San Francisco-based buyout shop Golden Gate Capital will pay $137 million in cash to acquire publicly traded Tollgrade Communications. Tollgate is a provider of network service assurance technology for telecommunications operators in the United States and Europe. The deal is expected to close during the second quarter. Piper Jaffray & Co. advised Tollgrade. Golden Gate Capital has more than $9 billion under management.
3 min read · 22 February 2011
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has offered $17 per share, or $1.73 billion, to buy chip-design software maker Mentor Graphics Corp., Reuters reported. The offer represents a 17% premium over the company’s closing price Friday. Icahn currently holds a 14.7% stake in Mentor.
1 min read · 22 February 2011
Medisafe 1 Technologies Corp., which is traded on the over-the-counter Bulletin Board, has raised $5 million in equity financing from Centurion Private Equity, an institutional investor managed by Roswell Capital Partners. The new funding will help fund ongoing research and development. Medisafe develops technology to prevent unauthorized administration of prescription medications.
2 min read · 22 February 2011
Buyout shop CVC Capital Partners has hired Goldman Sachs, HSBC Holdings and Morgan Stanley as joint coordinators for the planned initial public offering of its portfolio company Samsonite, Reuters reported, citing an article in IFR. Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS were named joint book runners, the report said. Samsonite is expected to raise up to $1.5 billion in its Hong Kong IPO, planned for as early as June.
1 min read · 22 February 2011
Goldman Sachs is moving private equity partner Ankur Sahu to Mumbai from Toyko, and naming him co-head of private equity in Asia, Reuters reported. Sahu will lead the Asia private equity business with Andrew Wolff, who is based in Hong Kong. The moves are a reorganization that combines buyout operations in Japan, India and the rest of Asia into a single unit, Reuters wrote.
1 min read · 22 February 2011
West Australian Newspapers will buy Seven Media Group in a deal worth $4.1 billion, Reuters reported. Seven Media is owned by private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Kerry Stokes' Seven Group, Reuters said. West Australian Newspapers will raise roughly $650 million to help fund the deal. JPMorgan and UBS are advising on the deal.
1 min read · 22 February 2011
Private equity firm Blackstone Group has teamed up with China Investment Corp. to buy a Japanese loan portfolio from Morgan Stanley, Reuters reported, citing an article in the Financial Times. Blackstone and China Investment Corp., the $300 billion sovereign wealth fund, paid only 35 cents on the dollar for the portfolio, which had a face value of $1.1 billion, Reuters said.
1 min read · 22 February 2011
Premium beverage company Diageo PLC is near a deal to buy Turkish spirits company Mey Icki from private equity firm TPG Capital, Reuters reported. The deal is valued at between $2 billion and $2.5 billion. Mey Icki is a producer of Turkey’s national drink, raki. Diageo owns brands including Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker and Captain Morgan.
2 min read · 22 February 2011
Buyout shop OpenGate Capital will buy France-based Norampac Avot-Vallee, a producer of recycled packaging materials, from publicly traded Cascades Inc. Financial terms of the deal were not released. OpenGate is based in Los Angeles and was formed in 2005.
3 min read · 22 February 2011
Richard Ong, a founding partner of Hopu Investment Management Co., is planning a new $2 billion Asia fund, Reuters reported. The new fund, RRJ Capital, will focus on traditional private equity investments, Reuters said.
1 min read · 22 February 2011
