February 2004

Build, buy, partner; repeat
Posted on February 15, 2004 at 7:30 PM Filed under: Acquisitions \| Corporate Strategy \| Cover Story \| Integration \| Jan.-Feb. 2004 \| The Magazine Tagged: acquisitions , corporate development , deal heat , IBM , integration , Linux , software , Steve Solazzo
At first, Steve Solazzo says, he was puzzled. He had a big job, running IBM Corp.'s multibillion-dollar Linux operations, which he launched in 2000. But IBM's top software executive, Steve Mills, had chosen him to lead the integration of soon-to-be-acquired Rational Software Corp. Any puzzlement quickly faded, though, in... Continue reading
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Across the great divide
Posted on February 15, 2004 at 7:20 PM Filed under: Counterparties \| Jan.-Feb. 2004 \| The Magazine Tagged: Clayton Dubilier , General Electric , M&A , private equity
How does Jack Welch compare running giant General Electric Corp. with the post he took in 2001, as a special partner for the New York private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice? "It's not all that different," Welch says in his raspy Boston accent. "You use the same financial... Continue reading
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Global integration the Cemex way
Posted on February 15, 2004 at 6:45 PM Filed under: Best Practices \| Integration \| Jan.-Feb. 2004 \| The Magazine Tagged: acquisition , best practices , Cemex , corporate strategy , integration
Cemex SA de CV, the global cement and ready-mix concrete producer, has plants and customers all over the world. Nowadays many of those customers can pull their trucks up to the local Cemex depot, punch a button and load up with cement. The system saves time for customers, who no... Continue reading
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The deal evaluators
Posted on February 15, 2004 at 5:26 PM Filed under: Acquisitions \| Corporate Strategy \| Jan.-Feb. 2004 \| The Magazine \| Trends Tagged: advisory firm , analysis , Axa , deals , dissident shareholders , Glass Lewis , ISS , M&A , MONY , proxy
In September, the board of New York-based financial services firm MONY Group Inc. embraced a $2.3 billion acquisition offer from Axa SA, France's largest insurer. The decision infuriated some MONY shareholders, who mounted a proxy campaign, blasting the low sales price, the lack of an auction process and a... Continue reading
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Buying out of bankruptcy
Posted on February 15, 2004 at 5:14 PM Filed under: Best Practices \| CD Community \| Jan.-Feb. 2004 \| People \| The Magazine Tagged: acquisitions , Avaya , bankruptcy , Cerberus Capital Management , deals , H.J. Heinz , Hicks Muse , Lucent Technologies , private equity , strategic , Vlasic Foods International
The scene at the midtown Manhattan law firm last fall was reminiscent of the World Series of Poker. In fact, though, the setting was Mike Bond's first deal negotiation since joining Avaya Inc. a few months earlier as its vice president of corporate development. Communications systems provider Avaya, which... Continue reading
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I-bankers' new realities
Posted on February 15, 2004 at 5:04 PM Filed under: Acquisitions \| Jan.-Feb. 2004 \| The Magazine \| Trends Tagged: Citigroup , Credit Suisse , deals , Deutsche Bank , Goldman Sachs , investment banker , J.P. Morgan , KPMG , Lehman Brothers , M&A , merger , Merrill Lynch , Morgan Stanley , PricewaterhouseCoopers , UBS , Wall Street
It's 2004. Do you know where your M&A banker is? It's not such an easy question to answer these days. Investment banking executives, long known for business units that boom and bust along with markets, have outdone themselves in recent years. M&A specialists were among the hardest hit in the... Continue reading
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Mapping the deal community
Posted on February 15, 2004 at 4:49 PM Filed under: Jan.-Feb. 2004 \| People \| Research and development \| The Magazine Tagged: corporate development , corporate tool , deal , M&A , Merrill Lynch , Michael Frankel , Skadden , strategic transactions , VeriSign
Michael Frankel may be only 35, but he's seen dealmaking from just about every vantage: as a lawyer at Skadden Arps, as an i-banker at Merrill Lynch and as a corporate development vice president and then general manager at VeriSign Inc. Those experiences - combined with a knack for... Continue reading
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Hemphill comes home to AES Corp.
Posted on February 15, 2004 at 4:32 PM Filed under: Corporate Strategy \| Deal International \| Jan.-Feb. 2004 \| Movers & Shakers \| People \| Slides \| The Magazine Tagged: acquisitions , AES , electric , energy , greenfield , mergers , power , private equity , Robert Hemphill
It's a homecoming of sorts for Robert Hemphill Jr., who returned in February to Arlington, Va., power producer AES Corp. as executive VP of global development, a new position. Hemphill worked at AES at its founding in 1981, helping to build it from a three-person, $1 million startup to... Continue reading
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Fresco the banker
Posted on February 15, 2004 at 4:19 PM Filed under: Acquisitions \| Corporate Strategy \| Jan.-Feb. 2004 \| People \| The Magazine Tagged: acquisitions , Credit Suisse , Fiat , General Electric , General Motors , investment banking , joint ventures , mergers , Paolo Fresco , strategic
If there were a corporate dealmaker hall of fame, Paolo Fresco would surely be in it. As chairman of Fiat SpA from 1998 to last year, he led a string of transactions, including the purchase of U.S. farm and construction equipment group Case Corp. for $4.3 billion and the... Continue reading
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A dealmakers' club in London
Posted on February 15, 2004 at 3:11 PM Filed under: Jan.-Feb. 2004 \| People \| The Magazine Tagged: 3i Group , acquisitions , Association for Corporate Growth , Chad Murrin , dealmaker , dealmaking , East India Club , FTSE 100 , Glaxo SmithKline , M&A , Oxford Instruments , private equity , Smiths Group , strategic alliances
Visit London's posh East India Club and you can't help reflecting on how imperial glory fades. Visit on the right day, though, and you'll also be reminded that corporate empires live on - provided, of course, that they're reasonably clever about how they move assets in and out of their... Continue reading
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I-bankers' new realities [Posted on February 15, 2004 at 5:04 PM]
Mapping the deal community [Posted on February 15, 2004 at 4:49 PM]
Hemphill comes home to AES Corp. [Posted on February 15, 2004 at 4:32 PM]
Fresco the banker [Posted on February 15, 2004 at 4:19 PM]
A dealmakers' club in London [Posted on February 15, 2004 at 3:11 PM]
Letter from the editor [Posted on February 15, 2004 at 1:08 PM]
Adding value at Viacom [Posted on February 15, 2004 at 12:56 PM]
Truth and confidentiality [Posted on February 15, 2004 at 12:34 PM]
Building a full-solution sales team [Posted on February 15, 2004 at 12:23 PM]
Using venture capital to build an ecosystem [Posted on February 15, 2004 at 11:47 AM]

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