India's Azure Capital said on Thursday it will raise up to 5 billion rupees ($94.10 million) through a real estate private equity fund that will invest in commercial properties across the top seven cities in the country, Reuters reported Thursday. The fund would be a rental yield fund, where investments will be made into commercial properties that are pre leased, the firm said in a statement.
1 min read · 11 October 2012
Clariant's plans to offload some of its unwanted operations was dealt a blow on Thursday as Finnish chemicals group Kemira ruled itself out of the bidding for the Swiss group's paper chemicals unit, Reuters wrote. Speciality chemicals group Clariant said in August it was seeking to divest low-margin businesses such as the Textile Chemicals, Paper Specialties and Emulsions, Detergents & Intermediates units whose demand is too affected by economic cycles.
2 min read · 11 October 2012
Real estate services company Realogy Holdings Corp. priced its initial public offering at $27 a share on Wednesday, at the top of its expected range, an underwriter said. The company, backed by Apollo Global Management LLC, raised $1.1 billion by pricing 40 million shares as planned, making it the third largest IPO in the United States this year behind Facebook and Santander Mexico Financial Group.
2 min read · 11 October 2012
Australia's Discovery Metals Ltd unexpectedly rebuffed a takeover offer led by a Chinese private equity firm valuing the copper miner at A$824 million ($844.31 million), but said it remained open to a higher bid, Reuters reported Thursday. Cathay Fortune Corp., founded by Chinese billionaire Yu Yong, teamed up with the state-backed China-Africa Development Fund to make an offer of A$1.70 a share last week. CFC already owns a 13.7 percent stake in the copper miner.
2 min read · 11 October 2012
The private equity arm of Standard Chartered will invest $35 million in Indian visual entertainment services group Prime Focus at a maximum price of 53 rupees per share, writes Reuters. The funds will be used to support future growth plans of the company.
1 min read · 11 October 2012
How do private equity firms deal with banks' reluctance to stump up the money to back buyouts? They become lenders themselves, writes Reuters. Private equity firms ranging from CVC, one of Europe's largest, to the smaller H.I.G. Capital are filling the vacuum left by retreating European banks, which have slashed leveraged lending by 42 percent to $72 billion so far this year, writes Reuters.
3 min read · 11 October 2012
Top executives at some of the world's largest private equity firms, including KKR & Co LP and Blackstone Group LP sent emails that allegedly show them plotting to scoop up companies on the cheap during last decade's buyout boom, according to court documents unsealed on Wednesday.
4 min read · 11 October 2012
ProSiebenSat1 has attracted interest from private equity firms and a media group for its Scandinavian operations, which could sell for up to 1.4 billion euros ($1.8 billion). Private equity firms BC Partners, EQT, Providence Equity Partners and network Discovery Communications have shown interest for the assets, according to two people, who declined to be identified as they are not authorized to speak to media, Reuters reported Wednesday.
2 min read · 10 October 2012
Peter Muller, the founder of Morgan Stanley's proprietary trading unit that is being spun off this year as a stand-alone hedge fund, has raised more than $500 million from Blackstone Group LP, Bloomberg reported. Muller started his first fund in July at New York-based PDT Partners LLC, the agency said, citing people familiar with the matter. He is planning a second fund that will begin trading in January with about $1.5 billion, it said.
2 min read · 10 October 2012
Jeans maker True Religion Apparel Inc., which has been hit by falling sales, said it may sell itself, after receiving interest from potential buyers, Reuters reported Wednesday. Shares in the company jumped 28 percent to $26.88 in premarket trade on Wednesday, valuing it at about $683 million. They had fallen by about a quarter in the last three months. True Religion has been hit by falling demand for its colorful jeans, which sell for up to $360 at specialty boutiques.
2 min read · 10 October 2012
