Archive for the “Management” Category
Posted by: in Management
Filed under: Management, The Blackstone Group, Engagements, Private equity industry
I received an interesting email alert this morning from The Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) regarding the addition of a new Board of Directors member. The addition is Richard H. Jenrette.
Board member additions are usually not stock events or at least not actionable events, but Mr. Jenrette is founder of DLJ, or Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette (”DLJ”). That firm was founded in 1959.
DLJ wasn’t exactly an institution that went without problems through the years, but it was built essentially from scratch to a multi-billion dollar behemoth in the financial sector with operations in trading, brokerage, investment banking, advisory, clearing, and more. Ultimately it was acquired by Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS), and its discount brokerage operations were acquired by E*TRADE Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC).
Mr. Jenrette is also also a former Chairman of the Securities Industry Association and has served as a director or trustee of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Advanced Micro Devices Inc., the American Stock Exchange, The Rockefeller Foundation, The Duke Endowment, the University of North Carolina, New York University and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
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Posted by: in Management
Filed under: Deals, Management, Shareholders, Value and lack thereof
Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WMI) is switching around the merger game in the garbage and trash collection sector. The company has announced this day that it has made a proposal to Republic Services, Inc.(NYSE: RSG) to acquire Republic for $34.00 per common share in cash.
The company stated that its proposal represents a premium of approximately 22% over the closing price of Republic stock from before the offer was submitted. Waste management believes that its all-cash proposal offers a better value to Republic stockholders than the recently announced Republic-Allied Waste Industries, Inc. (NYSE: AW) transaction.
The company stated its board is committed to maintaining an investment grade status and is committed to continuing its annual dividend of $1.08 per share.
Waste Management noted that the Republic-Allied merger agreement expressly contemplates substitute proposals from third celebrations and defines a process for Republic to respond to those proposals.
The company believes that a transaction with Republic would close early in 2009. Waste Management also noted that it believes all of the financing needed to finish the transaction will be available on satisfactory terms believes it will maintain its investment grade status on a combined basis.
You could envision that this would definitely run into antitrust issues and would definitely require certain divestitures.
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Posted by: in Management
Filed under: Deals, Management, Top deals, Private equity industry, Investments, Value and lack thereof
Almost everyone thought of the Penn National Gaming Inc. (NASDAQ: PENN) private equity LBO merger as dead money for quite some time. It only officially became a dead merger this morning. This was the last of the massive multi-billion deals still officially on the books that was put together back before we’d a full blown credit crunch.
PNG Acquisition Company Inc. was the buyout entity, which was indirectly owned by certain funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE: FIG) and Centerbridge Partners, L.P.
The buyout price of $67.00 per share was older than Methusela. Since January, this stock slid steadily from over $60.00 down to under $30.00. The deal was a known to be dead by everyone. But there’s actually a silver lining here for the company. Penn National will get $1.475 Billion in cash out of this.
Affiliates of Fortress, affiliates of Centerbridge, affiliates of Wachovia, and affiliates of Deutsche Bank will all be holders of those notes. To top it off, Fortress Investment Group’s Chairman & CEO, Wesley Edens, will join the Penn National Gaming Board of Directors.
Keep reading for on the fly analysis, guidance, and ramifications at 247wallst.com.
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Posted by: in Management
Filed under: Management, Private equity industry, Value and lack thereof, Public or private?
Landry’s Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: LNY) has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Fertitta Holdings, Inc.
Fertitta has concurred to acquire all outstanding common stock for $21.00 per share in cash. This represents a premium of approximately 37% over the closing share price of the Company’s common stock on April 3, 2008. This was the last day before disclosure of the revised offer made by Mr. Fertitta to acquire the company. The total value of the transaction is approximately $1.3 billion, which includes approximately $885.0 million of debt.
Fertitta is a newly formed entity wholly owned by the company’s Chairman, President, CEO and original founder, Tilman J. Fertitta. Mr. Fertitta beneficially owns approximately 39% of the Company’s outstanding shares of common stock.
Continue reading the implications and analysis at 247WallSt.com.
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Posted by: in Management
Filed under: Management, Engagements, Shareholders, Public or private?
Pier One Inc. (NYSE: PIR) has made an offer to acquire rival Cost Plus, Inc. (NASDAQ: CPWM). Cost Plus confirmed this today. Unfortunately, nether stock is reacting with anything resembling an overwhelming response. It may seem like a game changing deal on the surface.
As far as the terms before any dilution, this would have been a 31% premium for Cost Plus before any dilution metrics come into play. The buyout terms are for 0.6 shares of Pier One for each share of Cost Plus. When you factor in the share drop at Pier One, this looks like a resounding thud.
The problem is that Pier One shares have fallen and therefore lowered the potential buyout price compared to any cash offer buyout deal. With a 16% drop to $5.55 per Pier One share, this works out to a mere $3.33 for Cost Plus.
Continue reading the full summary and analysis from 247WallSt.com.
Jon C. Ogg
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Posted by: in Management
Filed under: Deals, Management, Engagements, Shareholders, Public or private?
Some companies get it, some don’t. Circuit City Stores, Inc. (NYSE: CC) has been in the camp of companies that don’t get it. That might have finally changed this day.
The company appears to have finally capitulated and realized its days under its own efforts may be limited. There are two separate announcements this morning, but in reality it is all part of the same issue.
This will grant the company to deal with the activist pressure, and might ultimately lead to the company either being run by a better team or become a subsidiary of another company. The company just issued a release that it has reached an agreement with Wattles Capital Management.
Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI) and Carl Icahn may finally get their way.
Keep reading the full story at 247WallSt.com.
Jon Ogg is also a producer and editor of the “10 Stocks Under $10″ weekly newsletter for 247WallSt.com.
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Posted by: in Management
Filed under: Deals, Management, Engagements, Shareholders, Public or private?
Some companies get it, some don’t. Circuit City Stores, Inc. (NYSE: CC) has been in the camp of companies that don’t get it. That may have finally changed today.
The company appears to have finally capitulated and realized its days under its own efforts may be limited. There are two separate announcements this morning, but in reality it is all part of the same issue.
This will grant the company to deal with the activist pressure, and might ultimately lead to the company either being run by a better team or become a subsidiary of another company. The company just issued a release that it has reached an agreement with Wattles Capital Management.
Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI) and Carl Icahn might finally get their way.
Keep reading the full story at 247WallSt.com.
Jon Ogg is also a producer and editor of the “10 Stocks Under $10″ weekly newsletter for 247WallSt.com.
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Posted by: in Management
Filed under: Deals, Management, Raising money, Investments
 Vinum Capital Management has announced the launch of a $250 million fund targeting the California and west coast wine industry, Vinum Capital Partners I, LP. The fund will focus on mid-size premium and super-premium wine properties that produce 20,000 to 150,000 cases per year.
The California-based company plans to acquire wine companies, grow and expand them, and ultimately sell the assets in this industry that receives relatively tiny attention from equity investors. Vinum put together a solid team with significant experience in the wine industry, totaling $1 billion in winery-related transactions.
I”ll say one thing after reading this new — each worker in private equity probably wants to get hired by this fund.
Investment partners for the fund include Justin Faggioli, former COO of Ravenswood, Scott Setrakian, former Director of Golden State Vineyards and an M&A and financing expert, G. Craig Vachon.
The portfolio management team for the fund lists Bill Foster from Beringer, Jonathan Pey from Robert Mondavi and Fosters Wine Estates, Doug Rogers from Gallo, Southcorp, and Brown-Forman Wines, and Bob Steinhauer from Beringer.
If you’ve kept up with the wine, beer, and spirits industry, you’ll get the significance of this as both Beringer and Mondavi are formerly public companies. Fosters acquired Beringer earlier this decade. Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ) also acquired Robert Mondavi.
Jon Ogg produces and edits the Special Situation Investing Newsletter for 247WallSt.com.
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Posted by: in Management
Filed under: Deals, Management, Raising money, Investments
Vinum Capital Management has announced the launch of a $250 million fund targeting the California and west coast wine industry, Vinum Capital Partners I, LP. The fund will focus on mid-size premium and super-premium wine properties that produce 20,000 to 150,000 cases per year.
The California-based company plans to acquire wine companies, grow and expand them, and ultimately sell the assets in this industry that receives relatively tiny attention from equity investors. Vinum put together a solid team with significant experience in the wine industry, totaling $1 billion in winery-related transactions.
I”ll say one thing after reading this new — each worker in private equity probably wants to get hired by this fund.
Investment partners for the fund include Justin Faggioli, former COO of Ravenswood, Scott Setrakian, former Director of Golden Say Vineyards and an M&A and financing expert, G. Craig Vachon.
The portfolio management team for the fund lists Bill Foster from Beringer, Jonathan Pey from Robert Mondavi and Fosters Wine Estates, Doug Rogers from Gallo, Southcorp, and Brown-Forman Wines, and Bob Steinhauer from Beringer.
If you’ve kept up with the wine, beer, and spirits industry, you’ll get the significance of this as both Beringer and Mondavi are formerly public companies. Fosters acquired Beringer earlier this decade. Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ) also acquired Robert Mondavi.
Jon Ogg produces and edits the Special Situation Investing Newsletter for 247WallSt.com.
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Posted by: in Management
Filed under: Management, Raising money, Engagements
We’ve been digging around for the the coming layoffs at private equity firms to get a good handle on just what the economic downturn and credit crunch will mean to all the B-School kids who wanted to be the next multi-millionaires and billionaires. While no hard numbers are out industry-wide yet (at least that you can hang your hat on), there are some things trickling out.
The Deal Journal, of the Wall Street Journal, noted in a post this day that American Capital Strategies (NASDAQ: ACAS) plans to let go an unspecified number of staffers in middle markets. As you can see in the chart below, they have had their fair share of pain in the process.
Dan Primack, of Private Equity Hub, also wrote a piece noting that no one is getting hired in finance anymore, so he linked to an M&A article about “how to get fired.“
Our own Zac Bissonnette wrote here on BloggingBuyouts at the end of February about how M&A was down so much that dealmakers were set for big layoffs.
But here we are at the end of April and no major firings have come the way of dealmakers. Since they cannot all jump into “distressed mortgages and loans” and since they can’t all go to work for a SPAC immediately, it seems only a matter of time and that time is sooner rather than later.
The one thing you can bet on is that there won’t be press releases out of private equity firms. They are private for a reason, well most are still private. When the news does come out it’s probably safe to assume that the firms will state this is merely a reflection of the current conditions or something of the like. Just keep in mind that companies don’t fire waves or groups of workers if they think they will be needed in a few months time.
Who knows, maybe they’ll just announce worker furloughs through the end of summer.
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