PRESS DIGEST - New York Times business news - Aug 3

(Reuters) - * China's high-profile investment in the Blackstone Group
LP has produced an unusual backlash within China as
shares in the equity firm have dropped steeply since it went
public in June.




* Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. , the video
game publisher, said on Thursday that it was postponing the
release of the latest game in its wildly popular Grand Theft
Auto series. The delay is likely to have ripple effects on the
broader video game industry during its crucial holiday selling
season.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Siemens says Continental paid best price for VDO

(Reuters) - U.S. car-parts maker TRW , which is majority owned by
Blackstone , had also been interested in buying the
business.




Earlier, Siemens announced it would sell VDO to Continental
for 11.4 billion euros .


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

U.S. Democrat leader open on private equity taxes

(Reuters) - In the Senate, Montana Democrat Max Baucus and Iowa
Republican Charles Grassley have introduced a bill that would
more than double taxes on private equity firms that go public
as publicly traded partnerships, as Blackstone Group did
last month.




Reid "needs to consult with Sen. Baucus on how to proceed,"
his spokesman said.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 1 - Fitch cuts Hilton's debt rating on acquisition

(Reuters) - Another agency, Moody's Investors Service, said it may cut
Hilton's ratings and will base its decision on the company's
capital structure when the deal closes.




Blackstone agreed on Tuesday to buy Hilton for about $20
billion plus debt, the richest in a series of recent private
equity offers for hotel companies. For details see
[ID:nN03234692].


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

Hilton Shares Gained Most Since 2005 Before $20 Billion Takeover Agreement

(Bloomberg) -- Hilton Hotels Corp.'s stock price
surged prior to the announcement that the second-largest U.S.
hotel chain will be acquired by New York-based Blackstone Group
LP for about $20 billion in cash.

Hilton shares climbed $2.18, or 6.4 percent, to $36.05
yesterday in New York, their biggest rally since 2005. After the
close of trading, Blackstone, the world's biggest publicly traded
buyout firm, said it will pay $47.50 a share for Beverly Hills,
California-based Hilton.


Read more at Bloomberg Exclusive News

PRESS DIGEST - New York Times business news - July 5

(Reuters) - * China said that nearly a fifth of the food and consumer
products that it checked in a nationwide survey this year were
found to be substandard or tainted, underscoring the risk faced
by its own consumers even as the country's exports come under
greater scrutiny overseas.




* World stock markets rose Wednesday, with shares in Hong
Kong and South Korea closing at new highs. European indexes
were buoyed by shares of hotel companies after Hilton Hotels
Corp. agreed to be bought by the equity firm the
Blackstone Group .


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

FACTBOX- How private equity firms KKR, Blackstone stack up

(Reuters) - HISTORY:




Blackstone:


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - July 4

(Reuters) - * Buyout firm KKR & Co. LP [KKR.UL] filed to raise $1.25
billion in an initial public offering, following in the
footsteps of archrival Blackstone Group.




* Detroit's big three auto makers posted weaker June sales
despite fresh incentives, as General Motors Corp. and
Ford Motor Co. continued to slash sales to rental fleets.
Toyota Motor Corp.'s U.S. vehicle sales jumped 10
percent.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 4-Blackstone to buy Hilton for $26 bln

(Reuters) - LOS ANGELES, July 3 - U.S. private equity firm
Blackstone Group agreed on Tuesday to buy Hilton Hotels
Corp. for about $26 billion, the richest in a series of
recent private equity offers for hotel companies.




Under terms of the agreed deal, Blackstone will pay $47.50
for each share of Hilton, one of the most prominent global
hotel brand names, and take on debt.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 3-Buyout firm KKR files for $1.25 bln IPO

(Reuters) - The planned IPO follows last month's high-profile listing
of rival Blackstone Group LP , which raised $4.13 billion
and ushered in a new era for an industry that has come to
dominate financial markets worldwide by pursuing ever-larger
takeovers and raising record amounts of capital.




Unlike the Blackstone IPO, however, KKR's owners are not
selling any common units or receiving any net proceeds.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Big private equity groups polish German image

(Reuters) - The new group includes Blackstone , Allianz Capital
Partners , Apax [APAX.UL], Advent, Bain Capital, BC
Partners, CVC [CVC.UL], KKR [KKR.UL], Permira [PERM.UL] and TPG
[TPG.UL].




The new group will commission studies from independent
research institutes on the economic importance of private equity
activities in Germany, with group members providing data about
their investments, BVK said.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 1-Blackstone units fall below $31 IPO price

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, June 26 - Blackstone Group LP
units tumbled more than 6 percent in morning trade, falling
below the $31 price the private equity giant fetched in its
initial public offering last week.




The units traded as low as $30.36, down 6.4 percent, after
losing nearly 8 percent on Monday. They jumped 13 percent in
their market debut on Friday.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 1-PIMCO's Gross says "subprime crisis" not isolated

(Reuters) - Gross, the chief investment officer for Pacific Investment
Management Co., also said in his July investment outlook
newsletter posted at the firm's Web site that the recent Bear
Stearns Cos. hedge fund rescue was reminiscent of the
Long Term Capital Management episode nearly a decade ago.




"Shame on you Mr. Stearns, or whoever you were, for scaring
us investors like that and moving the Blackstone IPO to the
second page of the WSJ," writes Gross, referring to the Wall
Street Journal. "We should have had a week of revelry and
celebration of levered risk-taking."


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

DealTalk: Success of Blackstone IPO spurs rivals into action

(Reuters) - That caution quickly changed in recent days, when demand for Blackstone's initial public offering soared, with bankers and investors saying the IPO was six to seven times oversubscribed.




The heavy demand convinced firms such as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and TPG Capital that the prospect of a higher tax burden was not enough to sap demand.


Read more at Reuters.com Mergers News

UPDATE 2-Blackstone up 15 percent in NYSE debut

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, June 22 - Blackstone Group LP units
rose 15 percent in their first day of trading on Friday, as the
first major U.S. private-equity firm went public and minted
billions of dollars of new wealth for its founders.




The highly anticipated issue shot up as much as 23 percent to
$38.00 in early trade on the New York Stock Exchange. But the
units then fell from the high and dipped below the opening price,
indicating some investors sold on concerns of higher U.S. taxes or
worries whether the ideal conditions of recent years would
persist.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Blackstone jumps over 20 percent in debut

(Reuters) - The $4.13 billion offering, closely watched by Wall Street to Washington, was the largest U.S. IPO in five years and the sixth-biggest ever. People familiar with the offering said Blackstone shares were about seven times oversubscribed, indicating strong demand.




The IPO broke new ground for an industry that has become a driving force in global finance by pursuing ever-larger takeovers and raising record amounts of capital.


Read more at Reuters.com Hot Stocks News

CORRECTED: Blackstone raises $4.1 bln

(Reuters) - NEW YORK - Blackstone Group LP priced its initial public offering at the top end of the range on Thursday, even as lawmakers pushed for its delay, raising $4.13 billion in the largest U.S. IPO in five years.




The pricing, closely watched by regulators and financial markets across the globe, proved that demand for the offering was heavy, despite pressure from Congress.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

U.S. House tax panel plans private equity hearings

(Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers are increasingly focused on taxation of the
booming private-equity sector and the impending initial public
offering of Blackstone Group LP [BG.UL], one of the nation's
largest private equity firms.




Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Blackstone issues of interest to SEC: agency head

(Reuters) - The SEC is under pressure from leaders of the Senate
Finance Committee, House Financial Services Committee and the
AFL-CIO who say Blackstone's IPO has the potential to
jeopardize the integrity of the federal tax code and the
corporate tax base.




Blackstone is one of the country's largest private equity
firms. The company is expected to price its IPO on Thursday,
according to underwriter Morgan Stanley, with common units at
$29 to $31 each for proceeds as high as $4.13 billion.


Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

UPDATE 1-Subprime mortgage bond index drops to record low

(Reuters) - Losses at a hedge fund run by top mortgage bond dealer Bear Stearns Cos. have captivated the industry as investors prepare for possible sales of low-rated assets from the fund. Bear Stearns last week sold about $4 billion of the fund's best bonds to cover losses, and today is meeting with creditors and private equity firm Blackstone Group to prevent its collapse, according to people familiar with the situation.




A government report on Tuesday showed U.S. housing starts set an annual pace of 1.474 million units in May, off from the 1.506 million rate in April. The National Association of Home Builders on Monday said its confidence index is at its lowest level in 16 years.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News