Facebook Inc. is in negotiations with Microsoft Corp about acquiring advertising technology that could allow the social network displays ads on other websites, broadly expanding its advertising business, according to media reports on Thursday. Facebook is in "serious" discussions with Microsoft about a deal to purchase Atlas Solutions, an ad-serving product that Microsoft acquired through its $6 billion acquisition of aQuantive in 2007, according to reports in the technology blogs Business Insider and AllThingsDigital on Thursday.
2 min read · 07 December 2012
Gilt Groupe said on Thursday it hired board member and Citigroup Inc. Internet executive Michelle Peluso as chief executive as the e-commerce company prepares for a possible initial public offering next year. Peluso will replace Gilt founder and current CEO Kevin Ryan in late February. Ryan will become chairman of Gilt and the company's current chairman Susan Lyne will be vice chairman, the company said. Ryan founded Gilt in 2007 as the first major flash sales company in the United States.
2 min read · 07 December 2012
Italian investment fund Investindustrial said on Friday it bought a 37.5 percent stake in Aston Martin for 190 million euros ($245.6 million) and that the British sportscar maker will invest 625 million euros to make new car models in the next five years, Reuters reported. The deal gives Aston Martin the capital it needs to compete with other venerable sports car brands like Maserati, Ferrari, and Porsche that have the advantage of research and development costs covered by large corporate parents.
1 min read · 07 December 2012
Bain Capital has been leading private equity firms in using a controversial financing strategy to generate low-tax special dividends for itself and its investors for nearly the last decade.
3 min read · 06 December 2012
The founder of a Texas pension consulting firm who pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a "pay to play" scheme at the New York state pension fund will not have to serve jail time, a state judge ruled on Wednesday.
1 min read · 06 December 2012
British retail billionaire Philip Green on Thursday sold a 25 percent stake in Topshop and Topman to U.S. private equity firm Leonard Green and Partners in a deal that values the popular high street chain at 2 billion pounds ($3 billion). Monaco-based Green said the deal would help the group expand the fashion chain globally and leaves both Topshop and Topman and the rest of his Arcadia Group with no bank debt and cash positive.
1 min read · 06 December 2012
U.S.-based buyout firm General Atlantic agreed to pay 420 million reais ($200 million) for a 31 percent stake in XP Investimentos CCTVM SA, Brazil's largest independent brokerage, the companies said on Wednesday. XP, founded in 2001, boasts more than 70,000 retail investors and handles more than 20 billion reais ($9.6 billion) worth of trading each month.
1 min read · 06 December 2012
One Equity Partners, the main private equity arm of JPMorgan, and Turkish army pension fund Oyak are vying to buy a stake in Turkish chemicals maker Akdeniz Kimya, sources told Reuters. Akdeniz Kimya, based in the Aegean coastal city of Izmir, produces speciality chemicals and is valued at more than $300 million. It was not clear how large a stake is up for sale.
1 min read · 06 December 2012
Blackstone Group has dropped out of the bidding for Ingham Chickens as the asking price for Australia's largest chicken producer was too high, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday citing sources. Ingham, wholly owned by Bob Ingham, was seeking a valuation of around A$1.4 billion ($1.5 billion).
1 min read · 06 December 2012
Private equity firms vying for Merge Healthcare are waiting for a decision from the company after the provider of medical imaging software solutions sought revised takeover offers last week, writes Reuters. Thoma Bravo LLC, Thomas H. Lee Partners LP and Francisco Partners are the buyout firms that remain in the auction.
1 min read · 06 December 2012
