- Private Equity Invades India
- Skadden Ousts Sullivan & Cromwell as Top Legal Adviser on Deals
- GLG Partners to appeal against fine
- Heard on the Street: Marsh Is Hoping Sale of Putnam Buries Its Woes
- John F. Mangan, Jr. to Fight SEC Charges
- SEC Accuses Ex-Friedman Broker of Insider Trading [John Mangan]
More headlines below
- NYBOT-NYMEX Duel Over Trading Floor
- Opposites Pull Together in Overhauling Mercantile Exchange
- Jim Cramer: Investors Shouldn’t Fight the Business Cycle
- Apple files financial reports with US regulators
- Apple Filing to Tell All on Options
- AT&T Offers New Concessions to FCC in BellSouth Deal
- Alltel Looks Like a Good Call to Private Equity
- Fords Hock Dynasty in Gamble to Save Family Franchise
- Toyota a bet to bump Ford as No. 2
- Virgin furious as US blocks plans for low-cost airline
- J.C. Penney Fires Operating Chief West, Won’t Say Why
- ‘Old media’ mergers fail to deliver
Private Equity Invades India – BusinessWeek
Rajeev Gupta is used to living out of a suitcase. The 47-year-old managing director at Carlyle Group in Mumbai spends much of his time crisscrossing India in search of diamonds in the rough—medium-to-large family-owned companies in need of outside capital and management knowhow. "India’s attractiveness to private-equity investors is not merely its sizzling economy," says Gupta, who runs the numbers on about a half-dozen deals a month. "Indian companies also have the highest return on equity in Asia." How high? The former banker says it’s about 21%, compared with 9% for China, numbers that have spurred Washington-based Carlyle to invest $50 million in Indian businesses ranging from pharmaceuticals to tech consulting.
Carlyle is in good company. India’s combination of 8%-plus growth and a roaring stock market is drawing throngs of U.S. and European venture capitalists and private-equity funds. In the past month alone, more than 100 foreign outfits have met with KPMG’s newly created private-equity group in Mumbai, says the unit’s chief, Vikram Utamsingh. "All kinds of global funds have India on their radar," he says.
The directories of swank office towers in Mumbai, Bangalore, and Delhi read like a who’s who of the business: Besides Carlyle, there’s Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Blackstone Group, Warburg Pincus, Texas Pacific, and dozens of others. "It seems like the gold rush is on," says Abhay Havaldar, a managing director at Greenwich (Conn.)-based General Atlantic Partners. In the past four years, his fund has sunk $550 million into seven Indian companies in sectors such as television broadcasting and back-office outsourcing….
Skadden Ousts Sullivan & Cromwell as Top Legal Adviser on Deals – Bloomberg
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, hired to handle three of the 10 largest deals of 2006, ousted Sullivan & Cromwell as the top legal adviser on global mergers and acquisitions this year.
Skadden advised on $477.2 billion in transactions announced in 2006, almost double its total last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg through noon yesterday. The New York-based firm rose to first from the eighth spot last year.
“It was an incredibly busy year for everyone doing M&A,” said Allison Schneirov, a mergers-and-acquisitions partner at Skadden. “The biggest difference is that the percentage of deals involving private-equity players increased this year, as did the size of the deals.”….
GLG Partners to appeal against fine – The Times of London
GLG Partners will appeal against the second fine imposed by regulators this year over market abuse in relation to the use of confidential information before convertible bond sales.
GLG, one of Europe’s largest hedge funds with $17 billion (£8.5 billion) under management, faces a €1.2 million (£810,000) fine by the French authorities over its role in a 2002 bond issue by Alcatel. Deutsche Bank faces a €300,000 fine.
Details of the fines emerged yesterday after a lengthy investigation by France’s Autorité des Marchés Financiers into the handling of confidential information before the formal launch of the bond sale….
Heard on the Street: Marsh Is Hoping Sale of Putnam Buries Its Woes - Wall Street Journal
Marsh & McLennan Cos.’ drive to move on from its recent woes is expected to get a fresh boost now that the New York financial-services giant has agreed in principle to sell its Putnam Investments money-management unit for $3.9 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
The price to be paid by Montreal-based holding company Power Corp. of Canada is at the higher end of most estimates and could be good news for Marsh’s battered shareholders. While the companies have reached agreement, the deal still needs the approval of Putnam employees who own shares in the company, Putnam mutual-fund shareholders and the board that oversees the funds.
If the fund board and employees approve, a deal is expected to be announced early next year pending fund-shareholder approval, people familiar with the matter said…..
John F. Mangan, Jr. to Fight SEC Charges – PRNewswire
In response to today’s announcement by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), John F. Mangan, Jr., former founder and partner of Charlotte money management firm Mangan and McColl Partners, LLC, vehemently denies the charges and confirmed that he will fight them in court. The SEC has filed a civil suit alleging that Mangan violated federal securities laws through insider trading and a Section 5 violation related to a single private investment in public equity ("PIPE") transaction made in 2001, when Mangan worked for the Charlotte office of Friedman, Billings, Ramsey ("FBR").
"The SEC’s complaint is completely unwarranted by the facts," said Mr. Mangan. "I fully cooperated with this investigation from its inception in 2002. By taking this to court, I will finally have the opportunity to get the facts of my case out of the SEC’s bureaucracy and into a court of law. I never engaged in insider trading. I am confident that when the facts are reviewed, I will be cleared of the allegations."
The allegations arise out of a single trade made on behalf of Mr. Mangan and his partner, Hugh McColl, III, more than five years ago. That single trade was part of a routine and customary hedging strategy in which they hedged a fraction of their position in the CompuDyne, Inc. ("CDCY") PIPE transaction…..
SEC Accuses Ex-Friedman Broker of Insider Trading – Bloomberg
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused a former Friedman Billings Ramsey Group Inc. broker and hedge fund manager of improperly trading shares of CompuDyne Inc. while the investment bank managed a private sale of the securities.
John F. Mangan Jr. engaged in insider trading and broke other rules for private investments in public equities, called PIPEs, when he arranged before the offering in 2001 to sell short CompuDyne stock through the account of business partner Hugh McColl, the SEC said in a statement today. McColl is the son of Hugh McColl Jr., former chief executive officer of Bank of America Corp.
Mangan reaped $56,937 from inside trades and another $121,933 by short-selling the shares prematurely, the regulator said in a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in North Carolina. CompuDyne is an Annapolis, Maryland-based manufacturer of security systems for prisons, courthouses and commercial buildings….
NYBOT-NYMEX Duel Over Trading Floor - New York Post
The New York Board of Trade may be forced to shutter its trading floor following last week’s surprise decision by the neighboring New York Mercantile Exchange to begin trading its most lucrative products.
Nybot currently leases a 13,000 square foot trading floor and 45,000 square feet of office space from the Nymex in the World Financial Center.
Nybot lost its trading facilities in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11.
A provision in the lease prevents Nybot from trading products that compete with the Nymex if it gets acquired…..
Opposites Pull Together in Overhauling Mercantile Exchange – New York Times
As president and chief executive of Nymex Holdings, James E. Newsome, was fiddling with his sportcoat buttons on a December afternoon in preparation for a photograph, the chairman, Richard Schaeffer, eyed him for a second, and then offered him some fashion advice.
“Keep it buttoned,” Mr. Schaeffer said. “You want to look slimmer.”
Mr. Newsome laughed. The jacket was buttoned.
They are, by their own acknowledgement, the odd couple in commodities: Mr. Schaeffer is the loud and plainspoken Long Island native with an occasional blue streak; Mr. Newsome, a quiet, self-described farm boy from Florida. About the only personal quality they have in common is that their daughters compete in equestrian events…..
Jim Cramer: Investors Shouldn’t Fight the Business Cycle - Bloomberg
Investors shouldn’t fight the business cycle or own stocks when changes puts them out of favor, Jim Cramer said on his “Mad Money” television program on CNBC.
“When the economy is going strong, you buy the dirty smokestack stocks that make things like machinery,” Cramer, a market commentator and former hedge-fund manager, said in a pre- recorded show about trading tips.
“When the economy weakens, you run kicking and screaming from those stocks into secular growth stocks like health-care companies, food and drink companies and consumer staples,” he said….
Apple files financial reports with US regulators - Reuters
Apple Computer Inc. filed late annual and third-quarter financial reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, making adjustments for certain stock option grants.
Apple also said it is confident the company has corrected the problems that led to the restatement, which was due to certain stock option grants made between 1997 and 2002.
Apple also issued a statement saying that the board has "complete confidence" in senior management and in Chief Executive Steve Jobs, who while aware of or recommended certain grants dates, did not financially benefit from the grants.
Apple Filing to Tell All on Options – New York Times
Apple Computer and its charismatic chief executive, Steven P. Jobs, are expected to make a big announcement about a new product at the Macworld conference next month. Before that, however, the company has some other highly anticipated information to share.
The company is likely to answer questions about backdated options granted to Mr. Jobs and other executives in a delayed annual report that Apple said it would file with securities regulators on Friday.
Apple is among dozens of companies, many of them in Silicon Valley, which have come under scrutiny for assigning favorable grant dates to stock options to inflate their value….
AT&T Offers New Concessions to FCC in BellSouth Deal – Bloomberg
AT&T Inc., the largest U.S. phone company, agreed to new concessions including some price controls to win regulatory approval for its $86 billion purchase of BellSouth Corp.
AT&T made the offer in a letter filed today with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, a move designed to win the agency approval of the deal as early as tomorrow and clear the last hurdle to completing the purchase.
The offer may end a three-month stalemate between FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, fellow Republican Deborah Taylor Tate and the panel’s two Democrats, who have sought price controls and other concessions. Buying BellSouth lets San Antonio-based AT&T expand it
s local service to 22 states, gain full control of Cingular Wireless LLC and compete with cable television companies offering phone service as well as Web access and TV….
Alltel Looks Like a Good Call to Private Equity - Wall Street Journal
Private-equity firms are beginning to circle Alltel Corp., making the nation’s fifth-largest wireless operator another potential target amid a string of huge leveraged buyouts this year.
Wall Street is buzzing about a possible deal and private-equity shops are already exploring the idea, people familiar with the matter say.
Any Alltel deal would be large. The company has a market value of $21.7 billion and a debt load of just under $3 billion. Its stock is trading at a slight discount to similar carriers, based on projected earnings for next year before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization…..
Fords Hock Dynasty in Gamble to Save Family Franchise – Bloomberg
Bill Ford glared when he was asked whether his family could lose control of the company his great- grandfather Henry founded in 1903.
“I don’t understand why that would ever have to happen,” Ford said, cutting short an October television interview in Beijing. “There’s no reason to think that any change in ownership structure needs to take place.”
The Fords, who command 40 percent of shareholder votes with just 3.75 percent of the company’s shares outstanding, may be among the few people hanging on to that mantra.
Even Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally, whom Ford recruited from Boeing Co. in September, is hedging. He negotiated a severance payment that could total $15.4 million plus options on 3 million Ford shares if the Fords lose control within five years, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Under that scenario, Mulally’s 3.6 million stock options and restricted stock units would vest immediately and he’d receive a payment equal to twice his annual base salary and targeted bonus, the filing says….
Toyota a bet to bump Ford as No. 2 – AP via Mercury News
Ford Motor is likely to see a large sales drop in December, while Toyota Motor could gain enough to take over Ford’s traditional role as the No. 2 auto company in the United States for the month, according to some industry analysts.
Edmunds.com, a research site for car buyers that tracks sales data from dealers, is predicting a stunning 19.6 percent drop in Ford sales compared with last December, based on data from the first half of the month. Bank of America analyst Ronald Tadross expects Ford’s dip to be in the 10 percent to 12 percent range.
If Toyota does unseat Ford, it would be for the second month in a row and the third month in 2006. Toyota passed Ford in U.S. sales for the first time in July…..
Virgin furious as US blocks plans for low-cost airline – The Independent
Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group has accused the US government of "pure protectionism" for denying permission for the launch of its planned low-cost airline, Virgin America.
The airline has been forced to consider ways to revise its financial structure to ensure it meets US Department of Transport rules which bar foreign-controlled carriers from domestic routes.
The UK-based Virgin Group reiterated yesterday that it owns just 25 per cent of the wannabe airline, and reacted angrily to the DoT’s claims that its influence extends much further. "What the DoT has done is purely political, pure protectionism. They have been heavily lobbied by the legacy airlines in the US, who want to delay the launch or make sure this airline doesn’t fly," said Will Whitehorn, head of corporate affairs at Virgin. "We can’t believe the decision, and there is no justification for it. We have aircraft on the ground, we have our safety certificate, only 25 per cent is owned outside the US, the company is run by Americans, its chairman is American, its chief executive is American."….
J.C. Penney Fires Operating Chief West, Won’t Say Why – Bloomberg
J.C. Penney Co., the third-largest U.S. department store company, fired Chief Operating Officer Catherine West six months after she joined the retailer.
The company didn’t say why it terminated West and spokesman Tim Lyons declined to comment. West’s departure is effective immediately, Plano, Texas-based J.C. Penney said today in a statement. The shares fell 1 percent.
Store operations, property development and logistics will again report directly to Chief Executive Officer Myron Ullman as West will not be replaced. Under Ullman, the company has accelerated store openings to encourage more shopper visits and added private brands including X-Games and Vans children’s clothing…..
‘Old media’ mergers fail to deliver – Financial Times via MSNBC
McClatchy, the US newspaper group, and Citadel Broadcasting, the radio station chain, have emerged as the worst performers among US companies that have made large domestic acquisitions this year, according to data collected by Dealogic.
The figures offer an insight into the decline of traditional media companies, which have been suffering as advertising revenues have moved to the internet. Deals may compound the strategic challenge posed by the digital age, rather than helpcompanies address it from a stronger position, the analysis suggests.
Shares of California-based McClatchy, which in March agreed to buy rival Knight Ridder for $6.1bn, fell 19 per cent between the deal announcement and December 15. With this, McClatchy, which owns the Sacramento Bee and the Miami Herald, underperformed the S&P 500 by 30 per cent….
