apollo management posts
FeedPosted Dec 10th 2010 2:15PM by Tom Taulli (RSS feed)
Filed under: Private Equity
Beckman Coulter (BEC), a top medical diagnostic instruments company, has been public over 20 years. But it looks like its days of independence may soon be over. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Beckman is in the process of selling itself. So far in today's trading, the shares are up 27% to $72.57, with the market cap at about $5 billion.
Beckman's products span many categories like biomedical testing and lab automation. The installed base is roughly 200,000. In fact, a large portion of the revenues come from recurring sources (such as refilling supplies for the machines). In other words, Beckman has sturdy cash flow stream.
Continue reading Is Beckman Coulter Buyout Bait?
Posted Mar 23rd 2010 3:20PM by Tom Taulli (RSS feed)
Filed under: Private Equity

Even with the rebound in the economy, the problems at Zale (
ZLC) continue. The jewelry chain has posted a string of losses over the past couple years and is having liquidity issues. Keep in mind that the company recently indicated that there may not be enough cash flow to meet the operating needs for 2010.
So to deal with the situation, Zale hired investment bank, Peter J. Solomon, which has a strong background in turnarounds.
Continue reading Zale Looks for a Private-Equity Lifeline
Posted Apr 4th 2009 1:40PM by Tom Taulli (RSS feed)
Filed under: Private Equity
If you want a view into the travails of the private equity industry, you can check out the shares of AP Alternative Assets, which is operated by Apollo Management. Traded on the Euronext, the price has gone from $20 in 2006 to $1.
According to a piece in this week's Barron's [a paid publication], AP Alternative Assets could be headed for even more trouble. Keep in mind that the fund focused on the frothy deals of 2006 to 2007 (although, there are some 2008 transactions). This means there are positions in ailing companies like Harrah's, Realogy, and Claire's Stores. Yikes!
Continue reading Apollo Management: A crash landing?
Posted Feb 13th 2009 11:40AM by Tom Taulli (RSS feed)
Filed under: Private Equity
In the world of private equity and M&A, Henry Silverman is a giant. And, at 68 years old, he's getting back into the game. That is, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal [a paid publication], he has joined Apollo Management as the chief operating officer.
With the credit crunch and terrible economy, Apollo has suffered a variety of setbacks over the past two years, such as the bankruptcy of Linens 'N Things and the legal battle over Huntsman (NYSE: HUN). So, the firm definitely needs a boost.
Continue reading Legendary dealmaker joins Apollo
Posted Jan 25th 2009 5:10PM by Tom Taulli (RSS feed)
Filed under: Private Equity
The share prices of private equity firms like Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) and Fortress Investment Group (NYSE: FIG) tell the story; that is, Wall Street thinks the sector is virtually dead.
Well, it might be an exaggeration. In fact, there are actually some signs of life. Just look at Apollo Management LP. According to Reuters, the firm was able to pull off a miracle by raising a whopping $14.8 billion fund.
OK, with the credit crunch still in full force and the economy lagging, why are investors doing this? Aren't they already overloaded on alternative assets? Hey, when making money in this game, it's about finding an entry point in a down cycle.
Keep in mind that it took Apollo about 16 months to raise the fund. Along the way, the firm put the money to work, with the main focus on credit securities.
What's even more amazing is that -- during this period -- Apollo has suffered a variety of recent blow-ups, such as the botched deal for Huntsman (NYSE: HUN) and the bankruptcy of Linens 'n Things. Other deals, like Harrah's, look dicey.
Yet, the new Apollo fund is encouraging, indicating that private equity operators are willing to take risks, despite the pervasive doom and gloom.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook
and The Streetsmart Guide to Short Selling: Techniques the Pros Use to Profit in Any Market
. He is also the founder of BizEquity, a valuation website.
Posted Jan 7th 2009 12:47PM by Tom Taulli (RSS feed)
Filed under: Private Equity, Dow Chemical (DOW), Blackstone Group L.P (BX)
It's been brutal for the chemicals industry. Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW), for example, lost a multi-billion dollar joint venture deal with Kuwait. Then there was the implosion of the Huntsman (NYSE: HUN) buyout, which singed private equity operator, Apollo Management LP.
Now, there's another victim: Lyondell Chemical. The company, which is part of the LyondellBasell Industries AF empire, filed for bankruptcy.
Lyondell Chemical, a maker of polymers and petrochemicals, couldn't manage the price deflation as well as harsh materials costs. Although, the main problem was a $12.7 billion merger in 2007, which resulted in large amounts of debt.
Continue reading Private equity tries to feast on Lyondell blow-up
Posted Dec 15th 2008 11:50AM by Tom Taulli (RSS feed)
Filed under: Law, Private Equity
It's been the key question for Huntsman Corporation (NYSE: HUN): Deal or no deal?
Now we know. This week, the company reached an agreement with its private equity sponsor, Apollo Management, to end its $6.5 billion buyout transaction.
For the past six months, the parties have been embroiled in heated litigation with Huntsman getting the edge as the Delaware court ruled that Apollo had to use best efforts to close the deal . As a result, Apollo's settlement is not cheap. The fees come to about $1 billion.
Although, it's a good deal for both parties. Apollo could have lost even more money if the merger agreement had been enforced. As seen with the collapse of the BCE (NYSE: BCE) deal, there is no appetite for multi-billion-dollar deals. And since Huntsman is in a highly cyclical business – specialty chemicals -- it would have likely made it difficult to justify a buyout.
The dispute is far from over, though. Huntsman is still pursuing a lawsuit with its bankers -- Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank -- on the deal. In other words, Huntsman may even snag even more money from the broken deal.
Still, Wall Street isn't too thrilled. In today's session, Huntsman's shares are down 44% to $3.27 by midday trading.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook
and The Streetsmart Guide to Short Selling: Techniques the Pros Use to Profit in Any Market
. He is also the founder of BizEquity, a valuation website.
Posted Oct 9th 2008 1:41PM by Tom Taulli (RSS feed)
Filed under: Private Equity
Back in the summer of 2007, Apollo Management LP struck a typical private equity buyout. The deal called for paying $6.5 billion for Huntsman (NYSE: HUN), a chemicals company. In fact, the deal provided lots of synergy since Apollo already controlled a variety of similar businesses (through an entity called Hexion).
Well, of course, this was the peak of the private equity boom – and the credit markets began to unwind fairly quickly. What's more, the fundamentals of Huntsman started to weaken.
As a result, Apollo tried to extricate itself from the deal. And this meant a tough litigation fight.
Of course, this can be pretty a dicey thing. That is, the Delaware court ruled against Apollo and there was an order to get the deal done.
Yet again, this was bad news for Apollo (which has other faltering deals, such as Linens 'N Things). Actually, some of the top private equity firms have been taking some major hits lately, such as the TPG Group with its Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) disaster.
So, to deal with the court ruling, Apollo has agreed to pony up $540 million to close the Huntsman transaction. Interestingly enough, Apollo has also agreed to give up its lucrative fees (amounting to $100 million or so).
This means that Huntsman should be on firm footing (especially in terms of its solvency). And, something else: the banks on the deal – which include Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank – will have to raise the necessary funding, which will likely mean losing several billion on the transaction.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook
and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements
. He is also the founder of BizEquity, a valuation website
Posted Aug 16th 2008 9:40AM by Trey Thoelcke (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI), Kohl's Corp (KSS), , Abercrombie and Fitch (ANF), Nordstrom, Inc (JWN)
Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:
Also, Jim Cramer warns against bearishness on the financials and also suggests that the collapse of commodities will buoy earings.
For more highlights from this week, see: Wal-Mart, JCPenney, MBIA, Deere, Applied Materials and others
Upcoming quarterly reports include Lowe's (NYSE: LOW), Home Depot (NYSE: HD), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), Target (NYSE: TGT), La-Z-Boy (NYSE: LZB), Saks (NYSE: SKS), BJ's Wholesale (NYSE: BJ), Limited Brands (NYSE: LTD), Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS), Burger King (NYSE: BKC), Gap (NYSE: GPS), Heinz (NYSE: HNZ), and Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU).
Visit AOL Money & Finance for more earnings coverage.
Posted Aug 15th 2008 10:20AM by Tom Taulli (RSS feed)
Filed under: Earnings Reports, Private Equity, Initial Public Offerings
GSTrue, which is operated by Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), is a new-fangled marketplace to trade privately-held interests. One of its high-profile listings is Apollo Management LP., a top-tier private equity firm.
Unfortunately, the shares have lost more than 40% over the past year. Of course, this has been the treatment for many other private equity players because of the severe credit crunch.
According to the latest quarterly report, Apollo suffered a loss of $96 million, compared to a net profit of $144 million in the same period a year ago. The internal rate of return (IRR) fell from 42% to 21% over the quarter.
Moreover, Apollo is involved in litigation on its botched deal for Huntsman Corp (NYSE: HUN). And there was a 20% write down on the investment in Harrah's.
Despite all this, Apollo still appears to be on track for an IPO – to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Don't expect it to be easy.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook
and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements
. He also operates MergerBook.com.
Posted Jul 21st 2008 3:17PM by Tom Taulli (RSS feed)
Filed under: Private Equity, Initial Public Offerings

Rexnord Holdings has been busy with dealmaking over the past few years. For the most part, the company is an amalgam of $1.3 billion in M&A deals.
In 2006, Apollo Management bought Rexnord from
The Carlyle Group. Seven months later, Rexnord merged with Zurn. And things aren't over. Now, Rexnord has filed to go public.
Basically, there are two key pieces to the company. First, there is the power transformation division, which manufactures gears, bearings, seals and conveying equipment. Next, Rexnord has a water management division. This involves the handling of professional grade plumbing and water control products.
About 85% of the total sales of Rexnord come from products where it has the leading market share positions.
A key to Rexnord is its strong distribution network. For example, the power transmission business has more than 400 distributor customers and 2,200 branches. As for the water management part, there are 550 independent sales reps.
For the year ended March 31, 2008, Rexnord posted net sales of $1.9 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $382.7 million. Since 2004, the growth rate for sales has been about 27% (when you include acquisitions).
The proposed symbol for Rexnord's IPO is "RXN." What's more, you can locate the prospectus at the
SEC website.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook
and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements
. He also operates MergerBook.com.
Posted Jun 3rd 2008 8:30AM by Laurie Pasternack (RSS feed)
Filed under: Newspapers, Magazines, Microsoft (MSFT), Yahoo! (YHOO), Intel (INTC),
MAJOR PAPERS:
- As it prepares to report its first quarter results, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (NYSE: LEH) may need to raise $3B to $4B to support its balance sheet, meaning its first quarter loss could be higher than the anticipated $300M, according to the Wall Street Journal. The capital raise would likely be through new common shares.
- Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) shareholders are suing the company over an employee severance plan they say was intended to help block its takeover by Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), adding between $462M and $2.1B to Microsoft's costs,the Wall Street Journal reported.
- The Financial Times reported that Momentive Performance Materials, a company owned by private-equity firm Apollo Management, has exercised its option to suspend cash payments on part of its debt.
- As manufacturers push to compete in the "netbook" category, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) admitted to shortages of its Atom microprocessor. In an interview with with the Financial Times, Intel's executive vice-president, Sean Maloney, said the company had received more orders than expected for the low-power processor.
Posted May 27th 2008 4:02PM by Tom Taulli (RSS feed)
Filed under: Private Equity, Blackstone Group L.P (BX)
Chemtura Corporation (NYSE: CEM), a chemical company, is the result of a merger of Crompton Corporation and Great Lakes Chemical Corporation back in 2005. Since then, the company has been "right-sizing" and "right-shaping" its organization with divestitures as well as more acquisitions. Some of the company's core competencies include plastic additives, seed treatments, pool and spa products, and urethane polymers.
Well, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal [subscription], it looks like The Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) and Apollo Management LP are interested in purchasing Chemtura. True, it sounds like the talks are preliminary; but at the same time, private equity firms are hungry for deals, especially for valuations of $2 to $4 billion.
Blackstone and Apollo are highly experienced in the chemical space, and have had fairly good success. If anything, Chemtura is likely to find synergy with other portfolio companies.
Continue reading Chemtura rises on Blackstone, Apollo buyout chatter
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