Kinder Morgan buyout nears conclusion 28 Aug 2006 True, boss Richard Kinder and his consortium have only bumped up the offer price by 7.5%. That s hardly stunning. But it s slightly more than independent board members at Aramark and Kerzner International squeezed out of their acquisitive executives.
Intesa/Sanpaolo: no side-deals with shareholders 25 Aug 2006 Credit Agricole and Santander have interests in Intesa/Sanpaolo IMI that go beyond their equity positions. In the tussle to secure veto rights and bank branches, lessconnected shareholders mustn t be shortchanged.
Silly season for dealmakers in full swing 25 Aug 2006 It's late summer and Wall Street's finest are on boats and beaches, leaving junior bankers free to cook up wacky deal proposals. Dell and Ford are two names making the rounds as farfetched LBO candidates. These discussions may not survive past Labor Day.
Vodafone retreats profitably in Belgium 25 Aug 2006 The mobile phone giant has made a decent go of selling its minority stake in Belgium s Proximus. It s got a good price and isn t paying tax. At £1.4bn, the sale won't transform Vodafone's fortunes. But it may revive faith in its negotiating at a time when other deals may come up.
Unicredit key to next stage of Italian bank consolidation 25 Aug 2006 Its obvious response to the IntesaSanpaolo IMI tieup would be to snap up Capitalia. But that looks fraught with difficulty. The biggest problem is personality. And while there s a possible solution it would in turn throw up political objections.
Rite Aid’s $3.4bn acquisition is the right prescription 24 Aug 2006 And the firm s paying a fair price for Canadian Jean Coutu s US assets. But it s not a cure for all of Rite Aid s ailments. Adding 1,800 new stores polevaults the US pharmacy chain s efforts to expand its footprint against CVS and Walgreens. The US pharmacy chain has struggled to keep up with its larger competitors since its accounting scandal four years ago. The purchase of Canadian rival Jean Coutu s US stores will allow a fast catch up. And Rite Aid s not stretching finances to pay for them.
Intesa/SanPaolo merger compelling – on paper 24 Aug 2006 With over E1bn of annual synergies, there s huge value creation as well as the chance to build a E55bn Italian banking champion. But the deal only adds up if there s streamlined decisionmaking rather than fudged compromises. If not, interlopers may break it up.
Ofwat sticks another spoke in Thames Water sale 23 Aug 2006 The UK water regulator has already told the water company s owner, Germany s RWE, it can t sell to a rival. Now it is warning that it doesn t want a bidder to load too much debt on Thames. That doesn t rule out a buyout, but may reduce the price.
Russian aluminium merger aims at global dominance 22 Aug 2006 A £10bn merger between Rusal and Sual wouldn t just be the world s largest aluminium maker, leapfrogging Alcan and Alcoa. It would aim for a London listing to get currency for even more deals. But it would first need clean governance and finances.
DaimlerChrysler’s merger haunts it again 22 Aug 2006 The unsuccessful merger of DaimlerChrysler happened eight years ago, but shareholders are still trying to recoup their lost value. The irony is that they don t even have to be consistent. Saying Chrysler is undervalued or overvalued both have had their successes.
Providence won’t find it easy to win big on NTL 17 Aug 2006 The private equity house has made a mint from a string of European telecoms and cable deals. But NTL, the UK cable operator, would be far bigger than Providence s past deals and won t be as cheap.
Teck drops bid for Canadian miner 17 Aug 2006 Investors seemed happy to let the zinc miner chase its nickelproducing Inco as long as Phelps Dodge was the only other bidder. But CVRD s cash offer threw a spanner in the works. Teck s shareholders weren t willing to back a bidding war against a much larger rival. Investors seemed happy to let the zinc miner chase nickelproducer Inco as long as Phelps Dodge was the only other bidder.
NTL bid talk looks premature 16 Aug 2006 Private equity has European cable on its shopping list. But that doesn t mean the UK s NTL will fall to a buyout soon. With synergies and rebranding gains in the pipeline, buyout groups may need to pay richly. That could make a deal hard to stack up.
Poor performers can’t rely on buyout exit 16 Aug 2006 Private equity may be swimming in cash, but that doesn t mean they ll buy everything that s up for sale. Betting the company on a private equity sale is a dicey strategy, as shareholders of Jones Apparel and Bally s have learned the hard way.
Thames Water £7bn auction impaired by regulators 16 Aug 2006 Poorly run companies deserve the ultimate market sanction takeover by a bettermanaged competitor. Badly managed Thames Water is now for sale. Regulators are doing a disservice by only allowing financial bidders for the group.
Mining M&A manna for arb funds 14 Aug 2006 Betting on mergers hasn t been a lucrative strategy for hedge funds of late. The multiparty fight for Canadian miners should give a boost. The battle has caused wild gyrations in the bidders share prices. The bad news is this profitable play seems to be drawing to a close.
Forbes reluctant to adopt capitalist tool 8 Aug 2006 The familyowned business publishing empire has unabashedly championed the free market since 1917. But its reluctance to adopt public ownership has left the group capitalstarved and forced it into the arms of private equity.
Google pays to play 8 Aug 2006 This extravagant deal is reminiscent of internet mania. But escape clauses and the prospect of real revenues make this deal look sound. The internet search giant will pay News Corp $900m to replace Yahoo on the MySpace website.
Google assembles TV network for internet age 7 Aug 2006 Millions of computer users turn to Google and Yahoo daily for fast answers to queries. But future revenues will not come just from search. Recent deals with MTV and XM Satellite Radio show that Google's vast network of affiliated web sites provides a competitive advantage.
Italy shoots down E25bn motorway deal 6 Aug 2006 The Italian government has come up with some pretty flimsy excuses to block the takeover of Autostrade by Spanish group Abertis. This decision smacks of blatant protectionism and if Autostrade and Albertis fight it, they look sure to have EU law on their side.