Deals wrap: Battling for TMX
The London Stock Exchange faces a nail-biting fight for Canadian peer TMX Group after aggressive rival bidder Maple trumped its sweetened offer by a whisker overnight. Proxy advisory firm ISS recommends TMX shareholders back the LSE offer.
Hulu has defied early skeptics that old-school media companies could collaborate to create a successful service for a new generation of TV watchers. But joint ventures have a knack for degenerating and an unsolicited approach for Hulu creates a perfect opportunity to find it a better home, writes Breakingviews columnist Jeffrey Goldfarb.
“Hulu LLC may cost potential buyers from Yahoo! Inc. to Amazon.com Inc. as much as 50 times earnings for a chance at owning what may be the next Netflix Inc,” reports Bloomberg.
The solar power industry may be heading for a shake-out as sliding solar cell prices and looming overcapacity spark a round of consolidation and force small and weaker players out of the market, fund managers and industry executives said at the Reuters Rebuilding Japan Summit.
Hanging on in the Deal Journal’s most popular list is a blog asking if it’s time to talk about a RIM takeover.
Deals wrap: VCs think IPO activity low
More than 80 percent of venture capitalists believe the initial public offering market is at very weak levels and it is curbing profits, according to a new survey.
Online video site Hulu has been approached by a potential buyer and is weighing whether to sell itself, according to a person familiar with the matter. GigaOM lists the possible candidates and the merits of a deal for each company.
Taiwan regulators rejected Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co’s $1.6 billion joint management buyout of electronics component maker Yageo Corp, a decision that may cast a shadow over other private equity involvement in the island.
Hedge fund managers are sifting through the rubble of the deepening Greek debt crisis to find money-making opportunities, though political uncertainty makes it a risky business.
Bridgewater Associates, the world’s biggest hedge fund, is close to launching a $10 billion fund, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The best trader in the world worked for Bernie Madoff, writes The Altucher Confidential.
Deals wrap: SABMiller ready for another round?
SAB Miller said it would keep talking to Foster’s Group after Australia’s largest brewer rejected the global giant’s $10.1 billion cash takeover offer as too low.
Research In Motion has lost so much value that an acquirer could pay a 50 percent premium and still buy the BlackBerry maker for a lower multiple than any company in the industry, Bloomberg reports.
Rather than moan about Groupon’s inability to say anything in the quiet period, CEO Andrew Mason should enjoy it while it lasts, writes Felix Salmon.
Encana Corp called off a proposed C$5.4 billion deal with PetroChina to sell half of its holdings in a prolific shale gas region of northeastern British Columbia to the Chinese company and said it will seek new partners. The shale deal, seen as a positive for Encana, failed as the companies did not agree on the terms of the transaction.
The rash of accounting scandals that has hit U.S.-listed Chinese stocks has not curbed the appetite of private equity and venture capital firms looking for the next set of Chinese Internet stars in the mainland’s “So-Lo-Mo” and luxury e-commerce sectors.
Deals wrap: RBC offloads U.S. assets
PNC Financial Services Group will buy Royal Bank of Canada’s U.S. retail bank operations for $3.45 billion in cash and stock, making it the fifth largest bank in the United States. The WSJ gets some early reaction to the deal.
ING said it has put its car leasing business up for sale, in a deal Dutch media reported may be worth $5.7 billion.
Japan’s industrial, healthcare and technology sectors are the main focus for the Carlyle Group, the co-head of its Japanese unit told the Reuters Rebuilding Japan Summit in Tokyo on Monday.
Rio Tinto, Xstrata, Nyrstar and Noble Group in the past week have announced plans to merge or expand output or capacity — risky bets if famed market bear Nouriel Roubini’s dire warnings about China come to pass.
The rash of accounting scandals at Chinese companies could spell defeat for investment banks in Hong Kong in their long-running battle to avoid being made liable for the prospectuses of IPOs they sponsor.
The New Yorker takes an in-depth look at the Raj Rajaratnam case.
Deals wrap: Capital One to buy ING’s U.S. online bank
Capital One plans to buy ING’s U.S. online bank for $9 billion in cash and stock, freeing the Dutch bank to repay bailout funds and sever its state ties.
Italian fashion house Prada floated at the low end of its target price range on Friday, raising $2.1 billion as investors baulked at its rich valuation while global markets are weak.
Private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners said it has teamed up with CVC Capital Partners to submit a proposal to buy BJ’s Wholesale Club, the third-largest U.S. wholesale club retailer.
The New York Times looks at what is behind the spate of energy deals. Business Insider provides the “16 meaningless market phrases that will make you sound smart on CNBC.”
Deals wrap: Cooling off on IPOs
Samsonite, the world’s biggest luggage maker, dropped 7.7 percent in its Hong Kong trading debut on Thursday, underscoring tepid investor appetite for initial public offerings as global markets struggle.
Pipeline operator Energy Transfer will buy smaller rival Southern Union for about $4.11 billion to bolster its natural gas gathering and transportation capacity amid burgeoning production from U.S. shale fields.
Alibaba Group said it has reorganized Taobao, China’s largest e-commerce website, into three separate companies, squashing any chance of a Taobao public offering.
Investors learned a hard lesson on Wednesday about red-hot Internet companies: they can go cold very quickly. The Lonely Value Investor writes about loving Pandora’s product, but hating the stock.
Deals wrap: On to the next tech IPO
Online radio company Pandora Media priced shares in its initial public offering above an already raised range on Tuesday, the latest company to take advantage of red-hot valuations for Internet companies. Deal Journal breaks down the company by the numbers.
DST Systems has received several buyout overtures from private equity firms in recent months, including one led by activist investor Russell Glass, according to people with knowledge of the situation.
To get General Motors firing on all cylinders, Chief Executive Daniel Akerson needs to fix the sputtering Opel. However, neither a sale nor a quick fix to return to sustained profitable growth is easily achievable, analysts and experts say.
The New York Times’ Deal Professor finds some cracks in the IPO process.
In your first few weeks on the job? The Wall Street Journal lays out the dress code for first-year analysts.
Deals wrap: Ericsson to buy Telcordia
Mobile network equipment maker Ericsson said it would spend $1.15 billion in cash to buy U.S. group Telcordia to boost its presence in the operations and business support sector.
KKR’s planned $1.6 billion buyout of Taiwan electronics components maker Yageo came under a cloud after a source with direct knowledge of the matter said the island’s financial regulator expressed concern over minority shareholders’ rights.
Mid-sized lender China Everbright Bank plans to raise about $6 billion in a Hong Kong initial public offering, Asia’s biggest so far this year, braving choppy equity markets that have dampened demand for new issuances.
Deals wrap: Timberland shares jump
VF Corp, owner of clothing brands such as The North Face and Wrangler jeans, said it would buy Timberland for $2 billion. The deal values the shoemaker at $43 a share, a 43 percent premium to Friday’s closing price of $29.99 on the New York Stock Exchange.
For many potential investors Russia is synonymous with corruption, weak rule of law and political risk, its reputation hurt by events such as the jailing of oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Vladimir Putin is trying to turn that image around by telling investors to invest in Russia, and have Russia invest in you.
Maple Group launched a $3.8 billion hostile bid for Toronto Stock Exchange operator TMX Group, an all-Canadian challenge to the London Stock Exchange’s agreed bid.
HSBC Holdings will run down its $33 billion U.S. credit card business if it cannot find a buyer, the bank’s chief executive said, part of efforts to slash costs and cut back on retail banking.
President Obama is trying to give his campaign coffers a bump by schmoozing Wall Street executives, the NYT’s reports.
Deals wrap: Waiting for a hostile bid
The head of TMX Group said on Friday a hostile bid could come “any day now,” as a consortium of banks and pension funds prepares to take their approximately $3.7 billion offer for the Canadian exchange operator straight to its shareholders.
Live Nation Entertainment is in talks with its largest shareholder Liberty Media on taking the concert promoter and ticketing company private, the New York Post reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Nokia said it was still in talks with “multiple parties” about its stake in Nokia Siemens Networks, after a report that U.S. private equity firms had backed away from bidding for a majority stake.
Samsonite International, the world’s biggest luggage maker, raised $1.25 billion after pricing its Hong Kong IPO at the bottom of a revised price range as weak global markets sapped investor demand.
Japanese companies from eye shadow makers to insurers are stepping up the pace of their overseas expansion as the devastating March 11 earthquake provides another spur to escape their moribund domestic economy.
The WSJ’s Deal Journal asks, Is the IPO market hot, or not?
Muddy Waters Research is a thorn to some Chinese companies, reports the NYT’s DealBook. Reuters looks at Glencore’s chairman, Simon Murray, who is caught up in Sino-Forest saga.
