Payment venture raises equity, debt for $37M buy
Posted on November 18, 2009 at 8:21 am
Pace Payment Systems, an ambitious Burton Hills-based payment processing company, has raised almost $19 million in debt and equity, money that will help it merge with a California company. Pace is led by former Prime Office Products CEO Paul Christians and backed by Claritas Capital. Check out its site here.
SEE ALSO: Pace’s SEC filing detailing its offering
permalink | Comment on this post
Pharos in RFID acquisition
Posted on November 16, 2009 at 3:07 pmPrivate-equity firm Pharos Capital, which has offices here and in Dallas, has acquired a Kansas-based company specializing in radio frequence identification systems for the logistics market.
permalink | Comment on this post
Fortress gets its price
Posted on November 10, 2009 at 9:01 am
But the majority owner of Brookdale Senior Living didn’t get as much as it could have just a few weeks ago. The Chicago-based private-equity group will sell 11 milion shares at $16, a fifth lower than where the stock (Ticker: BKD) traded in the middle of October.
permalink | Comment on this post
Fifth Third launches private-equity lending unit
Posted on October 28, 2009 at 9:51 amFifth Third, the fifth-largest bank by Middle Tennessee deposits, has launched a division to lend to companies sponsored by private-equity firms.
permalink | Comment on this post
Local i-bankers in on $278M private-equity takeout
Posted on October 20, 2009 at 1:56 pmThe health care investment banking team at Raymond James & Associates is advising Allion Healthcare (Ticker: ALLI) on its planned sale to Miami-based private equity firm H.I.G. Capital. The deal is worth $278 million and is expected to close early next year, but two law firms already are asking whether Allion’s board acted properly. Check out their notices here and here.
permalink | Comment on this post
Blue Horseshoe loves health care companies
Posted on October 14, 2009 at 12:22 pmBuyout firms prefer defensive sectors:
Almost two thirds of buyout firms are shifting to deals in defensive sectors such as health as they face the threat of losing control of their companies to banks, a survey by accountancy firm Grant Thornton has found.
Private equity firms are struggling with the debt they piled on their portfolio companies at the height of the boom, as a downturn in sales forces many firms into difficult discussions with the banks.
Healthcare and support services companies will be the most attractive to buyout firms as they search for deals that provide steady cash flow, Grant Thornton said on Monday.
“A growing number of private equity executives feel compelled to shift their focus to those sectors that are popular with the institutional investors that need to provide the finance for new acquisitions,” head of private equity, Mo Merali, said in a statement.
permalink | Comment on this post
Twitter’s value has quadrupled in less than a year
Posted on September 24, 2009 at 1:31 pm
The Journal reports that the Internet messaging sensation is set to snag $100 million from various investors, including mutual fund house T. Rowe Price. The deal values Twitter at about $1 billion, some four time the number insiders say it was deemed to be worth earlier this year.
permalink | Comment on this post
Franklin hunts for private-equity manager
Posted on September 18, 2009 at 11:50 am
The City of Franklin has issued an RFP for an investment manager to handle up to $2 million of its pension plan in a private-equity fund of funds.
permalink | Comment on this post
Metro pension managers consider hedge funds
Posted on August 26, 2009 at 7:29 am
The team overseeing Metro’s Employee Benefit Trust Fund will decide next month whether to devote up to $170 million of the money they manage to hedge funds. Chief Investment Officer Fadi BouSamra, who has been pushing to diversify the fund’s asset base since taking over two years ago, also has given a Vermont firm more money to manage and will next month launch the search for a new consultant.
SEE ALSO: Venture Nashville’s note on the state committing serious cash to private equity
permalink | Comment on this post
Another FDIC fee as soon as this month?
Posted on August 20, 2009 at 1:40 pm
After the massive failure of Colonial Bancgroup, the regulator may soon hit up banks around the country for another “special assessment” to boost its deposit reserve fund. See our recent story on this topic here.
On a related note, the FDIC may next week ease restrictions on private-equity investors who want to buy into failed or failing banks.
permalink | Comment on this post
State allocates $150M for private equity
Posted on August 19, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Milt Capps has caught up with Lamar Villere, the director of Tennessee’s new private-equity investment program, who has committed a total of $150 million to three funds, including one of the firms that recently helped take Emdeon public. No Tennessee firms have been picked so far, but that may soon change, according to Villere.
[T]wo or three further appointments will be made this calendar year. Toward that end, he said he is in conversation each business day with potential fund managers. About once a week, those contacts include conversations with Tennessee-based fund managers.
permalink | Comment on this post
Tortola into its first turnaround
Posted on August 12, 2009 at 7:27 am
Tortola Partners, the turnaround firm formed this spring by Steve Curnutte and Robert Gonzales, is getting to grips with its first portfolio company, an aluminum producer in Alexandria, Tenn. Gonzales, pictured here, is the company’s chief restructuring officer.
“As more and more aluminum processors have filed Chapter 11, or simply gone out of business, scrap dealers have become reluctant to extend trade credit, making it tough for otherwise healthy companies like TriStar,” said Mr. Gonzales. “Now that we’ve filed to reorganize, our trading partners can be confident that obligations going forward won’t get stuck as pre-petition debts.”
permalink | Comment on this post
Thomas Nelson alums launch specialty private-equity firm
Posted on August 5, 2009 at 7:21 am
Joseph Moore, the former president of C.R. Gibson and son of Thomas Nelson legend Sam Moore, has teamed with the book publisher’s former CFO Joe Powers to launch DesignWorks, a private-equity firm focused on the stationery and gifts sector and backed primarily by Moore family money.
The duo is targeting established companies in need of growth capital and has its first deal in the bag, taking a majority stake in an Atlanta candle maker.
“It’s a tough retail market, and we don’t expect much improvement over the next year,” said Moore. “This puts great pressure on many of the small, entrepreneurial companies in the gift and stationery industry.”
SEE ALSO: Details on Powers’ career and Thomas Nelson’s ill-fated 1990s foray into the gifts business
permalink | Comment on this post
Private equity watches, waits
Posted on July 1, 2009 at 11:36 amBuyout funds and other private-equity investors continue to raise money, but they also continue to slow the pace of putting that cash to work. In the health care sector so important to Nashville, the money invested in the second quarter was down 75 percent from a year ago.
The decrease in private equity investment is not due to a lack of available capital, which remains at an all time high of $400 billion. PE investors continue to raise capital and currently have enough dry powder to more than support the combined deal activity of 2004, 2005 and 2006 with the use of moderate leverage.
Check out PitchBook’s full set of numbers here.
permalink | Comment on this post
Credit card venture wants to raise millions
Posted on June 15, 2009 at 12:35 pm
The team behind edo Interactive, which last month officially launched its venture marketing prepaid debit and credit cards, is looking to raise $8 million via a private offering.
Recent Comments
In our good state a select few run the place, 20 yrs ago and today....
Southernindie…Unfortunat ely you have suffered a dibilitating...
And…Karl (Marx) Dean is spending one billion dollars...
Someone explain the difference between short stay and observation...
Watching the Chairman of Starwood Hotels yesterday on CNBC...
Funny how the Union’s feel about taxes. They complained about their...
Where is it?
An absolutely ugly structure, which I have always thought did not take...
Too bad that ATT changed the look of the building so that it no longer...
Yeah, well, look at the TN Legislature of good ol’ boys and the...
As long as the red rules, we will be far behind other states. The GOP does...
Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn: I don’t know what...