Acquisitions Monthly articles from January 2006

Acquisitions Monthly archives from January 2006

Is nine the new seven? Leveraged buyout multiples soar towards double digits.(EDITORIAL)
January 1, 2006... Just a few months ago, the chatter among private equity firms and their advisers and lenders was whether the standard leverage of debt to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation was 7x instead of 5x. Now, could it be...

Two cheers for European M&A: large-cap companies and private equity are creating excitement, but the corporate heartland of Europe remains quiescent.(REVIEW OF THE YEAR)
January 1, 2006... It might be churlish to complain about a paucity of M&A after Europe saw US$1.2trn worth of deals in 2005, but the fact remains that we have only seen a limited boom in the market so far. Exultant investment banks and media notwithstanding, the...

December snapshot: synopses of the largest global deals announced last month.(MARKET INTELLIGENCE)
January 1, 2006... US ConocoPhillips (CP) has agreed to acquire all the outstanding common stock of Burlington Resources (BR), an independent exploration and production company, in a stock-swap transaction valued at US$35.395bn. CP offered US$46.50 in cash and...

Volume of offers fell during Q3: average premia over the target share price one day and one month before offer talks were 26% and 27% respectively in the third quarter of 2005.(QUARTERLY BID PREMIA)
January 1, 2006... The volume of eligible offers for UK public companies dipped during the third quarter of 2005. Compared with the 22 offers that were completed in the second quarter, the third quarter's 15 completed offers were more in line with the 13 seen in...

Predictions for 2006: we asked leading practitioners to look into the crystal ball for the world of M&A in the year ahead.(VIEWPOINTS)
January 1, 2006... "Last year was a strong one for UK/European M&A and we at Greenhin & Co were very busy in London and Frankfurt. Some of our higher profile transactions reflected the themes that characterised the market in 2005 and that we expect to continue in...

Compass hires another heavyweight: Citigroup banker Philip Keevil takes charge of boutique's London office.(INSTITUTIONS)
January 1, 2006... US Corporate finance boutique Compass Advisers has hired Philip Keevil as the new head of its London office, an appointment that enhances the firm's elite corps of seasoned bankers. He will be working closely with managing partner John Wilford,...

Ashurst stays in hiring mode: UK law firm hires 14 lawyers but there could be more new recruits soon.(INSTITUTIONS)
January 1, 2006... UK law firm Ashurst is strengthening and restructuring its teams in London, Frankfurt and Milan with 14 hires including five partners. The firm could be in need of further reinforcements in other teams after losing three German partners to...

A Danish year: the past twelve months has seen a stellar performance from the Nordic region, with Denmark taking the lead and throwing up the largest European LBO ever. As we enter 2006, the landscape continues to look bright as corporate acquirers sharpen their claws. Sandrine Bradley reports.(NORDIC REGION)
January 1, 2006... Denmark was the star of the show last year in the Nordic region. 2005 saw a number of high-profile private equity-led transactions emanating from the Danish market place, perhaps heralding a new dawn of growing maturity for Denmark. The...

Irish mid-market thrives: Ireland's M&A surge is being driven by mid cap and SME companies. Donal O'Donovan reports.(IRELAND)
January 1, 2006... Ireland is enjoying a benign economic environment with low interest rates and this is reflected in the M&A market. In 2005, the value of announced M&A deals surpassed that of any year since 2000, finishing the year 60% up on the 2004 level....

Consolidation of two industries underway: soaring energy prices boosted corporate activity among European utilities to its highest level in three years in 2005.(FOCUS ON UTILITIES)
January 1, 2006... Leading gas and electricity companies in Europe are seeking strategic investments in each others' sectors to hedge their potential future exposures. As gas continued to become an increasingly dominant fuel for power generation in most...

Concern over future supply moves up government agendas: the record levels to which crude oil prices climbed in 2005 meant that political considerations increasingly dictated the course of big acquisitions in the sector during the year.(FOCUS ON UTILITIES)
January 1, 2006... The most salient example of political interference was the contested takeover of US oil company Unocal, which Chevron finally secured with a US$17bn offer in August after China National Offshore Oil Corporation had threatened to grab the target...

Financial investors pay premiums for water-industry assets.(SECTOR REPORTS: FOCUS ON UTILITIES)
January 1, 2006... Expectations that the UK water sector would see a spate of merger proposals in 2005 on the back of the favourable five-year pricing regime that took effect from April proved unfounded, as it quickly became evident that long-term financial...

Border crossings: the year 2005 saw ABN Amro break into Italy, Unicredito cement itself in eastern Europe, Old Mutual step into Sweden, and China pushed ajar.(SECTOR REPORTS: FIG REVIEW)
January 1, 2006... Mario Draghi, the incoming governor of Banca d'Italia, may avoid landing straight in the frying pan when he takes up his new post on January 16. The Goldman Sachs man will have to role on the validity of Unipol Assicurazioni's bid for Banca...

ProSiebenSat.1 Media takeover in jeopardy: the German cartel office reportedly is likely to vote against a takeover of the TV broadcaster by Axel Springer due to a potential dominating position on the TV market.(SECTOR REPORTS: FOCUS ON MEDIA)
January 1, 2006... Germany's Federal Cartel Office continues to object to the planned acquisition of German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 Media by German publishing group Axel Springer. Last year, the controlling shareholder of ProSiebenSat.1, P7S1 Holding, had...

Taking off from defence businesses: aerospace has proved a fruitful sector for M&A, as the prospect of a significant upturn in orders from the international airline industry boosts ongoing activity to restructure in the face of an expected long-term decline in military expenditure across most European countries.(SECTOR REPORTS: FOCUS ON AEROSPACE)(Company Profile)
January 1, 2006... Preliminary figures from Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin, the US-based international investment bank that is one of the most active in the sector, suggest the total number of defence/aerospace transactions grew by 10% in 2005, rising to 209 from...

Bouygues Telecom could become target: telecoms consolidation is expected to continue, with Telefonica and Deutsche Telekom among those interested in one of the last three independent European players.(SECTOR REPORTS: FOCUS ON TELECOMS)
January 1, 2006... Bouygues Telecom, the French mobile phone operator owned by Bouygues, is among the last three independent European players in the sector, the others being the Netherlands' KPN and France's SFR. SFR is 44% owned by Vodafone and the UK company...

GE/Honeywell--Conglomerates go free? The GE vs. European Commission decision is good news for any dealmaker thinking about launching a conglomerate takeover in 2006.(LEGAL & REGULATORY)
January 1, 2006... Just before Christmas, the EU Court of First Instance (CFI) handed down a ruling that will make it very difficult for the Commission to block such a deal in future. The CFI in GE followed the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in February's...

Clifford Chance tops M&A legal adviser tables: firm tops national league tables in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the Nordic Region.(LEGAL & REGULATORY)
January 1, 2006... Clifford Chance has again as the top legal adviser on European M&A transactions. The law firm topped Thomson Financial's Legal Adviser league table for 2005 not only in Europe as a whole but across a swath of the Continent's biggest economies....

Stars align for buyouts: a combination of cheap debt, a buoyant fundraising market and resurgent M&A activity have made 2005 a landmark year for European private equity.(YEAR-END REVIEW)
January 1, 2006... The headline figures say it all--by the time everything has been totted up, there will have been around US$60bn of new capital raised and US$151bn deployed on European buyouts. According to Thomson Financial, there have been more than 40...

Investcorp buys Autodistribution.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
January 1, 2006... Investcorp, the Bahrain-based alternative investments firm, has agreed to buy Autodis, the holding company for Autodistribution, the independent French distributor of auto, truck and industrial spare parts, from Goldman Sachs. Although...

Mid Europa Partners amasses record war chest.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
January 1, 2006... Mid Europa Partners, the private equity firm focused on Central Europe, has announced the final close of 650m [euro] on its second fund, Emerging Europe Convergence Fund II. The fundraising is the largest to date by a private equity manager...

TowerBrook makes first fund close.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
January 1, 2006... TowerBrook Capital Partners, the transatlantic mid-market buyout firm formerly known as Soros Private Equity Partners, has reportedly made an initial close of its first fund under its new name at US$592m, ahead of a final target of US1.25bn...

EQT chosen on strategic grounds.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
January 1, 2006... German carmaker decides to sell MTU to EQT because the Nordic buyout firm has "the most convincing concept". On December 27 2005, it was announced that funds controlled by Nordic buyout firm EQT had signed an agreement with Daimler Chrysler...

Electra sells Inchcape Shipping Services: US$285m deal for UAE-based alternatives company Istithmar.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
January 1, 2006... Electra Investment Trust, the UK-listed private equity fund, has agreed to sell Inchcape Shipping Services for US$285m to Istithmar, a United Arab Emirates-based alternative investments company. Electra will receive cash proceeds inclusive...

ING sells German private equity interests.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
January 1, 2006... ING Group is to sell its German private equity fund to a consortium of AXA Private Equity, and including Paul Capital Partners and Credit Suisse First Boston Strategic partners. ING said it had reached an agreement to sell its 100% stake in...

Wendel gains Materis exclusivity.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
January 1, 2006... Wendel Investissement, the French investment vehicle of the eponymous steel making family, has replaced Eurazeo in exclusive talks to buy Materis, an industrial chemicals company worth 2bn [euro] (US$2.4bn), from local buyout firm LBO France....

Bustling with activity: (US$500M-US$30M): in 2005, the mid-markets saw a noticeable uplift in private equip-led deal activity. On the back of a prosperous 12 months, most are expecting a bumper first half of 2006.(MOVING IN THE MID-MARKETS)
January 1, 2006... "M&A is back," said Richard Grainger, chief executive at Close Brothers Corporate Finance, towards the end of 2005. "There are a lot of people with a lot of money and it is a very competitive market." Many parts of Europe last year saw the...

Strategic investment gathers steam: M&A activity in India last year continued the boom seen in the first half, closing at an all time record for reported transactions. Sridar Swamy of India Advisory Partners reports.(INDIA)
January 1, 2006... Last year was a record one for Indian corporate finance activity. The upward trend seen in the first half of the year picked up pace dramatically in the second half. INDATA recorded 325 deals valued at Rs474.8bn June and December 2005. ...

M&A deal data: this country analysis included acquisitions and buyouts announced between 19 November and 19 December.
January 1, 2006... M&A DEAL DATA This country analysis included acquisitions and buyouts announced between 19 November and 19 December. Benelux Target Bidder Akzo Nobel NV (NT)--Manufacture Apollo Advisors LP...