Buyout firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe has ended talks on the sale of payment processing company TransFirst to pursue a dividend recapitalization, as potential buyers held out for combining it with a unit of private equity-owned peer WorldPay, sources said. Welsh Carson had hired investment boutique Financial Technology Partners to explore a sale of TransFirst, hoping to fetch between $1.3 billion and $1.5 billion in a sale, people familiar with the matter told Reuters in September.
2 min read · 16 November 2012
Redpoint Ventures, the venture-capital firm behind digital-video recording company TiVo and vacation-rental company HomeAway, is raising a $400 million fund, according to a person familiar with the matter.
1 min read · 16 November 2012
WiFi products maker Ruckus Wireless Inc. failed to impress in its market debut after higher pricing of its offering tempered investor enthusiasm in a weak U.S. IPO market. Shares of the company fell as much as 8 percent in its debut on Friday, a day after it priced its initial public offering of 8.4 million shares at $15 per share, the top end of its range.
2 min read · 16 November 2012
Dell Inc. agreed to buy privately held Gale Technologies and said on Friday that it would form a new business unit specializing in delivering technology to enterprise customers. Dell said it would keep the employees of Gale, a Santa Clara, California-based infrastructure automation software company, and invest in additional engineering and sales capability to help grow the business. It did not disclose the terms of the deal.
1 min read · 16 November 2012
General Electric has emerged as the front runner to acquire Avio, a privately held airplane parts supplier, and will present its plans to Italian government officials on Friday, Reuters reported. The sale is being managed by Cinven, a private equity fund that controls Avio. Avio, based in Turin Italy, supplies engine parts for the Eurofighter Typhoon and for General Electric and Rolls Royce.
2 min read · 16 November 2012
The owners of Coates Hire have roped in Goldman Sachs for a possible sale of Australia's top equipment hire firm after failing to proceed with other options including an A$800 million ($831 million) initial public offer earlier this year. Private equity firm Carlyle Group and Seven Group Holdings said in a statement that Goldman Sachs will be assisted by China International Capital Corp. in China and Nomura Holdings in Japan with the ownership review process. The two firms own 46 percent each in Coates.
2 min read · 16 November 2012
Private equity firm KKR Co & LP and a partnership of buyout firms TPG Capital and Onex Corp advanced to the next round of bidding for Gardner Denver Inc., several people familiar with the matter said this week, Reuters reported. The industrial machinery maker shortlisted a small group of bidders on Tuesday, including the two private equity groups, after reviewing initial takeover offers submitted last week, the people said. Blackstone Group and Bain Capital, which were participating in the auction process, did not advance to the second round of bidding, they said.
3 min read · 16 November 2012
Flash-sales site Zulily raised $85 million in a funding round that values the company at $1 billion, Reuters reported. Zulily, which launched two years ago, focuses on mothers and sells everything from baby products to home-decor merchandise. It expanded to Britain last year. Its latest funding round was led by venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, which invests in e-commerce sites Fab and ShoeDazzle.
3 min read · 16 November 2012
Chemical maker Innospec Inc. raised its bid for peer TPC Group Inc. to about $745 million, aiming to thwart a rival offer from private equity firms First Reserve Corp. and SK Capital Partners, Reuters reported. Innospec raised its bid to $47.50 per share in cash, from its earlier proposal of $44.00 to $46.00 per share. The offer is being supported by Blackstone Group, which would provide equity financing.
2 min read · 15 November 2012
Warner Music and a joint venture led by British impresario Simon Fuller are among nine groups interested in buying Parlophone from Vivendi's Universal Music Group, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. Universal has received nine preliminary non-binding proposals for the label, Reuters wrote. Universal is being forced to sell the business to satisfy regulators' concerns about its $1.9 billion takeover of the recorded music business of EMI.
2 min read · 15 November 2012
