Each business day HedgeCo.Net keeps you informed with the top hedge fund industry news, opinion and insight from around the globe. From the latest hedge fund launches, to the impact of regulation, competition, and investor activism - we track the topics and people that make a difference to you.
Reuters – Adaptec Inc, target of a proxy war led by Warren Lichtenstein’s Steel Partners, said on Tuesday the activist hedge fund wants to gut the data storage technology company, shed assets and create an acquisition vehicle fueled by Adaptec’s stash of cash.
More than three weeks after Lichtenstein began soliciting shareholder votes to remove Adaptec’s chief executive and shrink the board to seven seats from nine, Adaptec’s board responded by questioning Steel’s motives and calling attention to Lichtenstein’s own setbacks of the past year.
Reuters – Investors, encouraged by a growing number of acquisitions and public floats in the past few months, are keeping a close eye on a coterie of promising startups in Silicon Valley.
An informal poll of venture capitalists and others pointed to six privately held companies as the ripest for acquisition or readiness to go public, out of 34 cited in industries ranging from alternative energy to social networking.
For now, the Silicon Valley Six say they intend to keep growing rather than agreeing to be acquired or go public during the recession.
Reuters – Investors, encouraged by a growing number of acquisitions and public floats in the past few months, are keeping a close eye on a coterie of promising startups in Silicon Valley.
An informal poll of venture capitalists and others pointed to six privately held companies as the ripest for acquisition or readiness to go public, out of 34 cited in industries ranging from alternative energy to social networking.
For now, the Silicon Valley Six say they intend to keep growing rather than agreeing to be acquired or go public during the recession.
Reuters – The following corporate finance-related stories were reported by media on Friday:
* Fortress Investment Group, among the largest private equity and hedge fund firms, is looking to go on an acquisition drive, the Financial Times said, citing a memo passed to Fortress staff. [ID:nBNG147186]
* Spain’s Cosmen family and private equity group CVC have made a joint takeover approach for British bus and rail group National Express Group Plc, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing people close to the situation. [ID:nLN409582]
Copenhagen Post – The largest business deal in the country?s history could turn into a stock market selloff by the five capital funds that purchased telecommunications company TDC for a record sum in 2006.
The largest business deal in the country’s history could turn into a stock market selloff by the five capital funds that purchased telecommunications company TDC for a record sum in 2006.
The 68 billion kroner acquisition gave the investors control of 88 percent of the shares in the country’s largest telecom and shareholders a 40 percent premium on the value of the shares. At the time, it was Europe’s largest leverage buyout.
Reuters – The Federal Reserve sought to hide its involvement in Bank of America Corp’s (BAC.N) acquisition of Merrill Lynch as Merrill’s financial condition worsened, the top Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said on Wednesday.
The Fed "engaged in a cover-up and deliberately hid concerns and pertinent details regarding the merger from other federal regulatory agencies," Representative Darrell Issa said in a statement released to Reuters.
Reuters – The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (Calpers), which manages $169 billion in public pension funds, may boost its private-equity investments by around 40 percent as slumping markets create some acquisition bargains.
Calpers’ board next week is scheduled to vote on a plan that would increase the fund’s target for corporate buyout and venture-capital investments to 14 percent from 10 percent.
Spokesman Clark McKinley said the fund’s $22.8 billion of such investments has jumped to 13 percent as the sinking value of stocks and other assets reduced the size of the overall fund.
Times Online – Hugh Osmond is sitting on a multimillion-pound paper loss after his Pearl Group life assurer agreed a deal to trim its £3 billion debt burden and bring in new equity investors.
Pearl secured a £500 million injection from Liberty Acquisition Holdings, a company controlled by two New York-based investors, one of whom is Nicolas Berggruen, a billionaire hedge fund investor with a personal wealth estimated at £1.8 billion, according to the Sunday Times Rich List. He is known in hedge fund circles as the “homeless billionaire” because he lives in hotels.
Proactive Investors UK – Shares in Et-china.com International Holdings LTD (AIM: ETC) got an enormous boost today from news that Kuoni Travel Holding Ltd has bought the 31.8 percent stake in the company that was held by hedge fund Gandhara Master Fund Ltd. Financiasl details were not disclosed
At mid-morning, Et-China was trading up nearly 65 percent from yesterday’s closing level.
In a statement, the group said it considers the acquisition of Gandhara’s shares to be in Et-China’s best interests given the expected synergistic benefits and the global expertise of Kuoni.
Reuters UK – GlaxoSmithKline Plc, the world’s second-largest drugmaker, has agreed to buy privately owned U.S. skincare specialist Stiefel Laboratories Inc for up to $3.6 billion, the two companies said on Monday.
The acquisition is the latest in a string of deals in the drugs sector, but is significantly smaller than recent mega-mergers, reflecting the British-based group’s declared focus on bolt-on buys to diversify its business.
ShareCast – Private equity group BlueGem is to take a 40% stake in stockbrokerPanmure Gordon in a move that will inject £17.3m of capital into the broker.Panmure Gordon has placed 72m new shares with BlueGem at 24p per share.
The acquisition of the stake represents BlueGem’s fourth investment and its first in the financial services sector. The company was formed in late 2006 by experienced investment bankers and fund managers to make investments in mid-market companies, predominantly in the UK and Italy.
The net proceeds from the placing will ‘significantly strengthen the company’s balance sheet’, the company said, giving it regulatory assets in excess of £40m, more than three times more than its required regulatory capital.
Reuters – TMD Friction, a bankrupt German maker of brake pads for the auto industry, has been bought by private equity firm Pamplona Capital Management, TMD said on Friday.
Both sides declined to comment on the sale price. The acquisition will safeguard 3,800 jobs worldwide, TMD said.
"I’m delighted to be partnering with Pamplona who are highly supportive of TMD Friction and the long-term outlook for the group," TMD Friction Chief Executive Derek Whitworth said.
