Solyndra, the failed solar panel maker, received court approval on Monday for its plan to repay creditors after a bankruptcy judge overruled objections by the US government, writes Reuters. The government, which said it may appeal the ruling, had said the plan improperly provided $341 million in tax breaks to venture capital investors Argonaut Private Equity and Madrone Capital Partners.
1 min read · 23 October 2012
American Petroleum Tankers, the shipping company that has alleged US government discrimination because of its private equity ownership, said it would order two new tankers should its $340 million loan guarantee application be approved, writes Reuters. APT, controlled by Blackstone Group, is trying to reverse a rejection of its financing application by the Maritime Administration at a time when private equity has been thrust into the spotlight as a result of Bain Capital co-founder Mitt Romney's candidacy for president of the United States, writes Reuters.
2 min read · 23 October 2012
A private equity firm founded by Chinese billionaire Yu Yong has gone hostile with its A$824 million ($850 million) takeover bid for Australia's Discovery Metals, writes Reuters. The decision to go hostile after Discovery's surprise rejection of an initial bid has bolstered expectations that resource-hungry Chinese firms will seek more acquisitions in the sector, especially among companies that have promising projects in emerging markets, writes Reuters.
4 min read · 23 October 2012
Defence equipment maker Chemring Group has reported chief executive David Price is to resign immediately, in a sudden development at the company which is in acquisition talks with US private equity company Carlyle Group, writes Reuters. Chemring has replaced Price with Mark Papworth, a former executive at oil industry services company John Wood Group. Papworth will take on the role on November 5.
2 min read · 23 October 2012
US private equity investor FLAG Capital Management is to buy Squadron Capital Advisors, an Asian private investment firm with $1.5 billion in assets controlled by the founder of Duty Free Shopping outlets Robert W. Miller, writes Reuters. The deal, set to be the first acquisition of a fund of funds in Asia's private equity industry, is expected to involve Squadron's team of around 23 people, including chief executive David Pierce, staying on board, writes Reuters.
2 min read · 23 October 2012
Cerberus Capital Management is working on a takeover bid for troubled supermarket operator Supervalu Inc. and has held talks with lenders to line up financing, according to three sources familiar with the matter. Debtwire earlier reported that the private equity firm was pitching a handful of banks to arrange $4 billion to $5 billion in debt financing to back a bid, sending Supervalu's shares up 30 percent on Monday.
2 min read · 22 October 2012
U.S. genealogy website operator Ancestry.com agreed to be acquired by a group led by private equity firm Permira in a $1.6 billion deal, four months after it put itself up for sale following the cancellation of a TV show based on its research. The company, whose website helps users trace their family roots, will be taken private at $32 per share, a 10 percent premium to the stock's Friday closing price of $29.18.
2 min read · 22 October 2012
U.S. private equity investor FLAG Capital has agreed to buy Squadron Capital Advisors Ltd., a private investment firm controlled by the founder of Duty Free Shopping outlets Robert W. Miller, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The deal value was not immediately known but one source said that an official announcement detailing the transaction was imminent.
1 min read · 22 October 2012
Joanna Shields, head of social media group Facebook's operations in Europe, is leaving to join a British government-sponsored venture to create London's answer to Silicon Valley, Reuters reported Monday. Tech City Investment Organisation was set up in April 2011 to attract inward investment focused on an area in London's east End, dubbed "silicon roundabout" and supporting start-ups looking to expand. It has signed up companies including Cisco, Google and Intel.
2 min read · 22 October 2012
Peter Thiel, the PayPal co-founder and Facebook Inc.'s first outside investor, is close to investing roughly $150 million in Airbnb in a deal that would value the lodging rental start-up at about $2.5 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. Details of the investment round, which has not yet closed, was first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Friday, Reuters wrote. The deal, if completed under the reported terms, would make Airbnb one of the Silicon Valley's most highly-valued private companies just four years after the company was founded by a trio of graduates from the Rhode Island School of Design and Harvard.
2 min read · 22 October 2012
