private equity news stories on Newser

Private Equity Can Ruin Firms —and Still Profit

Matt Cantor — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:03:26 CST

Mitt Romney's opponents have slapped Bain Capital over layoffs, but private equity actually has little overall effect on job numbers. Instead, the crimes of such companies are centered on the way they make money, writes James Surowiecki in the New Yorker . What we should be concerned about is the companies'...

Romney's Bain Had Loads of Profit, Bankruptcies

Kevin Spak — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:47:01 CST

Mitt Romney has touted his time at Bain Capital as proof that he's the "turnaround artist" America needs, but an analysis of the companies he took over shows that may not be entirely true. The Wall Street Journal looked at 77 businesses Bain invested in under Romney's leadership and found...

Yahoo Attracts Many Suitors, Weak Offers

Mark Russell — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 06:16:00 CST

The good news: There are plenty of suitors shopping for the 19.9% minority stake Yahoo is peddling. The bad news: Everybody's looking for a deal. A Microsoft-linked private equity group has put in a bid that values the onetime behemoth at $20.6 billion, reports the Guardian —less than...

Carlyle Group Files for IPO

Kevin Spak — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 10:10:52 CDT

The Carlyle Group is going public. The mammoth private equity company has filed paperwork with the SEC for what’s planned as a $100 million initial public offering, the Washington Post reports. The move will open its books to public scrutiny, shining a light on the array of 270 disparate businesses...

News Corp Trying to Sell Off MySpace

Kevin Spak — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 10:00:03 CDT

Remember when News Corp shelled out more than a half-billion dollars to buy MySpace? Well, now it’s trying to dump the once-popular social networking site, and it’s starting the bidding at more than $100 million, a source tells Reuters . The company expects to have five or more bids by the...

Facebook Deal Sparks Broad SEC Probe

Kevin Spak — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 12:36:52 CST

Goldman Sachs’ deal with Facebook might bring the SEC down on all manner of privately held stock purchases. The regulatory body has begun an investigation to see whether it needs to rewrite disclosure rules for privately held firms, and the very line dividing public and private firms, sources tell the...

AOL Weighing Yahoo Takeover

Rob Quinn — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 03:42:58 CDT

Takeover rumors are swirling around Yahoo again. AOL is in talks with several private equity firms over a possible "reverse merger" between the two Internet giants that would see AOL chief Tim Armstrong heading up the combined company, insiders tell the Wall Street Journal . One scenario being considered is for...

Sold! Burger King Goes for $4B

Kate Schwartz — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:02:07 CDT

Burger King got itself a whopper of a deal: The country's second-largest hamburger chain will sell itself to private equity firm 3G Capital for $24 a share. Final price tag: about $4 billion, reports Bloomberg . That price is 46% more than Burger King’s $16.45 close on Tuesday, before reports...

For Sale: Burger King

Rob Quinn — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 06:32:00 CDT

Burger King wants it its way, right away: The world's second-biggest burger chain is looking for a buyer to take it off the stock market. Burger King execs have been in talks with various private equity firms in recent weeks, sources tell the Wall Street Journal , naming British firm 3i...