Acquisitions Monthly articles from June 2006

Acquisitions Monthly archives from June 2006

Euronext's marriage proposals: Euronext keeps its prospective partners on their toes, but a tie-up seems inevitable.(EDITORIAL)
June 1, 2006... The metaphor of marriage, so familiar in M&A, has never been more keenly used than by Euronext, the Brussels-Amsterdam-Paris stock exchange which has found itself the centre of takeover attention. At Euronext's AGM on May 23, the two recent...

May snapshot: synopses of largest global deals announced last month.(MARKET INTELLIGENCE)
June 1, 2006... US Wachovia Corp (WC) of Charlotte, North Carolina, has agreed to acquire all the outstanding common stock of Golden West Financial Corp (GW) of Oakland, California, a savings and loan holding company, in a stock-swap transaction valued at...

Bid premia down on previous quarter: average premia to the target's share price one day and one month before offer or bid talks were announced were 38% and 41% respectively in the first quarter of this year, down from the previous quarters highs of 46% and 47%.(QUARTERLY BID PREMIA)
June 1, 2006... The same quarter last year saw average one-day and one-month premia of 34% and 41% respectively. The volume of eligible completed UK public offers remained static in the first quarter at 16 offers, the same number as in the final quarter of...

France stays open to M&A: grandiose deals and an almost defiant insistence on cross-border options characterise the French market. Neil Sen reports from Paris.(LEAD FEATURE: FRANCE REPORT)
June 1, 2006... The French market is seldom dull and this year has been even less insipid than usual. Perhaps the market should be concerned about the comparative paucity of deal-flow in certain areas of the mid-market, but everyone is too busy to care since...

Private equity faces deal-sourcing problems: the French market's recent buoyancy has continued in the early months of 2006, yet there are still concerns about the lack of potential buyout targets--a trend that has been partly fuelling the secondary market.(FOCUS ON FRANCE)
June 1, 2006... While not reaching the highs of 2004, last year was a positive one for the French buyouts market. According to Thomson Financial figures on financial volumes (including net debt) of French targets, last year saw nearly US$9bn of deals compared...

Suez crisis: the 70bn [euro] planned merger between Suez and the state-owned Gaz de France is certain to dominate activity in the French utilities sector this year.(FOCUS ON FRANCE)
June 1, 2006... Despite the continuing controversy over the French government's involvement in brokering the deal--supposedly to head off an unwelcome bid for Suez from the Italian state-owned utility Enel--the two companies took significant steps to advance...

Patchy progress at HSBC: Studzinski steps down as HSBC's investment banking unit struggles to grow profits.(INSTITUTIONS)
June 1, 2006... John Studzinski's decision to step down from his senior role at HSBC did not come as a surprise. It had been announced in February that he would be relinquishing some of his management duties in order to concentrate on client work even though,...

Evolution expands in China: UK investment bank's China specialist acquires Hong Kong corporate finance.(INSTITUTIONS)
June 1, 2006... Evolution Securities China (ESC), a London-based specialist arm of Evolution Group, is acquiring Hong Kong-based corporate finance advisory firm Watterson Asia. ESC will soon have offices in both Shanghai and Hong Kong, making it the most...

Valuing the property: activity in the healthcare sector shows no sign of abating. The inclusion of property funds in auctions has not only attracted vendors to the market but has also encouraged even higher valuations.(SECTOR REPORTS: FOCUS ON HEALTHCARE)
June 1, 2006... Opco/propco is the theme of the moment in the healthcare services sector. As private equity saturation reaches its peak, new investors are taking their cue and entering the fray. Most visibly, these have included property funds. The...

Chances of NYSE bid for Euronext bolstered: as Acquisitions Monthly goes to press, Euronext investors voted down a proposal stating that a Merger with Deutsche Boerse is in the best interests of shareholders.(SECTOR REPORTS: FOCUS ON FIG)
June 1, 2006... Deutsche Boerse chief executive officer Reto Francioni is vying with New York Stock Exchange CEO John Thain for control of Euronext as bourses worldwide rush to combine. In a vote at Euronext's annual shareholders' meeting, 54% of those...

Valcon wins VNU: the private equity consortium bidding for Netherlands-based media company VNU has declared victory after holders of 78.7% of its target's shares committed to accept the deal.(SECTOR REPORTS: FOCUS ON TMT)
June 1, 2006... VNU has announced that owners of 78.7% of its shares have accepted a 7.58bn [euro] (US$9.69bn) offer from Valcon Acquisition, a buyout consortium including Blackstone Group and KKR. Knight Vinke Asset Management chairman Eric Knight, who had...

OMV drops unpopular Verbund offer: politicians, shareholders and Austrian public opinion force OMV to drop merger offer, shattering ambitions to create a national champion.(COUNTRY FILE: AUSTRIA)
June 1, 2006... OMV, Austria's state-controlled oil and gas group, has announced that for political reasons the agreed merger with Oesterreichische Elektrizitfitswirtschafts AG (Verbundgesellschaft), the country's largest utility, will not now take place. The...

Direct and personal: the evolution of the direct marketing sector is nothing new but will it provide opportunities for the ever-hungry private equity houses?(MOVING IN THE MID-MARKETS: (US$500M-US$30M))
June 1, 2006... As consumers, we are all becoming perhaps wearily familiar with retailer advantage point cards and supermarket loyalty and one would assume that as the direct marketing sector becomes increasingly sophisticated so are the businesses that...

Consuming the Midlands: for much of 2004 and 2005, the Midlands buyout market was sluggish and not helped by the withdrawal of 3i from Birmingham last year. But in recent months, advisers say, the number of good-quality deals has been recovering.(MOVING IN THE MID-MARKETS)
June 1, 2006... While the decline of the Midlands' traditional manufacturing and engineering industries is not a new story, it continues to influence the region's private equity activity. "Over recent years there's been a decline in the number of deals...

UK buyout returns record: some 40bn [pounds sterling] (58.5bn [euro]) was returned to UK private investors in 2005, according to the Centre for Management Buy-out Research (CMBOR).(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS: PRIVATE EQUITY COLUMNS)
June 1, 2006... CAMBOR, which is supported by buyout firm Barclays Private Equity and accountants Deloitte, said portfolio companies had been refinanced to pay out 18.8bn [pounds sterling] and a further 21.7bn [pounds sterling] had come from selling companies...

Industry experts here to stay? Many private equity houses boast industry specialisms and expertise. To cement this, quite a few have appointed in-house industry experts to advise on particular industrial sectors. We asked industry professionals whether they feel that this is the way ahead for private equity houses?(VIEWPOINTS)
June 1, 2006... Increasingly, private equity houses have sought to differentiate themselves by aligning with certain sectors and hiring industry experts to give them the inside track. This differentiation is required from both fundraising and deal origination...

Nukem goes to Advent.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
June 1, 2006... Advent International, a US-based buyout firm that concentrates on buying companies in special situations, has agreed to buy RWE Solutions Group, a portfolio of energy services subsidiaries including SAG and Nukem owned by German utility RWE....

Investcorp sells Stahl Holding.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
June 1, 2006... Stahl Holdings, a Dutch surface coatings specialist, has been the target of a secondary buyout. Carlyle Group has teamed up with Oranje-Nassau Groep (ONG), a Dutch investment firm owned by Wendel Investissement. They have agreed to acquire...

AMEC agrees US$1.3bn French disposal.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
June 1, 2006... AMEC has agreed the 1.04bn [euro] (707m [pounds sterling], US$1.3bn) sale of French offshoot AMEC SPIE to funds managed by private equity firm PAI partners. The deal is expected to close around the middle of the third quarter and will...

Oaktree joins bid for Sara Lee European meat business.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
June 1, 2006... Oaktree Capital Management, the US-based investment firm, is to join US-based Smithfield Foods in continued negotiations to acquire the European meat products business of Sara Lee. Sara Lee's European meat product operations are...

Cegelec.(M&A capital markets round-up)
June 1, 2006... Cegelec's debt package backing LBO France's secondary buyout has closed oversubscribed. Mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners are Calyon and RBS. CIS, GE Commercial Finance, HVB and SG joined as sub-underwriters on tickets of 75m [euro] with...

EurotaxGlass.(M&A capital markets round-up)
June 1, 2006... Bank of Scotland has been mandated to arrange the senior debt and mezzanine financing for Candover's acquisition of automotive data and intelligence services provider EurotaxGlass International from HM Capital Partners for 480m [euro]. HM...

Findus.(M&A capital markets round-up)
June 1, 2006... * The reverse flex on the 550m [euro] loan backing the secondary buyout of Swedish frozen food group Findus by CapVest has been approved and the deal is being wrapped up by mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners Barclays and Merrill Lynch....

Gambro.(M&A capital markets round-up)
June 1, 2006... Bookrunners Citigroup and Morgan Stanley have invited a group of Scandinavian banks to participate as mandated lead arrangers in the loan backing the public-to-private buyout of Gambro, the listed Swedish medical technology company. Sizeable...

Groupe Elior.(M&A capital markets round-up)
June 1, 2006... French catering company Groupe Elior has launched a loan of just under 2bn [pounds sterling] in connection with its take-private by Bercy Investissement, a vehicle owned by Robert Zolade, Elior's co-founder and chief executive, and private...

Loxam.(M&A capital markets round-up)
June 1, 2006... * The 465m [euro] facility backing the MBO of Loxam, the French plant hire business, has closed oversubscribed, via mandated lead arranger Natexis Banques Populaires. HSBC and SG joined as joint lead arrangers. Lead Arrangers BNP Paribas,...

MTU Friedrichshafen.(M&A capital markets round-up)
June 1, 2006... Mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners have allocated the debt package backing EQT's buyout of MTU Friedrichshafen. Mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners are Barclays, Deutsche Bank and RBS. The facility was hugely oversubscribed and...

Nocibe.(M&A capital markets round-up)
June 1, 2006... Following the recent trend pricing on the facility backing Charterhouse's LBO of Nocibe, the French perfume group, has been reverse-flexed due to a healthy oversubscription. Mandated lead arrangers are Bank of Scotland, BNP Paribas, Calyon and...

Paragon Healthcare.(M&A capital markets round-up)
June 1, 2006... Paragon Healthcare is getting a good response to the debt package backing its HgCapital-backed secondary buyout from Duke Street. DresdnerKW is mandated lead arranger and bookrunner. The facility is split between a 250m [euro] five-year term...

Production Services Network.(M&A capital markets round-up)
June 1, 2006... The management of Production Services Network and Bank of Scotland have launched a US$235.5m loan backing their buyout of the Scottish company from Kellogg, Brown and Root, a division of Halliburton. Bank of Scotland is also mandated lead...

Seves.(M&A capital markets round-up)
June 1, 2006... Italian glass company Seves has launched a 305m [euro] LBO to general syndication through mandated lead arrangers BNP Paribas, Banca Intesa and ING. The transaction backs the buyout of Sevres by private equity groups Ergon, Vestar and Athena....

Warner Howard.(M&A capital markets round-up)
June 1, 2006... PHS Group's 720m [pound sterling] loan supporting its acquisition of Warner Howard has launched to general syndication, via mandated lead arranger and bookrunner Bank of Scotland. Joint lead arrangers are Lloyds TSB and Mizuho Corporate Bank....

M&A deal data.
June 1, 2006... M&A DEAL DATA This country analysis included acquisitions and buyouts announced between April 19 2006 and May 15 2006. Benelux Target Bidder Carlson Wagonlit Business Travel Investor Group...