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’Hornby to take helm at Alliance Boots
Andy Hornby, former chief executive of HBOS, is set to become the chief executive of Alliance Boots, in a move that could enable him to restore his standing after his reputation was damaged when HBOS came to the brink of collapse last year.
Alliance Boots buys back £400m debt
Alliance Boots, the UK retailer that was taken private in Europe’s biggest buy-out almost two years ago, has bought back more than £400m of debt at a steep discount from distressed sellers. Stefano Pessina,
KKR eyes Phoenix for Alliance Boots
KKR has made an approach to acquire Phoenix, the German drug wholesaler that is part of the faltering empire of Adolf Merckle, the German billionaire who committed suicide in January. The US buyout group,
The elephants in Europe’s leveraged loan room
There’s a vaguely familiar ring to the headline: “S&P in warning over leveraged loans”, in Thursday’s FT. Maybe because in February, a report – also in the FT – was headlined: “S&P warns of growing risk in leveraged loans”.
Boots made for walking… in circles
More news on Thursday of the putative cut-price syndication of Alliance Boots senior debt. As the FT reported on Tuesday, the group of banks behind the KKR buyout financing were poised to offload a significant chunk at around 91 cents on the dollar.
Banks set to sell Alliance Boots debt
Investment banks are poised to agree a plan to sell much of the £9bn debt in Alliance Boots, the private equity-owned pharmacy chain, providing a crucial test of improving conditions in loan markets. A group of eight banks has been holding the Alliance Boots debt since underwriting last summer’s £11bn buy-out by KKR in Europe’s biggest ever private equity deal.
Banks in efforts to sell Boots debt
A group of banks including Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Chase have been in stepped-up negotiations with several investors lately about selling billions of pounds of Alliance Boots debt that the banks got stuck holding when credit markets seized up last summer,
Debt problems weigh on buy-out boom
Multi-billion dollar financing for the Chrysler and Alliance Boots buy-outs foundered on Wednesday, fuelling fears of a looming credit crunch. Banks failed in their attempts to sell loans to finance the deals – even after offering higher interest rates.
Boots debt doesn’t fit
So, its official. Money really has become more expensive – even for the likes of KKR.
Late on Wednesday, London time, the buyout group postponed syndication of £5.5bn of senior debt, slated to finance the takeover of Alliance Boots,
View of the day: How LBO difficulties are hitting equities
The current difficulties in financing leveraged buy-outs, such as that for Alliance Boots, could have far-reaching implications for equities, says Daniel Stillit, analyst at UBS, in the FT’s View of the Day column.
Guy Hands drops bid for Boots stake
Guy Hands has been forced to ditch an unusual offer to invest £250m in Alliance Boots that the private equity investor made after his firm Terra Firma lost out to KKR in a bid battle for the pharmacies chain.
Investors step up flight from risk
Investors in European and US credit markets accelerated their flight from risk on Wednesday as the shift in sentiment triggered sharp moves in credit derivatives markets, suggesting that the US subprime mortgage turmoil could be spreading to other parts of the financial world.
Boots’ CEO and retail chief quit
Richard Baker and Scott Wheway, the two most senior retail executives at Alliance Boots, said they were quitting their jobs just three weeks after the company became the first FTSE 100 company to fall into private equity hands.
KKR presents mouth-watering Boots debt
KKR and Stefano Pessina on Thursday sought to woo about 400 investors by presenting a conservative debt structure for their £11bn leveraged buy-out of the Alliance Boots pharmacies chain, reports the FT.
KKR agrees deal with Boots’ pensioners
The £11.1bn takeover of Alliance Boots appeared to have cleared its most important hurdle on Tuesday after the health and beauty group’s pension trustees agreed a funding package with KKR, the buy-out group.
KKR submits to Boots pension demands
Pensions trustees are the new muscle of finance. Boots pensions scheme trustees started it – throwing themselves between the juggernaut of KKR and the planned £11bn takeover of the chemist and retailer.
Trustees in threat to Boots deal
The Alliance Boots pension fund trustees are considering legal action to block the £11.1bn acquisition of the health and beauty group by KKR, the private equity firm. The “nuclear option” could be used at a scheduled court hearing to approve the deal on June 21 and comes as negotiations founder over KKR’s contribution to the Boots pension fund.
Pensions ‘showdown’ looms in Boots buy-out
The KKR-led takeover of Alliance Boots looks set to become a key test of the UK Pensions Regulator’s powers to protect company schemes after the buy-out was backed by shareholders but without any agreement on filling the fund’s deficit.
Boots chief urges pension action from KKR
Richard Baker, chief executive of Alliance Boots, urged KKR to come to a speedy agreement with trustees of the Boots pension, over the additional cash injection required to meet their concerns on retirement promises,
Sale of Boots to bring US fund £250m
Franklin Templeton, the US fund giant, is expected to receive a windfall of more than £250m from the sale of Alliance Boots, reports The Times. The profit was boosted by a series of big share purchases by Templeton just weeks before a joint buyout of the international health and beauty group led by the private equity firm KKR and Stefano Pessina,
Boots deal to generate bonanza for execs
Richard Baker, chief executive of Alliance Boots, will gain £6.5m through the exercise of share options he has accrued in 3½ years at the helm of the retail and drugs wholesaler, should the £11.1bn takeover offer by KKR and Stefano Pessina,
Boots trustees demand £1bn for pensions
Trustees to the Alliance Boots pension scheme are demanding about £1bn from its would-be private equity owners to cover a shortfall in the retirement plan that the company had described just a day earlier as having a small surplus.
Lombard: Sir Nigel’s outburst is a sign of the times
Chairmen and chief executives who rail against their company’s languishing share price risk sounding like husbands justifying an affair — I’m being taken for granted, the markets don’t understand me, and so on,
The Real Deal: Curse of phantom bids amid deal boom
The busier investment bankers get, the more extreme their tactics become. So intense is this current deal boom that nervous bankers have been jumping at the sight of their shadows. Like Don Quixote mistaking windmills for evil giants,
Sir Nigel Rudd hits at ‘stupid’ City analysts
Sir Nigel Rudd, the chairman of Alliance Boots, has rounded on retail analysts, describing them as “stupid” for failing to see the value in Alliance Boots after last year’s £7.78bn merger of the retail chain with Stefano Pessina’s Alliance Unichem drugs wholesale business.
KKR moves to calm concerns after winning battle for Boots
KKR on Tuesday night moved to address fears of job cuts and store closures at Alliance Boots as the private equity group won the takeover battle for the iconic high street chain and drug wholesaler with a revised £11.1bn bid.
Snap: Terra Firma hangs up its Boots
Terra Firma et al have withdrawn from the bidding for British chemist and drug wholesaler Alliance Boots. In a statement, the consortium of Terra Firma, Wellcome Trust and HBOS said it had decided to withdraw its potential interest and wished “the company and all its
stakeholders well under new ownership”.