I've been a business reporter for a while. I've covered Wall Street, venture capital and now private equity. I'm always looking for a scoop or something to talk about. I'm the eternal optimist and am still waiting for the Chicago Cubs to win the World Series. Yes, I believe.
President Donald Trump has nominated Scott Gottlieb, a partner at New Enterprise Associates Inc, to serve as Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Gottlieb, a physician, most recently served as the FDA's Deputy Commissioner for Medical and Scientific Affairs.
3 min read · 13 March 2017
Dental Services Group’s board said March 10 that CEO Kirby G. "Buddy" Pickle has retired after eight years. Matt Morgan, current chief operations officer, is taking Pickle’s place as CEO. Dental Services, a network of dental laboratories based in North America, is a portfolio company of Cressey & Company.
3 min read · 13 March 2017
NCR Corp said March 13 that it has agreed to let Blackstone sell 49 percent of its holding, or about 14.4 million shares, as part of an early release of its lock-up period for its perpetual convertible preferred shares which is set to expire in early June. Blackstone will convert 90,000 of its convertible preferred shares into about 3 million shares of common stock, and NCR will buy those shares back. Blackstone said that after the deal it would continue to own its original investment amount at over $720 million. In November 2015, Blackstone invested $820 million in NCR for a 17 percent stake, according to press reports.
7 min read · 13 March 2017
Vista Equity Partners is near a deal to buy DH Corp, according to Bloomberg. Vista is in advanced talks to buy DH and an agreement could come this week. If it succeeds, Vista plans to merge DH with Misys, Bloomberg said. DH has a market cap of C$2.5 billion ($1.8 billion).
1 min read · 13 March 2017
Platinum Equity said March 13 that it closed its latest global buyout fund, Platinum Equity Capital Partners IV, on $6.5 billion. More than 200 limited partners from 28 countries invested in the fund. Platinum Equity’s prior fund collected $3.75 billion in 2012. Platinum invests in complex carve-outs from Fortune 500 companies; public to private transitions; and specialty acquisitions from a variety of private sellers. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP was legal advisor.
3 min read · 13 March 2017
2 min read · 10 March 2017
Misys is competing against Advent International to buy DH Corp, the Financial Times is reporting. DH Corp, the Canadian financial-technology company, went up for sale in late 2016. Credit Suisse and RBC Capital Markets are advising on the auction, Buyouts has reported. DH Corp, which has a market value of about $2.5 billion, is expecting bids sometime this week, the Financial Times said.
1 min read · 09 March 2017
VATBox said March 9 that it raised a $20 million financing round. Target Global Fund participated along with existing investors Viola Private Equity and other private investors. VATBox, of Herzliya, Israel, is a B2B SaaS company that provides automated, data-driven VAT recovery and governance solutions to companies.
4 min read · 09 March 2017
Misys is competing against Advent International to buy DH Corp, the Financial Times is reporting. DH Corp, the Canadian financial-technology company, went up for sale in late 2016. Credit Suisse and RBC Capital Markets are advising on the auction, Buyouts has reported. DH, which has a market value of about C$2.5bn, is expecting bids sometime this week, the FT said.
1 min read · 09 March 2017
Jordan Co has put Vantage Specialty Chemicals up for sale, Bloomberg is reporting. Deutsche Bank AG is advising on the process. Vantage could fetch $1.5 billion, Bloomberg said. Jordan has also put Transcendia, a plastics manufacturer, up for sale. Jordan acquired Vantage Specialty in 2012 from HIG Capital, Bloomberg said.
1 min read · 09 March 2017
