Acquisitions Monthly articles from September 2008

Acquisitions Monthly archives from September 2008

Nominate your M&A deals and your firm for awards.(AWARDS PROCESS)
September 1, 2008... Acquisitions Monthly magazine encourages firms to make submissions for the 2009 Acquisition Monthly Awards for M&A and buyout work completed during 2008. The winners will be influenced primarily by the range of submissions, our own...

August snap shot: synopses of the largest global M&A deals announced last month.(MARKET INTELLIGENCE)
September 1, 2008... RUSSIA: Vladimir Potanin (VP) planned to raise his stake to 46.66% from 30%, by acquiring a 16.664 stake, or 31.759m ordinary shares, in MMC Norilsk Nickel OJSC, a Moscow-based manufacturer of metal products, from Onexim Holdings Ltd, for...

Bear market reveals brokers' mettle: Corporate brokers are proving their worth during the current market turmoil.(LEAD FEATURE: CORPORATE BROKING)
September 1, 2008... When share prices are rising, chief executives of listed companies are easy to please. But when stocks are falling, advisers face a tougher time satisfying their corporate clients. During the current financial turbulence, many UK companies...

The global game of numbers: European telecoms companies are facing slowing growth at home, forcing them to find new subscribers in Asia and Africa. But that is putting them head-to-head against the Chinese, the Russians and the sovereign wealth funds of the Middle East when it comes to making acquisitions in emerging markets.(FOCUS ON TMT)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Last year, the European Commission cut roaming charges for international mobile calls across the European Union. It was not something the big mobile players wanted to hear. Their European markets are already...

Nuclear dilemma: British Energy sits at the very centre of the UK's new nuclear energy strategy. But lining up a viable candidate to buy the company to implement that strategy is proving to be fraught with difficulties.(SECTOR REPORTS: FOCUS ON UTILITIES)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Few industrialised countries would pursue a foreign solution to a key domestic energy issue over a national one, but that is exactly what the UK is trying to do with British Energy, the country's nuclear power...

Shifting sands: Saudi banks to consolidate: Saudi Arabia's banking system has prospered enormously on the back of the country's good fortunes largely emanating from the oil boom. Nonetheless, some consolidation could be on the cards.(SECTOR REPORTS: FOCUS ON FIG)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Saudi banks are now sitting on some US$290bn of assets and unlike their credit-crunched Western counterparts, prospects are bright in the desert Kingdom. Egypt-based investment bank, EFG-Hermes describes the Saudi...

Corporates forging new strategies: Those responsible for M&A for leading corporates are broadly optimistic about deal flow despite the current market backdrop.(TRANSACTION SUPPORT SURVEY)
September 1, 2008... The 2008 Transaction Leaders Survey by Ernst & Young in association with Acquisitions Monthly reveals that deal activity, live and prospective, remains resilient despite the credit crunch. Firms are actively exploring opportunities to take...

EAG ignores code: hostile battle for small AIM-listed technology company throws up searching questions for London regulators.(MOVING IN THE MID-MARKETS: MID-MARKETS VIEW)
September 1, 2008... The independent directors of EAG Limited have faced a dilemma over the past month as the tester of silicon chips has faced a series of competitive offers from two rival parties. In theory the City Code on Takeovers should help the directors...

AG Barr thirsty for juice: Scottish beverage maker behind Irn-Bru continues to diversify away from fizzy drinks heritage.(MOVING IN THE MID-MARKETS)
September 1, 2008... AG Barr, the maker of orange fizzy drink Irn-Bru, has made its largest acquisition yet with the purchase of exotic juice group Rubicon, as it continues its strategy of diversification away from sweetened fizzy drinks. With this deal,...

Investec bolsters mid-market coverage.(MOVING IN THE MID-MARKETS)
September 1, 2008... Investec Investment Bank has strengthened its mid-market coverage with the appointment of Gareth Taylor as a director in the corporate finance division covering private equity clients and Matthew Wesley in the debt advisory team as an associate...

Woolworths up for grabs.(MOVING IN THE MID-MARKETS)
September 1, 2008... Woolworths, the London-listed sweets-to-DVD retailer, remains open to a higher offer for its 815 loss-making stores from a consortium led by Icelandic investment company Baugur. Richard North, Woolworths' chairman, had already turned down...

First Artist eyes spot.(MOVING IN THE MID-MARKETS)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] AIM-listed football agent First Artist has agreed to acquire US advertising agency Spot & Company of Manhattan for a maximum of US$18.9m in cash. Spot specialises in promoting Broadway musicals and other major live...

Lower mid-market thriving around Manchester: smaller private equity deals remain strong in North West England but there are fewer transactions above US$100m.(MOVING IN THE MID-MARKETS)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A study has suggested that mid-market private equity deals are starting to be affected more significantly by the credit crunch as the year-long banking crisis continues to bite. Data from the Centre for...

Challenging debt market creates opportunities for other financing: proponents of asset-based lending argue that, with the difficulties caused by the credit crunch, using assets to leverage debt is likely to become increasingly popular.(MOVING IN THE MID-MARKETS)
September 1, 2008... The contribution of asset-based lending (ABL) to financing MBOs and private equity deals could be about to grow significantly, thanks to the credit squeeze in mainstream lending. The US ABL market, which lends more than US$500bn a year, already...

Carlyle snaps up Italian fashion house: US private equity group buys 48% of Moncler. The deal should clear by year-end.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS: PRIVATE EQUITY COLUMN)
September 1, 2008... Carlyle Group, the global private equity firm, has acquired a 48% holding in Moncler Group, an Italian sportswear products business, continuing its shift away from larger buyouts to building up significant minority stakes The shareholding...

Secondary for Axtone: IPOs off the menu in Central and Eastern Europe as Advent sells Polish rail freight buffer manufacturer to IK Sarah Young reports.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
September 1, 2008... Advent International has exited Axtone, Europe's largest rail freight buffer manufacturer, through a sale of the business to fellow private equity firm IK. The value of the deal was rumoured to be about US$148m (100m [euro]). "We might...

Duke Street backs 2E2 bolt-on of Netstore.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
September 1, 2008... 2e2, an IT infrastructure business backed by London-headquartered Duke Street Capital, has made a bolt-on acquisition with a 32p per share bid for Netstore, valuing the IT networking group at about 58.1m [pounds sterling]. The offer,...

Turkey forecasts continued gloom.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
September 1, 2008... Two-thirds of Turkish private equity investors expect a continued deterioration in the economic climate over the next six months, according to Deloitte's fourth Turkey Private Equity Confidence Survey, up from 55% in the first half of 2008. ...

Azko Nobel sells Crown Paints: endless buys UK's second-largest paint maker as non-core asset disposals present more and more opportunities for private equity players.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
September 1, 2008... Crown Paints, the second largest paint maker in the UK, has been bought by Endless, a UK private equity +firm, in a E70m management buyout. While the sale of this business was prompted by the European Commission, the EU's competition...

Investors tap into China.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
September 1, 2008... Despite an increasing shift towards direct investment in the emerging markets of Asia, a new survey from Epiven reveals that European limited partners (LPs) are also looking to tap into China returns through European private equity firms with...

General Dynamics in US$2.24bn buy from Permira.(BEHIND THE BUYOUTS)
September 1, 2008... Permira's successful exit from Swiss-headquartered aircraft services business Jet Aviation in mid-August comes at a time when other private equity firms are also running their eyes over companies in the sector. "A lot of private equity...

Keeping cool in testing times: Iceland has weathered spiralling inflation, the abandonment of major takeover deals and fears of a collapse in the banking sector. The storm appears to have passed--for now.(COUNTRY FEATURE: ICELAND)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] At the outset of 2008, as global credit markets were tightening and market sentiment was on a knife-edge, the vagaries of the financial crisis caught up with Iceland's banking sector. Alongside increasing...

Times they are a-changin': in what was otherwise a relatively subdued six months, a couple of landmark deals may be indicative of some dramatic changes ahead.(COUNTRY FEATURE: INDIA)
September 1, 2008... Indian M&A has seen two distinct changes since January 2008. First, following the precedent of the Ranbaxy deal, it is now possible to contemplate Indian promoters giving up their flagship businesses; and second, hostile takeovers are back on...

M&A deal data.(Company overview)
September 1, 2008... M&A DEAL DATA This country analysis included acquisitions and buyouts announced between July 23 and August 22 2008. Please note that this section will be transferring shortly to www.agm-e.com Benelux Target ...

Destination Deutschland: with a US$37bn takeover in the offing, the second largest German target ever, the German M&A market is feeling quietly confident. Sovereign wealth funds and foreign investors are zooming in on the largest economy in Euroland.(GERMANY REPORT)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The mood in Germany is far from all doom and gloom. The volume and value of M&A has undoubtedly been shaped by the liquidity crisis but the last quarter has seen an encouraging recovery. The value of mergers and...

PricewaterhouseCoopers.(SPONSOR'S PROFILE)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In the first half of 2008, the German market for mergers and acquisitions remained dynamic and the German Mittelstand (mid-market) was once more shown to be the backbone of M&A activity in Germany. "The segment...

Private equity: the king is dead, long live the king! Richard Burton, PricewaterhouseCoopers' private equity leader in Germany and continental Europe, tries hard to look on the bright side of life.(SPONSOR'S ARTICLE: PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS)
September 1, 2008... If a year is a long time in politics, the 12 months we have just experienced must have seemed like an eternity to most private equity funds and their financing banks. And still there is no clear end in sight. This could be the start of another...

Mainstay of the market: so central to the German economy is the industrial sector that strategic investors will continue to do deals across all areas and classes, while private equity will make selective acquisitions. And some players will use lower valuations to do deals.(GERMANY REPORT)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In the past month there has been concern that the economy in Germany is weakening and signals are that order books are full. The question is what comes next? As the economy weakens the outlook for the second half of...

Bank shake-up ahead: the German banking sector is heading for a big shake-up. Comprising a jumble of non-state and state-owned banks, the sheer number of players is making the sector look increasingly incongruous with the sub-prime crisis-hit credit markets.(GERMANY REPORT)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The coming sale of two private banks Deutsche Postbank and Dresdner Bank --is opening up the possibility for German private banks to lead the consolidation of the German banking market. Acquisitions will enable them...

Leveraged Finance at Commerzbank Corporates & Markets.(SPONSOR'S PROFILE)(Company overview)
September 1, 2008... The Leveraged Finance Group at Commerzbank Corporates & Markets (CBCM) was established in 1998. The team is based in Frankfurt, London, Madrid and Paris and, as a group, has a wealth of experience both in Germany and across Europe. The group is...

Financing value creation strategies: Christopher Day, Head of Leveraged Finance, Commerzbank Corporates & Markets, explains that private equity funds have a proven track record in creating value in portfolio companies.(SPONSOR'S ARTICLE: COMMERZBANK CORPORATES & MARKETS)(Company overview)
September 1, 2008... Only a few years ago, the attitude towards the private equity sector in Germany, especially among politicians, was lukewarm at best. Leveraged buyouts were viewed as merely a cheap way of getting hold of a company's assets, rather than as a...

Private equity stands its ground: Germany's private equity market has held relatively steady in spite of the credit crunch but persistent high prices and gradual contamination from the worsening economic outlook mean the next 12 months could be even more challenging.(GERMANY REPORT)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The German private equity sector is feeling quietly confident. Not only has its share of the total European private equity market in 2008 so far risen by around 4% compared with 2007 (see graph on page 22), but...

CMS Hasche Sigle.(SPONSOR'S PROFILE)
September 1, 2008... CMS Hasche Sigle is one of the leading commercial law firms in Germany. More than 500 lawyers work for its clients in all of Germany's key commercial centres and in offices in Belgrade, Brussels, Moscow and Shanghai. The firm advises companies...

Making sense of public takeovers: Dr Thomas Meyding, partner in the Stuttgart office of CMS Hasche Sigle and Head of Corporate at CMS and Dr Ralf Rose, Rechtsanwalt in the Stuttgart office of CMS Hasche Sigle, look at public takeovers in the German marketplace and analyse recent bids, in order to identify market trends.(SPONSOR'S ARTICLE: CMS HASCHE SIGLE)
September 1, 2008... Public takeover bids are an important and permanent factor in the M&A market. As can be seen from the response of the press to the attempt of the Schaeffler group to take over Continental in July this year, takeover bids are also hotly disputed...

The supermarket discount wars: the recent approval of the 11bn [euro] merger between Edeka's Netto and Tengelmann's Plus discount stores marked Germany's largest food retail deal to-date, creating a new rival to Aldi and Lidl, market leaders in this space.(GERMANY REPORT)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Food inflation is running at 9.5% in the UK. It feels like more. No wonder the German super-discount food retailers--in the form of Lidl and Aldi--are beefing up their presence across the Channel to take advantage of...

Can RWE remain independent? RWE, despite its size and considerable cash-generative abilities, could eventually become vulnerable to a takeover due to its failing to participate more fully in the consolidation of Europe's utility sector.(GERMANY REPORT)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Juergen Grossman, a keen yachtsman and the newish boss of German utility group RWE, told shareholders in April this year that the old style energy utility was dead. "If we want to continue playing an active and...

German M&A returns to 2006 levels: the first half of the year was quiet on the German M&A front but Q3 has seen a recovery. Is this due to increased confidence in the market or undervalued companies becoming vulnerable to takeover?(GERMANY REPORT)
September 1, 2008... The credit crunch had a significant impact on M&A deals involving German companies during the first half of 2007, with just over US$70bn worth of deals reported during that period. However, so far in Q3 we have seen US$65bn worth of deals...