byline: Ken MacFadyen It was the 19th century politician Horace Mann who first described that education, "beyond all other devices of human origin," is the great equalizer of the conditions of men. It's an idea that still holds true, and...

Red Planet; Worldwide, government stimulus effort looks very similar to US attempts.(Cover Story)
April 1, 2009... Byline: Jonathan Marino Governments worldwide are set to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to boost their respective economies, offering their versions of stimulus plans that at the same time saturate some industries while starving...

More Than Just Surviving; A consummate dealmaker, Frederick Joseph can't stay away from investment banking.(Feature)
April 1, 2009... Byline: Aleksandrs Rozens At 72, Frederick Joseph could have retired years ago. In fact, the former CEO of Drexel Burnham Lambert and co-founder of Morgan Joseph & Co. pretty much did. He cut and split 25 cords of firewood on his farm...

The New Merger Paradigm; The wallowing economy has altered post-merger integration, according to Booz & Co's Gerald Adolph.(Feature)
April 1, 2009... Byline: Jonathan Marino The impact of downturn goes beyond whether or not deals get done. According to Gerald Adolph, a senior vice president at consultancy Booz & Co., the slumping economy also affects post-merger integration, adding...

Avoiding FCPA Anxiety; Debevoise & Plimpton lawyers provide a roadmap to M&A due diligence and post-acquisition FCPA compliance.(From the Field)
April 1, 2009... Byline: Paul R. Berger, Christopher J. Cestaro and Erin W. Sheehy Many deal processes simply do not allow adequate time or access for customary legal due diligence. This is particularly true in some processes involving public targets,...

Staying on Track; ACG InterGrowth will feature a new Corporate Development Track.(ACG)
April 1, 2009... Byline: Harris Smith and Gary A. LaBranche It's almost springtime, which means ACG InterGrowth is drawing near. Just over a month remains to register for ACG InterGrowth 2009. You simply don't want to miss this year's program, to be...

M&A's Revolving Door; A number of notable names moved around in February and early March, including Quadrangle's Steven Rattner and former Senator Chuck Hagel.(The Changing Scene)
April 1, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff The deal market may largely remain shut, but that hasn't slowed activity on the personnel front. Quadrangle Group was forced to come up with a succession plan after Steven Rattner left to become a counselor to the...

The Future of Networking; This month, The Pulse asks dealmakers how online networking has produced results for their firms.(ACG)
April 1, 2009... Byline: Editorial Staff I have primarily used online professional networking sites like LinkedIn for research purposes. These sites offer a timely and cost effective method to learn about fellow M&A professionals, their backgrounds and...

Tackling a Changing American Economy; Underlying this cycle is confusion around certain assumptions that have been unassailable since the Trust Busting of Teddy Roosevelt and the War Recovery efforts of Franklin Roosevelt.(ACG)
April 1, 2009... Byline: Jack E. Doty The news media has a general reputation of reporting every event in the negative: when the price of a barrel of crude oil rises, that's bad; when it comes back down it is a sad indicator of how bad the economy is. It...

Staying Committed to Private Equity Fiscal Fitness; Focusing on the core is the key to long-term viability for private equity firms; although staying ahead of the game requires attention and hard work.(ACG)
April 1, 2009... Byline: Mark Jones As I type, I am growing increasingly sore as a result of one of those hare-brained ideas to which all weekend athletes occasionally fall victim. The sign at the local YMCA advertised "Intense Training," so I...

Franchise Players; There is reason to believe franchising will remain a key part of middle-market dealmaking once the current downturn ends.(ACG)
April 1, 2009... Byline: Meg Lauck and Tim Whitmire The rain that fell on San Diego in mid-February could have been seen as a bad omen for the annual conference of the International Franchise Association - the atmospheric equivalent of the storm clouds...

What players in the mid market are talking about.(Water Cooler)
April 1, 2009... Easy Banking A few years ago, the Onion satirized the enduring popularity of Bob Marley with a headline declaring that the singer rose from the grave to "Free Frat Boys from Bonds of Oppression." Behind every joke, there's a grain of...

Tomorrow's Deals; Taking stock of what dealmakers are looking at.(Water Cooler)
April 1, 2009... Soapstone seeks sale Network support vendor Soapstone Networks Inc. is exploring strategic alternatives in the midst of a severe industry slowdown. The company posted a $30.27 million operating loss in 2008, and also announced a...