Engineering contractor Babcock has agreed to acquire helicopter transport services firm Avincis for 920 million pounds, funding the long-expected deal through a 1.1 billion pounds rights issue, writes Reuters. Avincis was owned by World Helicopters, a portfolio company of investment funds affiliated with Investindustrial and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.
1 min read · 27 March 2014
Specialty retailer Brookstone Inc is preparing to file for bankruptcy with a plan in place to be bought by another specialty retailer, the Wall Street Journal reported, writes Reuters. Brookstone was taken private in 2005 by a group led by Osim, Asia's biggest maker of massage chairs, in a $445 million deal. The group included Temasek Holdings and private equity firm JW Childs Associates LP.
2 min read · 27 March 2014
Blackstone Group LP is close to a deal to buy industrial conglomerate Gates Global Inc, people familiar with the matter told sister news service Reuters.
3 min read · 26 March 2014
Burson Auto Parts, Australia's biggest trade supplier of car parts, plans to raise A$220 million ($201.22 million) through an initial public offering (IPO) that would be the second most valuable so far this year, a source told Reuters.
2 min read · 26 March 2014
Shares of Nord Anglia Education Inc rose as much as 12 percent in their U.S. market debut, valuing the Hong Kong-based school operator at about $1.7 billion, Reuters reported.
1 min read · 26 March 2014
Shares of King Digital Entertainment Plc, maker of the wildly popular "Candy Crush Saga" game, fell as much as 15 percent in their trading debut on Wednesday, valuing the company at about $6 billion, Reuters reported.
2 min read · 26 March 2014
Facebook Inc will acquire two-year-old Oculus VR Inc, a maker of virtual-reality glasses for gaming, for $2 billion, buying its way into the fast-growing wearable devices arena with its first-ever hardware deal.
5 min read · 26 March 2014
A new wave of funding by technology investors into US media companies is driving momentum in journalism, even as news organizations continue to face challenges, according to a report, writes Reuters. The level of media investing activity is forging the underpinnings of "game-changing" developments for the industry, according to the Pew Research Center's State of the News Media 2014 report, which cited funding from entrepreneurs like Amazon's Jeff Bezos and eBay founder Pierre Omidyar.
3 min read · 26 March 2014
WL Ross & Co named Stephen Toy and Greg Stoeckle as senior managing directors and co-leaders of the private equity firm on Tuesday, as billionaire investor Wilbur Ross moved to put a succession plan in place at the firm he founded in 2000.
2 min read · 26 March 2014
Carlyle Group LP (CG.O) is considering buying a traditional money manager to broaden its own investment platform, as the private equity firm tries to attract more retail investors and achieve the higher stock market valuation commanded by such managers, according to sources familiar with the situation.
4 min read · 26 March 2014
