In headlines this morning, Aztar changes its mind again, CA loses another top honcho and NCO Group’s chief executive offers top dollar to buy out the company.
Aztar Corp. called a $54 per share offer from Columbia Sussex Corp. superior to a $51 per share pending deal with Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. as the bidding war painfully drags on in its third month. Pinnacle first agreed to take the casino group in March for $38 per share, and offers have steadily inched upward since.
In other news, ailing software giant CA Inc., the former Computer Associates, will lose its CFO, Robert Davis, the third top executive to resign from the restructuring company in a month. Last week, CTO Mark Barrenechea announced plans to join buyout shop Garnett & Helfrich Capital, and in April former chief operations officer Jeff Clarke announced plans to depart for Cendant Corp.
Meanwhile, Michael Barrist, the CEO at the helm of debt collection agency NCO Group Inc., offered to take the company private at a 42% premium alongside J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.’s private equity arm, One Equity Partners. The deal values the company at nearly $1.21 billion.
And coming up in The Daily Deal midday PDF edition and also on TheDeal.com: The government hoped to ram home Skilling and Lay’s guilt Monday in Enron trial closing arguments; and Liberty Media Corp. plans to buy IDT Entertainment to add computer graphics animation and live action to its Starz TV service.—Carolyn Murphy
Aztar deems Wimar bid superior
CA faces executive exodus
NCO Group gets buyout offer
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