| Banking and Finance |
| Huntsman gets $6 bln approach from Apollo |
| Banking and Finance |
| LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. private equity firm Apollo Management unveiled a $6 billion bid proposal for Huntsman Corp on Wednesday, 8 percent higher than a deal accepted by the U.S. chemical company last week.
Huntsman, whose products are used in paints, footwear and cleaning products, said the new proposal was from Apollo's Hexion Specialty Chemicals Inc and was worth $27.25 per share.
On June 26, privately owned Dutch chemicals maker Basell (BASL.UL: Quote, Profile, Research) said it had agreed to buy Huntsman for $5.6 billion excluding debt, or $25.25 per share, in a bid to strengthen its position as a global chemicals group.
Huntsman shares, at $18.90 before news of the Basell deal, closed at $24.40 on Tuesday. U.S. markets are closed for a holiday on Wednesday.
Basell, which would not comment on Apollo's offer, is entitled to a $200 million break-up fee from Huntsman if it walks away from the deal, Huntsman said, adding Hexion had offered to fund $100 million of this payment and has funding in place for its proposed acquisition.
HSBC analyst Hassan Ahmed said at the time of the Basell deal that it represented great value for Huntsman shareholders as it valued the firm at about 8.6 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA).
Basell, owned by privately-held U.S. industrial group Access Industries, is a leading producer of polypropylene used in textiles, reusable containers and laboratory equipment. Its bid for Huntsman is worth $9.6 billion including debt.
Access itself is run by Len Blavatnik, a U.S. businessman of Russian origin estimated by Forbes to be the world's 40th richest person in 2006 with a $7.0 billion fortune.
Entities controlled by private-equity fund MatlinPatterson and the Huntsman family, who collectively own 57 percent of Huntsman's common stock, have agreed to the deal with Basell.
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| Posted by crawler 7520 hours ago | Permalink | Comment? |
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| Blackstone to buy Hilton for $20 billion |
| Banking and Finance |
| LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. private equity firm Blackstone Group agreed on Tuesday to buy Hilton Hotels Corp. for about $20 billion plus debt, the richest in a series of recent private equity offers for hotel companies.
Under terms of deal, Blackstone will pay $47.50 per share in cash, a 32 percent premium to Tuesday's closing price, for one of the most prominent global hotel brand names.
Ahead of the post-close announcement, shares of Hilton had risen 6.4 percent to close at $36.05 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Options volatility and volume in Hilton stock was well above average before the close of trade on Tuesday, said Paul Foster, an options strategist at theflyonthewall.com.
Blackstone, which raised $4.1 billion in an initial public offering late last month, said it intends to invest in the Hilton properties and brands globally to grow the business.
The hotel industry is enjoying a multiyear boom as robust demand has allowed hoteliers to steadily raise rates. The upbeat market environment, supported by limited construction of new hotels, has made lodging assets hot commodities.
Hilton is worth $20.1 billion, based on 424 million shares on a diluted basis at the end of March, at the price Blackstone is paying. Hilton reported more than $7 billion of debt during its January-March quarterly results.
A spokesman for Blackstone said the group was not revealing the debt and equity breakdown of the deal at this stage.
Many investors think the notoriously cyclical U.S. hotel industry has more room to grow and could provide risk-adjusted returns that outperform other asset classes, according to Thomas Callahan, an analyst with hospitality industry tracking firm PKF Consulting in San Francisco.
http://www.Blackstone.com
By Gina Keating
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| Posted by crawler 7520 hours ago | Permalink | Comment? |
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