Cerberus Capital Management plans to sell up to 148 billion yen ($1.7 billion) of shares in Aozora Bank Ltd. in a global offering that the Japanese bank said would cut the U.S. buyout firm's stake to 7.7% from 58%, Reuters reported. Cerberus has been the controlling shareholder in mid-sized lender Aozora for much of the past decade, but is in the process of cutting its exposure to Japan, where there are increasingly few distressed investment opportunities for foreign funds.
3 min read · 07 January 2013
Carlyle Group plans to sell its remaining stake in China's third-largest insurer, China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co Ltd., in a deal valued at up to $790 million, marking the U.S. private equity fund's most profitable exit ever from an investment, Reuters reported. After several selldowns of its stake in the last two years, Carlyle will net a more than $4 billion profit on the deal, or four times the cash it paid.
2 min read · 07 January 2013
Sony Corp. is joining with BMG to bid for Parlophone and other EMI labels on sale by Universal Music, reuniting Sony and Bertelsmann four years after they ended their music joint venture, the Financial Times said on Monday. Vivendi-owned Universal is being forced to sell Parlophone to satisfy regulators' concerns about its $1.9 billion purchase of EMI's recorded music business. Sony and BMG, a music rights management group owned by Bertelsmann and private equity group KKR, plan to split the assets and will not form another joint venture, Reuters wrote.
1 min read · 07 January 2013
The private equity group Terra Firma plans to sell assets this year that are likely to include the European cinema chain Odeon & UCI Group to raise more than 1 billion pounds ($1.6 billion), according to the Financial Times, writes Reuters. The group, led by dealmaker Guy Hands, plans first to sell the energy firms Phoenix Natural Gas and Infinis before selling Odeon later in the year, writes Reuters.
2 min read · 07 January 2013
(Reuters) - Private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP and its partners are nearing an agreement to buy parts of Supervalu Inc. (NYSE: SVU), and an announcement could come as soon as next week, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday. Shares of Supervalu, the third largest U.S. supermarket chain, jumped 17% on the news.
1 min read · 04 January 2013
SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment has held early talks with interested parties to explore whether a private sale could fetch more than an initial public offering, two people familiar with the matter said on Thursday, Reuters wrote. The Orlando, Florida-based company, controlled by Blackstone Group LP, filed for an IPO in December but is now also in preliminary talks with other private equity firms about a potential sales process, the people said.
2 min read · 04 January 2013
SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment has held early talks with interested parties to explore whether a private sale could fetch more than an initial public offering, two people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
2 min read · 03 January 2013
News website BuzzFeed, one of the more interesting news business models to emerge in recent years, has raised $19.3 million in new capital, the company said on Thursday. The round was led by venture capital firm NEA along with previous investors RRE, Hearst, SoftBank and Lerer Ventures.
1 min read · 03 January 2013
Hormel Foods Corp., the maker of Spam canned ham, said it will acquire the Skippy peanut butter business from Unilever Plc for about $700 million, Reuters reported. The company said it expects the deal to modestly add to its fiscal 2013 results.
1 min read · 03 January 2013
Traverse Management LLC has closed a deal to buy a majority stake in music performance-rights company SESAC Inc for about $600 million, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the deal. Rizvi will buy 75 percent of SESAC, which has been on the block for months and received interest from various private-equity firms, the Journal said. SESAC, founded in 1930, represents artists such as Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond and Rush.
1 min read · 03 January 2013
