Acquisitions Monthly articles from March 2005

Acquisitions Monthly archives from March 2005

Why pension trustees trash deals: private equity can come unstuck against pension fund trustees, as shown by the recent collapse of the Uniq deal. But put yourself in a trustee's pensioner's slippers. Would you accept higher leverage, higher risk that one day you might have next to no pension?(Editorial)
March 1, 2005... If there is a certain confusion surrounding the treatment of pension liabilities attached to UK companies, it is not helped by the fact that the Pensions Act 2004 is new, untried and untested. There is not even a pensions regulator yet--he,...

Fourth quarter closes the year on a high: average premia over the target share price one day and one month before the offer or bid talks were announced were 40% and 42% respectively.(Market Intelligence)
March 1, 2005... Compared with the previous three quarters' average premia, this was a marked improvement on the averages of 17% and 15%. The number of eligible completed offers in the final quarter of 2004 reached 13, two more than in both the third...

February's snapshot: synopses of the largest global M&A deals announced last month.(Market Intelligence)
March 1, 2005... US: Procter & Gamble Co (P&G) has agreed to acquire all the outstanding common stock of Gillette Co (GC), a manufacturer and wholesaler of shaving razors, blades and small appliances, in a stock-swap transaction valued at US$55bn. P&G offered...

Awards 2005.
March 1, 2005... Deal of the year: Sanofi-Synthelabo/Aventis Sanofi-Synthelabo's daring bid for pharmaceuticals rival Aventis was a triumph of timing. It came at a time when the target company was under pressure over its failing share price; at a time when...

Controlling the levers of growth at GE: Charles Alexander, GE's national executive for the UK, says acquisitions are central to GE's growth strategy. He also says he wants "a greater degree of mutual comprehension" with investment banks. Neil Sen speaks to him.(AM Interview)
March 1, 2005... It is easy to become rather blase about big numbers when writing about mergers and acquisitions. A company worth US$10m is valuable to those involved in it, of course, but to the jaded City journalist it merely sounds like the price of...

Private equity invests in debt: US strategic buyers could offer exit opportunities in fast-growing sub-sector.(FIG Sector Report)
March 1, 2005... Consumer debt purchasing is one of the newest and most rapidly growing sub-sectors within UK financial services. It is attracting increasing interest from private equity firms since, before long, there could be some rich exit opportunities as...

Australians fly high for Mid Kent: the UK water sector continues to attract top-of-the-range bids from foreign investors.(Focus On Water)
March 1, 2005... Hastings Funds Management, in which Westpac Banking Corp owns a 51% stake, announced on February 14 that two of its funds would each acquire 50% of Mid Kent's holding company from German investment bank WestLB and other minority shareholders in...

Qwest raises MCI bid: US telecom Qwest Communications International has sweetened the cash portion of its US$8bn offer to buy US telecom MCI Inc and included a crucial price guarantee. The move could force Verizon Communications to raise or abandon its rival US$6.8bn bid.(Focus On Telecoms)
March 1, 2005... The new bid raises pressure on MCI to revisit its February 14 decision to accept the Verizon offer. It also turns up the heat on Verizon, which must now decide how badly it wants MCI. MCI shares ended Thursday at US$23.21, some 12% above the...

Bidding battle for Elsam: both Dong and Vattenfall have intensified their efforts to take hold of the Danish utility Elsam.(Focus On Utilities)
March 1, 2005... The plan to create a national Danish energy champion through a DKr49bn (US$8.9bn) merger of state-owned oil and gas company DONG and Denmark's leading power utility Elsam was thrown into doubt at the beginning of February, when more than a...

Tetra: Commission flattened by EU court: the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has significantly improved the rights of dealmakers in EU merger cases.(Legal & Regulatory)
March 1, 2005... In its ruling on the European Commission's Tetra-Laval/Sidel 2002 decision on February 15, the EU's supreme court made it clear that the EU courts had significant powers of judicial review over Commission merger decisions. The Court also...

Takeover Panel to crack down on hedge funds: consultation paper could lead to new disclosure rules.(Hedge Funds)
March 1, 2005... The UK Panel on Takeovers and Mergers is considering proposals that could turn a searchlight on the clandestine operations of hedge funds. Such measures, which are the subject of a consultation paper, could be an important means of regulating a...

IFRS: barrier to M&A? January 1 2005 witnessed the dawn of a new era in corporate financial reporting that many have described as equivalent to the Big Bang in the financial markets in the 1980s.(Legal & Regulatory)
March 1, 2005... UK accounting standards that have governed financial reporting since the 1970s have been swept away and replaced by a single set of accounting rules that have been adopted across the EU. But what impact will this new accounting regime have on...

Is Somerfield good for Baugur? As the 190p a share bid for Somerfield by Icelandic group Baugur hangs in the air, the future of the second tier supermarket sector remains unclear. (Moving in the mid-markets:.(US$500m-US$30m)
March 1, 2005... The bid for Somerfield follows on the heels of Baugur's 326m [pounds sterling] acquisition of The Big Food Group, which completed last month. If Baugur, which already owns a 5% stake in Somerfield, is successful, it is expected that the two...

Bulking up in defence: as supermarket consolidation continues to put pressure on the manufacturing sector, big businesses are becoming increasingly global and medium sized businesses are focusing on national brands, often backed by private equity.(Moving In The Mid-Markets)
March 1, 2005... The New Year has started with a for the food retail and food manufacturing sectors. The big manufacturers are flexing their muscles and mounting a defensive battle against the continuing menace of an ever-consolidating supermarket sector. ...

Swallowing up brands: consolidation is rife in the spirits and wine industries, with the larger corporations lapping up the smaller private or family-run brands.(Moving In The Mid-Markets)
March 1, 2005... A thirst for branding, scale and distribution is driving much of the current round of acquisitions in the drinks sector, with many small firms selling out to larger players whose marketing and sales strength represents a heady brew for niche...

Buying time: as traditional investors move out of equities, private equity gets set to move in.(Private Equity Column)
March 1, 2005... According to recent analyst long-term changes in capital flows will continue to drive further public-to-private activity across Europe. The process of "de-equitisation", a term that was coined in an analyst report from Citigroup, implies that...

Expanding use of asset-based lending: from its traditional base in the SME market ABL is beginning to finance bigger acquisition and MBO deals. The major players argue that as this financing method gains more credibility, it will be taken more seriously by advisers.(Behind The Buyouts)
March 1, 2005... "A couple of years ago it was less common to see asset-based lending (ABL) in a transaction over 10m [pounds sterling] (US$19m) but today there are regular deals over 25m [pounds sterling] and a number over 100m [pounds sterling]," says Nick...

Make a splash--with article reprints from Acquisitions Monthly.(Behind The Buyouts)
March 1, 2005... 53% of the readership of Acquisitions Monthly are company directors and above. And 77% of our readers name Acquisitions Monthly as the most useful publication in the M&A and buy-outs arena. That's why, when your company gets good marks in...

Asset-based lending case studies.(Behind The Buyouts)
March 1, 2005... IVI Metallics "Fanshawe Lofts completed the MBO from a division of shoe materials manufacturer Texon UK last October, project-managing the deal from initial advice, production of reports, sourcing the funding and driving it to completion....

Wind.(M&A capital markets roundup)
March 1, 2005... Private equity house Blackstone Capital Partners has become the first suitor to bid for Italian fixed line telephony operator Wind with a verbal 7.9bn [euro] bid in what would be the biggest buyout in the European market. Enel is selling the...

Rexel.(M&A capital markets roundup)
March 1, 2005... The 1.502bn [euro] loan backing the 3.7bn [euro] buyout of French electronics distribution group Rexel is getting a rough ride through general syndication, with quite a few banks declining to join, through mandated lead arrangers and...

Saur.(M&A capital markets roundup)
March 1, 2005... Saur's 925m [euro] LBO financing has been launched into general syndication through mandated lead arrangers BNP Paribas (bookrunner) and SG. The facility is split into a 175m [euro] seven-year amortising term loan A paying 225bp over...

The secondary buyout of French frozen food retailer Picard Surgeles by BC Partners has been backed by 913m [euro] of debt.(M&A capital markets roundup)
March 1, 2005... The secondary buyout of French frozen food retailer Picard Surgeles by BC Partners has been backed by 913m [euro] of debt. Senior debt of 665m [euro] comprises a 283m [euro] seven-year tranche A at 225bp over Euribor, a 175m [euro] eight-year B...

Tank & Rast.(M&A capital markets roundup)
March 1, 2005... German roadside services company Tank & Rast's 820m [euro] all-senior LBO loan has been launched into general syndication through mandated lead arranger SG. This follows a successful sub-underwriting phase in which Dresdner KW, HVB Group...

Arca Systems.(M&A capital markets roundup)
March 1, 2005... NIB Capital has won the mandate to arrange a 300m [euro] loan to back Stirling Square Capital Partners' buyout of Arca Systems from Industri Kapital and its merger with existing portfolio company Schoeller Wavin Systems. The facility,...

Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC).(M&A capital markets roundup)
March 1, 2005... Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC) is out with its 400m [euro] loan, through mandated lead arrangers Bank Austria Creditanstalt, Citigroup, EFG Eurobank and ING. The facility is split between a five-year tranche paying 175bp over...

Gerresheimer Glas.(M&A capital markets roundup)
March 1, 2005... The 505m [euro] loan backing Blackstone's secondary buyout of Gerresheimer Glas from Investcorp should close modestly oversubscribed early next week, through mandated lead arrangers CSFB and JP Morgan. Support for the deal has been solid...

Grand Vision.(M&A capital markets roundup)
March 1, 2005... Banks have inked Grand Vision's 420m [euro] all-senior LBO debt. Mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners are BNP Paribas and Calyon. Arrangers are Groupe Banques Populaires, Groupe CM-CIC, ING, and Ixis. Co-arrangers are Bank of Scotland, HSBC,...

HMY Hermes Meal Yudigar.(M&A capital markets roundup)
March 1, 2005... ING is preparing the launch of the 316m [euro] senior and mezzanine debt package backing Sagard's secondary buyout of HMY Hermes Meal Yudigar from Bridgepoint. The deal is split between 263m [euro] in senior and 53m [euro] in mezzanine...

New Look.(M&A capital markets roundup)
March 1, 2005... New Look is out with an amendment to its 485m [euro] leveraged buyout that will allow the sponsors to pay themselves a 100m [pounds sterling] dividend from the retailer's balance sheet. Mandated lead arrangers are CSFB, HSBC and HVB Group. The...

LBOs drive Swedish recovery: a dearth of corporate ideas has left the market open for financial buyers in Sweden. Ben Harding asks whether secondary buyouts can drive a genuine M&A recovery.(Regional report: focus on Nordic Region)
March 1, 2005... After posting very healthy results, quoted companies are opting for the safe route, de-leveraging returning capital to shareholders rather than seeking risky acquisitions. The trend is so extreme that, as Jan Olofsson, head of M&A at...

M&A deal data: this country analysis included acquisition and buyouts announced between January 1 and February 16.(Benelux-Domestic North American acquisitions)
March 1, 2005... Banelux * Target BEKAERT FENCING NV (BE) Business description Manufacture fences Sales ($) Net profits Bidder Business description Venture capital firm Sales ($) Date announced 12/1/05 Value ($)...

M&A deal data: this country analysis included acquisitions and buyouts announced between January 1 and February 16.(European Acquisitions in North America--Minority stakes)
March 1, 2005... European Acquisitions in North America * Target UNITED STATES (US) Business description Sales ($) 770 Net profits Bidder CERBERUS CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LP (US) Business description Logistics support services...

Monthly sector analysis.
March 1, 2005... MONTHLY SECTOR ANALYSIS This sector analysis includes acquisitions and buyouts announced Between January 1 and February 16. UK public offers completed between these dates are included, whereas new and pending offers are excluded. The...