As a result, certain amounts in the first quarter of 2008 were revised to reflect this change. Philip Morris International Inc.Investor RelationsNew York: +1 (917) 663 2233Lausanne: +41 (0)58 242 4666 Copyright Business Wire 2009. Gretna’s survival hopes are set to go to the wire as administrators seek a buyer for the crisis-hit club.Saturday is the final day for interested parties to make an offer for the team, who have finished at the foot of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League this season.Local reports have indicated the Glasgow-based football agent Paul Davies could make a firm bid.However officials at Gretna remain unsure whether the football club will continue to exist beyond the coming days.Many players and coaches have already left the club, either through redundancy or after being released from their contracts.The remaining staff have been called to an 11 a.m. meeting by administrators at Wilson Field on Monday, where Gretna’s fate will be announced and they may face redundancy.It is understood the administrators will not make any announcements over the weekend.If an offer for the club is made, it will be put to the creditors, who will have to give it their backing.. * KKR, Bain Capital emerging as contenders Stocks | Mergers & Acquisitions | Funds News | ETFs News | Private Capital | China * Warburg Pincus may bid to lift stake * GOME, ‘China’s Best Buy’, aims to resume share tradingsoon (For more Reuters Dealtalks, click [DEALTALK/]) By George Chen, Asia Private Equity Correspondent HONG KONG, April 23 (Reuters) – Kohlberg Kravis Roberts &Co [KKR.UL] and Bain Capital are emerging as contenders to makerival bids for a large stake in China’s top electronicsretailer GOME (0493.HK), dealmaking sources told Reuters.
GOME, whose founder and ex-chairman are being investigatedfor alleged financial misconduct, aims to sell a stake of up to20 percent to new investors to improve its capital base, saidthe sources briefed on its plan. The stake is worth about HK$3 billion ($385 million) basedon GOME’s last closing price of HK$1.12 per share, butdealmakers expect an investor to get a steep discount. Warburg Pincus [WP.UL], which already holds a minoritystake in GOME, is also expected to participate in the plannedprivate placement to increase its holding, the sources said. Other potential investors who looked at GOME earlier thisyear, including Carlyle Group [CYL.UL] and Chinese privateequity firms Hopu Investment Management and CITIC Capital, haveshown less interest, the sources said. “The interest of some funds in GOME is still there, whileothers like Carlyle give the impression they prefer to watchfrom the sidelines,” said one of the sources. CITIC Capital, backed by China’s largest financialconglomerate CITIC Group, manages $1.6 billion in assets. Beijing-based Hopu Investment Management is a $2.5 billionfund run by top Chinese dealmaker Fang Fenglei, who helpedGoldman Sachs (GS.N) set up its China investment banking jointventure some years ago.
No formal bid has been made yet for China’s version of BestBuy (BBY.N), and dealmakers do not expect a transaction to takeplace in the near future. GOME is due to report its 2008 results on Monday and theBeijing-based retailer aimed to resume trading of its sharessoon afterwards, said the sources Its shares have beensuspended since Nov 24. The sources said foreign funds with interest in GOME hadbeen anxiously waiting to see GOME’s results as the financialinformation available beforehand has been very limited. GOME, KKR, Carlyle and Bain Capital all declined tocomment, while Warburg Pincus, CITIC Capital and Hopu were notimmediately available for comment. The sources declined to be identified as they were notauthorised to speak to the media.
EARLY BIRDS Earlier this year, GOME hired investment bank Cazenove toadvise on its possible new share issuance in a privateplacement to potential foreign investors. [ID:nHKG266892] Potential foreign investors, including Bain and KKR, arealso concerned about the outlook for GOME’s share performanceonce trading resumes as some existing individual andinstitutional shareholders may rush to sell, said the sources. “The outlook for its shares is quite uncertain, which alsomakes the outlook for a deal with new foreign investors a bituncertain,” one of the sources added. Liu Haifeng, a China managing director of KKR, is reviewingthe potential GOME deal for KKR.
Liu, a former Morgan Stanley (MS.N) banker in China, hasclose personal ties with Chen Xiao, who replaced Huang Guangyuas GOME’s new head. Huang, once China’s richest person, and his wife Du Juan,together still hold about 35 percent of GOME shares and thefuture of those holdings will be mostly up to the Chinesegovernment pending the results of a police proble, said thesources. Jonathan Zhu, a Hong Kong-based managing director for BainCapital and a former top Morgan Stanley China banker, is alsoreviewing a possible GOME bid, the sources added. ($1=HK$7.8) (Editing by Mathew Veedon) Stocks Mergers & Acquisitions Funds News ETFs News Private Capital China. Algonquin Power Income Fund Strengthens Utility Division Through a StrategicPartnership with Emera Inc.OAKVILLE, ON, April 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ – Algonquin Power Income Fund(“Algonquin Power”) (TSX: APF.UN) today announced that it plans to co-acquirean electrical generation and regulated distribution utility through astrategic partnership with Emera Inc (“Emera”) (TSX:EMA). Algonquin Power andEmera will each own 50% of the newly formed California Pacific ElectricCompany (“Calpeco”), which intends to acquire the California-based electricitydistribution and related generation assets (the “California Utility”) of NVEnergy, Inc.