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’Lex: what is Hands up to?
From the Lex column:
What is Guy Hands playing at? The question was on many people’s minds this week as the financier’s Terra Firma vehicle finally won enough acceptances to take control of EMI, the troubled music group,
Terra Firma wins EMI
Terra Firma on Wednesday sealed its £2.4bn takeover of EMI, ending decades of independence for the music group after securing the required 90 per cent of shareholder acceptance after a nail-biting end to the 10-week saga.
Citi enables Terra Firma to clinch EMI
Terra Firma, the UK private equity group run by Guy Hands, seems set to secure control of EMI, as acceptances continued to come in for its £2.4bn offer amid signs that its bankers will not stand in the way of the deal completing by Wednesday’s deadline.
Terra Firma closes in on EMI
Terra Firma, the UK buy-out firm, looks set this week finally to buy EMI after securing a last-minute extension for its £2.4bn agreed takeover of the music group from the UK Takeover Panel at the weekend.
EMI and Hands scramble for backing
Terra Firma, the buy-out fund run by Guy Hands, and EMI are scrambling to secure enough backing from investors for their £2.4bn agreed deal amid concerns that tightening credit markets could undermine the business case for Terra Firma’s takeover of EMI.
Weekend catch-up: UBS/Harris, EMI, TPG/Ford
In case you missed these stories..
US activist builds secret $1bn UBS stake
Harris Associates, a leading US activist fund, has secretly built a $1bn stake representing 1 per cent in UBS, reported The Sunday Times.
Warner abandons hopes for EMI
Warner Music on Tuesday said it would not mount a bid for rival EMI, again dashing hopes for a merger between the two groups and clearing a path for an EMI purchase by UK private equity firm Terra Firma.
Warner may drop pursuit of EMI
Shares in Warner Music dropped to a new low on Monday amid growing speculation that the record company may abandon its seven-year pursuit of a merger with EMI, its UK rival. Warner and Jim Fifield, a former EMI executive who had expressed interest in EMI,
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.
Terra Firma extends EMI deadline
Private-equity firm Terra Firma extended its £2.4bn bid for EMI Group another week, hoping to win over shareholders holding out for a counterbid from former suitor Warner Music, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Cinven set to acquire 26 Bupa hospitals
Private equity group Cinven is poised to win the battle to acquire 26 Bupa hospitals for £1.4bn-£1.5bn in a deal that could be announced as early as Monday. Cinven’s private equity rivals – CVC, Terra Firma,
Terra Firma approaches Warner
Terra Firma, the private equity group which made a £3.2bn recommended offer for EMI last month, is understood to have approached Warner Music about buying the UK music group’s recorded music business.
Truell buys Terra Firma’s Thresher
The Thresher group, the UK’s biggest chain of off-licence stores, has been sold to a consortium led by Edmund Truell, the private equity and pension investor. Terra Firma, the private equity firm run by Guy Hands,
EMI sets hurdle for Warner bid
The EMI board will reject a counter-bid from Warner Music at less than 300p a share unless the American music company is willing to risk winning regulatory approval from Brussels, reports The Times. Warner Music,
EMI shareholders back Terra Firma bid
Top shareholders in EMI have signalled likely support for Terra Firma’s recommended £3.2bn offer for the UK music group. One leading shareholder told the FT that it was “not unhappy with the deal” on the table.
EMI warns on profits; Hands seals recommendation – but then the shares spike…
What can we say? As trading on the London market came to a close on Monday at 4.30 BST, shares in music group EMI were up 10 per cent at 274p.
Eighteen minutes earlier, EMI had released figures for the year to end-March,
Terra Firma enters race for EMI
Just up on FT.com is the latest name in the bidding for EMI. Terra Firma, the private equity firm run by Guy Hands, has emerged as a last-minute surprise bidder for the music group.
Terra Firma is understood to have made a sealed bid,
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,
Threshers deal earns £200m for Terra Firma
Guy Hands’ private equity house Terra Firma has raised £200m from the sale-and-leaseback of part of the property estate of off-licence chain Threshers, reports the Daily Telegraph. It is understood that Terra Firma,
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”.
CDS Report: Buy on the rumour, sell on the news
The old stock market adage of “buying on the rumour and selling on the news” appears to have translated into the behaviour of participants in the European credit derivatives markets even though it is producing some counter-intuitive results.
KKR fills its Boots
Game over. KKR launched a aggressive double-whammy to block rival Terra Firma’s hopes of winning Alliance Boots, following up its teatime raid on Monday night with a dawn raid before the market opened in London on Tuesday.
KKR ups bid in battle for Alliance Boots
KKR and Stefano Pessina struck a decisive blow against Terra Firma’s efforts to table a rival bid for Alliance Boots on Monday night after buying shares in the market at £11.39, in effect raising its offer for the company to £11.1bn.
Boots battle rages as Terra Firma eyes Bupa
Terra Firma, the investment firm run by Guy Hands, believes it will be able to submit a firm £10.9bn offer for Alliance Boots, as proposed last Friday, but will then face a higher counterbid from KKR,
Alliance Boots battle has a way to walk
The statement, we can assume, just about dictated itself.
After Friday morning’s intense two-way action in Alliance Boots, the board of this suddenly popular pharmacy chain and drugs wholesaler has come out on Friday afternoon and said:
KKR wins Alliance Boots recommendation, but this deal is not quite done
As widely trailed, KKR and Stefano Pessina have won the backing of the Alliance Boots board for a takeover bid that values the pharmacy chain and drugs wholesaler at £10.6bn.
But it seems to have been a close-run,
Crunch time for Pessina, KKR’s £10bn Boots bid
Stefano Pessina and KKR were on Thursday night preparing to table a firm £10.1bn bid for Alliance Boots in what they hope will be a knock-out blow against rivals who are circling the group, reports the FT.
Boots assures bid rivals have equal access
Alliance Boots on Tuesday dismissed claims that Terra Firma, the private equity firm run by Guy Hands, had been granted only limited access to its books as he seeks to counter a £10bn offer for the group from KKR,
Banks vie to lend £20bn for rival Boots bid
More than 10 banks are understood to be competing with each other to fund the counter-offer by Terra Firma for Alliance Boots and are willing to lend nearly twice the £11.4bn price tag attached to the pharmacy chain,