Mergers & Acquisitions: The Dealmaker's Journal articles from October 2004

Mergers & Acquisitions: The Dealmaker's Journal archives from October 2004

EU Antitrust Chief Expected To Keep M&A Policies Intact: Some experts believe that Kroes might be warmer than her predecessor to big U.S.-European combinations.(Neelie Kroes)
October 1, 2004... Competition experts don't expect a radical shift in direction of overseas competition regulation as former Dutch transport minister Neelie Kroes takes over the European Union antitrust portfolio this November. "As a protege of the former...

Mondavi to Drop Supervote Common.(The decision)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The Mondavi family in giving up its absolute control of California winemaker Robert Mondavi Corp. in return for a bigger piece of the action economically. Under a recapitalization disclosed in August, the corporation will, subject to...

Top of the news...(Banking industry)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Defections in the wake of last summer's ouster of Credit Suisse First Boston co-CEO John Mack continue despite the efforts of Mack's successor Brady Dougan to stem the bleeding. CSFB veteran dealmaker Don Meltzer recently joined the...

M & A Appointments.
October 1, 2004... Banc of America Securities - John P. Case has come aboard as a managing director and senior client manager in the real estate investment banking group. He joins the firm from Merrill Lynch, where he had been part of the real estate investment...

FASB to Close Options For Post-Deal Restructuring Costs The rule proposal would require booking expenses as paid, kayoing excess reserves and one-quarter earnings hits.(Financial Accounting Standards Board)
October 1, 2004... Accounting rule writers are putting another crack in the "cookie jar." In its latest attack on areas of potential abuse, the FASB has proposed sharply closing off options for managing out-of-pocket costs of business restructurings following...

Summer Stock Market Decline Curbs Premiums.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Average premiums over target stock prices pulled back slightly from levels posted in the May to July period, reflecting the summertime stock market decline in July and August and continued buyer discipline in pricing transactions. The...

Retreating From Troubled Businesses.(Forest products industry)
October 1, 2004... Within a three-week span in late summer, some big-name companies announced plans to ditch what historically had been their core business and foray into what appear to be greener pastures. Boise Cascade Corp. is shunning forest products in...

Why the IPO Offers a Rocky Exit for Financial Buyers: Private equity firms prefer outright sales of portfolio companies to becoming hostage to the whims of public investors.
October 1, 2004... Private equity firms have a love/hate relationship with the IPO market. Selling stock in their portfolio companies to the public can be a rewarding exit mechanism if all conditions are in the right alignment. But the IPO is seldom preferred...

GGP Buys Rouse to Become No. 1 in Malls: The megadeal extends the m&a response to the scarcity of land for building new shopping centers.(the no.1 merger)
October 1, 2004... General Growth Properties (GGP) nudged the ongoing consolidation of the U.S. shopping center industry into higher gear when it acquired rival mall operator Rouse Co. for $12.6 billion, including $5.4 billion in assumed debt. Responding...

Cable TV Industry Is Poised For a Spate of Big Deals: The outlook for growth of new services, financial pressures, and the sale of Adelphia are expected to drive consolidation of key operators.(deals 2004 to 2005)
October 1, 2004... In the process of becoming nearly all things to all consumers, the cable TV industry is poised for a 2004-2005 m&a deals wave. "We're going to see more consolidation among the cable operators. It's just a matter of matching prices with...

Mueller Industries Revives The Leveraged Recap: The metal products manufacturer will distribute cash and debt securities to pay out excess cash.
October 1, 2004... The leveraged recap is back - with 21st Century variations. The first major move in more than a decade to substantially increase corporate debt as a technique to unlock shareholder value emerged in early September when Mueller Industries Inc....

Viacom Dangles Split-Off Premium.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Meanwhile, Viacom announced the long-awaited exchange ratio for splitting off 81.5% owned Blockbuster and, as expected, the terms contain a stiff exit fee to shed the troubled video and CD rental chain. The terms worked out to a premium of...

Acquisition Rewards for the Dedicated Acquirer (Part II).
October 1, 2004... Experienced acquirers like Pfizer Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., and Newell Rubbermaid Inc. have developed world-class m&a capabilities. For these companies, m&a expertise has become a competitive advantage in its own right. But what about a...

Technological Tools For Moving the Deal Along.
October 1, 2004... As merging organizations search for ways to perform more thorough due diligence and speed up integration, while keeping costs under control, they are increasingly turning to newly devised technology to assist them throughout the m&a...

Healing Thyself.(accounting scandals)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Following the Enron, WorldCom, and other corporate manipulations that fell under the umbrella of "accounting scandals," business schools reported a sudden upsurge in accounting course enrollments. The explosion of interest has never been...