Private-equity owned Burger King, the world's second largest restaurant chain (over 11,200 units in 65 countries), adamantly opposes an agreement which would see Florida farm workers receive one extra US cent for every pound of tomatoes purchased by the fast food giant.
Continue reading "Penny a Basket for Tomato Pickers Too Much for PE-Owned Burger King" »
Domino's Pizza, the US-based pizza delivery giant with operations in 55 countries, claims to have discovered a new financial tool: heavy leverage to fund share buybacks and dividends.
Cadbury-Schweppes' projected sell off it's US drinks division to private equity appears to be advancing on schedule, following the March demerger of the two divisions.
Continue reading "Cadbury US Beverages Sale to "Unlock" Shareholder Windfall " »
"Burger King Corp.'s private equity backers are looking to king-size their returns from the chain ahead of its initial public offering, with plans to collect a $400 million dividend, according to Moody's Investors Services. The payout would put the investors - Texas Pacific Group, Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners - in the black on their investment, as they are believed to have injected $325 million in equity during the $1.5 billion purchase of Burger King in 2002."
Read more.... "Burger King holders plan whopper dividend: Moody's says private equity backers will collect $400 million before taking fast-food chain public", CNNMoney.com (2 Feb 2006)
“Private-equity outfits have been snapping up companies like there's no tomorrow. Now, a trio of investment firms, including storied Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, has topped all others. With a record $33 billion bid, including $11.7 billion of debt, the firms said on July 24 that they would take over HCA (HCA ), the nation's largest hospital chain. The price tag surpasses the record holder, KKR's $31.4 billion buyout of RJR Nabisco, a 1989 deal described in the book and film Barbarians at the Gate.”
Continue reading: 'Barbarians At The Gate II ', BusinessWeek (US), 7 August, 2006.
See the background and links about Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco, by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar about KKR's leveraged buout of RJR Nabisco in 1988. The book was the basis for the film, Barbarians at the Gate, released in 1993.