It's been mostly sporadic, but we are seeing some deals in the private equity world. In fact, today there was a fairly decent transaction: Goodman Global (NYSE: GGL) agreed to a $1.8 billion buyout. The buyer is Hellman & Friedman LLC.
Goodman manufactures heating and air-conditioning systems, and while impressive in the numbers, the deal wasn't much of a surprise. After all, the company recently announced that it was exploring strategic alternatives.
With the soft U.S. economy and ongoing troubles in real estate, the situation had been lackluster with Goodman. But, as a private entity, the company will have some shelter to make some changes (such as cutting costs and perhaps moving operations offshore).
Interestingly enough, Goodman went private back in 2004 (and came back to the public markets in 2006).
In today's trading, Goodman's stock is up 11% to $24.25.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook
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