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M&A Boom is Over. Wait. No It’s Not.
Addressing audiences of fellow dealmakers, journalists and industry insiders at conferences in Wall Street and Chicago’s Loop, a parade of dealmakers suggested the current historic cycle of mergers and acquisitions may have reached its conclusion, even as they peppered their audiences with examples, anecdotes and insights that suggested the opposite.

Carl Icahn, the activist investor who has profitably taken on such corporate redoubts as Time Warner, Revlon and Motorola, told an audience of mainly alternative investors, bankers and advisors that what he described as “a walk in the park” for private equity might have run its course. Speaking broadly and often humorously, at the Deals & Deal Makers Conference sponsored by Dow Jones in The New York Stock Exchange – a place he has not necessarily been welcomed - the brassy New York native described corporate America as a money pit for aggressive investors thanks to the lazy boards, uninformed shareholders and bottom-feeding senior More

Build-A-Bear Seeks Buyer
Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc. (NYSE: BBW), a plush-toy retailer whose international expansion plans have left it wobbling on the shelf, said this week it is “considering a broad range of strategic alternatives” even as it moves forward More

A Little M&A: French Breast Implant Maker Bought
Mentor Corporation, a manufacturer of medical products based in Santa Clara, has acquired Perouse Plastie SAS, a French manufacturer of silicone gel breast implants, for 42 million euros, or $56.5 million, As part of the deal, Mentor will assume about More

CCA Industries Says Failed Deal Lowered Profits
E. Rutherford: NJ - CCA Industries Inc. (Amex: CAW), a health and beauty aid company, announced yesterday that the failed deal to sell itself to Dubilier & Company had cost $405,000, contributing to a second-quarter profit decline of 24 percent. The company said last month that More

Morgenthaler Plans New Buyout Fund
Morgenthaler Partners in Boston is planning a new buyout fund, according to a high-level source at the firm. The source said the partners are currently in discussions with LPs. Morgenthaler has $2.5 More

WPP Group Acquires 24/7 Real Media for $649M
The WPP Group has acquired 24/7 Real Media, an online advertising services firm, for $649 million, both companies said earlier this week. WPP is a global advertising and marketing firm; the acquired More

HM Capital Buys Independent Yellow Pages Company
HM Capital Partners LLC, a private equity firm in Dallas, has signed a contract to acquire Phone Directories Company, LP, a provider of phone directors not associated with a specific telcom. The phone-book company is based in Orem, Utah and publishes directories More

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The M&A Advisor’s Middle Market Financing Conference and Awards Dinner took place at the Standard Club in Chicago Tuesday night. What an evening it was! With a little help from my Master of Ceremonies, I handed out trophies and congratulations to 15 top financial professionals serving the $10 million to $1 billion middle market.    If you were there, you were part of the drama of that evening, sharing the excitement surrounding the competition and enjoying the MC turn by Chicago Tribune columnist extraordinaire Phil Rosenthal. Phil raced from the Tribune newsroom to our hotel after filing his latest column, arriving just in time to share some after-dinner anecdotes and insider observations about Sam Zell’s ongoing ESOP-financed Tribune deal. The headline news: David Bench, a partner and managing director with Citi Capital Strategies in New York, was named Professional of the Year. Congratulations David! Our panel of independent judges were impressed with how you managed your company’s $80 million refinance of a closely-held California recreational boat manufacturer last year. The deal expanded the owners’ liquidity, provided operating capital while keeping management in place and work force intact. One judge remarked that you displayed “creative business savvy and brought added value to the deals, creating a win-win for the company, shareholders and employees.”    There was much more on the program that evening, of course. We handed out three Deal of the Year awards: to the Ziegler Companies, Inc. in the Debt category; to Marlin & Associates New York LLC in the Equity category; and to BMO Capital Markets in the Combination category.    In Professional Awards, Circle Peak, LLC won in the Provider category; Phoenix Capital Resources was named Agent of the Year in the Debt category; and Marlin & Associates New York LLC was named Agent of the Year in the Equity category. More