Zoosk, the social dating site, has acquired Woo Media Inc., an interactive video platform with websites including WooMe.com, Shufflepeople.com and Monsterchat.com. Financial details of the acquisition were not released. Founded in 2007, Woo Media had raised venture financing from investors including Atomico Investments, Index Ventures and Mangrove Capital Partners.
2 min read · 04 November 2011
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has increased his stake in WebMD Health Corp., Reuters reported Thursday. In a regulatory filing, the fund-manager revealed a stake of 9.49% in the company, up nearly 1.5 percent points, from the shareholding he declared on Oct 21, Reuters wrote. Icahn's stake now is the largest single position in the company.
1 min read · 04 November 2011
J.C. Flowers & Co. is set to reap a 2.5-times return on its investment in Encore Capital Group Inc., Reuters reported Thursday. Encore, which buys bad consumer debt and then tries to recover the money, said on Thursday it priced an underwritten public offering of 3.61 million shares by J.C. Flowers at $24.35 per share. J.C. Flowers originally bought into Encore in May 2007 at $9.75 per share for a total of $52.9 million, Reuters wrote.
2 min read · 04 November 2011
The Stephens Group, a Little Rock, Ark.-based private equity firm, is taking a majority stake in Summit Industrial Construction. Atlanta-based Summit is a heavy industrial construction company focusing in the power, chemical, paper, plastics, minerals and mining, and food/beverage markets. Terms were not released.
3 min read · 03 November 2011
Malaysian buyout firm Navis Capital has acquired Australia firm Photon Group's Field Marketing & Retail Agencies division for A$146.5 million ($152 million), Reuters reported Thursday. Navis this week also agreed to sell its safety footwear asset Kings Safetywear to U.S. diversified manufacturer Honeywell International for $338 million.
1 min read · 03 November 2011
Hogan Lovells, a London-based law firm, announced Thursday that it advised Exponent Private Equity on the sale of Magicalia Media Ltd. to Immediate Media Co. No terms were released. The sale was completed on October 31.
2 min read · 03 November 2011
Chinatrust Financial, Taiwan’s top credit card issuer, is planning to raise $300 million for its first venture capital fund, Reuters reported Thursday. The company aims to invest in Taiwan companies operating in China.
1 min read · 03 November 2011
Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn has increased his stake in U.S. truck and engine maker Navistar International Corp. to 9.99% from 9.8%, Reuters reported. Reuters reported last month that Icahn wants Navistar to consider a merger with rival Oshkosh Corp.
1 min read · 03 November 2011
Sycamore Partners has acquired a 51% stake in Mast Global Fashions, Limited Brands Inc.'s apparel sourcing division, Reuters reported. The private equity firm plans to run the sourcing and production business as a stand-alone company. Terms were not released. Limited will retain a 49% stake in the business.
1 min read · 03 November 2011
Yunfeng Capital, Silver Lake and other investors have completed the purchase of a 5% stake in Alibaba Group, parent of listed Alibaba.com, worth $1.6 billion on November 1, Reuters reported Thursday.The private equity firms were purchasing the shares by leading a tender offer for employee shareholders, option holders and certain other shareholders of Alibaba Group, Reuters wrote.
1 min read · 03 November 2011
