Acquisitions Monthly articles from February 2004

Acquisitions Monthly archives from February 2004

Shortlists.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... ACQUISITIONS MONTHLY HAS SHORTLISTED THE FOLLOWING FOR POSSIBLE AWARDS, BUT ENCOURAGES READERS TO NOMINATE FIRMS AND DEALS IN OTHER CATEGORIES. Bank of the year BNP Paribas Citigroup Goldman Sachs JP Morgan Lazard...

Nordic market poised for recovery: corporate M&A in the Nordic region all but collapsed last year, leaving much of the mid-market to the financial players. With stock markets and confidence rising, the trade buyers are predicted to make a big come-back in 2004.
February 1, 2004... M&A has collapsed more dramatically in the Nordic region than in Europe generally over the past five years. At its peak in 1999, the market was worth more than US$100bn, compared with US$37bn last year. The fall has been just as dramatic in...

Synopses of the largest global deals in January 2004.(Market intelligence)
February 1, 2004... FRANCE: Sanofi-Synthelabo (SS) launched a hostile tender offer to acquire the entire ordinary share capital of Aventis (AV), a Strasbourg-based manufacturer of pharmaceuticals, for E48.462bn (US$61.02bn). SS offered a choice of E60.43...

Premia continue slide: average bid premia were down again in the fourth quarter of 2003.(Market intelligence)
February 1, 2004... Seasonal good cheer could not reverse the slow decline in the average quarterly premia seen during the year. The average premia over the target share price one day and one month before the offer or bid talks were announced during the fourth...

EBITDA--a performance measure in disrepute? Enterprise value divided by EBITDA is still widely used as a valuation ratio.(Market intelligence)
February 1, 2004... A popular way of evaluating a company's performance in the 1990s was to look at EBITDA (earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation). However, EBITDA has become a controversial measure of performance, with Warren Buffett...

Power stations attract buyers: restructured UK power stations could be changing hands soon.(Restructuring column)
February 1, 2004... The higher electricity prices of the past few months have revived interest in the sale of restructured UK power stations. The banks that were obliged to swap their debt for equity when the plants ran into trouble now see the prospect of a...

Corporate broking battleground: UK brokers are jostling for position as they anticipate a recovery. The mid-market looks especially competitive.(Institutions)
February 1, 2004... The UK corporate broking market is facing a shake-up. There might be a battle on for FTSE 100 clients as Cazenove considers succession issues and an approach from Lehman Brothers, but the middle market especially is in a state of flux....

Close fills in the gaps: Nordic region alliance will be followed by Italian link.(Institutions)
February 1, 2004... Close Brothers Corporate Finance is rapidly filling in the gaps in its international network. The UK-based bank has recently formed a strategic alliance with the Nordic region's Danske Markets Corporate Finance and says a deal in Italy is...

Skadden Arps top global legal adviser: in Europe, Clifford Chance overtook Linklaters to gain league pole position, advising on 239 deals compared to Linklaters' 182 deals.(Legal league tables)
February 1, 2004... The top four advisers in Thomson Financial's 2003 worldwide announced M&A legal adviser rankings--Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom, Clifford Chance, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, and Sullivan & Cromwell--all played no role on the year's largest...

Domestic deals in favour: US mega-mergers will have little impact on European Banks. But 2004 might not be too quiet a year.(Focus on banking)
February 1, 2004... Banking deals might be all the rage now in the US but there is far more circumspection in Europe. As Fox-Pitt Kelton's table of potential European transactions (see below) shows, there are serious obstacles in the way of nearly every plausible...

Barclays twins may raise Hollinger offer: the audacious, back-door raid on Hollinger International, owners of the daily telegraph and Sunday Telegraph titles, by the reclusive Barclay twins turned media rivals green with envy.(TMT sector report)
February 1, 2004... The Barclay Brothers, it seemed, had shaken hands on a sale that was legally indisputable. For the publicity shy brothers--David and Frederick--it was cause for jubilation. At last they could see their way to owning quality national newspapers...

German utilities face constraints: recovering capital markets are reviving interest in deals that were shelved during the downturn of the past 18 months, but there will be few 10-figure transactions.(Utilities sector report)
February 1, 2004... There are unlikely to be many 10-figure transactions, however, as the two industry giants, RWE and E.ON, face constraints on their corporate activity--both at home and overseas--and domestic activity will centre on the country's much smaller...

Lawyer challenges OFGEM.(Utilities sector report)(Office of Gas & Electricity Markets)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... The UK electricity regulator's requirement that mergers between electricity distribution companies yield a 32m [pounds sterling] saving to customers is "unlawful" and "quite clearly perverse", a leading City lawyer claimed last month. Neil...

In the mood for M&A: mid-market companies are growing in confidence.(Moving in the mid-markets)
February 1, 2004... Evidence of growing confidence in the mid-markets is flowing in. A joint global survey of 1,300 corporates, banks and advisory finns by the Association of Corporate Growth and Thomson Financial has found that business leaders are upbeat about...

Prospects brighten for tech M&A: UK companies will be leading acquirers in Europe as clouds over the technology sector disperse.(Sector watch)
February 1, 2004... Since the burst of the bubble in 2000, the technology sector has been more or less a no-go area in Europe for mid market M&A. Now things are looking up. Ian Glanville, head of technology at KPMG Corporate Finance, says "2002 was the year of...

Predictions for year ahead: we asked some leading private equity players to look into the crystal ball and offer a view on the prospects for mid-market activity in 2004.(Moving in the mid-markets)
February 1, 2004... "Optimism, for right or wrong, clearly abounds in certain quarters, witness recent news that demand for executive jets is once again approaching record levels. The City is still celebrating the stock market's emergence from a three-year bear...

Behind the buyouts.(Secondary buyouts.)
February 1, 2004... Overview Secondary buyouts were certainly flavour of the month in January as many of the large buyout houses prepare to launch new funds in 2004. Candover was most prominent, selling Irish packaging company Clondalkin to Warburg Pincus for...

Buy & baloney: new research shows that the level of buy-and-build activity has fallen far short of the accompanying hype.(Private equity column)
February 1, 2004... When the private equity industry realised it could not just buy cheap businesses and sell them a few years later for a tidy profit it began to turn its mind to other ways of value creation. Private equity, evangelists started preaching that...

Is private equity losing its edge? Private equity firms pride themselves on their ability to act quickly and decisively.(Behind the buyouts)
February 1, 2004... Speed of thought and deed, they say, gives them an edge over corporate buyers, which have to win the approval of shareholders, or IPOs, which are seen as erratic and disruptive. The other great selling point of the buyout houses is their...

Private equity, senior debt and mezzanine provider tables.(Behind the buyouts)
February 1, 2004... Acquisitions Monthly this month publishes its annual equity, debt and mezzanine league tables for Europe and the UK, and supplements with tables for Germany, France and Italy. Equity tables have been compiled from an exhaustive survey of all...

Cinven doubles its money on pubs.(Behind the buyouts)
February 1, 2004... Barring any major surprises, the next big step in the consolidation of the UK'S pub landscape looks set to take place next month when Enterprise Inns exercises its option to acquire the Unique Pub Company from a Cinven led equity consortium....

Vestar buys OGF Group.(Behind the buyouts)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... New York-based private equity group Vestar Capital Partners is set to complete its fourth European deal in eighteen months with the announcement that it is to acquire OGF Group, France's leading funeral services provider, from Service...

Candover sells two to peers.(Behind the buyouts)(Warburg Pincus has acquired Clondalkin Group from Candover)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Horse-trading continued apace in the private equity world, with last month's announcement that US buyout house Warburg Pincus has acquired a majority stake in Clondalkin Group from UK-based peers Candover. The deal, which is valued at 630m...

Graphite acquires European Golf Brands.(Behind the buyouts)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... UK mid-market buyout house Graphite Capital has signed off the first deal from its latest fund with the announcement that it has acquired European Golf Brands from Close Brothers Private Equity for 26m [pounds sterling] (US$47.6m). In...

Standard Life raises over 1bn [euro].(Behind the buyouts)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Standard Life has surpassed the 1bn [euro] mark for its latest fundraising effort, European Strategic Partners II. The firm has announced a 1.09m [pounds sterling] final close on the fund-of funds vehicle which is destined to be invested in a...

SEAT.(M&A capital markets round-up)(Sociedad Espanola de Automoviles de Turismo S.A.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... The list of banks that joined the 3.2bn [euro] of Senior debt facilities backing the LBO of SEAT has been released to the market, despite concerted efforts by the four mandated lead arrangers--Barclays, BNP Paribas, CSFB and RBS--to prevent it...

Celanese.(M&A capital markets round-up)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Sources at Morgan Stanley said a US$1bn high-yield bond could surface as part of the financing package backing Blackstone's 2.58bn [euro] LBO of Celanese. The total purchase price of the transaction topped out at 3.1bn, [euro] making it the...

Inmarsat.(M&A capital markets round-up)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... General syndication of Inmarsat's US$975m senior debt has closed oversubscribed through mandated lead arrangers Barclays, CSFB and RBS. The banks achieved a 100% hit rate in senior syndication. All eight banks invited to sub-underwrite US$124m...

Brenntag.(M&A capital markets round-up)(Interfer Stahl)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... The 1.04bn [euro] debt supporting Bain Capital's buyout of chemical logistics company Brenntag and steel-trading division Interfer Stahl from Deutsche Bahn was launched to European banks and funds a week after a carved out portion of the B...

Materis.(M&A capital markets round-up)
February 1, 2004... Banks bare signed into the 965m [euro] of senior and mezzanine debt backing the LBO France buyout of building materials group Materis through mandated lead arranger INC. Some 42 of the 43 institutions approached joined the transaction,...

ABB.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... ABB has agreed to sell its oil, gas and petrochemicals unit to a private equity consortium of Candover, JP Morgan Partners and 3i for 825m [euro], paving the way for mandated lead arrangers Bank of Scotland. CSFB and JP Morgan to bring the...

Clondalkin Group.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Barclays, Deutsche Bank and Lehman Brothers have been mandated to arrange the debt backing Warburg Pincus's circa 700m [euro] buyout of Irish print and packaging firm Clondalkin Group. The mandated lead arrangers are conducting due diligence...

Sulo.(M&A capital markets round-up)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... The circa 700m [euro] LBO of family-owned German waste management company Sulo will be financed through all-senior facilities of about 500m [euro], comprising term loans A. B. C and a revolver. Deutsche Bank is sole arranger on the debt backing...

FL Selenia.(M&A capital markets round-up)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Banks have signed into the 560m [euro] debt package backing Vestar's 670m [euro] secondary MBO of FL Selenia. through mandated lead arranger Mizuho Corporate Bank and lead arranger JP Morgan. The facilities were a popular sale in...

IMO Car Wash.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... IMO Car Wash has mandated Bank of Scotland to arrange .and underwrite the 280m [pounds sterling] leveraged debt financing for the company's 350m [pounds sterling] secondary buyout by JP Morgan Partners. Facilities will comprise senior and...

Hilding Anders.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... The 386m [euro] equivalent LBO financing supporting the 420m [pounds sterling] buyout of Hilding Anders by Investcorp was launched on January 16. through mandated lead arrangers CSFB and Citigroup. The facilities are split between 306m...

Sirona Dental.(mergers and acquistions)(EQT's)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Mandated lead arrangers RBS and JP Morgan will launch the debt facilities hacking EQT's secondary buyout of German dental equipment manufacturer Sirona Dental in January. Sell-down is likely to be a one-step syndication. EQT bought the...

PizzaExpress.(M&A capital markets round-up)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... The launch of the limited retail syndication of the 200m [pounds sterling] debt backing the LBO of PizzaExpress has been postponed until mid February until there is more clarity over the Ask Central bidding war. The acquisition, backed by TDR...

Saft.(M&A capital markets round-up)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... The sub-underwriting phase of syndication for Saft's 270m [euro] senior debt has been completed through mandated lead arranger CSFB with both invited banks, BNP Paribas and Mizuho Corporate Bank. committing as joint lead arrangers and...

OGF Group.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Vestar Capital Partners and management have agreed to buy Service Corporation International's French funeral services subsidiary OGF Group for 300m [euro]. Lehman Brothers has the mandate to arrange the 265m [euro] of senior and mezzanine debt...

Credit Lyonnais and Natexis Banques Populaires have been mandated to arrange the debt backing the 225m [euro] take-private of French industrial group Legris Industries.(Fregate SAS)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Credit Lyonnais and Natexis Banques Populaires have been mandated tn arrange the debt backing the 225m [euro] take-private of French industrial group Legris Industries. Senior syndication is expected to launch soon. French private equity house...

HSS Service Group.(M&A capital markets round-up)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... ABN AMRO is leading a syndicate of banks involved in the financing of the 3i-backed 145m [pounds sterling] MBO of HSS Service Group, a tool hire business being sold by Davis Service Group.

Aliplast.(M&A capital markets round-up)(debt financing)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... RBS has won the mandate to arrange the 134m [euro] senior debt backing Electra's 205m [euro] buyout of Belgian aluminium window frame maker Aliplast. Details will be finalised shortly and syndication will be launched in February, when...

Parques Reunidos.(M&A capital markets round-up)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Six co-arrangers have joined the 127m [euro] of senior debt backing Advent International's buyout of Parques Reunidos. the Spanish amusemeut park operator, which RBS is arranging. The banks are Banesto. BSCH. BBVA, HVB Group, Banco Urbiquito...

Blagden Packaging Group.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... The debt supporting Alchemy Partners' circa 150m [euro] secondary buyout of steel drum maker Blagden Packaging Group has been launched, through mandated lead arranger Bank of Scotland. The 80m [euro] senior debt facility is split into a 50m...

Janton.(BA Capital Partners)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... BA Capital Partners has mandated Sampo Bank to arrange senior debt and ICG to arrange mezzanine financing to support the agreed 130m [euro] buyout of Finnish newspaper publisher Janton. Shareholders were offered 13 [euro] per share and a 93.7%...

Taminco.(M&A capital markets round-up)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Belgian methylamines and derivatives company Taminco's 88.65m [euro] LBO facility has been completed with an oversubscription through mandated lead arranger Fortis Bank. Joining the deal as co-arrangers, committing 15m [euro] for 85bp...

Walbrook.(M&A capital markets round-up)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Bank of Scotland has provided debt facilities of 32.5m [pounds sterling] to support the 52.5m [pounds sterling] MBO of Walbrook from Deloitte & Touche, Walbrook is the trust and company services arm of Deloitte in the Channel Islands and the...

M&A deal data.(Illustration)
February 1, 2004... Benelux Target Bidder Eurofind SA (LX) 9.5% Investment Giovanni Agnelli & Co (IT)-- holding company Investment holding company Sales ($): n/a Net Profits ($): n/a...

Monthly sector analysis.(Illustration)
February 1, 2004... THIS SECTOR ANALYSIS INCLUDES ACQUISITIONS AND BUYOUTS ANNOUNCED BETWEEN JANUARY 1 AND JANUARY 26. UK PUBLIC OFFERS COMPLETED BETWEEN THESE DATES ARE INCLUDED, WHEREAS NEW AND PENDING OFFERS ARE EXCLUDED, THE TRANSACTIONS ARE CLASSIFIED...