InvestIndustrial and Carlyle create global high-end interior design group
12 SEP 2018
Investindustrial, a UK-based private equity firm, and The Carlyle Group [CG:NASDAQ], a US-based private equity firm, announced their intention to create a global high-end interior design group.
Financial details of the transaction remain confidential however the group will be the largest global high-end design group with a European heritage, with combined sales exceeding EUR 500m.
The new group will be one of the first of its kind, focusing on the high-end design market. Initially, it will consist of three complementary companies, currently owned by Investindustrial – B&B Italia Group in furniture and Flos and Louis Poulsen in lighting - all of which will be transferred to the new group.
Investment funds controlled by Carlyle and Investindustrial will own equal stakes in the new group and will invest alongside the founders of B&B Italia, the Busnelli family, and Flos founder, Piero Gandini, who both retain minority stakes.
With the strong financial backing of Carlyle and Investindustrial, the group will pursue further acquisitions in adjacent niches of the high-end interior design market.
Advisors on the transaction were JPMorgan and Lazard (financial), Latham Watkins (legal advisor to The Carlyle Group) and Chiomenti (legal advisor to Investindustrial).
Press release:
Investindustrial and The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) today announce their intention to create a global high-end interior design group that brings together a collection of powerful and complementary brands. Financial details of the transaction remain confidential however the group will be the largest global high-end design group with a European heritage, with combined sales exceeding EUR 500m.
Investment funds controlled by Carlyle and Investindustrial will own equal stakes in the new group and will invest alongside the founders of B&B Italia, the Busnelli family, and Flos founder, Piero Gandini, who both retain minority stakes. Upon completion of the transaction, Piero Gandini, CEO of Flos, will be appointed Chairman of the new Group while Giorgio Busnelli, B&B Italia’s Chairman, will become Vice Chairman.
The transaction is expected to close before the end of the year subject to customary anti-trust and regulatory approvals.
The new group will be one of the first of its kind, focusing on the high-end design market. Initially, it will consist of three complementary companies, currently owned by Investindustrial – B&B Italia Group in furniture and Flos and Louis Poulsen in lighting - all of which will be transferred to the new group. All three companies are established and well regarded for their unique, iconic products, notably including B&B Italia’s Up chair by Gaetano Pesce, the Arco lamp designed for Flos by the Castiglioni brothers, and Louis Poulsen’s PH 5 lamp, designed by Poul Henningsen.
With the strong financial backing of Carlyle and Investindustrial, the group will pursue further acquisitions in adjacent niches of the high-end interior design market, which despite its global appeal is a market which remains highly fragmented. During Investindustrial’s ownership, in the last four years, Flos has made three acquisitions including outdoor lighting specialist Ares, and B&B Italia has acquired high-end kitchen manufacturer Arclinea as well as the archives of the renowned designer Luigi Caccia Dominioni and his co-founded brand, Azucena.
Piero Gandini, Chairman of the new group and CEO of Flos, said: “This project stems from the idea to bring Italian design, historically characterized by family entrepreneurship, to a new stage in the international arena. I am sure that the great cultural legacy of our design history will be successfully projected globally, demonstrating its development and heritage as has already happened in other “Made in Italy” sectors such as food and fashion. I am so pleased that a project of such importance arises from the partnership of two investment firms like Investindustrial and Carlyle, which have always stood out for their strong entrepreneurial culture and global approach to growing businesses.”
Andrea C. Bonomi, Chairman of the Investindustrial Advisory Board, said: “Design is a key sector for Italy but one where most companies are still sub-scale. We are therefore delighted with our work over the past four years alongside highly experienced entrepreneurs such as Piero Gandini and Giorgio Busnelli for the growth, organic and through acquisitions, of Flos and B&B Italia. Today, thanks also to the recent acquisition of Louis Poulsen, the design group has reached a critical size that we believe represents a good starting point for the launch of a new important phase of further significant international development and growth. Looking ahead, we will work to combine the expertise of these entrepreneurs alongside our industrial approach and now also through the global presence of our new partner Carlyle. Our shared goal will be to establish a leader in high-end design globally.”
Marco De Benedetti, Managing Director and Co-Head, Carlyle Europe Partners, said: “The high-end design market is very attractive with compelling long-term growth prospects. We are pleased to team up with Investindustrial to continue to build on their investments and create a new high-end design group. The brands will now have the potential for greater geographical reach, access to enhanced sourcing and distribution networks and they will also have the ability to better adapt to market evolution and the changing expectations of international customers.”
Giorgio Busnelli, Vice Chairman of the new group and Chairman of B&B Italia, said: “Sharing an important entrepreneurial project and approach to growing businesses was key to the partnership signed with Investindustrial three years ago. Since then, B&B Italia has successfully achieved a growth path also through acquisitions. With today's agreement we are entering a new phase of the development plan that we had envisaged. From today we are part of a group that, with the joint support of Investindustrial and Carlyle, wants to establish itself on a global scale, allowing us to become more relevant in high-end design at an international level.”
Advisors on the transaction were JPMorgan and Lazard (financial), Latham Watkins (legal advisor to The Carlyle Group) and Chiomenti (legal advisor to Investindustrial).
Gapping down
In reaction to disappointing earnings/guidance:
- FARM -6%, COOL -4.6%, WBC -3.5% (lowered guidance)
Other news:
- VTL -88.9% (announces that the VTL-308 study failed to meet its primary or secondary endpoint)
- PGTI -9.4% (commenced an underwritten public offering, subject to market and other conditions, of 7,000,000 shares of its common stock)
- COLD -3.1% (announces public offering of 31.0 mln common shares by company and selling shareholders)
- NLY -2.9% (prices 75 mln common stock offering)
- FRC -2% (to sell 2 mln shares in public offering)
- CADE -1.6% (prices 12,099,757 common stock offering at $27.55/share)
- CISN -1.6% (commences proposed public offering of 12 mln ordinary shares by certain selling shareholders)
- PACB -1.5% (prices offering of 14,117,647 shares of its common stock at $4.25 per share)
- S -1.3% (FCC releases letter pausing the T-Mobile (TMUS) -Sprint transaction clock)
Analyst comments:
- SNAP -4.3% (downgraded to Sell from Neutral at BTIG Research)
- MU -3.9% (downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman)
- AYI -2.7% (downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman)
- LRCX -2.2% (downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman)
- MXIM -1.7% (downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel)
- NXPI -1.3% (downgraded to Sell at Stifel)
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Gapping up
In reaction to strong earnings/guidance:
- N/A.
M&A news:
- ELF +2.7% (shareholder Marathon Partners to push the company to explore a sale or round of cost cuts, according to the WSJ)
- FCAU +2.6% (shares ticking higher in pre-market trade following report company is in talks to sell its unit Magneti to KKR for EUR 6 bln)
- NLSN +2.4% (confirms broad review of strategic alternatives)
- ATHN +1.7% (edges higher after DealReporter / MergerMarket reporter teased 'ATHN detailed sale update published')
Other news:
- FOMX +41.7% (announces 'positive' top line results from third Phase 3 trial evaulating FMX101 for the treatment of moderate-to-severe acne)
- GLPG +15.9% (Gilead Sciences and Galapagos NV announced that filgotnib achieved primary and all key secondary endpoints in Phase 3 Study FINCH 2)
- PYX +11.5% (releases slide deck ahead of today's Investor and Analyst Day)
- TLRY +7.8% (continued buzz in pre-market)
- BHC +7.6% (modestly higher after confirming it has paid down an additional $57 mln of senior secured term loans and $50 mln of revolver borrowings)
- LPI +6.7% (will replace HealthEquity in the S&P SmallCap 600)
- RDHL +4.9% (says recently concluded a positive End-of-Phase II/Pre-Phase III meeting with the FDA discussing the clinical and regulatory pathway towards potential U.S. approval of BEKINDA for the treatment of diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome)
- GILD +3.1% (Gilead Sciences and Galapagos NV announced that filgotnib achieved primary and all key secondary endpoints in Phase 3 Study FINCH 2)
- SLCA +2.8% (Pioneer Natural Resources and U.S. Silica announce West Texas sand supply agreement)
- DBVT +1% (DSMB completes planned safety review of Part A of the EPITOPE trial, recommends that the study continue as planned)
- PTLA +0.8% (Prior Approval Supplement for the large-scale Generation 2 Andexxa process assigned Dec 31 PDUFA date)
- TEVA +0.7% (Celltrion announces that the FDA has scheduled the BLA for CT-P10, a proposed monoclonal Antibody biosimilar to Rituxan, for discussion by the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee on October 10)
- SNY +0.7% (Sanofi/Regeneron (REGN) announce that the FDA has accepted a sBLA for Praluent Injection)
Analyst comments:
- BSTI +2.5% (upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Macquarie)
- CVX +1.3% (upgraded to Buy from Hold at HSBC Securities)
- WP +1.1% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Mizuho)
- TIF +1.1% (upgraded to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer)
- AA +0.5% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at B. Riley FBR)
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Goldman’s future C.E.O. urged a whistle-blower to stay quiet
In 2014, James Katzman, then leading Goldman’s West Coast M.&A. practice, called the firm’s whistle-blower hotline. Colleagues, he said, had tried repeatedly to obtain and share confidential client information. But an NYT report reveals that instead of being investigated by outside lawyers, his allegations were picked up by Goldman’s general counsel and top executives — including David Solomon, the C.E.O.-in-waiting.
Here’s how Emily Flitter, Kate Kelly and Dave Enrich describe his role:
During the meetings, Mr. Solomon repeatedly recommended that Mr. Katzman let go of his grievances and focus instead on his job, said the people close to Mr. Katzman. Mr. Solomon told Mr. Katzman that the concerns he had raised simply reflected the way Wall Street worked, these people said.
Mr. Katzman perceived Mr. Solomon as trying to silence him, the people said. A person at Goldman said that was not Mr. Solomon’s intent.
Mr. Katzman left the firm in 2015 and signed a confidentiality agreement. Goldman’s board will hear about Mr. Solomon’s interactions with Mr. Katzman at a scheduled board meeting tomorrow.
The Epicenter of the Housing Bust Is Booming Again. (That’s a Warning Sign.)
By MATTHEW GOLDSTEIN, ROBERT GEBELOFF, ROSS MANTLE and MATT RUBY
SEPT. 12, 2018
This quiet working-class town, just beyond the glitz of the Las Vegas Strip, helped spark the global financial crisis 10 years ago. The fallout was inescapable: Nearly one in three homes went into foreclosure.
Today, the community of North Las Vegas, encompassing the 89031 ZIP code, is the model of the recovery that has swept the nation. The economy is growing, companies are hiring, and the housing market is hot, with this suburban enclave spreading farther into the Mojave Desert.
But the recovery has been uneven.
Although the Las Vegas area is booming, the middle class is still getting squeezed.
Steady growth across the country has lifted the stock market and corporate profits. Those gains, though, haven’t filtered down to most workers. Incomes have barely budged, and consumer debt is increasing again.
Housing prices in North Las Vegas are rising so fast that many communities are no longer affordable. Much of the new construction is at the high end, keeping out many first-time homeowners. Some cannot come up with money for a down payment, while others are wary of getting back into a market that once burned them.
For many, the American dream is now out of reach. It is increasingly a nation of renters.
This is Angela Guthrie’s third home in a dozen years.
She bought a three-bedroom house in 2006 with her husband. But she couldn’t keep up on the payments on the mortgage, a subprime loan with ballooning interest rates. She filed for personal bankruptcy, lost the home and got divorced.
She tried to buy a home a few miles away, on a property with a rent-to-own option, and put down $3,000 upfront. The deal went bad when she couldn’t get a mortgage, and she lost the down payment.
Ms. Guthrie now lives in a rental a few blocks away.
It’s in a safe neighborhood where private security guards patrol at night. But the new owner, an out-of-state investor, just raised the rent by a few hundred dollars and demanded an additional $1,000 for the security deposit.
A mother of four, Ms. Guthrie, 51, didn’t have much choice. Her 15-year-old daughter is in a top high school, and she didn’t want to jeopardize her placement by moving out of the neighborhood.
Ms. Guthrie, who works at a souvenir distribution company, isn’t planning on buying again. For her, the foreclosure is still too fresh. “How do you build wealth?” she asked. “My views on homeownership have changed.”
In the past decade, this home on Osiana Avenue has changed hands five times, twice in foreclosure.
The first owner bought the house for $400,000 in 2005, taking out more than $1.3 million in loans to acquire the property and three others. She ended up losing all of them in foreclosure and filing for bankruptcy.
The damage from the housing crisis — a toxic combination of frenzied buying, rampant construction, predatory lending and investment excess — was extensive. Of the 23,000 single-family homes in the 89031 ZIP code, more than 7,500 have had at least one foreclosure since 2006, according to Attom Data Solutions.
The wave of foreclosures over the past decade changed the face of the community.
Sandra L. Francescon, a registered nurse, bought the house on Osiana Avenue for $227,000 in 2008. She faced foreclosure four years later, after the homeowner association said she was delinquent on her fees. Some 10,000 liens were placed on homes here by creditors when owners failed to pay bills.
She went to court without a lawyer, and lost the case with the homeowner association. “I am still sick to my stomach to this day,” said Ms. Francescon, 59. “The thing that threw me off is the bank kept saying everything was still in in good standing.”
Like many in the same situation, she was forced to move elsewhere. Ms. Francescon now lives in Illinois.
Early in the crisis, cash-rich investors rushed in, snapping up troubled homes on the cheap.
Big, Wall Street-backed firms and small players picked up homes by the thousands at bank foreclosures for well under $100,000. The investor who bought the house on Osiana Avenue after Ms. Francescon paid just $6,000.
The bargains are now gone.
Prices are up more than 135 percent from the depths of the crisis in North Las Vegas, rising almost three times as fast as the national average, according to the analytics firm Black Knight.
Jasmine Ricks and her sister Portia Reed were among the lucky ones to get a home at their price point.
The sisters, both in their 20s, were tired of throwing away their money. And they wanted a home where their three kids could play.
After looking at two properties this summer, they found a five-bedroom home with three bathrooms for $300,000. First-time home buyers, they were able to take advantage of a program that provides financial assistance in hard-hit areas. They put down less than $1,000.
“It surprised us. This was the easiest thing we ever did in our lives,” said Ms. Ricks, who works at a medical records company. “It has a huge backyard. The kids love it.”
The rebound in housing has followed the broader recovery, as the area attracts new employers.
Amazon has opened two huge centers in North Las Vegas for distributing goods and handling returns, bringing thousands of jobs. A third facility is on the way. Sephora, the cosmetics company, recently broke ground here for a giant warehouse.
With nearly a quarter-million people, North Las Vegas is one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. It’s also young — the average resident is just 33 years old.
Like much of the area, North Las Vegas is a landscape of contrasts, where pawnhops are as common as manicured golf courses.
Squat and basic housing complexes sit just miles from more luxurious homes with grass lawns — a rarity in a community where yards of rock and of desert are the norm.
In a fast-moving market, many can’t afford to buy at all. Although prices are still below their pre-crisis peak, North Las Vegas is considered one of the most overvalued markets in the country.
Today, renters live in about 45 percent of the city’s single-family homes. In 2008, they accounted for 33 percent of homes.
Alma Williams worries that her landlord will raise the rent on this four-bedroom home.
Ms. Williams, who has lived in North Las Vegas for 25 years, has been on a month-to-month lease for nearly two years. Her landlord has kept her rent steady so far at $1,400.
But Ms. Williams, a 69-year-old retiree, lives on a fixed income and doesn’t have much financial wiggle room. She shares the home with her adult daughter, who is recovering from cancer, and a 12-year-old grandson.
“It is hard for many people to buy a home in Vegas,” she said. “People don’t make enough money.”
The rate of rent increases on Las Vegas-area homes are among the highest in the country.
Jazzmine Guiberteaux moved here a few years ago from Oakland, Calif. — one of many California real estate refugees who headed to Nevada in search of more space and cheaper housing. But she is increasingly being priced out.
A 35-year-old mother of two, with another child on the way, she works in a clothing shop and drives for Uber to earn extra cash. She has had to move three times in five years.
Ms. Guiberteaux’s previous landlord terminated her month-to-month lease on Mother’s Day. It took her 10 days to get a new place. “The rent is higher,” she said. “But it’s in a better neighborhood.”
For some renters, affordability isn’t the only issue. Subtle discrimination also complicates their search.
In June, there were about 1,800 rental homes in Clark County, which includes North Las Vegas. Just 39 were accepting tenants with so-called Section 8 housing vouchers, the subsidized rental assistance from the federal government.
Kristine Bergstrom-Norwood with Nevada Legal Services said she and her colleagues see this problem all the time. They call the unspoken obstacle “renting while black.”
It doesn’t help that developers are largely focused on the upper end of the housing market.
One developer, Pardee Homes, is building $400,000-plus homes on the edge of the desert. Upscale homes at the Villages at Tule Springs come in three styles: Desert Contemporary, Modern Spanish and Nevada Living.
Lennar is building moderately priced townhomes and condos with a New York theme. The home models are called Brooklyn, Manhattan and Rochester.
Houses in North Las Vegas “are going like hotcakes,” said Trish Nash, a real estate broker and longtime resident. “They are going in just three days, even one day on the market. And they’re going for the asking price or above.”
Richard Plaster has watched the building business go from boom to bust back to boom again.
A British-born American citizen, Mr. Plaster has been living in the Las Vegas area since 1973. When he moved here, it had about a quarter-million people; now it has 2.2 million.
Before the housing crisis, he had built hundreds of homes. When the financial crisis brought construction to a halt, he switched to buying homes and apartments to rent.
He says he wants to build affordable housing.
Mr. Plaster’s Solana Terrace development will have 184 homes when completed. He is setting aside about a half-dozen homes for young buyers with modest incomes, who will be able to get assistance with down payments from a state program.
It’s the right thing to do, said Mr. Plaster, 71, given how young families were hit hard by the financial crisis.
“I have friends on Wall Street, but I find it unbelievable that we could have a collapse like we did and only one guy gets prosecuted,” he said. “There were some really bad guys.”
Early premarket gappersGapping up:
- FOMX +49.5%, GLPG +15%, LPI +6.7%, GILD +3.1%, SLCA +2.8%, EYPT +2.2%, BHC +1.5%, ATHN +1.3%, PTLA +0.8%, TMUS +0.4%, ETE +0.4%
Gapping down:
- VTL -88%, FARM -6%, PGTI -5%, NLY -3.3%, COLD -3.1%, WBC -2.7%, FRC -2%, CADE -1.6%, CISN -1.6%, S -1.3%, WCG -1%
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Thyssen-Krupp finds no boss - and could lose more top talent - http://bit.ly/2NGUfrM
No CEO, no chairman of the supervisory board: There has been a vacuum at Thyssen-Krupp for two months - and gradually also a panic. The competition is already recruiting top talent.
Dusseldorf, Frankfurt The meeting was long and uncomfortable. When the members of the Thyssen-Krupp Supervisory Board arrived at Essen headquarters on Tuesday to discuss the future, each of them is aware of the seriousness of the situation .
For CEO Heinrich Hiesinger had thrown in July, middle of the same month Ulrich Lehner no longer wanted to be supervisory board chief. Within ten days, the billionaire company had lost its two main executives .
The remaining overseers met on Tuesday for the first regular meeting without Lehner. René Obermann was missing. The former boss of the German Telekom wanted to go originally, if a successor for Lehner is found. But it happens differently. On the website of the supervisory board there are only two letters instead of Obermann's name: NN
The group is panicking. Was it still in August, the search for a new chairman of the Supervisory Board run smoothly and orderly, the project now resembles a fuss . Vorweg: the economics professor Bernhard Pellens. He is chairman of the Nomination Committee and has been assisted by the renowned recruitment consultancy Spencer Stuart. Both have nothing to show.
Cancellations came from Airbus CEO Tom Enders , the former Bayer CEO Marijn Dekkers and the former CEO of Deutsche Bank , Marcus Schenck. Also, the CEO of Volvo , Håkan Samuelsson, should have been addressed unsuccessfully. In Essen there are still half a dozen other names circulating - all with the same addition: do not want to.
Industrial Group: Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Thyssen-Krupp - the job nobody wants
INDUSTRIAL
Group Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Thyssen-Krupp - the job nobody wants
The Supervisory Board meeting on Tuesday was therefore frosty. Embarrassing was the hanging party, participants criticized. Unworthy of a company of this size and tradition . Worse, she is also economically unhealthy.
Thyssen-Krupp is in the middle of remodeling . The merger of the steel division with the Indian competitor Tata hooks. Hiesinger had enforced the major project after many problems, now he is gone. The Indians ask who is the contact person for the many points that are still open. There are hardly any answers from Essen.
There is also much to do elsewhere in the Group. The plant engineering division is the biggest problem child. There, the management was dismissed. Who should hire a new one?
While the supervisory board does not even find its own boss, the board of directors is provisionally led by the CFO Guido Kerkhoff. But everyone in the business knows that Kerkhoff's decisions are all subject to change.
Attacks by activist investors - Germany threatens an unprecedented struggle of management cultures
It threatens a brain drain - an outflow of knowledge. Top performers of the third and fourth level, report Konzerninsider, have already jumped or were close to it. Competitors find it easy to recruit Thyssen managers as long as Essen has a total vacuum of leadership and strategy.
"This is a real dilemma," says a corporate observer. Normally, the search for a supervisory board chief could take half a year. "But Thyssen does not have that time." And every rejection of a candidate makes matters more difficult.
EDF will again have to consult the CCE on Hinkley Point - Reuters News
12-Sep-2018 12:40:30
PARIS, September 12 (Reuters) - EDF EDF.PA will again have to consult the Central Works Council (CCE) on the construction of two EPR reactors in the context of the Hinkley Point project in England, the CCE announced Wednesday in a statement .
The CCE appealed to the courts in June 2016 to request the submission of additional information on this major project.
A court of appeal was right, saying that EDF had not communicated to staff representatives "objective, accurate and complete information up to the technical and financial issues raised by the project HPC" and therefore had them not allowed "to give a reasoned opinion on this project," writes the CCE in a statement.
The court ordered EDF to inform the staff representatives of the full project risk analysis report within one month and asked management to consult the EAC again within two months. adds the latter.
It was not possible to contact EDF immediately