Acquisitions Monthly articles from January 2008

Acquisitions Monthly archives from January 2008

Deals with devastating impact.(EDITORIAL)
January 1, 2008... 2007 is a year that few M&A advisers are likely to forget in a hurry. The financial services landscape changed as Holland's leading bank ABN AMRO was broken up by a consortium of lenders led by the Royal Bank of Scotland. Buyers from...

M&A hits all-time high--despite the lows: annual figures compiled by Thomson Financial confirm that, despite the impact of the credit crunch, global M&A broke all records during 2007 to reach US$4.5trn, with European activity hitting US$1.8trn and outpacing that of the US.
January 1, 2008... Last year was always predicted to be a record breaker, despite the credit crunch witnessed in the second half, and the annual figures compiled by Thomson Financial showing a 24% increase over the previous record year in 2006 do not disappoint....

November, December snapshot: synopses of the largest global deals announced in the last two months of 2007.(MARKET INTELLIGENCE)
January 1, 2008... EGYPT: Lafarge SA (LS) of France has agreed to acquire the entire share capital of OCI Cement Group, a manufacturer and wholesaler of cement, mixed concrete and aggregates, from Orascom Construction Industries SAE (OC), for E82.452bn [pounds...

Withdrawn bids lead to break fee wrangles: as the credit crisis continues, agreed deals are at risk of breaking down sparking fights over break fees.(LEGAL & REGULATORY)
January 1, 2008... On the first day of the year, Blackstone reminded the market how much tougher the conditions for leveraged buyouts are than at the start of last year. The private equity group withdrew from its agreed US$1.8bn joint offer with General Electric...

Northern Rock heads for nationalisation: the bank, once Britain's fifth largest mortgage provider, remains on a government life support machine after a massive 57bn [pounds sterling] bailout.(LEGAL & REGULATORY)
January 1, 2008... Alistair Darling, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, faces a crisis today on par with Black Wednesday just 15 years ago. While his predecessor, Norman Lamont, lost an estimated 3.4bn [pounds sterling] of British taxpayers' money trying to...

Africa: mismatch between perception and reality: Hollywood films such as Blood Diamond and Lord of War play on the worse cliches about Africa. But, some of the world's fastest growing economies are African. Someone hasn't been reading the script.(LEAD FEATURE: REPORT ON AFRICA)(Cover story)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A sure sign of transformation is when singer Bob Geldof, who pioneered the Live Aid concerts to raise funds for famine relief in Africa, changes his tune. Back in the eighties, Geldofused to shout at British TV...

Russian telecom groups talk: Russian investor Alfa and Norwegian company Telenor are behind VimpelCom's proposed US$4.3bn acquisition of Golden Telecom but the Russian telecoms minister holds the key.(SECTOR REPORTS: FOCUS ON TELECOMS)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Alfa Group, the investment conglomerate run by Mikhail Fridman, has made a series of moves to consolidate its hold on the Russian telecom sector ahead of a possible change of government, when President Putin leaves...

Trade winds: change drives new combinations: international trade may be a low-profile part of banking but a technological revolution is taking place that is creating some strange bedfellows.(SECTOR REPORTS: FOCUS ON TECHNOLOGY)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] One of the oldest international commercial activities known to banks is that of financing international trade and it is currently going through something of a shake-up. This revolution is being supported by...

Rise of financial juggernauts: sovereign wealth funds have caused consternation among some politicians worried that they'll bag any trophy asset they can. However, such fears are probably overdone.(SECTOR REPORTS: FOCUS ON SOVEREIGN FUNDS)
January 1, 2008... The rise of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) is a reflection of the tectonic shifts of economic power from West to East. They are largely the result of years of huge US current accounts deficits, surging commodity prices and the ongoing industrial...

The hurricanes that didn't happen: despite dire predictions of hurricane damage to the US, catastrophe insurers at Lloyd's and in Bermuda got off lightly in 2007 and the unclaimed capital has been used to build diversity and scale, in the face of pressure from falling rates into 2008.(SECTOR REPORTS: FOCUS ON INSURANCE)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The 2007 Atlantic hurricane season, a major happening in the insurance and reinsurance calendar that traditionally lasts six months from June I to November 30, proved to be a damp squib in terms of insured losses....

Beating the drum of innovation: avoid the fate of CEOs who make an acquisition for revenue growth and fresh thinking only to lose the value of the opportunity to the rigours of post merger integration: John Sunderland and Ben de Haldevang of the Post Merger Integration team at PricewaterhouseCoopers write.(POST MERGER INTEGRATION COLUMN)
January 1, 2008... What happens when two innovative players in an industry merge? An explosion of creativity leading to runaway organic growth? It would be nice to think so, but all too often the reverse is the case. Take the case of one major European...

UK buyouts drop by 80% in Q4 2007: final quarter sees falls in exit values (but not volumes), take-privates, deal flow, IPOs and completions, although overall figure for 2007 still a significant increase.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS: PRIVATE EQUITY COLUMN)
January 1, 2008... The credit crunch severely impacted the UK private equity market in the final quarter of 2007, with the value of buyouts dropping by 80% from 15.4bn [pounds sterling] (US$30.37bn) in Q3 to just 2.9bn [pounds sterling] in Q4. Despite this,...

Asset-based lending case studies.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS: VIEWPOINTS)(Company overview)
January 1, 2008... We asked practitioners to supply a case study on a recent deal in which asset-based lending (ABL) played a key role. We asked them to outline some basic financials about the company and explain why ABL was utilised. In what ways was the deal...

Cool running: the Nordic private equity market has enjoyed business as usual despite turmoil throughout the rest of Europe. Robert Venes looks at recent activity in the region and expectations for 2008.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS: REGIONAL REPORT)
January 1, 2008... While private equity markets across most of Europe and the US experienced both the significant highs of abundant liquidity and naked ambition followed by the lows of public vilification and the sudden curtailing of that liquidity, the Nordic...

Risk and reward: how to manage both sides of the coin: Wilco Schoonderbeek and Richard Bakkers argue that the globalisation of the investment process and the exponential growth in assets under management demonstrate the need to standardise the calculation and presentation of the risk/reward ratio.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
January 1, 2008... Recent developments in the financial markets, such as the credit-crunch, are further signs that the investment industry is becoming increasingly global in nature. The subprime debacle has also shown that complex financial instruments can affect...

Apax and GMG buy Emap for Christmas: private equity firm Apax Partners and Guardian Media Group pay 1.26bn [pounds sterling] (US$2.5bn) for business-to-business unit after Germany's Bauer takes consumer and radio.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Emap, a UK publishing group, has rounded off several months of speculation and 60 years of independence by selling its consumer magazine and radio units to German publisher Heinrich Bauer Verlag and its...

BPE buys bird seed and garden products company.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)(Company overview)
January 1, 2008... Barclays Private Equity, a pan-European mid-market private equity firm, has acquired a I majority stake in Gardman Holdings, a UK supplier of wild bird and garden products, in a transaction valued at 85m [pounds sterling] (US$167m). ...

3i acquires testing and corrective eye surgery groups: 3i, the private equity firm, rounded off a busy 2007 with two UK investments totalling more than 400m [pounds sterling] (US$791 m).(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
January 1, 2008... London-listed 3i made a 225p per share offer for Inspicio, which values the AIM-listed testing and inspection group at about 229m [pounds sterling]. The offer was a premium of 17.8% to its 191p share price on October 11, when Inspicio first...

Darwin bulks up with Maximuscle.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Lord Rothschild-backed private equity firm makes first investment with US$153m purchase of UK sports nutrition company. Darwin Private Equity, a lower mid-market private equity firm established earlier this year with...

Carlyle expands cable portfolio and partners with Mercapital for Spanish buy.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
January 1, 2008... Carlyle Group, a US buyout firm, has acquired a sizeable stake in French cable network businesses Numericable and Completel, alongside incumbent European private equity investor Cinven and its portfolio company Altice. Financial details...

Almatis.(M&A capital markets round-up)
January 1, 2008... In the first European sole leveraged mandate of size since the summer credit crisis, Dubai International Capital has mandated UBS to arrange the debt supporting the buyout of Almatis from Rhone Capital and Ontario Teachers. Debt totals around...

Applus.(M&A capital markets round-up)
January 1, 2008... Syndication of the senior and second lien tranches on the loan backing the buyout of Applus by Carlyle Group for 1.48bn [euro], which is mandated to Barclays, Calyon, Caja Madrid, SG and ICG, has been launched. Senior debt totals 835m [euro]...

Telediffusion de France.(M&A capital markets round-up)
January 1, 2008... Telediffusion de France (TdF) has agreed a 850m [euro] deal to buy Deutsche TeleKom's Media & Broadcast unit. The deal is backed by a 565m [euro] debt package with BNP Paribas and Goldman Sachs mandated as physical bookrunners with ABN Amro,...

ELIS.(M&A capital markets round-up)
January 1, 2008... Bookrunner BNP Paribas has launched syndication of senior facilities backing Eurazeo's 2.276bn [euro] secondary buyout of ELLS. The deal is backed by 1.85bn [euro] of debt. Senior debt is split between a seven-year 50m [euro] term loan Al...

Firth Rixson.(M&A capital markets round-up)
January 1, 2008... Arrangers have launched syndication of the 900m [euro] debt pacakge supporting Oakhill's buyout of Firth Rixson. Lehman Brothers is leading the deal with GE Capital and Lloyds acting alongside. Lehman is booknmner across both the 650m [euro]...

GET.(M&A capital markets round-up)
January 1, 2008... BNP Paribas and RBS have underwritten NKr3.71bn (462m [euro]) debt package backing Quadrangle and GS Capital's buyout of GET, a Norwegian cable operator, from Candover. Debt is split between senior facilities totalling NKr3.025bn and a NKR685m...

Faceo.(M&A capital markets round-up)
January 1, 2008... The 178m [euro] loan backing the buyout of Faceo by Apax Partners from Cegelc and Thales, mandated to SG, has been launched. The facility comprises 154m [euro] of senior debt split between a seven-year term loan A of 60m [euro] paying 225bp, an...

Group Retif.(M&A capital markets round-up)
January 1, 2008... Bank of Scotland has launched the 240.5m [euro] of senior debt backing Pragma Capital's tertiary buyout of French shop fittings firm Group Retif from ABN AMRO Capital. Facilities are split between a 45m [euro] six-and-a-half-year term loan A...

Royal Swets & Zeitlinger Group.(M&A capital markets round-up)
January 1, 2008... The 230m [euro] in loan facilities for Royal Swets & Zeitlinger Group (Swets) have been mandated to ING Bank, Landsbanki and Rabobank as mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners. ABN Amro is a joint lead arranger. The facilities will offer...

M&A deal data: this country analysis included acquisitions and buyouts announced between 23 November 2007 and 18 December 2007.
January 1, 2008... Benelux Target Bidder Interkabel GmbH-Analogue, Telenet NV (BL)--Provide Digital TV Business (BL) telecommunication services --Own, operate TV stations Sales ($): n/a ...

Uncertain outlook for mid-markets: despite hopes that the mid markets might escape the worst impact of the credit crunch, deal values and volumes now look likely to fall as the uncertainty continues.(OVERVIEW)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When the underwriting banks backing KKR's US$22bn buyout of Alliance Boots failed to syndicate the debt last July, there was hope that the ensuing credit crunch might leave the mid market largely unaffected. ...

Banks become selective: lenders are more cautious, even on smaller deals, but if sponsors have a good proposition, put in more equity and have patience, then debt is available.(FINANCING)
January 1, 2008... In late summer and early autumn, as the credit squeeze gained momentum and media reports flagged up the lack of liquidity, mid-market private equity houses and corporates began to get jumpy. "I was getting lots of calls from clients who...

M&A auction processes and risk allocation: Thomas Meyding, partner in the Stuttgart office of CMS, reviews current practice in the German mid-market.(SPONSOR'S ARTICLE)
January 1, 2008... The number of mergers across Europe has remained high throughout 2007. The German M&A market, in particular, has grown throughout the year. Even with the backdrop of the global credit crunch the number of strategic buyers is increasing, with...

Movers in the mid-markets: with deal flow in the mid-markets still relatively strong, private equity firms in this space have made a number of significant appointments.(MID-MARKET RECRUITMENT)
January 1, 2008... Recruitment may be a dirty word in an investment banking community that is battening down the hatches ahead of tough times, but for the private equity industry things are slightly different. Despite the closure of the mega deal market, there...

More bolt-on buys expected: mid-market private equity firms are turning to buy-and-build plans to achieve growth in an increasingly hostile M&A environment.(PRIVATE EQUITY)
January 1, 2008... The credit environment has forced private equity to be more contemplative since the middle of last year. A further downturn in the economy this year could provide fresh bargains, but even in the more liquid mid-markets a substantial amount of...

International deals thrive on AIM: fewer companies may be floating on AIM but the market increasingly acts as a playing field for international consolidators.(ACQUISITIONS MONTHLY)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] For much of this decade, the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment market (AIM) has been the junior market of choice for companies with ambitious growth plans from around the world to raise equity capital....

Advisers keep dancing: many financial advisory firms are likely to report record revenues for last year, showing the mid markets' evergreen qualities. Thomson Financial shows who has been active.(FINANCIAL ADVISERS)
January 1, 2008... The mid-market is a great sector to be in; it's always reasonably active, despite wider market fluctuations, says one adviser at a US firm. For much of last year, this maxim remained true. The environment since the end of August demonstrates to...

Europe's mid-market lawyers receive verdict: Thomson Financial's comprehensive league tables show which law firms are leading the mid market field across Europe. Deborah Cust assesses the competition.(LEGAL ADVISORY)
January 1, 2008... For European legal firms operating in the mid-markets 2007 produced some challenging but fistful times. Although less affected by the credit market fallout in the second half of the year than those firms targeting the larger end of the market,...