While defaults rise and growing numbers of private-equity backed companies continue their march to bankruptcy (though not necessarily losses for the funds which marched them there), the "creative" financial devices which helped fuel the buyout boom appear poised for a comeback.
Continue reading "Recap Rerun: Short Memories, Missing Regulation" »
Goldman Sachs, which has made billions through financing and collecting "advisory fees" on buyout deals in addition to being a major buyout actor in its own right, has posted record quarterly profits. Is prosperity around the corner?
Continue reading "Illusion, Reality, and the Quarterly Report" »
Struggling under a mountain of acquisition-induced debt, the UK's Premier Foods is reportedly seeking a large cash injection from private equity investors in order to shore up its wobbly capital structure and avoid breaching loan covenants.
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" »
Goldman Sachs has raised USD 20 billiion for its latest fund for buying, stripping and selling businesses, more than doubling the USD 8.5 billion it raised last year and beating the USD 18.5 billion Blackstone has raised to date in its latest effort.
"My guess is you will see someone in the next 12 months try to top this Goldman deal," said Colin Blaydon, director of the Center for Private Equity and Entrepreneurship at Dartmouth College. "When the cookies are being passed around you'd better take some, because you don't know when they're coming back around again."
Buyout funds in 2006 raised over USD 700 billion - an amount equivalent to buying the national economy of the Netherlands, or the economies of Argentina, Poland and South Africa combined - with billions of dollars to spare.
Once again there's speculation among financial analysts that private-equity funds may attempt a leveraged buyout of Unilever. According to various business news reports, talk of a takeover caused a surge in share prices.
This also happened in March 2006, when financial market analysts speculated that Goldman Sachs was putting together a group of private-equity funds to make a £30 billion bid for Unilever in its entirety and taking the company private.
In March 2006, financial market analysts speculated that Goldman Sachs is putting together a group of private-equity funds to make a £30 billion bid for Unilever in its entirety and taking the company private.
"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)