Alchemy Partners is backing an £80 million buyout bid for UK-listed recruitment group Imprint. The company’s shares jumped 20 percent on the news.
2 min read · 12 January 2013
Despite the ongoing problems in the debt markets, Inflexion Private Equity has successfully refinanced the senior debt of the UK-based Ilchester Cheese Company at 2.5 times EBITDA.
1 min read · 12 January 2013
Duke Street Capital’s sixth fund has broken the €1 billion mark, providing some welcome news to the buyout firm after a summer where it has had to endure some negative coverage.
2 min read · 12 January 2013
As ratings agency Standard & Poor’s criticises covenant loose loans for being covenant-lite by the backdoor, a senior banker tells Toby Lewis cov-lite loans will become extinct.
4 min read · 12 January 2013
A senior leveraged buyout banker has warned cov-lite deals will cease to exist as lenders will refuse to accept loans on terms offered by buyout firms. Mid-market firms are seeing deals fall through as creditors push the price of debt back up.
2 min read · 12 January 2013
In an unprecedented step Blackstone has revealed its partners’ tax liability in a rebuttal of a US newspaper report.
3 min read · 12 January 2013
London-based services group Savills has acquired New York real estate investment bank Granite Partners for $54m.
1 min read · 12 January 2013
Tesla Motors recently completed a $45 million Series D financing round, pushing the Silicon Valley start-up's VC funding past the $100 million mark. As the star-studded waiting list for the company's flashy roadster continues to grow, investors are lining up for a piece of the action. Amanda Janis reports.
3 min read · 12 January 2013
In Denmark, a law has been passed to remove the favourable tax status enjoyed by leveraged loans.
5 min read · 12 January 2013
In June, London-based Duke Street Capital hit the headlines over pending job losses at portfolio company Burton's Foods and creditor losses at former portfolio company Focus DIY. Following Duke Street's investment in Burton's in March, UK MP Angela Eagle has been campaigning against the firm's plans for a Burton's biscuit factory in her Wallasey constituency, which may cost 660 jobs. Meanwhile the investment in Focus has been branded an example of lenders and bondholders being at risk in LBOs after sponsors cash out through recapitalisations. Duke Street recapitalised what was then Focus Wickes in 2002 and, having sold the Wickes business to a trade buyer, refinanced Focus once more in 2005 on a stand-alone basis. In January, Focus was put up for sale after it became obvious that the company was no longer able to service the £280 million of debt on its balance sheet. In June, US distressed debt specialist Cerberus bought the company for £1. The new owner will pay back £185 million of bank debt while the holders of £100 million worth of bonds will receive 40p in the pound. PEI caught up with Duke Street's managing partner Peter Taylor, who has been asked to appear before the Treasury Select Committee in the House of Commons in the coming weeks (at press time, a date had not yet been agreed), to quiz him about the recent events.
3 min read · 12 January 2013
