Filed under: Management, Movers and shakers, Engagements, Private equity industry

Private equity firm Behrman Capital has announced that General Peter Pace, retired USMC and former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, took the role as Operating Partner with the firm. General Pace was also named as Chairman of the Board to Pelican Products, an advanced lighting systems and valuable equipment case manufacturer. He’ll also direct ILC Industries, Inc., a company that provides defense electronics (of course the defense angle).

Allow Behrman of the firm noted that General Pace has forty years tenure in the Marines and then as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Pace graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and has an MBA from George Washington University.

Behrman Capital is a private equity investment firm with more than $2 billion of capital under management and it invests in management buyouts, leveraged “buildups” and recapitalizations of established growth companies. If you look through the private equity firm’s portfolio companies, you can see why having a former general and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman would be a good thing.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Management, Shareholders, Value and lack thereof, Public or private?

After the Captaris Inc. (Nasdaq: CAPA) rejection of a $4.75 per share buyout offer from private-equity firm Vector Capital, the deal has been killed and has been responded to in a formal letter. This merger was noted as having represented a 36% premium.

Vector Capital sent a letter to the Captaris Board of Directors emphasizing their disappointment and surprise at the rejection despite the approval by major shareholders for the transaction. The letter also made very clear that Vector’s $4.75 offer and other terms have since expired and should not be considered in Captaris’ search for better offers.

By now we’ve gotten used to deals blowing up on the more massive companies. But the market cap on this deal is only $110 million. The problem is that Captaris has recently traded over $6.00.

The Board of Directors would have potentially faced a shareholder revolt or suit had they approved this deal. That doesn’t mean anything is going to be that much superior, but sometimes companies can’t fold just because they’ve an offer.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Options, Management, Investments

Trane (NYSE: TT) is recently trading down to $45 range. Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE: IR) announced the buy of Trane for $36.50 per share in cash and 0.23 shares of IR per share of TT on Dec. 17, 2007. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter.

The premium spread stays tight at approximately 2%. TT call option volume of 94 contracts compares to put volume of 2,225 contracts. TT April and Might option implied volatility of 37 is above its 26-week average of 17 according to Track Data, suggesting big price movement.

M&A Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Management, Shareholders, Value and lack thereof, Public or private?

After the Captaris Inc. (Nasdaq: CAPA) rejection of a $4.75 per share buyout offer from private-equity firm Vector Capital, the deal has been killed and has been responded to in a formal letter. This merger was noted as having represented a 36% premium.

Vector Capital sent a letter to the Captaris Board of Directors emphasizing their disappointment and surprise at the rejection despite the approval by major shareholders for the transaction. The letter also made very clear that Vector’s $4.75 offer and other terms have since expired and should not be considered in Captaris’ search for better offers.

By now we have gotten used to deals blowing up on the larger companies. But the market cap on this deal is only $110 million. The problem is that Captaris has recently traded over $6.00.

The Board of Directors would have potentially faced a shareholder revolt or suit had they approved this deal. That doesn’t mean anything is going to be that much better, but sometimes companies can’t fold just because they’ve an offer.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Options, Management, Investments

Trane (NYSE: TT) is recently trading down to $45 range. Ingersoll-Rand (NYSE: IR) announced the purchase of Trane for $36.50 per share in cash and 0.23 shares of IR per share of TT on Dec. 17, 2007. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter.

The premium spread stays tight at approximately 2%. TT call option volume of 94 contracts compares to put volume of 2,225 contracts. TT April and Might option implied volatility of 37 is above its 26-week average of 17 according to Track Data, suggesting large price movement.

M&A Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Deals, Management, The Blackstone Group, GS Capital Partners

If you’re getting sick of private equity mergers blowing, it might be interesting to take a look at several private equity buyouts that look like they’ll actually close. After looking through some of the mergers out there, there are lots of deals in the pending category that don’t have much failure risk. Maybe there’s no sure thing, but these look like they might actually close:

Covad Communications Group Inc. (AMEX: DVW) up over 2% to $0.97, with $1.02 buyout price. This is one I have noted before after talking with both Covad and with Platinum Equity. This one is close to a sure thing after it cleared reviews this day.

Getty Images Inc. (NYSE: GYI) was trading at $31.98 versus its $34.00 buyout offer. I’ve noted that Getty is being sued over the process or the price, but in all honesty shareholders that look at today’s world will know what better shape this will be as a private company. This was our best “industry de-merger” call in 2007. Either way, shareholders should feel lucky that Hellman Friedman wants it at all.

Performance Food Group Co. (NASDAQ: PFGC) was up $0.31 to $32.82 late in the day, and the buyout price of $34.50 is still more than 5% above today’s prices. Its anti-trust review period has passed this week in the buyout by affiliates of The Blackstone Group and a minority interest held by a private investment fund affiliated with Wellspring Capital Management LLC. Shareholders still have to approve the deal. But on the private equity firm side getting the deal shut for a food distribution group shouldn’t see too many “material changes in business” excuses.

The good news is that most of the giant multi-billion club deals that were on shaky ground have come unraveled already. The bad news is that credit is tighter and many bankers and private equity executives have a bad taste in their mouth right now.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Deals, Management, The Blackstone Group, GS Capital Partners

If you are getting sick of private equity mergers blowing, it might be interesting to take a look at several private equity buyouts that look like they will actually close. After looking through some of the mergers out there, there are lots of deals in the pending category that don’t have much failure risk. Maybe there’s no sure thing, but these look like they might actually close:

Covad Communications Group Inc. (AMEX: DVW) up over 2% to $0.97, with $1.02 buyout price. This is one I have noted before after speaking with both Covad and with Platinum Equity. This one is close to a sure thing after it cleared reviews this day.

Getty Images Inc. (NYSE: GYI) was trading at $31.98 versus its $34.00 buyout offer. I’ve noted that Getty is being sued over the process or the price, but in all honesty shareholders that look at today’s world will know what superior shape this will be as a private company. This was our ideal “industry de-merger” call in 2007. Either way, shareholders should feel lucky that Hellman Friedman wants it at all.

Performance Food Group Co. (NASDAQ: PFGC) was up $0.31 to $32.82 late in the day, and the buyout price of $34.50 is still more than 5% above today’s prices. Its anti-trust review period has passed this week in the buyout by affiliates of The Blackstone Group and a minority interest held by a private investment fund affiliated with Wellspring Capital Management LLC. Shareholders still have to approve the deal. But on the private equity firm side getting the deal closed for a food distribution group shouldn’t see too many “material changes in business” excuses.

The good news is that most of the giant multi-billion club deals that were on shaky ground have come unraveled already. The bad news is that credit is tighter and many bankers and private equity executives have a bad taste in their mouth right now.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Management, Top deals, Shareholders

In what is likely to be a bit of a blockbuster, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox sent a letter to Swiss regulators indicating the Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC) didn’t have to go the way of all flesh. According to The New York Post “the ‘fate of Bear Stearns was a lack of confidence, not a lack of capital,’ Cox, the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, wrote in a five-page letter sent to a Swiss regulator.”

That letter will lead angry Bear Stearns sharedholders, who watched the stock fall from over $30 near $2, to question why JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) was able purchase the brokerage at a deep discount with help from the Federal Reserve. The missive may encourage Congress and regulators to question whether the takeover of BSC involved foul play.

Read the rest of the story at 247 Wall St.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Management, Top deals, Shareholders

In what is apt to be a bit of a blockbuster, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox sent a letter to Swiss regulators indicating the Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC) did not have to go the way of all flesh. According to The New York Post “the ‘fate of Bear Stearns was a lack of confidence, not a lack of capital,’ Cox, the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, wrote in a five-page letter sent to a Swiss regulator.”

That letter will lead angry Bear Stearns sharedholders, who watched the stock fall from over $30 near $2, to question why JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) was able buy the brokerage at a deep discount with help from the Federal Reserve. The missive might encourage Congress and regulators to question whether the takeover of BSC involved foul play.

Read the rest of the story at 247 Wall St.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Management, Raising money, Engagements, Venture capital industry, Private equity industry

Some scandals wreck public figures on Wall Street, while others act as mere speed bumps. It looks like the latter is true for Frank Quattrone, one of the most influential investment bankers in the 1990’s who was also the head of the Credits Suisse (NYSE: CS) technology banking group.

Frank Quattrone has just announced that he and some former colleagues are launching a new financial services venture called Qatalyst Group. Qatalyst will be a technology-focused merchant banking boutique headquartered in San Francisco, CA.

Qatalyst Partners, its investment banking business, will provide high-end merger & acquisition and corporate finance advice to technology companies. Its investing business, Qatalyst Capital Partners, will make selective principal investments, typically alongside leading venture capital and private equity firms.

Qatalyst Partners notes in its release that it will provide “high quality, independent advice to the senior management teams and boards of the technology industry’s established and emerging leaders on strategic matters crucial to their growth and success.”

Qatalyst will combine a broad network of relationships with deep sector knowledge and seasoned M&A expertise. In addition to merger & acquisition advice, Qatalyst Partners will also advise companies on capital structure and capital raising alternatives, and will selectively raise private capital for clients.

While it won’t engage in public securities research, sales, trading or brokerage, Qatalyst Partners might participate as advisor or underwriter in clients’ public offerings.

It looks like Wall Street just got a new technology boutique that will be involved in venture capital, private equity, and bringing companies public.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Share This

Share This