Mergers & Acquisitions: The Dealmaker's Journal articles from October 2008

Mergers & Acquisitions: The Dealmaker's Journal archives from October 2008

Patent Vending.(Inside Word)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Ken MacFadyen, Editor From the outside looking in, it can be hard to see innovation taking place in the deal market. It's usually something that starts off slowly, with one or two transactions and then before you know it every...

Tomorrow's Deals: Taking stock of what dealmakers are looking at.(Water Cooler)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Editorial Staff Download this Some musicians might find it a bit ironic that Napster is facing a proxy fight. Okapi Partners is seeking to install new board members and pursue a possible sale of the digital music distributor, and...

Beltway Monitor.(Water Cooler)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Editorial Staff Deal or no deal The Democratic National Convention included little insight as to what a Barack Obama presidency might mean for antitrust. Most assume, however, that his election would mark the end of a relatively...

Polite Conversation: Pomp and circumstance was in abundance at the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. But there were some hints as to what kind of impact each candidate could have on M&A.(Water Cooler)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Editorial Staff Democratic Nominee Barack Obama "For over two decades, he's subscribed to that old, discredited Republican philosophy - give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to...

Banker Beauty Contest: New research reignites the debate over which kinds of institutions score best with clients, Wall Street's bulge brackets or the smaller boutiques.(Round Up)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Avram Davis An oft-heard critique leveled at investment banking circles is that the advisory services provided by these institutions have become a mere commodity. The markets are efficient enough, the argument goes, that the...

Quick Hits from Mergers Unleashed.(Round Up)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Editorial Staff Government Takes Control Of Fannie, Freddie Capping months of speculation over the health and viability of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government took control of both government-sponsored enterprises in an...

Forging Ahead: Even when a merger faces uncertainty, deal pros say the best course of action is to move forward with the integration planning.(Round Up)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Ken MacFadyen On June 23, Republic Services and Allied Waste Industries announced a merger. One month later the pair had established an integration team to oversee the marriage and "fully capture the $150 million" in annual...

Going with the Gut? Recent court decision in Delaware raps boardmembers for holding an exclusive process, a decision that would seem to establish a protocol directors should follow to avoid litigation.(Round Up)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Ken MacFadyen It might behoove boardmembers to upgrade their D&O insurance before pursuing that next deal. A recent decision in Delaware held that the independent directors of a target company were personally liable in a case...

Rethinking Russia: As attempts at diplomacy with Russia flounder, dealmakers in the region consider what kind of impact the country's renewed aggression will have on investments.(Global View)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Avram Davis Investors can talk about a region's potential and attractive growth characteristics until they are blue in the face. If said region carries any political risk, however, it will often serve as a non-starter. So what...

Cross-Border News from Mergers Unleashed.(Global View)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Editorial Staff Microsoft Goes Shopping Microsoft Corporation will acquire Greenfield Online, a Wilton, Connecticut-based internet company that runs an internet survey solutions (ISS) business and Ciao GmbH, a European online...

Tweaking the "Generalist" Definition: Firms that invest across a broad spectrum of industry categories are altering their approach to bring specialization to the fore.(LBO Watch)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Ken MacFadyen Private equity investors are typically split between the generalist and the specialist camps. One side is marked by opportunistic funds that will back a company in nearly any sector or field, while the other is...

Who's Who.(Who's Who)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Editorial Staff ACG Board 0f Directors Gary A. LaBranche* President and CEO Harris Smith* Chairman hsmith@gt.com Robert Blumenfeld Chapter Representative Director bobby@bpcllc.com ...

Flexing their Muscle: In light of recent court cases and market forces, lenders are imposing tougher terms in their commitment letters and credit agreements.(LBO Watch)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Ken MacFadyen Dealmakers may be noticing that the standard credit agreement has gotten heavier recently. And reading through the legalese likely takes an hour or two longer if sponsors aren't just skimming over the key details....

Buyout Bits from Mergers unleashed.(LBO Watch)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Editorial Staff Monomoy Buys Katun Monomoy Capital Partners bought Katun Corp., a supplier of imaging industry supplies, the private equity firm announced, in a deal where terms went undisclosed. Carlyle Singer will continue...

Univision: After The LBO More than a year after going private, Spanish-language broadcaster must convert audience ratings success into revenue growth.(LBO Watch)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Joshua Hamerman Hindsight can often spark an interesting debate. When Spanish-language media giant Univision Communications was acquired by a five-member private equity consortium for $13.7 billion in March of 2007, the buyers...

Reinventing the Deal: Is it time to start recognizing intellectual property as a value driver in M&A? Top pros in the IP field think so.(Cover Story)(Interview)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Editorial Staff, Photographs by Alanfil Acquirers typically think about intellectual property during the due diligence phase of an acquisition, when the focus is on the underlying risk of a potential deal. There's a growing...

Q&A: A Transformer: Greg Brenneman can resuscitate a business. Now, as chairman of CCMP Capital, he'll bring an operational bent to the firm's investment strategy.(Feature)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Jonathan Marino A certain swagger is required to be able to walk into a company and transform a business. Greg Brenneman, who was recently named the chairman of private equity firm CCMP Capital Advisors, has that swagger in...

Unraveling the Indian Conglomerates: Tata, Mahindra, Essar and Wipro are just a few of the Indian multinationals domestic sellers should know, although a lesson on string theory might be an easier study.(Feature)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Avram Davis Domestic dealmakers may still occasionally garble the pronunciation of Tata Group, but the Indian conglomerate has nevertheless made a name for itself in US M&A circles. Other Indian multinationals are doing the same,...

When Business and Charity Collide: There's no rule that says nonprofits can't be business savvy.(Feature)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Ken MacFadyen When Stephen Schwarzman's $100 million gift to the New York Public Library was unveiled in March, it came alongside a plan to re-invent the nonprofit, an effort involving a new hub-and-spoke system, a lending and...

The Deliberative Buyers: The traditional advertising houses have been slow to adapt their M&A strategies to new media, although there is evidence that could be changing.(Feature)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Ken MacFadyen Don Draper, the protagonist in AMC's 1960s advertising drama "Mad Men," does not portray the type who is likely to change with the times. Considering the conservative acquisition strategy of some of the top...

Ringing in a New Era: Appointment of Gary A. LaBranche underscores ACG's commitment to growth.(Letter to Members)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Harris Smith and Gary A. LaBranche As most members now know, ACG has selected Gary A. LaBranche as ACG's President and Chief Executive Officer. Gary brings to ACG superior knowledge and deep experience in association...

Resisting Defection: Most acquirers will insist that employees are the key to a deal; to truly impress, buyers need to pay more than lip-service.(Feature)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Jonathan Marino The contracts have been signed, ownership transferred, the integration is underway, but the target's executives and key employees are making a beeline for the door. It's an issue many buyers face as the...

Retailspin: Dealmakers are trying to figure out how to play in the hurting retail space.(Feature)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Danielle Fugazy Retail spending is down. Between higher gas prices and feelings of job insecurity, the average consumer is not spending on the extras. Some were hopeful that back- to-school shopping would offer a little nudge to...

The Descent on Appalachia: A confluence of factors have revitalized the US coal mining space, which inevitably has brought foreign suitors into the mix.(From The Field)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Peter Gray An awful lot of folks from all walks of life have been traipsing around the wilds of West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky for some months now. The story goes in West Virginia that they used to shoot revenuers,...

PE Still Draws a Crowd: Who says private equity is dead? Big names continue to gravitate to the asset class, plus other personnel moves.(The Changing Scene)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Editorial Staff Familiar names continued to move around the M&A market at the close of the summer, with private equity still serving as appealing destination for corporate types. Advent International, for instance, lured former...

The Changing Scene:.(The Changing Scene)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Editorial Staff 3i Group-The private equity firm announced Daniel Waterhouse is leaving 3i Group, a firm he joined at the beginning of 2006 as a London-based partner focused on digital media and technology opportunities....

LNK Partners -.(The Changing Scene)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Editorial Staff The retail-focused private equity firm promoted Jeff Perlman to the role of partner. Perlman had joined the firm shortly after it was founded by David Landau, Henry Nasella and Bruce Klatksy, who comprise the...

The Carlyle Group-.(The Changing Scene)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Editorial Staff The private equity firm announced the resignation of Louis Gerstner Jr., its chairman, who will become senior adviser to Carlyle's Asia, Europe, Japan and US buyout funds. Before joining Carlyle, Gerstner was...

Credit Suisse-.(The Changing Scene)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Editorial Staff The bulge-bracket bank announced that Ulrich Korner, its top executive in Switzerland, has stepped down and will be replaced by Hans-Ulrich Meister, the former head banker of rival UBS. Meister, who left UBS...

CCMP Capital Advisors-.(The Changing Scene)
October 1, 2008... Byline: EDitorial Staff The private equity firm hired Greg Brenneman to be its chairman. Brenneman was previously chief executive of Quiznos and will retain the title of executive chairman of Quiznos. He will also serve on CCMP's...

What's in a Brand? The eight critical success factors that build market value.(Community Commentary)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Sally Roffman Before launching a major brand initiative that would position a corporation for acquisition, I was asked to quantify the value of a good brand. Great question: What's the return on brand investment (ROBI)? How do...

A Primer on Distressed Investing Strategies: Investors looking to take advantage of the market upheaval have four strategies at their disposal through which to pursue distressed deals.(Community Commentary)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Bobby Guy Since the dramatic change in the credit markets in August 2007, billions of dollars in capital have migrated into "distress market" funds. Distressed investing - the art of investing in or acquiring troubled and...

How Private Equity Fueled Inergy's Growth: Securing private equity at the right time helped a regional propane operator grow into a diversified energy infrastructure and distribution company.(Deal Tales)
October 1, 2008... Byline: John Sherman The story of how Inergy (NASDAQ: NRGY) has grown from a small, regional propane operator into a broad, diversified energy infrastructure and distribution company illustrates how securing private equity at the right...

Whitewater Decision Making: Dealmakers need to be agile enough to negotiate through the barriers.(Community Commentary)
October 1, 2008... Byline: George Bowman In the management classic "Only the Paranoid Survive," former Intel CEO Andy Grove describes the dilemma faced by leaders who must pay attention to the core business and undertake multi-billion dollar acquisitions....

Save the Date!(Upcoming Events)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Editorial Staff ACG Denver Dealmaker's Forum October 1, 2008 Denver, CO www.acg.org/denver ACG Richmond Virginia Capital Day Conference October 1-2, 2008 Richmond, VA www.acg.org/richmond ...

What players in the mid market are talking about.(Water Cooler)
October 1, 2008... Byline: Editorial Bail Money? Thaksin Shinawatra may have jumped bail, but that didn't stop the ousted Thailand Prime Minister from cinching a deal to sell his stake in the UK-based Manchester City Football Club Ltd. The sale marks a...