Aiming to boost its digital and interactive marketing services, advertising giant Publicis has agreed to pay at least $575 million to buy U.S.-based Rosetta Marketing Group, Reuters reported. The transaction is expected to close in the second or third quarter. Rosetta will be run as an autonomous brand within Publicis.
2 min read · 17 May 2011
3i Group will buy Cleveland, Ohio-based Hilite International, a maker of fuel-efficient auto parts, for an undisclosed amount, Reuters reported. The deal reportedly valued Hilite at about $300 million, Reuters said.
2 min read · 17 May 2011
Vietnam’s Vietcombank has approached private equity funds and sovereign wealth funds as it attempts to raise $500 million, Reuters reported. The government of Vietnam had appointed Credit Suisse Group as an adviser to sell a 20 percent stake in Vietcombank and invited first round bids by May 23, Reuters wrote. The government owns 90.7 percent of Vietcombank.
2 min read · 17 May 2011
China’s CNinsure Inc. has received a $953 million offer to go private, Reuters reported. The offer came from a consortium of investors, led by the company’s chief executive, including TPG Asia, Kingsford Resources Ltd., and CDH Inservice Ltd. At $19 per share, the offer represents a 44% premium over the company’s closing price Friday. CNinsure is a property, casualty and life insurer.
1 min read · 16 May 2011
SanDisk Corp. will pay about $327 million in cash to acquire venture-backed Pliant Technology Inc. Pliant, based in Milpitas, Calif., sells ultra-high performance enterprise solid state drives. The acquisition is set to close by the end of SanDisk’s second quarter. Pliant had raised money from investors including Arcturus Capital, Divergent Ventures Inc., Lightspeed Venture Partners and Menlo Ventures.
5 min read · 16 May 2011
Multi Packaging Solutions, which is backed by Irving Place Capital, will acquire Cartondruck AG, a company based in Obersulm, Germany. Financial terms of the deal were not released. Cartondruck is a manufacturer of packaging for the cosmetics, confectionery, consumer and healthcare markets in Europe and the U.S. Multi Packaging Solutions makes packaging for cosmetics, healthcare, horticulture, media and consumer markets.
3 min read · 16 May 2011
A long list of U.S.-based private equity firms – including Apax, Cerberus, Mason Capital and Amber Capital – are eyeing opportunities in Spain’s ailing savings banks, Reuters reported, citing a report by financial daily Expansion. The savings banks are being forced by the Spanish government to boost their capital after years of heavy lending in the country's decade-long property boom, Reuters wrote.
2 min read · 16 May 2011
Investment management firm Spring Mountain Capital has added Avi Faliks and Jamie Weston as managing directors in its private equity business. Both will work on sourcing, selecting, and managing its private equity investments. Faliks previously founded Vertex Capital Management, a firm focused on distressed consumer companies that were restructured, rebuilt, and sold to strategic investors. Earlier, Faliks was the co-founder and managing director of hedge fund Apex Capital Management. Weston was previously a partner at Wicks Group, a private equity firm with close to $1 billion under management. Spring Mountain Capital is based in New York.
3 min read · 16 May 2011
Russel Fradin will succeed Cristobal Conde as SunGard's chief executive, the company announced Monday. Fradin was most recently chairman and chief executive officer of Aon Hewitt, a provider of human resources consulting and outsourcing products. He has also worked as chief executive officer of the BISYS Group, and held various positions at Automatic Data Processing.
4 min read · 16 May 2011
Eight bidders, including Penta Investments and private equity firm EQT, will vie for the Polish assets of Swedish utility Vattenfall, Reuters reported, estimating the size of the deal at up to 1.5 billion euros ($2.1 billion). Other bidders include French utility GdF, Polish utility Tauron and gas monopoly PGNiG, Reuters wrote. Bidders have until Monday evening to place their initial offers.
2 min read · 16 May 2011
