Cerberus Spends More Money
Private equity firm Cerberus ain't had enough fun. Despite (or becuase of) their enormous investment in Chrysler, the business brains at the three-headed dog have just cut another billion dollar deal, scarfing Swedish paper maker Stora Enso Oyj's ailing North American operations. Adding paper mills in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Canada to their NewPage Holding Corp. unit cost Cerberus $2.07b. Analysts are not yet convinced that the big deal is a Big Deal. "It's encouraging as it's the first billion-plus deal we've seen in recent weeks,'' Peter Taylor told Bloomberg. The managing partner at buyout firm Duke Street Capital Ltd. notes that the deal is significant, but not necessarily trend-setting. "It's probably too early to say if it's a turning point. It's in a specialist industry in the U.S." IF the move means credit is loosening-up again, it will have important implications for the game of musical chairs over at Ford's Premier Automotive Group and… elsewhere. If not, not.
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I wonder if the Jag/Land Rover deal just got too expensive in the last couple of days with the dollar taking a beating against major currencies? On paper, the British-based assets (regardless of their actual worth) suddenly look a lot more valuable to a company that bases its performance in US funds. Cerberus is probably thinking it paid to much for Chrysler right now!
maybe they just want to ensure a steady supply of those little white squares of paper for future use.