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By Ameet Sachdev
| Morningstar Inc. has agreed to acquire Realpoint LLC, a ratings organization that specializes in structure finance, for $52 million.
Chicago-based Morningstar, which provides independent investment research, plans to pay $42 million in cash and $10 million in restricted stock. The deal is expected to close in the next few months.
From Reuters | Shares of General Growth Properties rose more than 5 percent on Wednesday following reports that rival Simon Property Group Inc may be considering a new offer.
Get the full story: reuters.com.
Tribune staff report | Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., the nation’s No. 4 insurance broker, bought retail insurance broker Winn & Co. Insurance Brokers Inc., of Hollister, Calif.
Winn, established in 1910, specializes in insurance programs for the construction, agricultural and food processing industries. Terms weren’t disclosed.
Associated Press | It’ll soon be time to say goodbye to AmerenIP,
AmerenCIPS and AmerenCILCO. St. Louis-based Ameren Corp. plans to merge its three Illinois electric
and gas utilities into a single utility known as Ameren Illinois.
Associated Press | Security systems company Federal Signal said
Tuesday that it will combine three recently acquired businesses and two
older units into a new division. The combined entity will be called Federal Signal Technologies Group and
will be led by Manfred Rietsch, the former CEO of VESystems.
From Reuters | CF Industries Chief Executive Stephen Wilson defended
his $4.7 billion purchase of Terra Industries as being the right price for CF
shareholders, saying the biggest surprise out of the process was that
the deal took more than a year to reach.
“I believe our stockholders will benefit from
this transaction at this level. Obviously, if you could buy it for less
you buy it for less, but we didn’t get that done,” Wilson said at the
Reuters Food and Agriculture Summit in Chicago.
Get the full story: reuters.com.
Associated Press | A Kraft Inc. executive apologized on Tuesday for raising — and then
dashing — hopes that it would keep open a British factory after its
takeover of Cadbury, as the U.S. company’s chief executive came under
fire from lawmakers and union leaders.
Executive Vice President Marc Firestone said he was “truly sorry” for
the uncertainty caused by Kraft’s back track on the factory in
Somerdale, western England, adding that the company did not plan to shut
any more British factories or ax further jobs for the next two years.
From the Financial Times | Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group and Brookfield Asset Management, its rival in the fight for bankrupt shopping mall operator General Growth Properties Inc., are seeking investments from sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East and Asia.
Get the full story: financialtimes.com
Designer Tommy Hilfiger at the conclusion of his fall fashion show in New York. (AP)
Associated Press | Clothing maker Phillips-Van Heusen Corp.
said Monday it has agreed to buy privately held Tommy Hilfiger in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $3 billion, creating one of the world’s biggest clothing companies.
Shares of Phillips-Van Heusen, a New York clothing retailer which owns and markets the Calvin Klein brand, rose more than 4 percent in premarket trading.
From Reuters | Shares in Minneapolis-based Supervalu Inc., which operates Jewel-Osco and Albertson’s stores, saw its shares jump as much as 11 percent in trading on rumors of a leveraged buyout. Jewel said it does not comment on speculation.
Get the full story: reuters.com
Terra Industries Inc.’s facility in Verdigris, Okla. (Terra Industries via Bloomberg)
By Michael Oneal | Putting an end to an extended four-way takeover drama in the fertilizer
business, Deerfield-based CF Industries Holdings, Inc. announced Friday
that it had won control of rival Terra Industries Inc. in a takeover
valued at $4.7 billion.
The fertilizer giant, which has pursued Terra for more than a year,
claimed victory when Norway’s Yara International ASA, which had also
been pursuing Terra, said it wouldn’t top CF’s latest bid.
Dow Jones Newswires | Agrium Inc. announced late Thursday that
it has decided to terminate its long-standing hostile offer for fellow
fertilizer company CF Industries Holdings Inc., allowing the offer to
expire at midnight on March 22.
Agrium had offered one Agrium share and $45 in cash for each CF share,
contingent on CF abandoning its own bid for Terra Industries Inc.
By Michael Oneal | Chicago-based Northern Trust Corp. is on the hunt for acquisitions to beef up both its private client and institutional fund administration businesses, Chief Executive Rick Waddell told an investment conference in New York on Thursday.
Having emerged from the financial crisis relatively unscathed, Waddell said, Northern is looking to reinvest $1.8 billion in its business over the next three years by boosting infrastructure and client capabilities. Part of that, he said, may include acquisitions.
Associated Press | German sportswear company Puma AG says it will acquire Cobra Golf, based in Carlsbad, Calif. from Fortune Brands Inc.
Herzogenaurach-based Puma said Wednesday it will acquire 100 percent of Cobra Golf, but did not provide any financial details. The deal which faces regulatory approval is expected to close in the second quarter.
Associated Press | Fertilizer company Terra Industries said Wednesday its board favors a
bid to be acquired by CF Industries instead of a previous agreement
with Norway’s Yara.
Terra, based in Sioux City, Iowa, has given Yara five business days to
meet or beat CF’s offer. Yara $4.1 billion buyout deal was announced
last month. Chemical maker CF Industries Holdings Inc., based in Deerfield last week offered to buy Terra Industries Inc. in a cash and
stock deal valued at $4.7 billion.
