I received this e-mail from Steven Goldberg, an M&A attorney at the law firm of Baker & Hostetler LLP. Steve argues that a management led buyout (MBO) can be good for company shareholders if the company engages in a fair auction. A fair auction can occur through various means. I found it both timely and thought provoking, and wanted to pass it along.
April 14, 2011
From Jesse Eisinger at ProPublica: "Investors are punishing funds that have engaged in questionable behavior and balking at ever-escalating fees. Regulators are showing uncharacteristic backbone, insisting that they will not merely fight the last war when it comes to new rules."
April 13, 2011
In March, U.S. companies raised more money through stock offerings than any month since March 2000. And it's not just tech companies these days. Bond offerings are also occurring at a record pace thanks to low interest rates.
April 13, 2011
From WSJ: "The stock market's strong gains since its 2009 meltdown low have buoyed investor demand for stocks, helping global common-stock underwriting surge 16% to $174.4 billion in the first quarter, Dealogic said. Investors who had previously sought more-stable bond funds have grown "steadily more confident" about stock mutual funds this year, said Alastair Borthwick, co-head of global capital markets at Bank of America Corp.'s Bank of America Merrill Lynch. "
April 5, 2011
Banks have again started to provide large bridge financings for deals, and in some case keep all of the lending business for themselves rather than spread the risk over a syndicate, an indication of just how competitive the world of corporate and commercial lending is becoming. Take for example the JPMorganChase $20 billion unsecured bridge loan to fund AT&T's $39 billion purchase of T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom.
March 31, 2011
Apparently Martha Stewart's fall from grace in 2001 (which stemmed from an insider trading scandal that netted all of $45,673) wasn't enough of a cautionary tale to David Sokol.
March 30, 2011
From Forbes: The DOJ’s and SEC’s more stringent enforcement of the FCPA has important implications for mergers and acquisitions. According to Rebekah Poston, an expert anti-corruption practitioner at the international law firm Squire Sanders & Dempsey, American companies who neglect to conduct thorough due diligence when acquiring foreign companies risk inheriting or creating FCPA violations. Acquiring a foreign company requires the performance of a number of affirmative duties on the part of the acquirer.
March 29, 2011
Overall, Cooley's data pointed to a year marked by slow but steady improvement in the financing environment. In 2010, deal volumes reached a level not seen in the last five years. Median pre-money valuations increased across all deal stages and saw a significant increase in "up rounds" versus flat/down rounds. Up rounds represented 60% of all financings in 2010, a level not seen since 2008. Additionally, the percentage of recapitalization transactions fell in 2010, though the number of tranched deals remained flat from prior years.
December 15, 2010
From the Wall Street Journal - Rather than pouring their money into building plants or hiring workers, nonfinancial companies in the U.S. were sitting on $1.93 trillion in cash and other liquid assets at the end of September. Cash accounted for 7.4% of the companies' total assets—the largest share since 1959.
October 4, 2010
This is the story of ARC Angels, a new Angel network based in New York. They are not only looking for investment opportunities, they are still looking to grow the ranks of their own membership from 33 to 99 angels.
April 26, 2011
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