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

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

Zell's Tribune Buyout Runs Into Hedge Funds Seeking Bond Default, Profits

(Bloomberg) -- Sam Zell's agreement to buy Tribune
Co., the publisher of the Los Angeles Times and owner of the
Chicago Cubs, prompted three hedge funds to seek profits in the
fine print of $1.26 billion of bonds.

It's a tactic bondholders have successfully used before.
Blackstone Group LP paid $953 million to redeem debt earlier
this year, $127 million more than it first offered, after
getting attacked by investors in the $20 billion leveraged
buyout of Equity Office Properties Trust. American International
Group Inc. is leading an effort to squeeze Tyco International
Ltd. for an additional $95 million before approving its breakup
plan.


Read more at Bloomberg Bonds News

CORRECTED - UPDATE 4-Blackstone sets IPO, China to take stake

(Reuters) - NEW YORK, May 21 - Blackstone Group LP [BG.UL] on
Monday said it planned to raise as much as $7.75 billion from
selling stakes to the public and to China, in perhaps the
year's most eagerly awaited U.S. initial public offering.




In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission, the private equity firm said it plans to offer
133.3 million common units at $29 to $31 each, for proceeds of
$3.87 billion to $4.13 billion. The IPO may grow to $4.75
billion if another 20 million units are sold to meet demand.


Read more at Reuters.com Market News