Acquisitions Monthly articles from April 2007

Acquisitions Monthly archives from April 2007

Playing charades.(EDITORIAL)
April 1, 2007... Despite their popular depiction as aggressive acquirers, private equity companies are reluctant to make hostile approaches to targets. Instead, they prefer to gather as much information on prospective purchases as possible. That can normally...

Barclays' puffer fish defence.(EDITORIAL)
April 1, 2007... The surprise news in the Barclays takeover story is that the British bank is the acquirer, not the target. There may be an uncanny coincidence that Marcus Agius, M&A veteran of Lazard, became chairman of Barclays in January 2007. As it is,...

Worldwide M&A tops US$1.1trn: financial sponsor activity accounts for 17.9% of volume. Advisory fees reach US$8.1bn.
April 1, 2007... Following on from the set during 2006's record-breaking year for mergers and acquisitions, worldwide announced M&A activity in the first quarter of 2007 topped US$1.1trn, a 27% increase over the first quarter of 2006. Despite the first...

Private equity dominates UK deals.
April 1, 2007... Possible bids by private equity groups for two of the UK's biggest retailers, supermarket J Sainsbury and chemists chain Alliance Boots, have dominated the headlines in the first quarter of the current year. Consequently, this period,...

March snapshot: synopses of largest global deals announced this month.(MARKET INTELLIGENCE)
April 1, 2007... SPAIN: An investor group comprising Enel SpA and Acciona SA (AS) said it planned to launch an unsolicited challenging tender offer to acquire the 53.991% interest or 571.631m ordinary shares it did not already own in Endesa SA (ES), a...

Vive les fonds d'investissement: long live private equity! France is now the second biggest market in Europe after the UK for leveraged buyouts.(LEAD FEATURE: FRANCE PRIVATE EQUITY)
April 1, 2007... With socialist tendencies and perceived antipathy toward capitalism, it must come as a surprise, therefore, that France has ended up being the second biggest market in Europe after the UK for private equity investment. This is not what you...

Hedge funds in restructuring--phase II: the classic hedge fund restructuring play is all but over, so how will they make a return in the future?(RESTRUCTURING)
April 1, 2007... Boundless liquidity has all but finished off the hedge fund's original approach to restructuring: the tactic of buying discounted corporate bonds from an institutional investor, assuming the restructuring risk, and then making a quick turn...

Watch this space: last year saw heightened activity across Europe's media industries, with private equity players and corporate acquirers eager for deals. This year, competition could be even greater.(SECTOR REPORTS: FOCUS ON MEDIA)
April 1, 2007... Private equity stole the show in media M&A year. From Blackstone, Carlyle et al's 7.6bn [euro] purchase of Dutch media group VNU to KKR's 3.3bn [euro] takeover of French directory business PagesJaunes Groupe, financial buyers led some of the...

Record banking deal on the cards: the acquisition of ABN AMRO, which has a market value of 61bn [euro] (US$81bn), would be the biggest-ever financial services takeover.(SECTOR REPORTS: FOCUS ON FIG)
April 1, 2007... Barclays and ABN AMRO announced on March 20 that they were in exclusive merger talks. The acquisition would be the largest-ever financial services takeover and create a bank with a market value of more than US$160bn, placing it sixth globally...

E.ON falls foul of Spanish practices.(SECTOR REPORTS: FOCUS ON UTILITIES)
April 1, 2007... The future ownership of Spain's largest electricity looks less certain now than at any time over the past two years. Given that April 3 is the deadline for accepting an exceptionally high bid for the company--worth almost twice as much as an...

Brave new world: Christopher Day, head of leveraged finance at Commerzbank, is ramping up recruitment as part of a pan-European push.(INSTITUTIONS)
April 1, 2007... Typical--you wait around for a new recruit and then seven come along at once. Commerzbank Corporates & Markets (CBCM), the corporate and investment banking arm of the German institution, has bolstered its leveraged finance team with a string of...

New private equity firm evolves with Rothschild backing: Lord Rothschild has provided US$98m to launch Darwin Private Equity, a new investment firm fronted by former Permira and CVC executives and with a taste for the UK lower mid-market.(INSTITUTIONS)
April 1, 2007... Three former senior executives at European buyout firms Permira and CVC Capital Partners have launched Darwin Private Equity, a UK lower mid-market focused investment house. Derek Elliott and Kevin Street, who left Permira early last year,...

Speculators become owners: hedge funds have tended to provoke companies into M&A, or irritate the plans of acquirers. Now, some are acting as principals and actually buying mid-market businesses outright.(MOVING IN THE MID-MARKETS: (US$500M-US$30M))
April 1, 2007... Until recently, hedge funds have commonly become involved in acquisitions either when a potential deal is at a very early stage or just before it is about to be voted on by the target's shareholders. For example, the Children's Investment...

Urge to converge: convergence continues to drive mid-market M&A in the media sector, but companies relying on defensive deals should act with caution.(MOVING IN THE MID-MARKETS)
April 1, 2007... Convergence is nothing new in the media sector. Traditional businesses have long realised that tried and tested methods of distributing content and attracting customers no longer cut the figurative mustard. But the impact of such developments...

Chequered flag for Aston Martin: who would or could buy a luxury, heavy manufacturing product?(MOVING IN THE MID-MARKETS)
April 1, 2007... Among the many possible bidders for the British-born sports car company Aston Martin, there was reported to be luxury goods company LVMH Group, owner of prestige brands Louis Vuitton luggage, Dior perfume and TAG Heuer watches. However,...

Takeover panel to look at schemes: takeover rules will be in focus this month as the Takeover Directive takes full effect but the UK's Takeover Panel is also taking a closer look at the use of schemes of arrangement in recent bids.(LEGAL & REGULATORY)
April 1, 2007... The Takeover Panel is whether to launch a consultation on the flurry of recent bids for UK companies that have been structured as schemes of arrangement rather than full takeover offers. Robert Ogilvy-Watson, partner of law firm Ashurst,...

Travel competition inquiry expected: Thomas Cook and TUI Travel deals look likely to face scrutiny from EC but mergers have industrial logic.(LEGAL & REGULATORY)
April 1, 2007... Chris Mottershead, former chief executive of TUI UK, says the merger of the German company's holiday operations with First Choice makes sense, given the rapid changes taking place in the travel industry. First Choice agreed to be acquired...

Insights on legal private equity: we asked leading private equity practitioners: 'What would be the single most important change that could be made to a law or regulation to make private equity deals easier to do?'.(LEGAL & REGULATORY)
April 1, 2007... "The simple answer to this is to bring to a swift conclusion the review, announced by HM Treasury on March 8 2007, of the tax relief given on shareholder loans in highly leveraged transactions. Broadly speaking the UK has been a pretty good...

Mind the gap: public defenders of private equity have long used alignment of interest with portfolio companies to highlight the 'good' they do. The relationship with their investors, however, is more fundamental and in danger of becoming strained.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS: PRIVATE EQUITY COLUMN)
April 1, 2007... For much of the private equity industry's history, alignment of interest has been a key principle in the working relationship between fund managers and their investors. In general, partners are compensated with a management fee--for...

Buyout industry goes private to public: despite a woefully slow response to growing criticism, the private equity industry used its platform at two events in February and March to rally support and agree on further transparency. Robert Venes reports from Geneva.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
April 1, 2007... "Welcome locusts" was how Jeremy Coller, tongue firmly in cheek, introduced the evening festivities at the EVCA's recent Investors' Forum in Geneva. The head of secondaries specialist Coller Capital's comment sparked a wave of laughter but also...

Pension issue a poison pill for Sainsbury bidders.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
April 1, 2007... J Sainsbury's potential pension scheme deficit might kill a potential bid by a consortium headed by CVC Capital Partners. A source close to the CVC consortium said that the pensions situation was a real poison pill for the group. The source...

Blackstone merges Merlin with Tussauds.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
April 1, 2007... Two of the largest operators of visitor attractions around the world have unveiled plans to join forces in a deal worth more than US$2.5bn (1.9bn [euro]). Merlin Entertainments, owned by private equity firm Blackstone, has agreed to pay...

Bridgepoint bulks up with Fat Face and WKE.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
April 1, 2007... Bridgepoint, spending more than 1bn [euro] in a week, has acquired both UK active lifestyle brand Fat Face from international private equity firm Advent International and Wolters Kluwer Education, the education unit of the listed Dutch media...

Montagu disposes of waste business.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
April 1, 2007... Montagu Private Equity, a London-based mid-market private equity firm, has sold waste management and recycling business Cory Environmental to a consortium of European investors for an enterprise value of 588m [pounds sterling] (857m [euro])....

Polygon raises Countrywide stake.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
April 1, 2007... Hedge fund Polygon has increased its stake in estate agent chain Countrywide to 22.7% after buying an 8.8% holding from US alternative investor Artisan Partners. That effectively means the Chelsea-based fund is likely to determine whether...

Candover in talks over Ontex default.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
April 1, 2007... Candover is in "make or break" talks with hedge funds that own a significant amount of debt in Ontex, the Belgian nappy and feminine hygiene products business. Reports claimed that Candover has already written off more than 100m [euro]...

Solving the problem of regulation-lite: ratings agencies might provide the answer to the current calls for more accountability and transparency from the private equity community. Paul Watters, a director at Standard & Poor's, explains their current role and future potential.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
April 1, 2007... As the current furore surrounding the role of private equity in European industry settles, the leveraged buyout (LBO) sector is left facing a series of unprecedented pressures, which are likely to be exacerbated by the turning of the credit...

Vivarte.
April 1, 2007... * Four banks have joined retailer Vivarte's circa 3bn [euro] loan, via bookrunners RBS and Goldman Sachs. BNP Paribas, Calyon, Natixis and UBS have been brought in as joint lead arrangers ahead of launch. Debt comprises a 1.12bn [euro] term...

Lafarge's Roofing.
April 1, 2007... * The debt backing PAI's 2.38bn [euro] buyout of Lafarge's Roofing division. The facility totals 2.07bn [euro], including 1.96bn [euro] of senior debt. Bookrunners across the whole facility are BNP Paribas and JPMorgan, while Bank of America...

MoInycke Heathcare.
April 1, 2007... * HSBC, Morgan Stanley and SEB Merchant Bank have launched the 2.2bn [euro] debt package supporting the buyout of MoInycke Heathcare, a Swedish medical products company. The facility is split between a 300m [euro] seven-year term loan A paying...

Phadia.
April 1, 2007... * Bookrunners RBS, UBS and Unicredit (HVB) have again reverse flexed the 995m [euro] facility backing sponsor Cinven's 1.285bn [euro] buyout of Phadia from PPM Capital and Triton. The second price flex sees the margin on the B reduced by 12.5bp...

Fraikin.
April 1, 2007... * After a securing a substantial oversubscription in syndication, bookrunners Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan are out with a structural flex to the 1.22bn [euro] debt package supporting CVC's secondary buyout of Fraikin, a French freight vehicle...

HC Starck.
April 1, 2007... * Bookrunners Dresdner KW and Mizuho Corporate Bank with mandated lead arranger Commerzbank are finalising the allocation of the 960m [euro] debt package supporting the buyout of HC Starck. The facility was well oversubscribed, which has...

Hilding Anders.
April 1, 2007... * Mandated lead arrangers HSBC and Bank of Scotland are out with the 934m [euro] SKr equivalent debt package supporting Candover's secondary buyout of Hilding Anders, a European mattress and bed manufacturer. Debt is split between a 545m [euro]...

Capio.
April 1, 2007... * The Skr9.845bn financing backing Apax Partners' and Nordic Capital's buyout of Swedish healthcare group Capio has launched, via bookrunners Bank of Scotland and Barclays. Debt comprises a SKr62m seven-year term loan A at 225bp over Libor, a...

APCOA.
April 1, 2007... * Eurazeo is understood to have mandated Mizuho Corporate Bank and the Royal Bank of Canada to support its 885m [euro] buyout of APCOA from Investcorp. Investcorp acquired APCOA in 2004 with CIBC, Dresdner Kleinwort and Mizuho Corporate Bank...

CBR.
April 1, 2007... * RBS and Unicredit have been mandated to arrange the debt backing EQT's 1.5bn [euro] secondary buyout of German retailer CBR. In 2005 Unicredit (then HVB) arranged a 300m [euro] add-on CBR's then existing 690m [euro] facility, arranged by HVB...

AHT.
April 1, 2007... * Dresdner Kleinwort as mandated lead arranger is preparing to launch the 225m [euro] debt package supporting Quadriga Capital's buyout of AHT, an Austrian refrigeration systems manufacturer. Senior debt is split between a 50m [euro] seven-year...

AWG.
April 1, 2007... * After closing with a significant oversubscription, pricing on Ospray's consortium 873m [pounds sterling] loan has been flexed down by 25bp, through MLA Deutsche Bank. The loan supports the consortium's acquisition of AWG, the owner of Anglian...

Azelis.
April 1, 2007... * Dresdner Kleinwort is out with the 315m [euro] debt package supporting 3i's tertiary buyout of Azelis, a European chemical distribution group. Prior to launch, Mizuho Corporate Bank joined as an mandated lead arranger on the senior debt....

League tables.
April 1, 2007... ANY EUROPEAN INVOLVEMENT ANNOUNCED FINANCIAL ADVISERS (AD21) 01/01/2007-31/3/2007 Rank value No. of US$m Rank deals...

M&A deal data: this country analysis included acquisitions and buyouts announced between 16 February 2007 and 15 March 2007.
April 1, 2007... Benelux Target Bidder Actaris Metering Systems (LX) - Itron Inc (US) - Manufacture meter Manufacture electricity, gas reading products meters Sales ($): Net Profits ($): Sales...