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overview
activity
fiascos
landmarks
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activity
This page highlights particular funds that are active
in the media sector.
It covers -
More
comprehensive coverage is available on the Caslon Analytics
site here.
Apax Partners
Apax operates across the US, Europe and Israel. It boasts
that it has raised or advised some US$20bn for "long-term
equity financing to build and strengthen world-class companies"
through "a multi-stage equity investment strategy,
investing in late venture, growth capital and buyouts".
Apax's funds invest in the "Tech & Telecom",
Retail & Consumer, Media, Healthcare and Financial
& Business Services sectors.
Apax funds have taken stakes in CME, PCM Uitgevers, Yell
Directories, VNU World Directories, Incisive Media and
MediMedia.
Its corporate site is here.
Apollo Management
Apollo Management (aka Apollo Advisers) was founded by
Milken protege Leon Black in 1990. It gained a profile
by buying junk bonds (notably the debt portfolio of insurer
Executive Life, with a face value of US$6 billion but
acquired for US$3 billion).
Involvement in the media, communication and entertainment
industries has embraced Telemundo, Intelsat, the AMC cinema
chain and casino group Harrah's Entertainment (acquired
in partnership with Texas Pacific for US$27.8 billion
in 2006).
Bain Capital
Bain Capital, established in 1984, encompasses a range
of finance sector operations. It claims to be "one
of the world's leading private investment firms with approximately
$40 billion in assets under management". Bain Capital's
"family of funds includes private equity, venture
capital, public equity and leveraged debt assets".
Enterprises in the Bain orbit include Houghton Mifflin,
Cumulus Media Partners, Advertising Directory Solutions,
Warner Music, ProSiebenSat.1 and Canadian Yellow Pages,
along with publications such as American Physical
Therapy.
Its corporate site is here.
Blackstone
Blackstone was founded in 1985 by former Lehman Bros executive
Peter Peterson and Stephen Schwarzman, raising investment
funds in the late 1980s. As of 2006 it boasted a US$15.6bn
private equity fund that it identified as the largest
in the world
Media and entertainment holdings include Houghton Mifflin,
Freedom, Cumulus Media Partners and Universal Studios
Florida.
Its corporate site is here.
Candover
Candover was established in 1980, with a listing on the
LSE in 1984. Its focus is on Belgium, Luxembourg, France,
Germany, Italy, Scandinavia and Spain. As of 2006 it had
invested in 128 deals with a total value of over €35bn.
It boasts that "almost 90% of companies we have backed
have achieved successful exits via stock market listings
or trade sales".
Candover's investment trust has taken stakes in UPC Norway,
Bertelsmann Springer, Kluwer Academic Publishers and Bureau
van Dijk Electronic Publishing.
Its corporate site is here.
Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group boasts US$44.3bn under management, with 42
funds covering "investment disciplines" - buyouts,
venture & growth capital, real estate and leveraged
finance. It was founded in 1987 and as of 2006 claimed
to have invested US$22.4bn in 528 transactions, including
US$1.7bn of its own capital. In recent years it has replaced
KKR as a target for conspiracists and anti-globalisation
enthusiasts.
Investments have included Aprovia, Baker & Taylor,
Dex, VNU, Casema and MediMedia.
Its corporate site is here.
Cinven
Cinven was founded in 1977, with a focus on European enterprises.
As of 2006 it had invested in buyouts with a value in
excess of €55bn. In 2002 Cinven closed its latest
fund (some €4.4bn), with over 100 institutional investors
from 19 nations.
Cinven has funded deals involving Hodder Headline, ABC
Cinemas, Odeon cinemas, LH Media, IPC magazines, Kluwer
Academic Publishers, VNU World Directories, Newsquest,
Aprovia, MediMedia and BertelsmannSpringer.
Its corporate site is here.
CVC
CVC identifies itself as "an independent buy-out
group", founded in 1981. As of 2006 it had raised
over US$18bn in Europe (US$15.5bn) and Asia. It boasts
that it has acquired over 220 enterprises in Europe for
a total consideration of some €61.9bn. Its European
portfolio as of 2006 comprised of 38 companies, with "a
combined transaction size of over €32.2 billion".
CVC Asia Pacific, formed in 1999, currently handles US$2.7bn
private equity funds, having acquired 17 companies in
the region for over US$4.3bn.
Stakes in Europe, Australia and elsewhere include PBL
Media, Veen Bosch & Keuning, SEAT Pagine Gialle and
Formula One rights management.
Its corporate site is here.
Hicks Muse Tate & Furst
Interests badged as HM Capital Partners, Hicks & Haas,
Hicks Muse Tate & Furst (HMTF) and Lion Capital trace
their origins to 1977. HM Capital is currently investing
and managing a US$1.6 billion fund.
Funding by the 'HMTF' entities has encompassed LIN TV,
Chancellor Media, Capstar Communications, SFX Broadcasting,
United Artsts cinemas, STC Television, Regal Cinemas and
Clear Channel.
Its corporate site is here.
KKR
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts - variously tagged as 'barbarians
at the gate' and 'pigs at the trough' - was founded in
1976 by Jerome Kohlberg, Henry Kravis and George Roberts.
It boasts that as of 2006 it had completed over 140 transactions
valued at US$215bn, supposedly creating US$68b of value
on US$26bn invested capital.
Entities funded by KKR, successfully or otherwise, include
Primedia, Wometco, Storer, SBS, Newsquest, Seven Media
and Golden West Television.
Its corporate site is here.
Thomas H Lee
Boston-based Thomas H Lee Partners was founded in 1974
by Thomas Lee (who departed in 2006 to establish competitor
Lee Equity Partners). As of 2006 it managed some US$12bn
of committed capital.
It has taken stakes in VNU, Warner Music, Houghton Mifflin,
American Media, ProSiebanSat.1 and Cumulus Media Partners.
Madison Dearborn Partners
Madison Dearborn was founded in 1992. Activity has centred
on financial services (financial outsourcing, specialty
finance and banking), basic industries (forestry, paper
& packaging, building products), communications (media
and telephone systems), consumer (retail, restaurants
and consumer products) and health care (care providers,
medical equipment and outsourced clinical staffing). In
2006 it raised some US$6.5bn for its latest fund.
Its corporate site is here.
Macquarie
Macquarie Bank traces its origins to merchant bank Hill
Samuel Australia (HSA), a subsidiary of London banker
Hill Samuel & Co. Limited. HSA began operation in
Sydney in 1970 and became Macquarie Bank Limited in 1985,
following deregulation of the Australian financial market
and takeover of its UK parent by Trustee Savings Bank
(TSB), in turn engulfed by Lloyd's Bank.
Macquarie listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX)
in 1996 with a market capitalisation of $1.3 billion.
It subsequently expanded aggressively through development
of infrastructure and other investment funds, which included
an Australian tollway and the $5.6 billion acquisition
of Sydney airport.
As of 2005 it is a $14.5 billion investment bank operating
in 23 countries. It has been characterised as making its
money
by
extracting substantial fees at every stage - advising
on the sale of the assets to the trust, underwriting
the subsequent float, continuing management of the trust
and meeting performance targets
and through direct stakes in particular funds. Over 40%
of Macquarie's earnings come from outside Australia.
Major interests under 13 listed infrastructure, tourism,
retail property, nursing homes and airport funds include
-
- Macquarie
Airports - stakes in Sydney, Birmingham, Rome, Bristol
and Brussels International airports
- Macquarie
Infrastructure Group - stakes in 12 toll roads across
six nations (inc M6 motorway in UK, Canada's 407ETR,
SR-125 South in San Diego)
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Macquarie Communications Infrastructure - stake in Arqiva
(owns and operates over 3,000 UK television transmission
towers sold by NTL in 2004
for £1.27bn) and in Broadcast Australia (600 transmitter
sites across Australia used by public broadcasters including
ABC and SBS)
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10% of Macquarie Capital Alliance - has 65% of Creative
Broadcast Services Ltd, channel management and creative
services arm formerly owned by BBC
and known as BBC Broadcast Services. Macquarie Bank
directly owns 35% of the business.
Oaktree
Oaktree Capital Management, LLC was founded in 1995 by
Howard Marks, Larry Keele, Bruce Karsh, Richard Masson,
Sheldon Stone and Stephen Kaplan.
It has been involved with Loews Cineplex and Grupo Cinemex.
Its corporate site is here.
Permira
Permira acts as adviser to 19 Permira Funds (aggregate
€22bn). Since establishment in 1985 as Schroder Ventures
it has been involved in over 280 transactions in 15 countries.
Permira has a major stake in SBS and SEAT. It formerly
controlled German pay-tv group Premiere.
Its corporate site is here.
Providence Equity Partners
Providence Equity specialises in equity investments in
media and communications, managing funds with over US$9bn
in equity commitments. It has invested in over 80 companies
in some 20 countries.
Providence has taken stakes in MGM, Freedom, Kerasotes
Theatres, Casema, Hallmark International, Recoletos, ProSiebanSat.1
and Warner Music Group
Its corporate site is here.
Texas Pacific Group
Texas Pacific was founded in 1992 by by David Bonderman,
James Coulter and William Price. As of 2006 it claimed
US$20bn under management through a family of funds that
includes private equity, venture capital and public equity
and debt investing.
It has a stake in MGM.
Its corporate site is here.
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