Rexnord Corp., which is owned by Apollo Management, has revived its plans for an initial public offering, filing Thursday to raise up to $700 million, Reuters reported. In July 2008, the company had filed for an initial public offering of $750 million but withdrew the offering in October 2009. Apollo owns about 93.8% of the company, and bought it from the Carlyle Group in 2006.
2 min read · 26 May 2011
Spirit Airlines, which is owned by private equity firms Indigo Partners and Oaktree Capital Management, will raise $187.2 million in its initial public offering, nearly 42% less than it had initially expected, Reuters reported. Florida-based Spirit said it priced its offering of 15.6 million shares at $12.00 a share. The airline had expected to sell the shares between $12-$13 a share, Reuters wrote. Indigo Partners and Oaktree will own 72% of the airline after the offering.
1 min read · 26 May 2011
Vector Capital has increased its bid for RAE Systems Inc. to $133.9 million, or $2.25 per share, the firm announced Wednesday, inching above a previous bid by Battery Ventures and SFW Capital Partners. Battery and SFW Capital submitted a proposal on Tuesday to buy the company for $2.20 a share.
4 min read · 25 May 2011
Praesidian Capital, a provider of mezzanine capital for small and mid-sized companies, has named Ben Marzouk as a managing director at the firm. Marzouk was previously founder and partner of Mid-Market Credit Advisors, a provider of strategic and advisory services relating to capital raising, M&A and restructuring. Earlier in his career, he spent seven years as a managing director of Investment Banking Services at CIT Group Inc. Based in New York City, Praesidian Capital manages over $700 million in committed capital.
2 min read · 25 May 2011
Vivo Ventures, a life science focused investment firm, has promoted Dr. Chen Yu and Dr. James Zhao to managing partners with the firm. Yu first joined Vivo in 2004 and has been a Partner since 2007. Zhao began working with the firm in late 2005. With his promotion to Managing Partner, he will now be heading Vivo’s China team. Palo Alto, Calif.-based Vivo Ventures has $750 million under management.
3 min read · 25 May 2011
Buyout shop Golden Gate Capital will pay $470 million for California Pizza Kitchen Inc., Reuters reported. The sale price of $18.50 a share represents a 32% premium to the 30-day average price prior to the search for a buyer, the company announced. But the sale price does fall below the company’s 52-week high of $20 per share. Moelis & Co. served as the financial adviser to California Pizza.
2 min read · 25 May 2011
Buyout shop Blue Wolf Capital Partners has named Charles Miller as a partner based in the firm’s New York offices. He will also serve as Blue Wolf’s chief compliance officer. For the past 14 years, Miller has been an equity partner at Patton Boggs LLP, a Washington, D.C.-based law firm that advises institutional investors on mergers and acquisitions and other transactions. Since 2005, Miller has acted as counsel to Blue Wolf on virtually all of its investments.
3 min read · 25 May 2011
San Francisco-based investment firm Bay Grove Capital has named David Brandes managing director. Brandes joins the firm from Shorenstein Properties, a real estate private equity firm that has sponsored funds totaling $6.7 billion. Brandes was at Shorenstein for nine years, and worked on sourcing, negotiating and executing investments.
2 min read · 25 May 2011
Philadelphia-based Eureka Growth Capital has acquired Chicago-based Project Leadership Associates Inc., a provider of information technology and business strategy consulting services. Terms of the deal were not released. The firm did say that it partnered with senior management on the deal, and increased the number of Project Leadership managers that own equity in the company.
3 min read · 25 May 2011
Top shareholders of Indonesia's PT Bank Muamalat are looking to sell at least a 51% stake in the unlisted Islamic lender, Reuters reported. A deal for the majority stake could reach about $300 million, Reuters said, adding that PT Bank Permata, a unit of Standard Chartered, Qatar Islamic Bank and OCBC are among the potential bidders. The three shareholders looking for a partial exits are Islamic Development Bank, Boubyan Bank Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia's Atwill Holdings Ltd., Reuters wrote. Combined, the three own 75.7% of the bank.
2 min read · 25 May 2011
