Acquisitions Monthly articles from September 2002

Acquisitions Monthly archives from September 2002

MBO syndication crunch? A flood of paper is poised to swamp the syndication market. (Insight).
September 1, 2002... After a distinctly lacklustre start to the year, the buyout market burst into life over the summer, as several of the largest deals in European history were completed in quick succession. As a result of this flurry of activity, the various...

Buyout groups target directories: the acquisition of QwestDex by a consortium of private equity buyers represents the latest in a long line of private equity deals in the directories sector. (Deal of the month).(telephone directories)(Industry Trend or Event)
September 1, 2002... Two years ago, bright-eyed executives in the private equity and venture capital world evangelised about convergence plays across the voice and data spectrum. How times have changed. Now the hot ticket is telephone directories--the world's...

Synopses of the largest global deals in August 2002. (Market intelligence).(multiple company mergers and acquisitions)
September 1, 2002... UK -- Marconi PLC, the telecoms group, agreed to swap 4bn [pounds sterling] (US$6.14bn) of debt for equity. On completion, bondholders and creditors of Marconi would hold a 99.5% interest in the company. Existing shareholders would retain a...

Restructuring takes off: every advisory firm seems to be boasting about its restructuring skills. (Institutions).(Europe)
September 1, 2002... Restructuring has now taken off in Europe and competition among advisers is growing. After a slower start than many predicted, the market is in almost full spate. Telecoms is the most obvious centre of activity but other sectors also look...

Hands on: once a relatively small part of the transaction process, financial public relations (PR) has become a big business in the UK M&A market. (Institutions).(mergers and acquisitions)
September 1, 2002... Once a relatively small part of the transaction process, financial public relations (PR) has become a big business in the UK M&A market. Companies are recognising the true value of bringing in a PR adviser on a deal and in many cases he/she has...

What's the point of financial PR? "What are the advantages of having a financial PR firm on your team of advisers when embarking on a merger or acquisition?" (Corporate viewpoints).
September 1, 2002... "We announced a proposed merger with Royal Caribbean on November 20 2001. In December, Carnival made a pre-conditional offer to acquire P&O Princess. We appointed Brunswick to handle our financial PR. "Communications is integral to the...

Official post-party clean-up underway: all kinds of TMT deals are now being created by fallen companies dismantling their hastily converged media empires. (TMT sector report).(Vivendi Universal possible asset sale details)
September 1, 2002... During the M&A frenzy of the late 1990s boom "convergence" was the buzzword that justified multibillion-dollar deal after multibillion-dollar deal. According to the black-clad TMT gurus, consumers would download Eminem tracks on to their...

MacLaurin defends Gent as he plans for succession; Vodafone's chairman tells Wilf Altman that Sir Christopher Gent and his investment banking advisers deserve more praise. (TMT sector report).
September 1, 2002... Lord MacLaurin, who has hitherto kept a low profile as chairman of the UK telecoms group Vodafone, has vigorously defended the company's chief executive against his detractors amid a falling share price. "Chris is a superb dealmaker," he...

Whither financial services? Consolidation has been a key feature of the financial services industry for some time but in recent months M&A activity, in all sectors, has been drying up. (Fig sector report).
September 1, 2002... In insurance, retail and investment banking, as well as asset management, no significant deals have taken place this year. The crisis in asset management is symptomatic of the whole industry, as exemplified by the recent failure of Commerzbank...

US exit sparks British power market; a mass exodus of American companies from the UK power market should give flagging M&A business in the city a welcome boost over the coming months. (Utilities sector report).(Industry Overview)
September 1, 2002... The imminent retreat owes much to the collapse of the US energy sector in the aftermath of the Enron scandal. The subsequent scrutiny of accounting practices among American utilities has left companies such as Mirant, Aquila and Dynergy with an...

Arrest of Wessex boss stuns market. (Utilities sector report).(Colin Skellett CEO of Wessex Water Ltd. )
September 1, 2002... All involved in the sale of Wessex Water to Malaysia's YTL Power in March were tanned by the arrest of the company's chief executive on 22 August over an alleged 1m [pounds sterling] bribe linked to the deal. Detectives from the City of...

Does British Energy have a future? Newspaper headlines in the final days of summer questioned whether the UK government would be forced to step in and renationalise British Energy, which was privatised a mere six years earlier. (Chief Executive Interview).(Interview)
September 1, 2002... Does British Energy have a future as a publicly quoted company? At the very least, it looked as though the UK government would have to intervene in the electricity market to provide some short-term relief for the troubled nuclear generator,...

Monthly sector analysis.(United Kingdom industries analysis )(Illustration)
September 1, 2002... Monthly Sector Analysis THIS SECTOR ANALYSIS INCLUDES ACQUISITIONS AND BUYOUTS ANNOUNCED BETWEEN 24 JULY AND 31 AUGUST. UK PUBLIC OFFERS COMPLETED BETWEEN THESE DATES ARE INCLUDED, WHEREAS NEW AND PENDING OFFERS ARE EXCLUDED. THE...

Judgement on open skies awaited: the European court's ruling on the legality of the open skies agreements could pave the way for a new round of alliances and M&A activity. Ben Harding examines the legislative climate governing airline consolidation. (Legal and Regulatory).(Airline regulation effects on industry mergers and acquisitions)
September 1, 2002... The airline business, a most obvious candidate for globalisation, is fraught with national sensitivities and a historically complex regulatory environment that is often at odds with the dictates of business logic. This conflict between national...

Overview. (Moving in the mid-markets: (US$500m-US$30m)).
September 1, 2002... The mid-markets threw up a cross-section of deals last month reflecting activity across a range of sectors (see pie chart opposite) and countries within Europe and worldwide. In Malaysia, IOI Corporation agreed to acquire Dutch company...

Sector watch: healthcare and industrials remain busy: an analysis of the top 50 deals in the US$30M-US$300M value range over the last quarter shows that deals have been spread across a range of sectors from retail to real estate. (Moving in the mid-markets).(Industry Overview)
September 1, 2002... The financial sector took top slot taking over 23% of the market share followed closely by energy and power and media and entertainment and with a 12.8% and 12.6% market share respectively. This month we take a look at the strong...

Manufacturing: European manufacturing players have made a host of key mid-market purchases during the summer. (Moving in the mid-markets).
September 1, 2002... Deals in the manufacturing sector flowed as if on a well-oiled assembly line during the summer months, with players in the UK and Germany in the thick of the action. The UK saw two notable sales; kicked off in mid-July by Gurit-Heberlein's...

BOC acquires Polish industrial gases business: recent acquisitions of drug and industrial gases businesses have highlighted the potential of the region. (Moving in the mid-markets).
September 1, 2002... BOC, the UK-based industrial gases player, has announced that its industrial gases company in Poland, BOC Gazy, has signed an agreement to buy Praxair Polska, the Polish subsidiary of Praxair. It will pay approximately US$50m in cash for the...

Brewing companies continue to look east; a spate of recent M&A activity in Central Europe illustrates the increasingly global nature of the brewing industry. (Moving in the mid-markets).(Brewing industry market share strategies)(Industry Overview)
September 1, 2002... Demographic change and a thirst for new drink varieties in Western Europe mean that brewing companies are increasingly having to push their geographical boundaries to gain market share. Central & Eastern Europe, a region steeped in brewing...

Sector and regional skills secure deals; Southampton operates as a distinct market with established networks of financial and legal advisers. (Moving in the mid-markets).(mergers and acquisition activity )
September 1, 2002... As in the rest of Europe, if not the world, M&A activity in the South of England has slowed down perceptibly over the past year. Still, mid-market activity has remained respectable--and advisers have profited from developing sector specialisms...

Technology still leads in Reading; despite the boom and bust, technology still remains an important factor in Reading as VCS continue to come to the Thames Valley in search of deals. (Moving in the mid-markets).(Venture capital companies management activities)
September 1, 2002... At the height of the tech boom a corporate finance exodus began from Southampton to Reading as the Thames Valley became a hot spot on the technology landscape. Two boom and bust years later the retrenchment remains, as local corporate...

Rok acquires Llewellyn Group for 16.25m [pounds sterling]. (Deal of the month).(acquisition details )
September 1, 2002... Rok, a leading provider of regionally based property solutions, has announced the acquisition of construction company Llewellyn Group for 16.25m [pounds sterling]. Finance for the deal consists of a 13.5m [pounds sterling] revolving credit...

Plenty to shout about in the south: Lawrence Leporte stands up for the south-east. (Sponsored Article).(Corporate Finance industry )
September 1, 2002... To many, it still seems strange to be told that the corporate finance industry is booming in Tunbridge Wells. But that's not actually so strange. Although much of the Kent and Sussex countryside is given over to golf, horses and farming, the...

Overview. (Behind the buyouts).(acquisitions and mergers)(Illustration)
September 1, 2002... August saw Charterhouse Development Capital acquiring Coral Eurobet, the UK bookmaker, for US$1.3bn, in the deal that surprised the market. Surprise came not only in the way of price, but Charterhouse's victory was also a particular blow to...

Coral deal surprises market; market experts did not bet on Charterhouse Development Capital winning the race to buy Coral Eurobet. (Deal of the month).(Coral Eurobet acquisition details )
September 1, 2002... Those who doubted Charterhouse Development Capital's resolve must have been surprised when the private equity firm won the hotly-fought contest to acquire UK bookmaker, Coral Eurobet. Shock came not only in the way of price, which at 860m...

Will Legrand kickstart the European market? Current market uncertainty raises the question whether the investment community will support Europe's second largest LBO financing and whether a new era of MBO deal-making has been ushered in. (Private Equity Column).
September 1, 2002... The successful 3.3bn [pounds sterling] bid for Legrand by the Wendel Consortium has been widely reported as a leading indicator that the M&A market has been rejuvenated by a combination of Brussels' bureaucracy and private equity muscle. Press...

Golden exits for Bridgepoint: despite it being a difficult year, Bridgepoint has completed some successful exits in 2002. (Private Equity Profile).(Bridgepoint Capital )
September 1, 2002... The latest figures produced by the Centre for Management Buyout Research (CIMBOR) suggest venture capitalists are a long way from feeling bullish about UK buyout prospects. Exits, in particular trade sales, have been relatively slow in 2002,...

Delta launches a new Russia fund: US-backed private equity firm Delta Capital is launching a US$100m fund focused exclusively on Russian investments in financial services, TMT and logistics. (Behind the buyouts).(Delta Capital Management L.L.C.)
September 1, 2002... Delta Capital, the Russian private equity firm that manages the US government-backed US Russia Investment Fund, is launching its first private equity fund targeting private investors. Delta Russia Fund LP will look to raise around US$100m with...

CVC & PAI acquire Provimi stake. (Behind the buyouts).(CVC Capital Partners)(Paribas Affaires Industrielle)
September 1, 2002... The long-running auction process for the animal nutrition business Provimi is finally over, with the news that the two main competitors have teamed up to jointly acquire the business. Funds managed by CVC Capital Partners and Paribas...

Another property company goes private. (Behind the buyouts).(Grantchester)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... In the latest in a series of buyouts in the UK property sector, Grantchester is being by taken private in a 167.6m [pounds sterling] (US$250m) management buyout by Dundonald. Dundonald is a vehicle comprising TBH Investments, a subsidiary...

Halfords and Kwik-Fit merger? (Behind the buyouts).(auto repair companies merger details )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... CVC Capital Partners is considering merging its newly acquired businesses Kwik-Fit, the car repair chain and Halfords, the car parts to cycle retail group. CVC may have justified paying a higher purchase price than otherwise, with an eye onto...

Barclays and RBOS mandated for Southern Cross Healthcare. (Behind the buyouts).(Royal Bank of Scotland)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... West Private Equity, the mid-market private equity arm of WestLB, has mandated Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland to provide about 50m [pounds sterling] of senior debt to support its 80m [pounds sterling] (US$125m) buyout of Southern Cross...

What crisis? While the big names in investment banking are trimming their operations across the board, the established US and European private equity houses are continuing make important hires in Europe, where activity is expected to pick up. (Behind the buyouts).
September 1, 2002... Expecting European LBO activity to pick up significantly next year, a number of US and European private equity firms have been making a series of appointments in a bid to grab a greater share of the European buyout market. "Fully half tile...

Charterhouse's seventh fund.(Charterhouse Development Capital Limited )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Charterhouse Development Capital has carried out the first closing on its latest European buyout fund. The UK private equity firm hopes to raise an 3bn [euro] total by the end of the year. The new fund, Charterhouse's seventh in private...

Nmas1 first close.(investment fund details )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Nmas1, the Spanish buyout house, has reached the first close of its second buyout fund, Nmas 1 Private Fund. The fund, which has a target of 200m [euro], has raised 74m [euro] so tar. Investors include General Electric, AIG, Axis Capital and...

Capman nears final close.(Capman Oy)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Finnish buyout firm Capman has so far secured 188m [euro] for its seventh fund, Capman Equity VII. A final target for the fund has not been disclosed. Seventeen parties have invested in the new fund, including Swedish pension fund Sjtte...

Leman on track.(Leman Capital )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Swiss buyout firm Leman Capital has announced the first closing of its second pan-European investment fund, BVP Europe II at 150m [euro]. The new fund is targeting an 400m [euro]-500m [euro] close. Commitments to date have come solely from...

August hotbed for 3i.(3i divestment of Selwood Group details)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... August again proved to be a hotbed of exit activity for venture capitalist 3i. The private equity house sold its stake in UK construction equipment group Selwood Group to the company in question. The exit has been funded by Selwood...

3i realises CareTech.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... Meanwhile, Barclays Private Equity has backed the secondary management buyout (MBO) of CareTech Community Services, providing an exit for 3i from its investment in the care homes company. Barclays is taking a 40% stake in CareTech Community...

Digiplug trade sale.(Digiplug and Faith of Japan acquisition details)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2002... The acquisition of Digiplug by Faith of Japan for 20m [euro] (US$19.8m) has provided Axa Private Equity, Innoven FCPI & Poste Innovation, OTC Innovation and Sopromec Participations with an investment in the mobile phone ring tones provider. ...

Reaching the top of the hill: Yagnish Chotai and Guy Davison describe how the solidly successful bookmaker William Hill was turned into one of the most successful IPOs during 2002. (Sponsored Article).(company securities introduction details)
September 1, 2002... The omens were good when the board of William Hill decided to float the company on the London stock market in the late spring of 2002. Cinven, along with partner CVC, had owned the business for just over three years and had seen it perform...

Latin American market struggles to impress: the Latin American M&A market remained torpid throughout the first half of 2002. Natasha Berg discusses where the channels of activity in the region's key markets are headed in the second half. (Latin America).
September 1, 2002... For the first six months of 2002, Thomson Financial has tracked a total of 326 deals in Latin America with value of U$$24.9bn, compared with an already downtrodden US$34.2bn in the same period of 2001. While the second quarter (US$14bn) was...

Hope on the horizon: in what of course is a difficult year there are signs that maturity in the German market is finally on the horizon. (German focus).
September 1, 2002... The tax reforms that took place in April were hailed as the next decisive factor in the attempt to unlock the deal potential in the German market. This did not happen, and although most players now deny that they thought the tax reforms...

Growing to maturity: despite market conditions, is the German private equity market finally pulling itself out of infancy? (Germany focus).
September 1, 2002... Players in Germany are cautiously optimistic that private equity is becoming a stronger contender on the financial landscape, with the pervading cultural differences finally beginning to abate. According to data from Bridgepoint Capital,...

Cross shareholdings or stakes? Since the sale of Dresdner Bank to Allianz last year cross-shareholdings have been dramatically reduced. What have yet to be sold are the vast amounts of stakes these financial institutions hold in industrials. (Germany focus).
September 1, 2002... The unwinding of cross-shareholdings is a hot topic in the German economy. It was expected that tax reforms this year would act as a catalyst in pushing through the sale of these shareholdings, especially as the removal of capital gains tax is...

Consolidation or stagnation: after the Allianz-Dresdner merger all has gone quiet. What is happening behind the scenes of the major public and private banks and is there more consolidation on the horizon? (Germany focus).(German banking industry financial data)
September 1, 2002... The issues facing the German banking sector are huge and well documented. Profitability among its banks is the lowest in Europe. Large operating costs and a low margin of return, mean that drastic overhaul is desperately needed, with...

Survival of the fittest. (Germany focus).
September 1, 2002... Investment banking is under pressure in Germany, this was most recently highlighted with the second-quarter losses reported by Allianz, the cause of which was attributed firmly to Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein. Allianz's chief financial...

E.ON/Ruhrgas resolution expected in November: investors are unlikely to receive clarity on closure of the E10bn (US$9.93bn) deal, which would create one of Europe's biggest gas companies, until the final court case. (Germany focus).(merger regulation details )
September 1, 2002... The German government is holding a second hearing on utility E.ON's disputed takeover of Ruhrgas, the country's leading gas supplier, in the run-up to a court hearing likely in November. By repeating the hearing it held in May, in which...

The way ahead in Germany: Ramon Sieveking discusses the new German Takeover Act. (Sponsored Article).(securities acquisition laws )
September 1, 2002... The new German Securities Acquisition and Takeover Act (Wertpapierubernahmegesetz, WpUG) came into force on January 1 2002. It provides a new framework for any investor wishing to acquire an equity interest in (or control over) a target company...

M&A deal data.(mergers and acquisition contract details )
September 1, 2002... M&A deal data Benelux Target Bidder Akeler Holdings SA (Security Lend Lease Global Properties (LX) Capital European Realty) (LX) - Real estate investment firm - Real estate development...

Country codes.(Illustration)
September 1, 2002... Country codes AA Albania AB Aruba AD Andorra AF Afghanistan Al Abu Dhabi AJ Ajman AL Algeria AM Armenia AN Angola AQ Antigua AR Argentina AS Austria AU ...

Table criteria--September 2002.
September 1, 2002... TABLE CRITERIA--SEPTEMBER 2002 PAGE NO TITLE TABLE CRITERIA p9 M&A VOLUMES AUGUST 2002 SUMMARY OF DEALS Date Announced: 24/7/02 to ...

Time to change the merger test? Should the EU replace its current merger test based on dominance with the US test based on a finding of a substantial lessening of competition (SLC)? (Overview).(European Union)
September 1, 2002... As part of its Green Paper review, the European Commission is undertaking an examination of the issue and encouraging a debate among deal-makers and their advisers. There is support among deal-makers both for retaining the dominance test and...

Growing market for competition lawyers: competition law affecting mergers has evolved in recent years to become an increasingly high-profile area for law firms globally. (Competition lawyers).
September 1, 2002... The tougher stance of competition authorities and divergences between how merger control is approached in the two main jurisdictions, the US and EU, means antitrust teams are often being called in at an earlier stage in M&A discussions. ...

Spotlight on EU merger proposals: the European Commission's merger green paper has recently been analysed in detail by an influential UK parliamentary Select Committee. (EU merger law).(mergers and acquisition legislation )
September 1, 2002... The House of Lords Select Committee on the European Union's conclusions give deal-makers a guide to how likely it is that real reform of EU merger law will be delivered. Unlike many other UK institutions, the House of Lords Select Committee has...

Public-to-private transactions: Alan Paul, Hartmut Krause and Stephen Horan compare PTPs in the UK and Germany. (Sponsored Article).
September 1, 2002... Germany has now adopted a law to govern the conduct of takeovers which in the UK is governed largely by the Takeover Code. There are, however certain common issues in public-to-private (PTP) transactions when comparing UK and German practice,...

Legislation in the Finnish market: Jan Waselius and Mikko Eerola look at current M&A legislation in Finland. (Sponsored Article).
September 1, 2002... Following the European economic downturn during 2001 and the resulting general downturn of economic activity in Finland, mergers and acquisitions involving Finnish companies (as purchaser, seller or target) also decreased, measured both by the...

GE/Honeywell: where do we go from here? The prohibition by the European Commission of the GE/Honeywell merger is without doubt the most controversial merger decision in the 10-year history of EU merger control. (EU report).(General Electric and Honeywell merger analysis )
September 1, 2002... Not only was it one of the largest deals in merger history, it was the first time that the Commission had blocked a deal where the US authorities had cleared it and where the parties were all based in the US. Furthermore, the Commission's...

Airtours: the Commission demolished; the ruling of the EU Court of First Instance (CFI) in Airtours/First Choice is stunning. The CFI does not just strike down the European Commission's decision prohibiting the Airtours merger, it takes it apart. (Case study: Airtours).(Airtours Holidays and First Choice Holidays merger regulation details)
September 1, 2002... The Commission's decision relied on an expansive interpretation of the EU merger law doctrine of collective dominance and evidence set out in the decision that the British foreign holiday package (FHP) market would tend toward collective...

Allen & Overy. (Sponsorship statement).(company management and service information)
September 1, 2002... The year 2001/2002 has been markedly successful for Allen & Overy's international M&A team. Comprising 164 specialists in London and some 200 M&A lawyers across the rest of Europe, the M&A group is one of the leading advisers to major...

International M&A And Buyouts Directory 2002.(Legal services directory )(Directory)
September 1, 2002... Belgium ADVISER PNB Paribas Boulevard du Regent 47/48, 100 Bruxelles, Belgium Tel: +32 2 518 08 27 Fax: +32 2 518 08 72 Web: www.bnpparibas.com Contact: Title: Tel: VAN DE PUTTE Frederic Vice...