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It has been a busy day for a couple of Chicago private equity firms.
Chicago-based buyout firm Waud Capital has closed its third fund, receiving $463 million in commitments from new and existing investors. Its initial goal was $350 million. Get the full story »
Deerfield-based payroll services provider Celergo has raised $15 million from a North Carolina private equity firm.
Celergo, which caters to companies with operations in multiple countries, already operates in 97 countries and also has offices in London and Singapore. The financing from Charlotte-based Frontier Capital will help Celergo expand its sales, marketing and service delivery. Get the full story »
Freedom Communications Inc. was expected to receive bids for its 100 newspapers and eight TV stations from a number of suitors before a Thursday deadline set by the company. Among firms considered likely to make bids for parts of Freedom were Tribune Co. and MediaNews Group Inc., as well as two Los Angeles-based private equity firms. Get the full story>>
A Wheeling-based company that provides laundry services to area hospitals has been sold by its private-equity owner to a strategic buyer based in the United Kingdom.
New York-based Blue Wolf Capital Partners LLC said Tuesday it has sold Wheeling-based Healthcare Laundry Systems, whose clients include Swedish Covenant Hospital, NorthShore University HealthSystem and Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, to Crothall Services Group. Get the full story »
Rosemont-based private equity firm Wynnchurch Capital Ltd., whose portfolio companies supply such products as orange traffic barrels and crash-test dummies, said it has raised $603 million for its third fund, exceeding its target of $500 million.
Wynnchurch now manages $1.1 billion of capital. Its previous fund was raised in 2006 and had capital commitments of $350 million. Get the full story »
Private equity deal flow is bouncing back, with the value of deals so far this year up 88 percent from last year, lifted by a $9.4 billion (5.7 billion pounds) deal by Blackstone Group LP to buy U.S. shopping malls from Australia’s Centro Properties.
Figures from Thomson Reuters show that private equity-backed mergers and acquisitions have totaled $36.3 billion for the year to date. Get the full story »
GTCR, one of Chicago’s biggest private equity firms, today announced the closing of its tenth buyout fund, with more than $3.25 billion of investor commitments.
The fund had an initial target of $3 billion.
“Fund X is the largest in our firm’s 30-year history, and one of our quickest to raise,” GTCR Principal Phil Canfield said in a statement. Get the full story »
Sara Lee Corp. has rejected a takeover offer valued between $18.70 and $20 a share from a private equity group led by Apollo Global Management LP, a source familiar with the situation said Wednesday.
Sara Lee has been weighing splitting up the company into separate meat and beverage units, or accepting a takeover offer. Sara Lee’s board was scheduled to meet Wednesday and Thursday to weigh its options, a source previously told Reuters. Get the full story »
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. is potentially interested in Sara Lee and could possibly partner with an interested party as bidders emerge for the food group, two sources familiar with the situation said on Wednesday. Get the full story »
Lake Forest-based private equity firm Green Courte Partners LLC has acquired six age-restricted, manufactured housing communities in central Florida.
The firm, which targets niche real estate sectors, said the purchase includes more than 1,850 home sites that are nearly 100 percent occupied.
Green Courte now owns more than 18,000 home sites in 48 communities in 10 states. Get the full story »
JBS, the world’s top beef processor, could team up with a group of buyout firms as it seeks alternatives to win control of Sara Lee Corp., a source with knowledge of the plans told Reuters Tuesday.
Private equity firms have pursued Sao Paulo-based JBS since reports about a potential bid for Sara Lee arose late last year, the source said. No accord over a joint bid has been reached, said the source, who declined to be quoted by name because the talks remain private. Get the full story »
Chicago-based private equity firm Waud Capital Partners said one of its portfolio companies, Cincinnati-based CarePoint Partners, has acquired ivA Lifetec, a Houston health-care services company.
The deal marks CarePoint’s 10th acquisition in three years and its entry into the Houston market.
Waud formed CarePoint in 2007 to provide home infusion therapy, which allows patients to receive medications using intravenous, subcutaneous and epidural methods without the inconvenience or cost of a hospital visit. CarePoint provides home infusion therapy and specialty pharmacy services in eight states; Illinois isn’t among them. Get the full story »
A Moen Single Handle Bath Faucet at a Home Depot in New York, July 27, 2007. Fortune Brands Inc. is the holding company for Moen faucets, among other products. (Andrew Burton/Bloomberg News)
Several major private equity firms are considering buying Fortune Brands’ home products unit after the company announced plans to spin off the $3 billion division, five people familiar with the matter said.
Some of the large buyout firms, including Blackstone Group and Bain Capital, are studying the potential of either making offers for the entire unit or acquiring a stake in the business as part of the planned spin-off, the people said.
Such considerations are at a preliminary stage and it is unclear if Fortune would be interested in selling to buyout firms, which would incur heavy taxes, as opposed to a tax-free spinoff, the people said. Get the full story »
Chicago private equity firm Water Street Healthcare Partners this morning said it has purchased a subsidiary of developer of oral health products for an undisclosed sum.
Water Street said its purchase of OraPharma Inc. from New Jersey health and drug product giant Johnson & Johnson will “expand its group of companies specializing in life sciences, medical devices, distribution and health care services.” Get the full story »
Chicago-based Nuveen Investments, which serves the wealthy and institutions, has completed its acquisition of U.S. Bancorp’s FAF Advisors.
The deal, announced in July, called for U.S. Bancorp to get a 9.5 percent stake in Nuveen as well as an $80 million cash payment.
Nuveen is a portfolio company of Madison Dearborn Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm. Get the full story »
