The chart below illustrates the mass exodus of U.S. companies from public waters opting for private life.
| Bye-bye to the public markets |
| Agreed take-privates of US companies in 2007 |
|
Announced |
Target |
Buyers |
Deal value ($mill.) |
| April 17
|
Catalina Marketing Corp. (in-store marketing) |
Hellman & Friedman LLC |
1,700
|
| April 16
|
SLM Corp. (student loans) |
J.C. Flowers & Co., Friedman Fleischer & Lowe LLC, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. |
25,000
|
| April 16
|
Innkeepers USA Trust Inc. (hotel REIT) |
Apollo Investment Corp. |
1,500
|
| April 2
|
First Data Corp. (debit and credit card processor) |
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. |
29,000
|
| March 23
|
Kronos Inc. (software and tech services) |
Hellman & Friedman and JMI Equity |
1,800
|
| March 22
|
Vertrue Inc. (Internet marketing) |
One Equity Partners, Oak Investment Partners and Rho Ventures
|
800 |
| March 20
|
Claire's Stores, Inc. (teenage retailer) |
Apollo Management, LP
|
3,100
|
| March 19
|
ServiceMaster Co. (lawn and home services) |
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, Inc. |
5,500
|
| March 12 |
Dollar General Corp. (retailing) |
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. |
7,300 |
| March 5 |
SafeNet, Inc. (encryption technology) |
ValueAct Capital |
634 |
| March 5 |
Aeroflex Inc. (microelectronics) |
General Atlantic LLC, Francisco Partners |
1,000 |
| March 5 |
Topps Co. (baseball cards) |
Madison Dearborn Partners LLC and Tornante Co. LLC (Michael Eisner) |
385 |
| Feb. 28 |
TXU Corp. |
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Texas Pacific Group |
45,000 |
| Feb. 28 |
EGL Inc. (logistics) |
Centerbridge Partners LP and Woodbridge Company Ltd. |
1,700 |
| Feb. 23 |
Semco Energy Inc. (natural gas distribution) |
Cap Rock Holding Corp. (Lindsay Goldberg & Bessemer LP) |
1,380 |
| Feb. 23 |
Applied Innovation Inc. (telecom networking hardware) |
KEG Holdings Inc. (Investcorp Technology Partners) |
53 |
| Feb. 21 |
Central Parking Corp. |
Kohlberg & Co., Lubert-Adler LP and Chrysalis Capital Partners LP |
723 |
| Feb. 20 |
Smart and Final Inc. (food retailer) |
Apollo Management LP |
813 |
| Feb.12 |
Four Seasons (hotels) |
Cascade Investments and Kingdom Hotels International |
3,800 |
| Feb. 9 |
Lear Corp. (auto parts) |
American Real Estate Partners LP (Carl Icahn) |
2,300 |
| Feb. 7 |
Keane Inc. (technology services) |
Caritor Inc. (Citigroup Venture Capital International portfolio company) |
850 |
| Feb. 5 |
Triad Hospitals Inc. (hospital operator) |
CCMP Capital Advisors and GS Capital Partners |
6,400 |
| Jan. 29 |
Laureate Education, Inc. (post-secondary education) |
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Citigroup Private Equity and others |
3,800 |
| Jan. 25 |
Educate Inc. (K-12 education) |
Sterling Capital Partners and Citigroup Private Equity |
525 |
| Jan. 16 |
Genesis HealthCare Corp. (nursing home operator) |
Formation Capital, LLC and JER Partners |
1,700 |
| Jan. 16 |
USI Holdings (insurance brokerage) |
Goldman Sachs Capital Partners |
1,400 |
| Jan. 10 |
International Aluminium Corp. (window and door maker) |
Genstar Capital LLC |
228 |
| Jan. 8 |
United Surgical Partners International Inc. (specialty hospitals) |
Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe |
1,800 |
Total through April 19: 145,591 |
Source: The Deal |
