Private Equity

Stories

Stories 21 - 40 of 117

<< Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next >>

January 2008
- Investors Worry Clear Channel Sale Is Off the Air
  
  Wall Street Journal | Jan 30, 08 3:22 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Optimism on Wall Street about Clear Channel's $19 billion equity buyout is fading and its share price is spiraling lower as the deal, more than a year in the making, appears to be unraveling—done in by regulatory issues, credit worries, and deteriorating industry conditions, the Wall Street Journal reports. More »
- Sallie Mae Drops $900M Lawsuit
  
  Washington Post | Jan 29, 08 9:31 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Beleaguered student loan provider Sallie Mae yesterday dropped its $900 million lawsuit against the onetime suitors who bailed on a $25.3 billion buyout after the credit crunch caused would-be investors to walk away, reports the Washington Post . By agreeing not to seek the penalty from investment firm JC Flowers and several partners, Sallie Mae secured $31 billion in financing. More »
- Slumping Sears Ousts CEO
  
  Wall Street Journal | Jan 28, 08 9:39 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Sears Holdings CEO Aylwin Lewis will depart as part of company-wide restructuring, the Wall Street Journal reports. Sears stock has plummeted 40% since July, and the retailer's sales were down 3.5% this holiday season. The company, which was created when Kmart Holding Corp. took over Sears in 2005, last week announced a plan to decentralize the chain of command, up capital spending by $200 million, and reformat stores. More »
- Greenspan Signs On With Mortgage Profiteer
  
  Wall Street Journal | Jan 15, 08 12:20 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Paulson & Co. made a fortune as the mortgage crisis unfolded, and now the hedge fund has hired the man some say caused the meltdown. Alan Greenspan, whose actions as chairman of the Fed have been under fire lately, today agreed to advise the firm, which saw one fund rise 590% on bearish housing plays and is betting things get worse, the Wall Street Journal reports. More »
December 2007
- Venture Capitalists Predict Rebound After 2008
  
  San Jose Mercury News | Dec 28, 07 2:49 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - After gazing into its crystal ball this month, the National Venture Capital Association has come up with a picture of a bullish post-2008, post-election future. In the prediction, the new President Clinton manages a still-reeling economy as the number of VC firms wanes and the size of the funds they control waxes, the San Jose Mercury News reports. More »
- Gay Plays Well for Maverick VC
  
  Valleywag | Dec 20, 07 12:18 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - In Silicon Valley, where "like funds like," Valleywag thinks it's important to note that Peter Thiel, "the smartest VC in the world, is gay." Why mention it? Thiel's Founders Fund, which just raised a $220 million financing round, could reinvent the way entrepreneurs get paid, and Valleywag attributes his contrarianism to the fact that he's a gay man in a VC world filled mostly with straight white guys. More »
October 2007
- Chinese Pension Fund Considers US Private Equity Deals
  
  Financial Times (UK) | Oct 30, 07 9:25 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - China, suffering buyer’s remorse after investing in US private equity firm Blackstone, is taking its time before diving back into that end of the financial pool, reports the Financial Times . The Big Three of US equity firms, Carlyle, KKR, and TPG, are each seeking a minority investment from China’s Social Security Fund, which has some $61.5 billion in assets. More »
- Facebook Seeks Hedge Fund Cash After Microsoft Deal
  
  Wall Street Journal | Oct 26, 07 1:12 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - After raising $240 million from Microsoft, the social networking site Facebook expects to raise a further $260 million from hedge funds and private-equity investors, according to the Wall Street Journal . The cash will be used to fund an international expansion and a new ad revenue system. The investment would put the value of Facebook at $15 billion. More »
- Blackstone Pushes to Delay Tax Increase Bill
  
  Bloomberg | Oct 23, 07 12:40 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - If Blackstone and other buyout firms can't kill a proposed bill that would increase their taxes, they'll try for a 10-year delay in enacting it. Under pressure from lobbyists, lawmakers are discussing doubling the proposed 5-year grace period, Bloomberg reports. The legislation, introduced before Blackstone went public in June, has been the target of over $5 million worth of lobbying by private equity firms. More »
- Court Overturns Volkswagen Law, Takeover Likely
  
  Bloomberg | Oct 23, 07 8:31 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The EU’s highest court today overturned a 47-year-old German law that protected Volkswagen AG from takeover, opening the door for a long-rumored Porsche coup. Porsche already owns 31% of VW, but the law capped their voting rights at 20%. With that impediment gone, “I see Porsche flexing its muscles and going for outright control,” one analyst told Bloomberg. More »
- Ex-Sallie Mae Suitor Tries to Dodge Breakup Fee in Court
  
  MarketWatch | Oct 16, 07 4:13 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The group that offered to buy out educational lender Sallie Mae for $25 billion is now seeking court approval to back out and avoid paying a $900 million break-up fee. The investor group, including Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, is arguing that recent legislation will reduce the student loan corporation's profits, which investors see as "material adverse circumstances" and grounds to get out of the deal without penalty. More »
- Chrysler to Cut Non-Union Jobs
  
  Detroit Free Press | Oct 9, 07 2:27 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - With Chrysler deep in talks on a new contact with the UAW—the clock is ticking on a strike deadline tomorrow morning—sources tell the Detroit Free Press that cuts to non-union employees are in the works. Loss of about 1,600 salaried and contract jobs is expected, on top of the 14,000 layoffs over the next 3 years announced as part of a restructuring in February. More »
- Congress Drops Tax Hike for Private Equity
  
  Washington Post | Oct 9, 07 12:39 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A proposed tax hike on some of America's wealthiest investors isn't likely to happen this year, as Senate Democrats say they're shelving a bill that would have eliminated the special tax rate enjoyed by private-equity managers. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says a crowded legislative calendar makes considering the bill—the object of a massive lobbying effort—impossible, the Washington Post reports. More »
- Sallie Mae Sues Spooked Suitors
  
  New York Times | Oct 9, 07 5:45 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - College student lender Sallie Mae is suing a group of private equity firms and banks that are backing out of a $25-billion buyout deal. The group—J.C. Flowers & Company, Friedman Fleischer & Lowe, JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America—had set a deadline of today for negotiating new terms, or they'll walk away from the deal, despite a $900-million breakup fee, reports the New York Times . More »
- Auto Workers Face Off With Chrysler Next
  
  Bloomberg | Oct 6, 07 9:19 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The United Auto Workers have decided to sit down with Chrysler next, hoping to extend the terms of the contract negotiated with GM last month, Bloomberg reports. At Chrysler, the UAW will be dealing with a CEO who's been on the job just two months—Robert Nardelli, former chief of Home Depot—and new owners, private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, which bought the struggling company from DaimlerChrysler earlier this year. More »
September 2007
- Bain, Chinese Firm Buy 3Com
  
  Wall Street Journal | Sep 30, 07 5:14 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Chinese company Huawei Technologies Co. will help private equity firm Bain Capital buy 3Com Corp., a flailing US telecommunications company, by picking up almost 20% of the tab. Recently Chinese businesses have bought strategic stakes in US companies rather than full buyouts to skirt political scrutiny, which can lead to a deal collapse, reports the WS Journal. More »
- $25B Sallie Mae Buyout on the Rocks
  
  Wall Street Journal | Sep 27, 07 9:52 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Sallie Mae doesn’t look like such a bargain at $25 billion anymore, and J.C. Flowers & Co. is trying to renegotiate—or escape—its deal to acquire the student lender, citing the credit market implosion and legislation to reform student loan practices. It’s the kind of deal once considered unbreakable, the Wall Street Journal says, but private equity is in disarray. More »
- Nursing Homes Raise Profits, Cut Care
  
  New York Times | Sep 23, 07 5:04 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Caring for grandma has become big business for private firms that are buying nursing homes and making them profit generators. But to do it, they’ve severely cut staff—sometimes below legal levels, the New York Times found. “Chains have made a lot of money by cutting nurses,” said one analyst, “but it’s at the cost of human lives.” More »
- Blackstone Lobbying Backfires
  
  Bloomberg | Sep 21, 07 8:10 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Private equity firms launched their first coordinated effort at lobbying this year—and overshot by a long stretch, Bloomberg reports. Blackstone and 11 other firms joined hands to fight a tax hike on carried interest—fund managers' share of profits—and have gone so far as to argue that the lower rate they enjoy spurs development in poor communities. As one GOP congressman put it, "When they start talking about women and children, they're overreaching.'' More »
- KKR Abandons Harman Buyout
  
  Bloomberg | Sep 21, 07 6:39 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Goldman Sachs today called off their deal to buy out audio giant Harman International for $8 billion. The firms announced that a "material adverse change in Harman's business has occurred,'' one of the limited circumstances in which they could abandon the deal without getting stuck with a $225 million break-up fee, Bloomberg reports. More »