Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc and 3G Capital will buy ketchup and baby food maker H.J. Heinz Co for $23.2 billion in cash, a deal that combines 3G's ambitions in the food industry with Buffett's hunt for growth.
2 min read · 14 February 2013
Rexel controlling shareholder Ray Investment said it sold 14.7 percent of the French electrical materials supplier via an accelerated bookbuilding to institutional investors amid strong demand, Reuters reported. Ray Investment placed the 40 million shares, more than the 12.9 percent it planned to sell, at 16 euros each, it said in a statement on Thursday. The proceeds of about 640 million euros ($860 million) will be distributed to funds controlled by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, Eurazeo, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and the Caisse des Depots et Consignations du Quebec.
2 min read · 14 February 2013
Japanese brewer Asahi Group Holdings Ltd is suing Pacific Equity Partners and Unitas Capital Pte Ltd, alleging they inflated the earnings of the Independent Liquor business it bought in 2011 for NZ$1.5 billion ($1.3 billion), Reuters reported. PEP and Unitas rejected the claims, saying in a joint statement they were untrue and unfounded. Asahi, the maker of Japan's top-selling "Super Dry" beer, is seeking unspecified damages for losses after an internal investigation uncovered what the company claims was misleading and deceptive conduct.
2 min read · 14 February 2013
British fund manager Aberdeen Asset Management has unveiled two acquisitions, a U.S. fund manager and a 50.1 percent stake in an international private equity business, to buy its way into new markets. Aberdeen is to buy New York-based asset management firm Artio Global Investors for about $175 million, or $2.75 per share, and the stake in SVG Advisers for 17.5 million pounds ($27 million).
3 min read · 14 February 2013
Chinese biotechnology firm 3SBio agreed to be taken private for about $340 million by a group led by its chief executive Jing Lou and Chinese private equity firm CITIC Private Equity, the latest in a growing list of Chinese companies going private to escape U.S. regulatory scrutiny, Reuters reported. The CITIC consortium's offer price of $15.40 for each 3SBio American Depositary Share is at a premium of about 12 percent to the ADS's Thursday close of $13.79.
2 min read · 14 February 2013
Best Buy co-founder Richard Schulze may scrap a buyout bid and instead line up investors to take a minority position in the electronics retailer, writes Reuters. Schulze originally informed the board last August that he was interested in teaming up with private equity partners to buy the company.
2 min read · 14 February 2013
Taylor Morrison Home Corp. doubled the amount it is seeking to raise in its initial public offering to $500 million as the U.S. homebuilder looks to cash in on investor interest in the recovering U.S. housing market, Reuters reported. Record-low mortgage rates and rising selling prices have driven up demand to levels that the large U.S. builders are struggling to meet, creating room for smaller companies.The homebuilder is backed by Oaktree Capital Management, TPG Global and JH Investments Inc.
2 min read · 13 February 2013
Welltec, a Danish supplier of oil and gas well equipment, is considering an initial public offering that would propel it into the Copenhagen stock exchange's benchmark share index, business daily Borsen reported. The company is likely to achieve a market capitalization of over 10 billion Danish crowns ($1.80 billion), Reuters wrote.
1 min read · 13 February 2013
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. has agreed to sell 237 Park Avenue, a 21-story Midtown Manhattan office building, to RXR Realty and Walton Street Capital LLC, the winning bidders said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The purchase price is $820 million, two sources familiar with deal said. The pending sale comes just months after Lehman agreed to sell its biggest property holding, apartment owner Archstone, to AvalonBay Communities Inc and Equity Residential for $6.5 billion plus the assumption of debt. Lehman, which collapsed in 2008, emerged from bankruptcy in March 2012 and is selling assets to repay creditors.
2 min read · 13 February 2013
Cyber security startup Cylance Inc. said it has raised $15 million in early funding from Khosla Ventures and Fairhaven Capital, Reuters reported. Cylance, which former McAfee global chief technology officer Stuart McClure founded last year, also named retired Admiral William J. Fallon to its board. Fallon abruptly retired from the military in 2008, after he was quoted criticizing President George W. Bush's policy toward Iran in Esquire Magazine.
1 min read · 13 February 2013
