From Ally to Zoe’s, IPOs hint at back to basics 15 Apr 2014 Investors had an appetite for most any new issue until last week. Six of 10 offerings couldn’t fetch the desired price and six were yanked as fear again mingled with greed. A fresh crop of sellers, including Moelis and Weibo, may encounter a more rational market than expected.
All-you-can-eat democracy may sicken shareholders 24 Feb 2014 An activist wants investors in $7 bln U.S. restaurant group Darden to be allowed a vote on a spinoff of Red Lobster. It’s a big step from giving all owners a say on governance matters to second-guessing strategic ones. Too much direct intervention could do more harm than good.
April Fool’s comes early to comical M&A market 6 Feb 2012 It’s hard not to smirk at America’s largest title insurer buying steak chain O’Charley’s. Not only does it sound like a bad joke, it defies conventional wisdom both on conglomerates and the use of premium proceeds. But for idle bankers, even oddball deals are no laughing matter.
Dunkin’ IPO extends bubble thinking beyond tech 27 Jul 2011 The doughnut chain's shares surged in their debut even after pricing over the range. Its valuation of 17 times EBITDA isn't as silly as the sales multiples fetched by LinkedIn or Pandora. But a premium to Starbucks is undeserved. Investors are overexcited about perceived growth.
Food inflation favors corporate strongmen 27 May 2011 Fickle weather, decreasing farmland and more mouths are pushing up prices of wheat and other soft commodities. Companies are now being forced to pass along these costs to consumers. Big brands and proactive market leaders, like McDonald's and Pepsi, stand to brave the storm best.
Nelson Peltz flubbed his $2.3 bln fast-food order 20 Jan 2011 The activist investor wants to unload the Arby's sandwich chain, which he used two years ago to buy rival burgerflipper Wendy's with the promise of extracting juicy synergies. That didn't happen and may have cost shareholders. But he may still wind up with the better business.
Dunkin’s financial story still has holes 16 Nov 2010 Nearly five years after devouring the U.S. doughnut maker in one of the era s most highly leveraged buyouts, private equity owners are refinancing $2 bln of debt and collecting a dividend. Yet strong growth can t glaze over ongoing concerns. Dunkin is still geared to the brim.
Burger King swaps buyout barons for private equity 2 Sep 2010 The capitalists behind Anheuser InBev are relieving TPG, Bain and Goldman of command of the fastfood chain for $4 bln. While the sponsors relied on typical financial engineering, BK's new Brazilian owners have a grander plan: to do for burgers what they did for beer.
Reheating Burger King won’t be another LBO whopper 1 Sep 2010 Buyout houses had it their way with the chain in 2002: a desperate seller and little competition for the necessary turnaround. The equity sliver TPG, Bain and Goldman still own in the $2.5 bln firm is worth nearly four times their whole investment. The next bite looks gristly.
Time to call time on Mitchells & Butlers board 25 Jan 2010 The board of Britain's biggest pub company made a fundamental error. Upsetting a 23 percent shareholder is asking for trouble, and when the holder of another 18 percent agrees with him, the end is nigh. The board will be thrown out on Thursday, and quite right too.
M&B shows how not to run a pub company 14 Jan 2010 The barroom brawl in the boardroom of the UK's biggest pubs group is starting to get nasty. There could be serious injuries at Mitchell & Butler's annual meeting on Jan. 28 unless the spat over the definition of an independent director is resolved.
Punch’s £350m placing is a sticking plaster 15 Jun 2009 The troubled UK pubs company s fiddly open offer should help it deal with its most pressing problem the need to repay £215m of convertible bonds by the end of next year. But Punch still faces an uphill struggle to protect its complex securitised structure as the downturn bites.
Tchenguiz won’t be the last ailing property tycoon 9 Oct 2008 His stakes were sold at a £1bn loss. In better times, leveraged real estate investors in negative equity were safe banks wouldn t repossess properties. But the sector s in tatters. Others will suffer Robert Tchenguiz s fate. And they won t only owe Icelandic banks.
Peltz wins control of Wendy’s – at a price 24 Apr 2008 It s not that the restaurant raider is paying a really juicy price for the burger chain. At $27 a share, or $2.3bn, it comes well below the $41 that Peltz once suggested he d pay. But in swapping Triarc shares for Wendy s, Peltz has had to cede his supercharged voting rights.
Punch also under pressure after Mitchells & Butlers talks end 15 Apr 2008 The UK pub operator has broken off contact with rival M&B over a possible merger or sale of its Spirit pubs. That's a victory of sorts for M&B's pacman defence. Now it's up to shareholders to decide the next move. Punch has as many questions to answer as M&B.
Punch withdrawal won’t fell M&B 28 Mar 2008 The only trade buyer for the pubs group has walked away. But M&B s shareholders needn t mourn too much. The company continues to generate cash and despite its recent woes and a discredited management, M&B still has options without an obvious bidder.
Buyout firms look toothless over M&B 17 Mar 2008 The UK pubs group, its share price laid low by a busted property punt, would once have been the ideal private equity target. But buyout firms are deprived of their traditional supply of cheap debt, so even such cashgenerative, propertyrich companies look rather hard to get.
Bargain hunters should nibble on US restaurants 12 Feb 2008 A glimmer of good news from casual dining chain Darden sparked a feeding frenzy in restaurant stocks. While it is far too soon to expect a turnaround, a lot of bad news has been priced into the sector. The buffet is starting to look tempting.
Punch stages opportunistic swoop on M&B 4 Feb 2008 There s plenty of logic to a deal between the two pub groups. And with M&B s management discredited by its disastrous property punt, Punch s timing is opportune. But financially, things are more complex. M&B shouldn t accept the first offer on the table.
M&B pays price for misguided property punt 29 Jan 2008 The UK pub operator has taken a £274m hit equivalent to all last year s earnings on unwinding hedges associated with a failed property joint venture. Chief executive Tim Clarke may have been badly advised, but he is lucky to be hanging on to his job.