Private Equity Firm Eyes Bausch & Lomb

Penn National Gaming changes hands for $8.9B

(NEWSER) - The casino-operator buyout spree continued today as Penn National Gaming agreed to be acquired by two private-equity firms for $8.9 billion. The deal, which allows the company to solicit bids for 45 days, includes $2.8 billion in debt. News of the $67-a-share offer, a 31% premium over yesterday's closing price, drove the stock up to $62.12 at close. More»

Private equity continues to pour into financial processing

(NEWSER) - Blackstone has snapped up credit card services provider Alliance Data for $7.8 billion, joining a surge of private equity into dull but profitable back-office firms. The 30% above-market offer for Alliance, which also runs a data processing unit, is the latest in a wave of takeovers in the financial-processing sector that started with KKR's April bid for First Data. More»

(USER SUBMITTED) - Seems the titans of Wall Street, and here we mean the private equity buyout shops including Warburg Pincus, Carlyle, TPG, and KKR, have amassed $500 billion to buy companies. Their problem? Not enough to buy and rising prices for what is out there. Plus it's a lot harder to leverage deals with debt in a post-bank-meltdown world. Read the full article . More»

It revamps stock but says it has no IPO plans 'at this time'

(NEWSER) - Facebook revamped its stock structure today in a move sure to heat up speculation that it's going public. The company will have two classes of shares, A and B, reports the Wall Street Journal . Everyone currently on board will hold B shares, with 10 times the voting power of A shares. That way if Facebook goes public, current shareholders—especially CEO Mark Zuckerberg—will have more say than any newcomers. More»

Affluent investors increase investments, despite market downturn

(NEWSER) - The bearish market hasn't stopped angels from acting like bulls, Portfolio reports. Angel investors, those who fund start-ups and small companies, are profiting from Wall Street's woes: Reduced private equity funding has made angels the go-to source for capital, improving their bargaining position and giving them more chances to invest. More»