California Olive Ranch Acquires Lucini Italia Olive Oil

California Olive Ranch, the largest producer of extra virgin olive oil in the United States announces its acquisition of Lucini Italia, a leading producer and importer of premium Italian extra virgin olive oils. In the equity transaction seller Molinos USA retains a significant minority share in the combined company.  California Olive Ranch and Lucini Italia will continue to operate under their own labels. The company will maintain its headquarters in Chico, California.

 

California Olive Ranch CEO Gregg Kelley says:

Lucini shares our standards of quality and authenticity and will continue California Olive Ranch’s mission to bring genuine and delicious extra virgin olive oil to the American consumer. We see strong growth in the premium segment in coming years and we think these two brands are best positioned to prosper as consumers trade up to better quality.

Like wine, olive oils vary according to soil, climate and olive varietal.  Our merger with Lucini will allow us to offer the American olive oil consumer a wider variety of trustworthy oil.  This transaction also allows us to enter the sauce, vinaigrette, and vinegar categories with Lucini’s portfolio of quality products.

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Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P. to Attend Upcoming Investor Conferences

Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P. (CLMT), a leading independent producer of specialty hydrocarbon and fuels products, today announced that members of management will attend the following upcoming investor conferences:

Goldman Sachs Global Energy Conference
January 8, 2015
InterContinental Hotel – Miami, FL

UBS MLP One-on-One Conference
January 14, 2015
St. Regis Deer Valley – Park City, UT

Calumet’s latest investor presentation will be provided at each of these conferences.  Prior to Calumet’s attendance at the listed conferences, the Partnership will post an electronic copy of the presentation it intends to use in the “Investor Relations” section of the Partnership’s corporate website at www.calumetspecialty.com.

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Dawson Geophysical And TGC Industries Announce Filing Of Definitive Proxy Materials And Commencement Of Mailing Definitive Proxy Materials To Their Respective Shareholders

Dawson Geophysical Company (Dawson) (DWSN) and TGC Industries, Inc. (TGC) (TGE) today announced that TGC has filed a definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and that Dawson and TGC have commenced mailing of definitive proxy materials in connection with the proposed strategic business combination between Dawson and TGC.

In connection with the proposed merger, Dawson and TGC will each hold special meetings of their respective shareholders on Monday, February 9, 2015.  The special meeting of Dawson shareholders will be held at 3:00 p.m. central time at the offices of Baker Botts L.L.P. at 2001 Ross Avenue, Suite 1100, Dallas, Texas and the special meeting of TGC’s shareholders will be held at 2:00 p.m. central time at the offices of Haynes and Boone, LLP at 2323 Victory Avenue, Suite 700, Dallas, Texas.  Shareholders of record as of the close of business on December 29, 2014, will be entitled to vote at the special meetings.

Stephen Jumper, President and Chief Executive Officer of Dawson, said: “We believe the strategic business combination of these two companies, with over 100 years of existence in the seismic data acquisition industry between them, is in the best interest of the combined shareholders, clients and employees. The combined company puts together two management teams, each with a history of navigating the cyclical nature of the industry, maintaining a strong, conservative balance sheet, and having industry leading technology and talented expertise in various areas of operation.”

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Quindell in talks over possible sale of division

Quindell is exploring the sale of parts of its business, as the UK insurance claim processor attempts to focus on generating cash.

The company has been a target for short sellers that have raised doubts about its business model and have pointed specifically to cash flow as an issue. Quindell said on Friday it had “entered into exclusivity arrangements with a third party in respect of the possible disposal of an operating division of the group”.

It declined to give details on what part of the company was up for sale, but its main operating divisions include professional services, which contains the main insurance claims business, and digital solutions, which develops products such as telematics for cars that report on vehicle performance.

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Top GFI staff seek exit clause if rival BGC bid succeeds

More than 100 senior employees at GFI Group, the US interdealer broker, are seeking changes to their contracts that would allow them to leave the company if a hostile takeover bid by rival BGC Partners is successful.

Dozens of the GFI’s top desk heads and producers have expressed their concern to management in recent months about a BGC purchase, said two people familiar with the situation.

Many are worried about working within BGC’s corporate culture, which incentivises employees via a partnership structure unique in the industry and could lead to bonus cuts.

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Eastern Property Holdings announces acquisition of 100% of the A-Class office building Hermitage Plaza in Moscow

Eastern Property Holdings (“EPH” or the “Company”) would like to announce that it has acquired ownership of the A-Class office complex Hermitage Plaza located in Tverskoy central district of Moscow, in the center of Moscow`s business life. The cash payment for the acquisition of the property amounts to US$ 195 million, subject to possible post-completion adjustments.

Hermitage Plaza is a multi-storey A-Class business center fronting on Garden Ring, one of Moscow`s most important transport routes, and located in proximity to the Kremlin area and close to Mayakovskaya and Novoslobodskaya metro stations. The business center was fully renovated and opened in 2006. Hermitage Plaza with a total leasable area of above 30,000 sqm is fully rented out to mainly one tenant, Russian Telecommunication Company Vimpelcom.

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Datalogix is important element of Oracle’s acquisition strategy

On December 22, 2014, Oracle (ORCL) announced the acquisition of Datalogix, a provider of digital marketing data as a service (or DaaS). Datalogix connects offline consumer spending data with digital marketing efforts with the goal of tracking advertising, its influence on consumers, and the resultant returns.

Datalogix has more than 650 customers and 1,500 data partners that track $2 trillion in consumer spending. Advertisers and digital media publishers such as Lenovo, Google (GOOG), (GOOGL), Facebook (FB), Twitter (TWTR), Ahold, Kraft (KRFT), and Ford use Datalogix to enhance their media presence. The company provides purchase-based targeting that leads to more revenue generation.

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American, US Air will fight gov’t on merger

The Justice Department and a number of state attorneys general on Tuesday challenged a proposed $11 billion merger between US Airways Group and American Airlines’ parent company, AMR Corp.

US Airways shares fell more than 10 percent at one point in active trading. The two airlines strongly defended their combination.

“We will mount a vigorous defense and pursue all legal options in order to achieve this merger and deliver the benefits of the new American to our customers and communities as soon as possible,” they said in a statement.

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K.K.R. Sells Last of Alliance Boots Stake

The private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company said on Wednesday that it had sold off its remaining stake in the British drugstore chain Alliance Boots.

The sale follows Monday’s vote by Walgreen & Company shareholders, who approved the acquisition of the 55 percent of Alliance Boots that Walgreen did not already own. The private equity’s firms shares were sold to the holding company that has now been formed, Walgreens Boots Alliance.

In 2007, Kohlberg Kravis, along with Stefano Pessina, who was Alliance Boots deputy chairman and its largest shareholder at the time, took the British company private in a $22 billion deal — Europe’s largest ever leveraged buyout.  The private equity firm invested $1.8 billion in Alliance Boots.

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Beam bonds soar on M&A news

NEW YORK, Jan 13,2014 (IFR) – Beam’s bonds ratcheted in by as much as 15 basis points on Monday after Japan’s Suntory Holdings made a USD16bn bid for the US spirits maker.

Beam’s 3.25% June 2023s were trading around 60p bid/55bp offered this morning, from around 70/65bp on Friday. Its 1.75% 2018s tightened to Treasuries plus 30bp mid-morning from around Treasuries plus 45bp at open.

 

The tightening is based on hopes that a successful bid from Suntory will trigger a change of control (CoC) covenant aimed at protecting investors against credit event risk.

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