Acquisitions Monthly articles from January 2003

Acquisitions Monthly archives from January 2003

Fortune favours the brave: Henry Gibbon reviews M&A activity last year and looks forward to 2003. (Insight).
January 1, 2003... The mixture of global recession, corporate scandals and the threat of war in Iraq has impacted heavily on stock markets and share indices around the world. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 21.8% last year, while the FTSE 100 suffered a 24.4%...

SSSB and Rothschild jump into top five: despite talk of falling volumes, a shrinking fee pool and job cuts, a few banks did rather well out of 2002. (Financial adviser league tables).(Schroder Salomon Smith Barney)
January 1, 2003... Schroder Salomon Smith Barney (SSSB) and Rothschild are the two big movers up the 2002 Thomson Financial European M&A league tables. Casualties were always to be expected in a year that saw a smaller M&A fee pool and European investment banking...

Viewpoints on the year ahead: practitioners look into the crystal ball offering predictions for the M&A world. (Market Intelligence).
January 1, 2003... "Normally banking and financial services is the largest sector for M&A activity. There is evidence to suggest that this will again be the case in 2003, when increased exposure in the insurance market, the difficulties facing the investment...

Synopses of the largest global deals in December 2002. (Market intelligence).(Industry Overview)
January 1, 2003... FRANCE: Credit Agricole SA (CA) said it planned to acquire the remaining 293.927m shares, or 82.6% including the 7.2m shares under option, it did not already own in Credit Lyonnaise SA (CL), a fellow finandal institution, through a recommended...

Quality businesses still being bought: the Private Company Price Index remained stable at 12.5 in the third quarter of 2002. (Market intelligence).
January 1, 2003... The Private Company Price Index remained stable at 12.5 in the third quarter of 2002, despite the FTSE Non-Financial Index falling from 22.5 to 19.9. In November, Gordon Brown announced his pre-Budget report, in which he detailed his plans...

Candover hunts for continental deals: private equity firm hires new Paris head as it seeks to exploit the upturn in the French buyout market. (Institutions).
January 1, 2003... Candover is hiring two senior professionals as it explores opportunities to invest money from its 2.7bn [euro] 2001 Fund. Cyrille Chevrillon has taken charge of the firm's Paris office and has joined Candover's executive board while John...

Jefferies invests in aerospace and defence: US middle-market bank buys specialist boutique. (Institutions).(Jefferies Group acquires Quarterdeck Investment Partners)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Jefferies Group, the US-based investment bank, is boosting its presence in aerospace and fence with the acquisition of middle-market boutique Quarterdeck Investment Partners. The 26 banker-strong Quarterdeck is well known in its chosen...

Kroll cultivates new image: former Andersen men are setting up a corporate finance business at the investigations firm. (Institutions).
January 1, 2003... Kroll Associates, the corporate investigations firm that has an image as a mackintosh-clad detective service, has ambitions to build "a serious, sector-driven corporate finance business", according to a senior new recruit. Paul Hemming,...

Carlyle strengthens European operations: US-based private equity house Carlyle Group has strengthened its European operations with the appointment of a further two managing directors. (Institutions).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Two new managing directors, Robert Easton and Franck Falezan, have been promoted internally from director positions on Carlyle's European buyout team. Easton, who joined Carlyle in September 2000 and is based in London, orchestrated the offer...

Doughty Hanson expands into France. (Institutions).
January 1, 2003... Doughty Hanson, the European private equity group, has sent a serious message of intent to its rivals with the appointment of Yann Duchesne to spearhead its expansion into the French market. Over the next few months, Duchesne will be charged...

Market for legal services tracks M&A: Linklaters attains top spot among worldwide legal firms, while Jones Day Reavis & Pogue advises on most deals during 2002. (Legal league tables).
January 1, 2003... Linklaters was the leading law firm on M&A deals worldwide last year, according to the annual legal advisory league tables released by Thomson Financial. In a difficult year for merger and acquisition activity, Linklaters raced from fifth...

Acquisitions monthly editorial calendar 2003. (Legal league tables).(Brief Article)(Illustration)
January 1, 2003... January Annual M&A Review UK M&A Review Focus on Germany European Acquisitions in US Emerging Markets Overview February Buyout League Tables Broking in M&A Focus on Italy European Private Equity Review Restructuring...

EU merger reform: a business benefit? Ability to extend deadlines in search of effective remedies is welcome, but not the proposed greater use of referrals. (Legal and Regulatory).
January 1, 2003... The EU's new merger regulation package has now been published. The Commission claims it is a major overhaul of the EU merger regime that will benefit business. However, on close examination, it is clear that while there are clear business...

Delivering the deal: Hugh Langmuir and Simon Rowlands describe how one of France's largest LBOs was brought to a successful conclusion, in spite of a formidable series of unforeseeable obstacles. (Sponsored Article).
January 1, 2003... Cinven originally started looking at Vivendi Universal Publishing (VUP) in the summer of 2001. Initially only interested in selling its business publications, at Cinven's behest Vivendi broadened the transaction to include its healthcare...

The year of the utility mega deal: the utilities sector, especially power, was indisputably the star performer last year. 2003 is likely to see more digestion than acquisition. (Utilities sector review).
January 1, 2003... The European power industry produced several 10-figure merger and acquisition deals during 2002, in a year when such mega-transactions all but disappeared from other sectors, such as telecoms and banking. Much of the activity saw the...

Water sector top of agenda in 2002: the UK was focus for M&A among water companies in 2002, with two water and sewerage companies subject to controversial foreign takeovers. (Utilities sector review).
January 1, 2003... The UK was very much the focus of M&A activity in Europe's water sector in 2002, with two of the large integrated water and sewerage companies in England and Wales the subject of controversial foreign takeovers. The first deal was the...

Strategic advance in oil and gas: prospect of EU directive stimulates strategic buys by national champions. (Utilities sector review).
January 1, 2003... The onshore gas sector in Europe saw considerable M&A activity last year, as leading national companies made strategic acquisitions ahead of the introduction of a single European market in 2007, under the revised Gas and Electricity Directive...

Things can only get better: financial institutions was the biggest disappointment of 2002. But the year ended on a high and there are promising signs in France and Italy. (FIG sector review).
January 1, 2003... Financial institutions group (FIG) bankers will hope not to see any more years like 2002. The total value of deals involving European targets amounted to only US$71.3bn, a figure that was down some 45% on 2001. FIG accounted for only 15%...

Another grisly year ahead: the hope is that a few mega-deals may be salvaged this year from the rubble of the telecom and high tech sectors. (Telecom and high tech sector review).
January 1, 2003... The last 12 months the telecoms and high-tech sector have been dominated by bankruptcies, fire-sales, ground-up restructurings and one of the most antagonistic deals in Wall Street history: the acquisition of Compaq Computer by Hewlett Packard....

The year of the phantom media mega-deal: investors in the media sector could have done with a little less conversation and little more action during 2002. (Media sector review).
January 1, 2003... EchoStar's failed acquisition of Hughes Electronics, for example, or the rumoured bid for Universal Studios by Marvin Davis that, like so many of his other deals, never quite materialised. Even The Walt Disney Company survived intact, in spite...

Moving in the mid-markets (US$500m-US$30m). (End of year sector reviews).
January 1, 2003... Overview With the Safeway question kick-starting the M&A market in the bulge-bracket arena, the mid-market has also seen its share of activity already this year, with the 70m [pounds sterling] MBO of Jane Norman, the British women's wear...

Retail holds its head up: the retail sector in 2002 held up with a number of deals in the department, convenience and discount store arena'sarenas. 2003 looks less promising as the consumer threatens to go home. (End of year sector reviews).
January 1, 2003... The consumer sector was one of the most resilient in the mid-markets last year with retail deals taking precedence. Deal activity in the retail sector throughout the year can be broadly divided between department, convenience and discount...

Food and drink has a healthy year: food and drink remained steady throughout 2002 with corporate disposals shoring up activity. (End of year sector reviews).
January 1, 2003... The food and drink sector in 2002 remained steady. "Activity has not grown in terms of volume; it has just held out where other sectors have dropped off," says Martin Spillar at Deloitte & Touche. The format of activity has been changing,...

Gaming set to lead leisure activity: with consumer confidence looking set to fall the pub and restaurant sub sectors are not looking too healthy. The gaming sector on the other hand appears ripe for growth on the back of de-regulation. (End of year sector reviews).
January 1, 2003... Pubs & restaurants The leisure sector in 2002 was decidedly less lucrative than the previous two consumer areas, food & drink and retail. In the restaurants, health & fitness and pub sub-sectors prospects are lack-lustre, the only bright...

Healthcare proves to be the stalwart of the mid-market sectors: nursing homes and medical devices threw up a flurry of mid-market transactions last year with more predicted for 2003. (End of year sector reviews).
January 1, 2003... The healthcare sector was a strong mid-market contender throughout 2002. The nursing home arena and the medical device sector were important areas of M&A and private equity activity. Driving the strong fundamentals in these sectors is the...

Hot spots remain in manufacturing arena: after a sluggish 2002 manufacturing remains generally slow, with aerospace and defence providing the main hub of activity. (End of year sector reviews).
January 1, 2003... In a generally downbeat year for the manufacturing sector the aerospace and defence sub-sector provided one area of relative relief. A strong example of this during 2002 was the bidding contest for the defence business of TRW. Three US...

Behind the buyouts.(top 20 buyouts in December 2002)(Industry Overview)
January 1, 2003... Overview After a prolonged tussle with a group of private equity houses that included Apax Partners, Cinven, Starwood and Sun Capital, Permira finally secured the acquisition of Little Chef and Travelodge from Compass Group for 712m...

New year, same record: in a preview of the European private equity review in our February issue, Ben Harding gauges market confidence for the year to come. (Private Equity Column).
January 1, 2003... The private equity industry goes into the new year with most of last year's problems and uncertainties unresolved. The emerging picture of 2002 shows that buyout completions dropped. According to KPMG's figures, the total number of completed UK...

Eurazeo acquires Fiat business: the French private equity house is to lead the latest in what is expected to be a series of disposals by the Italian motor vehicle manufacturer. (Buyout of the month).
January 1, 2003... A consortium led by Eurazeo, France's largest listed investment firm, and including Pragma-Capital, a private equity joint venture between banks Credit Agricole and Credit Lyonnais, as well as UI, Credit Agricole's direct investment arm, has...

Candover to acquire Ontex in E1bn-plus buyout. (Behind the buyouts).
January 1, 2003... Among the deals scheduled to launch financing this month is private equity firm Candover's 1bn [euro] plus buyout of Ontex. The deal was announced in December and Barclays Capital has been mandated as lead arranger. The facility will...

Electra Partners completes buyout of OASE Group. (Behind the buyouts).(Electra Partners Europe, OASE Wubker)
January 1, 2003... After protracted negotiations, Electra Partners Europe has finalised the buyout of OASE Wubker for 65m [pounds sterling]. Because the family vendors wanted to conclude the sale before year-end 2002, Electra Partners agreed to underwrite the...

Permira acquires Compass restaurant assets: private equity firm Permira wins the auction to buy Travelodge and Little Chef from Compass, the UK food services company. (Behind the buyouts).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... TLLC, the vehicle established by Permira to make the acquisition of Travelodge and Little Chef, is paying 712m [pounds sterling] (US$1.14bn), at least 38m [pounds sterling] less than Compass was hoping for. But the corporate which was advised...

Private equity group buys toy company in secondary MBO. (Behind the buyouts).(Phoenix Equity Partners acquires majority stake in Vivid Imaginations)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Phoenix Equity Partners, one of a select group of private equity players operating at the lower end of the UK mid-market, has acquired a majority stake in toy manufacturer Vivid Imaginations for 62m [pounds sterling] (US$100m). Phoenix has...

HG Capital makes drug trial acquisition. (Behind the buyouts).(HG Capital acquires Pharma Bio-Research)
January 1, 2003... UK-based private equity group HGCapital has acquired Pharma Bio-Research of the Netherlands for 90m [euro]. Of the 40m [euro] equity invested, HG committed 34m [euro] alongside management and the previous majority shareholder Tromoteur Holding,...

European Buyouts Report. (Behind the buyouts).
January 1, 2003... The European Buyouts Report will be published in April. The report is intended to provide a review of activity throughout Europe, analysing the strategic focus of private equity--in terms of acquisitions, exits and value-creation within...

Barclays Private Equity exceeds target: Ben Harding talks to managing director Graeme White about fundraising in a cold climate. (Fund of the month).
January 1, 2003... Barclays Private Equity has finalised fundraising, on what is effectively its first external vehicle, on 1.25bn [euro], 600m [euro] of which was sourced from external investors. Barclays Private Equity does have some experience of external...

Indigo Capital rounds off fund four. (Behind the buyouts).
January 1, 2003... UK-based independent mezzanine provider Indigo Capital has completed fundraising for its fourth vehicle on the cap level of 475m [euro]. Indigo Capital IV, as the new fund is known, was launched in May 2002 with a target of 400m [euro]. A first...

Pomona keep the secondary capital flowing. (Behind the buyouts).(Pomona Capital closes fifth secondaries fund)
January 1, 2003... Pomona Capital, the global private equity manager, has closed its fifth secondaries fund on $582m, $182m above the original target. The fund, which was launched a year ago, has already made commitments of around $150m to investments in...

Williams hits fundraising trail in CE Europe. (Funds).(White Williams Investment Partners)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... White Williams Investment Partners, a private equity group established by Dave Williams, former chief executive of Alliance Capital, is aiming to raise US$500m for investment in Central & Eastern Europe. The Fund, which will represent one of...

Capman round off Fund VII below target. (Funds).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Finnish private equity group CapMan has closed its latest fund, CapMan Equity VII, below the initial target of 300m [euro]. Launched in late 2001, the fund held a first close in January on 166m [euro]. The fund, which closed at 253m [euro],...

Barings announce Latin American plans. (Funds).(Baring Latin America Partners)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Baring Latin America Partners (BLAP), the New York-based arm of Barings Private Equity Partners, is preparing to launch two private equity funds aimed at the Latin American market. BLAP is to launch a $200m Mexican fund to make investments...

MPM Raise US$900m for healthcare. (Funds).(MPM Capital)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... MPM Capital, the US-based healthcare investor, has held a final close on $900m for its global fund MPM BioVentures III. MPM will invest BioVentures III in biotechnology, drug development and medical technology companies at all stages of...

Terra Firma reaches first close. (Funds).(Terra Firma Capital Partners II)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... Terra Firma Capital Partners II, the investment vehicle of ex-Nomura supremo Guy Hands, has held a first closing at 1 billion. The fundraising experience shows that the current climate can be tough, even for a man of Hands' experience and track...

Two Exits for 3i. (Exits).(3i sells stakes in Transalliance, Nordisk Renting)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... 3i has sold its stake in Transalliance, France's fourth largest haulage company, to the groups management, in a deal which brings the Michel family's ownership in the company to 80 per cent. 3i backed an MBO of Transalliance in 2000, taking a...

United Biscuits. (Exits).(United Biscuits' owners to be free to seek exit)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2003... The private equity consortia which acquired snack foods manufacturer United Biscuits in early 2000, could soon see a return on the fruits of their labour. Private equity groups Cinven, Paribas Affaires Industrielles and DB Capital Partners...

Professionals look to the long term: the German market was a huge disappointment again in 2002. But there are still some important opportunities around, not least for private equity firms. Neil Sen reports from Frankfurt. (Focus on Germany).
January 1, 2003... If mergers and acquisitions have slipped somewhat down the list of corporate priorities in the UK or in France, for many in Germany they have hit the very bottom. The objections to deal-making are becoming dangerously doctrinaire amid...

Bavaria goes back to its roots: when the recovery in Germany comes, Bavaria will lead it with its traditional industrial strengths to the forefront. (Focus on Germany).
January 1, 2003... Because of its cultural and political singularity, Bavaria has often been regarded as a country in itself, rather than a region within Germany. But in terms of M&A and private equity, it stands as a symbol for the challenges currently facing...

Emerging markets share global agony: while inevitably affected by the global malaise in M&A activity, emerging markets seem to have suffered less than their developed counterparts. (M&A in emerging markets).
January 1, 2003... The figures on global M&A do not make for pretty reading. Battered by accounting scandals, volatile stockmarkets and economic uncertainty, total global volumes are at their lowest ebb for five years. Emerging markets may be less sophisticated...

Russian banks go international: as Russia comes out of the shadows of the 1998 crisis local banks are beginning to push their way back on to the international scene, with the banking sector itself looking ripe for consolidation. (M&A in emerging markets).
January 1, 2003... In a gloomy economic climate Russia appears to be one of the few bright spots on the landscape as potential for growth begins to take on momentum. There is a growing confidence and desire by local banks once again to join the capital...

Indian summer fails to materialize: the very strong first-half performance in India raised expectations of a similar second half in 2002, but hopes of a sustained recovery were dashed as the final six months saw a sharp slowdown in deal activity. (Indian M&A).
January 1, 2003... M&A activity failed to meet expectations raised at the half year stage, and compared with the 415 deals of the first half valued at Rs289bn (US$6bn) the second half saw only 260 deals for Rs102bn. The year's total, at Rs391bn (US$8.2bn),...

M&A deal data.(Industry Overview)
January 1, 2003... M&A deal data Benelux Target Casema (France Telecom SA) (NE)--Provide cable television services Sales ($): n/a Net Profits ($): n/a Bidder Investor Group (US)--Investor group Sales ($): n/a...

Monthly sector analysis.(Illustration)
January 1, 2003... Monthly sector analysis THIS SECTOR ANALYSIS INCLUDES ACQUISITIONS AND BUYOUTS ANNOUNCED BETWEEN DECEMBER 1 AND DECEMBER 31. UK PUBLIC OFFERS C0MPLETED BETWEEN THESE DATES ARE INCLUDED, WHEREAS NEW AND PENDING OFFERS ARF EXCLUDED. THE...