Cloud-based human resources software company Workday Inc. priced its initial public offering at $28 a share on Thursday, above its expected range, an underwriter said. The company raised $637 million by pricing 22.75 million Class A shares, making it the largest tech IPO since Facebook . The company's venture backers, Greylock Partners and New Enterprise Associates, are not selling any shares in the offering, Reuters wrote.
3 min read · 12 October 2012
Uganda's sole power distributor, Umeme, has priced its 622.38 million shares to be sold through an Initial Public Offering at 275 shillings ($0.11) per share, Reuters reported Friday. The firm, which is 100 percent owned by pan-emerging markets private equity firm Actis, is offering a 38.3 percent of its issued share capital to raise funds to reduce its interest-bearing debt, it said in a statement.
1 min read · 12 October 2012
Spain's Telefonica has clinched a 1 billion euro ($1.3 billion) deal to sell its Atento call centre business to U.S. private equity firm Bain Capital as part of a drive to cut debt. The telecoms group is trying to raise funds to reduce a 57 billion euro debt pile and preserve a coveted investment grade credit rating, at a time when its crisis-hit home country faces pressure to seek an international bailout, Reuters reported. The deal includes a 110-million-euro deferred payment by Bain, which was co-founded by U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, as well as 110 million euros in financing provided by Telefonica, the Spanish group said on Friday.
2 min read · 12 October 2012
Switchfly Inc., a maker of travel, loyalty, online payment and social technology software, has completed a $17.8 million Series C round. The company first announced the funding in March, when it closed an initial $15 million investment. The company recently closed the final $2.8 million. Investors include Thayer Ventures, Azure Capital Partners, Canaan Partners and StarVest Partners.
3 min read · 12 October 2012
Carlyle Group has been granted more time by the UK Takeover Panel to hammer out a deal to buy Chemring Group Plc, which makes defense equipment such as flares and explosive device detectors, Reuters reported. Carlyle now has until Nov. 9 to either bid for Chemring or walk away. This is the second time that Carlyle has been granted an extension after having secured an extension in September.
3 min read · 12 October 2012
Private equity firm TPG has withdrawn a A$694 million ($713 million) takeover bid for Australian surfwear retailer Billabong International Ltd., the second bidder to exit after inspecting its books, knocking the stock to a record low. Neither TPG nor Billabong gave a reason for the withdrawal, but the move caps a tumultuous year for Billabong. Three takeover bids have failed, the company dumped its chief executive in May after several profit warnings and it revealed its first annual loss since listing a decade ago, Reuters wrote.
3 min read · 12 October 2012
Venture capital firm Panorama Capital and others have invested $10 million in video technology company Skyfire, which plans to expand into European and Asian markets on the back of surging usage of video on wireless devices, Reuters reported. Skyfire's technology compresses video, increasing the capacity of the base stations of telecommunication networks by more than a third. Skyfire's previous investors - the venture arm of Verizon Communications Inc., Lightspeed Venture Partners, Matrix Partners and Trinity Ventures - put also additional money into the California-based Skyfire, which has now raised a total of $41 million.
1 min read · 12 October 2012
Private equity firm TPG has withdrawn a A$694 million ($713 million) takeover bid for Australian surfwear retailer Billabong International Ltd , the second bidder to exit after inspecting its books, knocking the stock to a record low.
3 min read · 12 October 2012
Shutterstock Inc soared as much as 32 percent in its market debut, a day after the online stock photography provider priced its shares above its expected range.
2 min read · 11 October 2012
McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.'s education unit is expected to draw final bids from private equity firms Bain Capital and Apollo Global Management as well as rival Cengage Learning Inc., in a deal that could fetch around $3 billion, several people familiar with the matter said, according to a Reuters report. Cengage, the No. 2 U.S. college textbook publisher, and the two private equity firms are working on final offers for McGraw-Hill Education, the world's second-largest education company by sales, with the bids due later in October, the people said.
2 min read · 11 October 2012
