PayPal has acquired mobile app developer Duff Research, part of an effort by the online payment payment processor to become more technology focused, writes Reuters. PayPal, owned by e-commerce company eBay, did not disclose a purchase price.
1 min read · 14 March 2013
European private equity firm Cinven has reached its 5 billion euro ($6.5 billion) target for its latest buyout fund, writes Reuters. Cinven counts cable operator Ziggo and aircraft leasing company Avolon among its investments.
1 min read · 14 March 2013
Ketchup maker H.J. Heinz Company has launched syndication of its $12 billion debt financing backing its buyout by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital, Reuters reported. JP Morgan and Wells Fargo are joint bookrunners on the deal and a number of banks joined the deal on a sub-underwriting basis including Banco do Brasil, Barclays, Citigroup, HSBC, Itau Unibanco, RBC and UBS among others, bankers said. Heinz will be bought for $72.50 a share, or $23.2 billion in cash. Including debt assumption, Heinz valued the deal at $28 billion, which it called the largest in food industry history.
2 min read · 13 March 2013
Advent Software Inc, an accounting software company, is exploring a sale and has hired Frank Quattrone's investment bank Qatalyst Partners to lead the effort, several people familiar with the matter said...
2 min read · 13 March 2013
U.S. private equity firm Centerbridge Partners is interested in the 315 UK branches being sold by state-backed Royal Bank of Scotland, writes Reuters. Sky News, which first reported the interest, said Centerbridge had joined forces with another buyout firm - Corsair Capital - in recent weeks, but that it was unclear whether the duo would make a formal offer for the branch network, writes Reuters.
1 min read · 13 March 2013
Dean Metropoulos has teamed up with longtime partner Apollo Global Management to buy some snack cake brands from bankrupt Hostess Brands Inc, writes Reuters. Hostess said on Monday that their $410 million bid was unrivaled, paving the way for the sale of Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Cupcakes once a U.S. bankruptcy court approves.
2 min read · 13 March 2013
TPG Capital Management is planning to launch its first real estate fund with a target of at least $1 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported, as the private equity firm looks to join its rivals in pursuing real estate deals, writes Reuters. The company expects to start raising money for the fund in the second half of 2013, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.
1 min read · 13 March 2013
Carlyle Group will now allow people to invest as little as $50,000 in its new buyout fund, a regulatory filing showed, as private equity firms look to widen their customer base in search of new sources of funding, writes Reuters. The lowered entry point is down from Carlyle's earlier minimum investment of between $5 million and $20 million, according to a filing made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in January.
2 min read · 13 March 2013
The owners of Evonik have placed a total of 12 percent of their shares in the German chemical company, more than initially planned, ahead of its stock market listing scheduled for next month, Reuters wrote. The sale of additional shares in a private placement met with "strong interest from domestic and international investors," said the maker of battery chemicals, animal feed additives and acrylic glass, even as it warned that the business environment would remain challenging this year. Among the buyers was Singapore state investor Temasek, Evonik said, adding that its two main owners, the RAG trust and buyout firm CVC Capital Partners, could part with an additional 2 percent of their shares.
2 min read · 12 March 2013
iNovia Capital and OMERS Ventures have backed mobile publishing platform Pressly to the tune of $1.5 million. The money will go towards marketing efforts. The company’s platform is designed to combine content from websites, blogs and social channels into “an interactive mobile experience.”
3 min read · 12 March 2013
