(Adds details on the process)
By Olivia Oran, Greg Roumeliotis and Martinne Geller
April 17 (Reuters) - Private equity mogul Stephen Feinberg may bid for the Bushmaster rifle maker that his firm Cerberus Capital Management LP put up for sale after one of its guns was used in a Connecticut school shooting, three sources familiar with the situation said.
Feinberg, along with other senior Cerberus partners, is putting together a consortium to make a "stalking horse" offer designed to spur competition for Freedom Group, which makes the Bushmaster rifle, the sources said on Tuesday.
Cerberus is under pressure from the public as well as investors in its funds to sell Freedom Group following the massacre that took place in December in Newtown, Connecticut.
A bid by Feinberg for a company that his own firm owns would be a rare move in the private equity industry. The move raises potential conflict of interest issues, as it could pit the founder's interest against those of the investors in Cerberus funds, known as limited partners. It may also indicate Cerberus may be having problems in selling the company. Banking sources have said that major Wall Street firms have been unwilling to finance a bid for Freedom Group.
Feinberg has approached other wealthy individuals to join him in the bid, the sources said, who declined to be identified because the auction is private. He has not made a bid and may yet decide against it, they said.
Cerberus declined to comment and declined to make Feinberg available for an interview, while representatives of Freedom Group could not be reached for comment.
Freedom Group's AR-15 type Bushmaster rifle was used in the December shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, which left 20 children and six adults dead.
University of California is among Cerberus investors that have been putting pressure on the private equity firm to quickly sell Freedom Group.
"We do not want to have investments in companies that sell, manufacturer or distribute firearms," spokeswoman Dianne Klein said in an email on Tuesday. The university has a $1 million indirect investment in Bushmaster through a Cerberus private equity fund.
Cerberus' fund investors also include some of the largest U.S. public pension funds. CalSTRS, the California State Teachers' Retirement System, said in December it was reviewing its investment with Cerberus in the wake of the shooting. CalSTRS could not immediately be reached for comment.
Soon after the shootings, Cerberus said it would look for a buyer and hired investment bank Lazard Ltd to help sell the business.
Lazard declined to comment.
The stocks of publicly traded gunmakers such as Smith & Wesson Holding Corp and Sturm Ruger & Co, which fell after the shooting, have since recovered.
Proposed gun control legislation in U.S. Congress since the shootings has made only modest progress and has been heavily watered down.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
One of the sources familiar with the auction said Cerberus is planning to prevent conflicts of interests through measures including setting up an independent committee of Freedom Group's board of directors as well as a special shareholders committee.
Under the plan, the independent board committee would include former generals and industry experts, while the shareholders committee would include investors in Cerberus' funds whose capital was committed for the Freedom Group investment, the source said.
These two committees would then negotiate with Feinberg's consortium and decide on the eventual sale, the source said.
Cerberus has also designed other measures to make sure the auction is fair if Feinberg decides to bid, the source said. If another buyer bids 10 percent or more above the stalking horse bid, Feinberg would be forced to drop out of the auction, the source said.
There also would not be any break-up fee or other expenses paid by the company if Feinberg's bid is topped by another party, the source added.
Feinberg and other senior Cerberus partners plan to invest their own money as well as roll over any existing stakes in the company to fund the bid, the source said.
Under the bid being contemplated, Feinberg plans to be a minority investor, but he and his Cerberus partners could end up controlling the company, the source added.
Cerberus bought firearms maker Bushmaster in 2006 and later merged it with other gun companies to create Freedom Group. The company's sales rose about 20 percent to $931.9 million in 2012.
Feinberg worked at investment banks Drexel Burnham Lambert and Gruntal & Co before co-founding Cerberus in 1992 along with William Richter. Cerberus has more than $20 billion under management.
Feinberg's father, Martin Feinberg, is a resident of Newtown, public records showed last year. (Additional reporting by Peter Henderson in San Francisco; Editing by Soyoung Kim, Paritosh Bansal, Chris Gallagher and Ryan Woo) Reported by Huffington Post 5 days ago.
By Olivia Oran, Greg Roumeliotis and Martinne Geller
April 17 (Reuters) - Private equity mogul Stephen Feinberg may bid for the Bushmaster rifle maker that his firm Cerberus Capital Management LP put up for sale after one of its guns was used in a Connecticut school shooting, three sources familiar with the situation said.
Feinberg, along with other senior Cerberus partners, is putting together a consortium to make a "stalking horse" offer designed to spur competition for Freedom Group, which makes the Bushmaster rifle, the sources said on Tuesday.
Cerberus is under pressure from the public as well as investors in its funds to sell Freedom Group following the massacre that took place in December in Newtown, Connecticut.
A bid by Feinberg for a company that his own firm owns would be a rare move in the private equity industry. The move raises potential conflict of interest issues, as it could pit the founder's interest against those of the investors in Cerberus funds, known as limited partners. It may also indicate Cerberus may be having problems in selling the company. Banking sources have said that major Wall Street firms have been unwilling to finance a bid for Freedom Group.
Feinberg has approached other wealthy individuals to join him in the bid, the sources said, who declined to be identified because the auction is private. He has not made a bid and may yet decide against it, they said.
Cerberus declined to comment and declined to make Feinberg available for an interview, while representatives of Freedom Group could not be reached for comment.
Freedom Group's AR-15 type Bushmaster rifle was used in the December shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, which left 20 children and six adults dead.
University of California is among Cerberus investors that have been putting pressure on the private equity firm to quickly sell Freedom Group.
"We do not want to have investments in companies that sell, manufacturer or distribute firearms," spokeswoman Dianne Klein said in an email on Tuesday. The university has a $1 million indirect investment in Bushmaster through a Cerberus private equity fund.
Cerberus' fund investors also include some of the largest U.S. public pension funds. CalSTRS, the California State Teachers' Retirement System, said in December it was reviewing its investment with Cerberus in the wake of the shooting. CalSTRS could not immediately be reached for comment.
Soon after the shootings, Cerberus said it would look for a buyer and hired investment bank Lazard Ltd to help sell the business.
Lazard declined to comment.
The stocks of publicly traded gunmakers such as Smith & Wesson Holding Corp and Sturm Ruger & Co, which fell after the shooting, have since recovered.
Proposed gun control legislation in U.S. Congress since the shootings has made only modest progress and has been heavily watered down.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
One of the sources familiar with the auction said Cerberus is planning to prevent conflicts of interests through measures including setting up an independent committee of Freedom Group's board of directors as well as a special shareholders committee.
Under the plan, the independent board committee would include former generals and industry experts, while the shareholders committee would include investors in Cerberus' funds whose capital was committed for the Freedom Group investment, the source said.
These two committees would then negotiate with Feinberg's consortium and decide on the eventual sale, the source said.
Cerberus has also designed other measures to make sure the auction is fair if Feinberg decides to bid, the source said. If another buyer bids 10 percent or more above the stalking horse bid, Feinberg would be forced to drop out of the auction, the source said.
There also would not be any break-up fee or other expenses paid by the company if Feinberg's bid is topped by another party, the source added.
Feinberg and other senior Cerberus partners plan to invest their own money as well as roll over any existing stakes in the company to fund the bid, the source said.
Under the bid being contemplated, Feinberg plans to be a minority investor, but he and his Cerberus partners could end up controlling the company, the source added.
Cerberus bought firearms maker Bushmaster in 2006 and later merged it with other gun companies to create Freedom Group. The company's sales rose about 20 percent to $931.9 million in 2012.
Feinberg worked at investment banks Drexel Burnham Lambert and Gruntal & Co before co-founding Cerberus in 1992 along with William Richter. Cerberus has more than $20 billion under management.
Feinberg's father, Martin Feinberg, is a resident of Newtown, public records showed last year. (Additional reporting by Peter Henderson in San Francisco; Editing by Soyoung Kim, Paritosh Bansal, Chris Gallagher and Ryan Woo) Reported by Huffington Post 5 days ago.
This is Cornwall --
This is Bath -- Team Bath Buccaneers under-16 girls narrowly missed out on a top-four finish at the EH National Finals in Wakefield over the weekend. In the first match against Old Loughtonians, Team Bath started quickly dominating the early exchanges. Towards the end of the first half, however, the Bath team began to be wasteful in possession and Old Loughtonians were able to mount a period of sustained pressure, ultimately taking a deserved lead. Team Bath started the second half with much greater energy and a nest passing move between Susie Barnes and Holly Jackson enabled Ellie Lyne to fire home a deserved equaliser. And things quickly got even better for the Bath girls as another sharp passing exchange provided gave Jackson the opportunity to take the lead. Old Loughtonians came back strongly but were held at bay until the last five minutes when, having been reduced to ten players, Team bath found themselves defending deeper and deeper. Inevitably the pressure told and Old Loughtonians were able to equalise for a hard-fought, extremely entertaining, draw. The second match with Banbury started with the Team Bath girls very much in the ascendancy. Despite winning a series of penalty corners and a number of clear cut chances, however, the team failed to convert any of these opportunities. To compound their woes, a defensive lapse gave one of the Banbury forwards the freedom of Wakefield and Team Bath inexplicably found themselves turning round a goal down at half-time. The girls started the second half with a renewed determination and were immediately rewarded with a penalty corner from which Susie Barnes lashed home an equaliser. Within five minutes the team were ahead, Ellie Lyne's clever deflection hitting a Banbury foot on the way into goal and Olivia Allin emphatically converting the resulting penalty stroke. Victory seemed assured when another neat penalty corner exchange resulted in Holly Jackson's pass being swept home by Barnes to extend the Team Bath lead. However, Banbury rallied late and only a smart save from Nicole New, and good defensive work from Eliza Matthews, Connie Redman and Ellie Taylor, ensured the two-goal cushion was maintained. In front of a partisan crowd, Team Bath took on hosts and eventual champions Wakefield in their final match. The girls made a strong start, pressing hard and forcing mistakes from their opponents in an effort to win a place in the final, fashioning several chances without ever quite creating a clear cut opportunity. As ever against very strong opposition, one mistake proved costly and Wakefield took advantage to win a penalty stroke and go to the break with a one-goal lead. Having got their noses in front, Wakefield began to expose the fatigue in the Team Bath ranks and despite some hard work down the left flank by Gabi Chapman and Katie Braithwaite won a series of penalty corners from which they extended their lead to four goals. Overall, Team Bath finished third in their group, only missing out on goal difference on the play-off for third place.
Reported by This is 5 days ago.
This is Nottingham -- It was my first time, I admit it. And I was unprepared for the power of a story which left us all in danger of leaving the theatre as emotional wrecks. And not just me. By the end of the final number, a thundering reprise of Tell Me It's Not True, Maureen Nolan needed three curtain calls before the tears were finally wiped from her eyes. If you've ever been touched by tales of Peter Pan, Two Little Boys or even Puff The Magic Dragon, you'll know how important it is to enjoy your childhood and resist growing up for as long as you can. In this musical, separated-at-birth twins Mickey (Sean Jones) and Eddie (Mark Hutchinson) somehow keep bumping into each other without knowing their true identities – and become firm friends from school through to adulthood and all of the challenges that brings. Embracing the Prince and The Pauper theme, one of these lads ends up having it all, while the other has nothing and manages to lose even that. Maureen (as their mother, Mrs Johnstone), and the narrator Warwick Evans, kept the tempo and the story ticking along at pace, so that even though we didn't leave the theatre until after 10.30pm, the show never felt like a long haul. Warwick's ability as a performance poet, passing vital elements of the narrative as the spoken word blended neatly with his musical skill, helping every life event for the cast move seamlessly from one to the next. The love interest for Mickey – and then Eddie – came in the perfect shape of Olivia Sloyan as Linda. She had each milestone off to a tee, and we particularly enjoyed her part in the schoolday pastiches, the moments when she tries to woo Mickey, and her powerful performances later on, dealing with ex-con Mickey, by then her husband, who's struggling to live a family life while up to his eyeballs in anti-depressants. So there, in a nutshell, is the plot. Of course no man could fail to notice Linda, and when Eddie is drawn to her as he tries to help get her and Mickey's lives back on track, tragedy strikes. This is a full-scale modern musical celebrating its 28th anniversary, which still stands aside from many of the traditional theatre-fillers. Catchy reprises of Marilyn Monroe, Shoes Upon the Table and Tell Me It's Not True ensure the inevitable standing ovation. ENDS
Reported by This is 5 days ago.
Patch St. Charles, IL --
Patch Easley, SC --
Patch Aliso Viejo, CA --
Patch Dallas-Hiram, GA --
Patch Lawrenceville, NJ --
Are we really one third of the way there already?! Yes, we've just completed week 4 in *OK!'s 12 Week Countdown To Summer*.