DealBook: Chicago Exchange Merger May Bring More Deals
Edited by Andrew Ross Sorkin
TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES | Tuesday, July 10, 2007
M & A: Danone's Offer for Numico Draws Critics
BANKING: Would UBS Gain From Losing Paine?
PRIVATE EQUITY: Moody's Questions Benefits of Buyouts
HEDGE FUNDS: Hedge Fund Performance Heated Up Slightly in June
OFFERINGS: Aeffe Tests Waters for Luxury I.P.O.'s
VENTURE CAPITAL: Trion Has $30 Million More to Play With
LEGAL: NYSE Euronext to Investigate ABN Amro Trades
TOP STORY
Chicago Mercantile Exchange won shareholder approval to acquire CBOT Holdings, the parent of the Chicago Board of Trade, for $11.9 billion. The vote appeared to end a bidding war with IntercontinentalExchange and left industry experts speculating about future deals in the rapidly consolidating financial exchange industry.
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MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
Groupe Danone said Monday said it would buy Dutch baby-food maker Royal Numico in a $16.8 billion cash deal. Some analysts said the price seemed high -- one called it a "value-destructive" deal -- and there was speculation that the purchase was partially intended to reduce Danone's attractiveness as a takeover target.
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Go to Related Article from Bloomberg News»Gemstar-TV Guide International, which publishes TV Guide magazine, said Monday that it had hired UBS to explore strategic alternatives, including the sale of the company.
Go to Article from The Associated Press via The New York Times»Shares in Sprint surged as much as 16 percent in after-hours trading Monday amid rumors that SK Telecom is preparing a bid for the U.S. telecom group. The South Korean company vigorously denied the speculation.
Go to Article from CNNMoney.com»Shares of Air Liquide had their biggest gain in almost five years on Tuesday morning amid rumors of a possible buyout bid from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.
Go to Article from Bloomberg News»BHP Billiton may be seeking private-equity partners for a possible bid for Alcoa, the U.S. steel giant that on Monday extended its unsolicited $28.6 billion offer for Canadian rival Alcan. The Times of London, citing undisclosed sources, said BHP was in talks with buyout firms about a potential Alcoa bid, with Blackstone Group believed to be its favored partner.
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Go to Article from Bloomberg News»Sempra Energy, the San Diego utility company, said Monday that Royal Bank of Scotland would pay $1.3 billion for a majority stake in its commodities business.
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Go to Article from The Los Angeles Times»Richard Branson's Virgin Group may acquire a 20 percent stake in Fly Asian Express, a budget long-haul airline that plans to fly between Asia and Britain, The Guardian reported.
Go to Article from The Guardian»Advantage Energy Income Fund will acquire Sound Energy Trust in a stock-and-cash bid to create a firm worth over C$2 billion ($1.9 billion).
Go to Article from The Globe and Mail»The Central African Mining & Exploration Company, or CAMEC, said Monday it will make a formal bid for the rest of Katanga Mining, despite the Canadian company's attempts to block further acquisition of its shares, The Globe and Mail reported.
Go to Article from The Globe and Mail»Texas Pacific Group's 3.4 billion euro ($4.6 billion) bid for Spanish airline Iberia is verging on collapse after TPG warned the carrier that it would pull its offer should it not receive an answer by the end of the month.
Go to Article from TheDeal.com»National Grid said it reached an agreement with New York regulators to close its $7.3 billion takeover of KeySpan.
Go to Article from TheDeal.com»Coventry Health Care said Monday it has agreed to acquire Florida Health Plan Administrators for $685 million in cash.
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INVESTMENT BANKING
Though UBS has said that it has no plans to break itself up after the ouster of its chief executive, TheStreet.com wonders if it might be time for the Swiss banking giant to consider offloading PaineWebber Group, its retail brokerage arm, anyway.
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Go to Previous Item from DealBook»Kohlberg Kravis Roberts' ambitions to expand its capital markets capability make sense for the private equity shop -- but what is good for KKR is not always good for Wall Street firms, Lex writes.
Go to Article from The Financial Times's Lex Column»Ellen Tseng will join Nomura as its head of Taiwan research, after six years at Morgan Stanley.
Go to Article from Finance Asia»A report that Bear Stearns chief executive James E. Cayne played several golf games during the weeks that his firm's hedge funds were fending off collapse has sparked a range of opinions on the Web.
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PRIVATE EQUITY
Moody's Investors Services released a report Monday questioning the benefits of leveraged buyouts. The analysts focused part of their skepticism on special dividend payouts, which they said can undermine the claim that these investments are for the long term.
Go to Item from DealBook»Limited Brands said Monday that it had agreed to sell 75 percent of its namesake clothing chain to Sun Capital Partners so that it can better focus on Victoria's Secret lingerie stores and its body-lotions unit.
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Go to Article from TheDeal.com»John Edwards, the Democratic presidential candidate, expressed support for three different proposals that would increase taxes on buyout managers and hedge funds.
Go to Article from The Wall Street Journal (Subscription Required)»Spain's Mercapital could sell its 70 percent holding in Barcelona healthcare chain USP Hospitales to London private equity firm Cinven, TheDeal.com reported citing unnamed sources.
Go to Article from TheDeal.com»Energy Investors Funds has closed a $1.35 billion private equity fund that will invest in the U.S. power sector, TheDeal.com reported.
Go to Article from TheDeal.com»Platinum Equity will earn roughly 7 times its investment in CompuCom Systems through Monday's $628 million sale of the outsourcing company to IIM Acquisition.
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HEDGE FUNDS
A report from industry performance tracking firm Hedge Fund Research estimates that hedge funds returned 1.11 percent on average in June, helping propel the group's HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index up 7.97 percent so far this year.
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Go to Related Article from MarketWatch»Moore Capital Management has taken a 5.1 percent stake in the home builder Beazer Homes USA, according to a regulatory filing.
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I.P.O. / OFFERING
Aeffe, the Italian fashion group whose labels include Moschino, began its initial public offering Monday. Women's Wear Daily said the offering could help gauge investors' appetites for luxury goods and fashion ahead of more potential I.P.O.'s.
Go to Article from Women's Wear Daily»U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who unsuccessfully sought to delay the Blackstone Group's $4.7 billion I.P.O., will hold a congressional hearing Wednesday on the implications of allowing small investors to buy shares in hedge funds and private equity funds.
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VENTURE CAPITAL
Trion World Network, a game company, has raised $30 million in venture funding. Investors included Rustic Canyon Partners, Time Warner and Bertelsmann.
Go to Article from The San Francisco Business Times»Two Massachusetts-based venture capital firms, Battery Ventures and Highland Capital Partners, closed strong new rounds on Monday with combined funding of more than $1 billion, TheDeal.com reported.
Go to Article from TheDeal.com»Reata Pharmaceuticals has closed a $25 million fifth round of funding which will help advance its two primary drug candidates through Phase 2 clinical trials.
Go to Article from TheDeal.com»BioVex Group, a drug developer that withdrew plans for an initial public offering last year, has accepted $22 million in a new, fifth round of private funding which is still open to a new investor.
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LEGAL
NYSE Euronext is looking into trading of ABN Amro securities that took place around the time of the bank's March announcement of discussions of a sale to Barclays, Reuters reported Tuesday citing an article in The Wall Street Journal.
Go to Article from Reuters»David J. Bershad, a former partner at Milberg Weiss & Bershad with extensive knowledge of the law firm's finances, has agreed to plead guilty to charges that he helped pay illegal kickbacks to plaintiffs in securities lawsuits.
Go to Article from The New York Times»Michael Berger, a hedge fund manager who had managed to stay on the run for five years after losing a $400 million bet against the tech bubble of the late 1990s, was caught in Austria last Friday, Reuters reported.
Go to Article from Reuters via The New York Times»Delphi, the bankrupt car parts maker, said on Monday that it has ended a $3.4 billion financing plan formerly led by Cerberus Capital Management to haul itself out of bankruptcy, but added that it expected to sign a new deal this month, The New York Times reported
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Go to Previous Item from DealBook»The Securities and Exchange Commission and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott have accused two Texas men of hijacking personal computers to send mass e-mails and inflate prices on at least 13 stocks.
Go to Article from Bloomberg News via The Washington Post»British Petroleum has frozen payments of more than 1.5 million pounds owed to its former chief executive, John Browne, pending the resolution of a lawsuit by a group of shareholders in Alaska.
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UBS Power Shift Reignites Breakup Debate
The surprise ouster of chief executive Peter Wuffli has Wall Street wondering about the Swiss bank's next move. More»The Deals Keep Coming
As KKR plans a public offering and Blackstone offers $26 billion for Hilton Hotels, private equity seems to be going strong. Or is it rushing to do deals before the market and Congress force it down to earth? More»Could Buyers Call on Bear Stearns?
Some are suggesting that the Wall Street firm could become vulnerable to a takeover attempt if its stock keeps declining. (18 comments) More»Hedge Fund Plans $2 Billion I.P.O.
Och-Ziff Capital Management, founded by former Goldman Sachs trader Daniel Och, may be the first pure-play American hedge fund firm to go public . More»A Takeover in the Cards?
Discover was only recently spun off from Morgan Stanley, but there is already speculation that it might eventually be acquired. (3 comments) More»Counting Schwarzman's Blackstone Billions
Based on his 23 percent stake in the Blackstone Group alone, Stephen A. Schwarzman would rank among Forbes' top-100 billionaires. As of Friday, the value of his Blackstone holdings as reported in regulatory filings is $7.95 billion.
More Blackstone I.P.O. Coverage»Deal-Makers Break Another Record
For the first time, the volume of U.S. companies acquired in the first half of the year topped $1 trillion. More»Murdoch's Dow Jones Showdown
The latest coverage of News Corporation's $5 billion offer to buy the family-controlled publisher of The Wall Street Journal. More»Masters of the New Universe
In DealBook's special section of The New York Times, a guide to the deal ecosystem, a report on what lies behind the buyout boom, a profile of the hedge fund that may be the next Goldman Sachs, and more. More»News By Industry
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