Industrial/Manufacturing

News

Huntsman, Hexion Saga Continues

The tango between Hexion Specialty Chemicals and Huntsman, a process tght started about a year ago, goes on.

Needham Appoints Private Placements Head

Peter Bennett, formerly head of private placements at Deutsche Bank, Piper Jaffray and Lazard Middle Market, has been tapped to lead the private placement group at Needham & Co.

Hicks Seals $3.2B Plastics Packaging IPO

Hicks Acquisition Co., a SPAC established by private equity financier Thomas Hicks, said Monday that it has reached an agreement to go public with Graham Packaging Holdings in a $3.2 billion transaction with The Blackstone Group, marking potentially the largest deal to be executed between a blank check entity and an industrial company.

Heightened Worries For GM, Ford, Chrysler

Credit default swaps, a market on Wall Street where corporate debt investors can buy protection against default, continue to take a harsher look at Chrysler, Ford and GM amid ongoing signs of a slowing economy and rapid gains in oil prices that are sapping demand for their products.

JHT Delivered To Bankruptcy Court

JHT Holdings Inc., a Kenosha, Wisc.-based delivery service provider to North American commercial vehicle manufacturers, filed for bankruptcy protection on June 24.

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Articles

Extreme M&A

The exploration of strategic alternatives has gone extreme. Extreme sports, that is. The popularity of apparel and merchandise geared towards people who participate in extreme sports or action sports-unconventional sporting activities like skateboarding, snowboarding, in-line skating and BMX biking-is yielding new business for investment banking firms in time for the summer recreation rush.

Balance Sheet Minefield

Sales have swooned and home prices have plummeted while inventories of homes--new and existing--have ballooned. At the same time, credit conditions have tightened and the economy has seen a dramatic slowdown, leading restructuring professionals like Ron Greenspan of FTI Consulting to believe there is more trouble down the road for homebuilders.

A Package Deal

Hicks Acquisition Co., a Dallas special purpose acquisition company established by private equity financier Thomas Hicks, reached a definitive agreement to go public with Graham Packaging Holdings in a $3.2 billion transaction with The Blackstone Group, marking one of the largest transactions to be executed between a blank check entity and industrial company.

M&Ain't

By now, it's a well-worn tale, this one relayed by an investment banker: A private equity firm in the process of acquiring a company in a deal that would normally take six months will now spend a year hoping to get it done. But at least they're trying. Extended deal time frames and the falloff by private equity firms in buying companies have been the hallmark of the first half of this year, and while industry participants predict a slight uptick, overall not much will change in the remaining six months of the year. Regardless, Wall Street banks, which have laid off thousands of bankers due to the market slowdown, will continue to feel pressure in their M&A business the remainder of the year.

US Auto Wreck?

GM and Ford share prices are trading at 52-week lows and investors have found that bonds from auto makers are tough to sell. At the same time, credit default swaps for both companies are at levels suggesting that they will file for bankruptcy within the next five years.

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