U.S. private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP wants to boost its stake in Japanese railway and property group Seibu Holdings Inc. by as much as 4 percent as Seibu plans to relist its shares, Reuters reported. Cerberus, which has already paid more than 100 billion yen ($1.04 billion) to become Seibu's biggest shareholder, will try to buy shares in Seibu from other owners via a public tender. It aims to gain greater control over the firm by raising its stake to as much as 36.44 percent from the current 32.4 percent, Cerberus said in a statement on Monday.
2 min read · 11 March 2013
Numeric Investors is putting itself up for sale, writes Reuters. The quantitative equity manager, with $7.7 billion in assets under management, has hired Barclays to oversee the sale, writes Reuters.
2 min read · 11 March 2013
Private equity group Permira has cut its fundraising targets by nearly a quarter, amid a tough environment for private equity in the aftermath of the financial crisis, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, writes Reuters. The company has informed investors it now plans to raise between 4 billion to 5 billion euros, down from the 6.5 billion euros ($8.47 billion) it was initially aiming to raise, writes Reuters.
1 min read · 07 March 2013
Johnson Controls is exploring a potential sale of its automotive electronics unit, writes Reuters. The company has no intention of selling its automotive interiors business.
1 min read · 07 March 2013
Facebook has appointed a former Genentech executive to its board of directors, writes Reuters. Susan Desmond-Hellman, the Chancellor of the University of California, San Francisco, becomes Facebook's ninth director and the second woman on its board.
2 min read · 07 March 2013
British beds retailer Dreams has been sold to private equity firm Sun Capital Partners, safeguarding over 1,600 jobs but leaving 400 more at risk, Reuters reported Wednesday. Administrators for the beds and furniture firm, Ernst & Young, said on Wednesday it had sold the struggling company's business and assets for an undisclosed sum, securing it new investment and allowing it to operate outside of insolvency. The sale sees Sun Capital Partners buy 171 of Dreams' 266 stores, as well as its head office and two manufacturing sites, safeguarding around 1,600 of the firm's 2,000 jobs.
2 min read · 06 March 2013
Private equity firm Electra's sale of Allflex is attracting a lot of interest and around a dozen buyout firms are set to bid for the livestock identification company, writes Reuters. Buyout house Electra hired Rothschild earlier this year to explore a sale or refinancing of Allflex, which could fetch around $1 billion.
2 min read · 06 March 2013
Allscripts Healthcare Solutions has acquired health management software and service providers dbMotion and Jardogs under a wider plan to invest about $500 million this year, writes Reuters. Allscripts did not disclose the amount it paid for Springfield, Illinois-based Jardogs, which offers health management services such as patient kiosks and mobile-based technology for smartphones and tablets.
2 min read · 06 March 2013
Blue-chip venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers expressed frustration with poor fund performance and promised to do better at gatherings for investors last month, according to people familiar with the discussions.
3 min read · 05 March 2013
Spain's Bankinter has joined forces with U.S. investment fund Apollo Global Management to bid for Italian insurer Generali's Swiss private bank BSI in a deal worth up to 2 billion euros ($2.6 billion), three people with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Brazilian bank Safra and Chinese rival ICBC are also bidding for BSI, two of the people said.
3 min read · 05 March 2013
