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120-515: The farm was originally a "small muck-soil vegetable farm" until 1938 when William Herman Bolthouse took it over from his parents. At that point he expanded it and began to concentrate on the production and distribution of carrots. Under his leadership, in 1973, opened a second facility in Bakersfield, California, where year-round production was possible. His son William J. took over in 1985 upon his retirement. It stayed in family hands until shortly after

240-524: A private equity fund . Certain institutional investors have the scale necessary to develop a diversified portfolio of private-equity funds themselves, while others will invest through a fund of funds to allow a portfolio more diversified than one a single investor could construct. Returns on private-equity investments are created through one or a combination of three factors that include: debt repayment or cash accumulation through cash flows from operations, operational improvements that increase earnings over

360-474: A $ 290 million IPO and Simon made approximately $ 66 million. The success of the Gibson Greetings investment attracted the attention of the wider media to the nascent boom in leveraged buyouts. Between 1979 and 1989, it was estimated that there were over 2,000 leveraged buyouts valued in excess of $ 250 million. During the 1980s, constituencies within acquired companies and the media ascribed

480-496: A 168-page magazine about the opening of the sports arena. The magazine's editors and writers were not informed of the agreement, which breached the Chinese wall that traditionally has separated advertising from journalistic functions at American newspapers. Publisher Mark Willes also had not prevented advertisers from pressuring reporters in other sections of the newspaper to write stories favorable to their point of view. Michael Kinsley

600-751: A Democratic newspaper, were both afternoon competitors. By the mid-1940s, the Times was the leading newspaper in terms of circulation in the Greater Los Angeles . In 1948, it launched the Los Angeles Mirror , an afternoon tabloid, to compete with both the Daily News and the merged Herald-Express . In 1954, the Mirror absorbed the Daily News . The combined paper, the Mirror-News , ceased publication in 1962, when

720-526: A May 2007, mostly voluntary, reduction in force , characterized the decrease in circulation as an "industry-wide problem" which the paper had to counter by "growing rapidly on-line", "break[ing] news on the Web and explain[ing] and analyz[ing] it in our newspaper." The Times closed its San Fernando Valley printing plant in early 2006, leaving press operations to the Olympic plant and to Orange County . Also that year

840-479: A bank (or other lender). To this, it adds $ 2bn of equity – money from its own partners and from limited partners . With this $ 11bn, it buys all the shares of an underperforming company, XYZ Industrial (after due diligence , i.e. checking the books). It replaces the senior management in XYZ Industrial, with others who set out to streamline it. The workforce is reduced, some assets are sold off, etc. The objective

960-416: A bid of $ 112, a figure they felt certain would enable them to outflank any response by Kravis's team. KKR's final bid of $ 109, while a lower dollar figure, was ultimately accepted by the board of directors of RJR Nabisco. At $ 31.1 billion of transaction value, RJR Nabisco was by far the largest leveraged buyouts in history. In 2006 and 2007, a number of leveraged buyout transactions were completed that for

1080-441: A broad asset allocation that includes traditional assets (e.g., public equity and bonds ) and other alternative assets (e.g., hedge funds , real estate, commodities ). US, Canadian and European public and private pension schemes have invested in the asset class since the early 1980s to diversify away from their core holdings (public equity and fixed income). Today pension investment in private equity accounts for more than

1200-825: A fine of $ 650 million – at the time, the largest fine ever levied under securities laws. Milken left the firm after his own indictment in March 1989. On 13 February 1990 after being advised by United States Secretary of the Treasury Nicholas F. Brady , the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the New York Stock Exchange and the Federal Reserve , Drexel Burnham Lambert officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The combination of decreasing interest rates, loosening lending standards and regulatory changes for publicly traded companies (specifically

1320-502: A form of growth capital investment made into a publicly traded company . PIPE investments are typically made in the form of a convertible or preferred security that is unregistered for a certain period of time. The Registered Direct (RD) is another common financing vehicle used for growth capital. A registered direct is similar to a PIPE, but is instead sold as a registered security. Mezzanine capital refers to subordinated debt or preferred equity securities that often represent

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1440-506: A generally low likelihood of facing liquidity shocks in the medium term, and thus can afford the required long holding periods characteristic of private-equity investment. The median horizon for a LBO transaction is eight years. Los Angeles Times The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles , California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles area city of El Segundo since 2018, it

1560-475: A large and active asset class and the private-equity firms, with hundreds of billions of dollars of committed capital from investors are looking to deploy capital in new and different transactions. As a result of the global financial crisis, private equity has become subject to increased regulation in Europe and is now subject, among other things, to rules preventing asset stripping of portfolio companies and requiring

1680-471: A local Metromix site targeting live entertainment for young adults. A free weekly tabloid print edition of Metromix Los Angeles followed in February 2008; the publication was the newspaper's first stand-alone print weekly. In 2009, the Times shut down Metromix and replaced it with Brand X , a blog site and free weekly tabloid targeting young, social networking readers. Brand X launched in March 2009;

1800-728: A major acquisition without a change of control of the business. Companies that seek growth capital will often do so in order to finance a transformational event in their life cycle. These companies are likely to be more mature than venture capital-funded companies, able to generate revenue and operating profits, but unable to generate sufficient cash to fund major expansions, acquisitions or other investments. Because of this lack of scale, these companies generally can find few alternative conduits to secure capital for growth, so access to growth equity can be critical to pursue necessary facility expansion, sales and marketing initiatives, equipment purchases, and new product development. The primary owner of

1920-429: A notable slowdown in issuance levels in the high yield and leveraged loan markets with few issuers accessing the market. Uncertain market conditions led to a significant widening of yield spreads, which coupled with the typical summer slowdown led many companies and investment banks to put their plans to issue debt on hold until the autumn. However, the expected rebound in the market after 1 May 2007 did not materialize, and

2040-538: A number of major publications and writers, including The New York Times , Boston Globe critic Ty Burr , Washington Post blogger Alyssa Rosenberg, and the websites The A.V. Club and Flavorwire , announced that they would boycott press screenings of future Disney films. The National Society of Film Critics , Los Angeles Film Critics Association , New York Film Critics Circle , and Boston Society of Film Critics jointly announced that Disney's films would be ineligible for their respective year-end awards unless

2160-463: A number of the same tactics and target the same type of companies as more traditional leveraged buyouts and in many ways could be considered a forerunner of the later private-equity firms. Posner is often credited with coining the term " leveraged buyout " or "LBO". The leveraged buyout boom of the 1980s was conceived by a number of corporate financiers, most notably Jerome Kohlberg Jr. and later his protégé Henry Kravis . Working for Bear Stearns at

2280-400: A reputation as a ruthless corporate raider after his hostile takeover of TWA in 1985. Many of the corporate raiders were onetime clients of Michael Milken , whose investment banking firm, Drexel Burnham Lambert helped raise blind pools of capital with which corporate raiders could make a legitimate attempt to take over a company and provided high-yield debt ("junk bonds") financing of

2400-488: A statement saying that the "Don't Buy Bolthouse" campaign had ended. Private equity Private equity ( PE ) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public. In the field of finance , private equity is offered instead to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the companies. In casual usage, "private equity" can refer to these investment firms, rather than

2520-410: A successful business model to act as a stand-alone entity, or as add-on / tuck-in / bolt-on acquisitions , which would include companies with insufficient scale or other deficits. Leveraged buyouts involve a financial sponsor agreeing to an acquisition without itself committing all the capital required for the acquisition. To do this, the financial sponsor will raise acquisition debt, which looks to

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2640-464: A team of Times reporters delivered management with a critique of the paper's online news efforts known as the Spring Street Project. The report, which condemned the Times as a "web-stupid" organization, was followed by a shakeup in management of the paper's website, and a rebuke of print staffers who were described as treating "change as a threat." On July 10, 2007, the Times launched

2760-399: A third of all monies allocated to the asset class , ahead of other institutional investors such as insurance companies, endowments, and sovereign wealth funds. Most institutional investors do not invest directly in privately held companies , lacking the expertise and resources necessary to structure and monitor the investment. Instead, institutional investors will invest indirectly through

2880-477: A total of $ 748 billion in 2018. Thus, given the abundance of private capital available, companies no longer require public markets for sufficient funding. Benefits may include avoiding the cost of an IPO, maintaining more control of the company, and having the 'legroom' to think long-term rather than focus on short-term or quarterly figures. A new phenomenon in the Twenties are regulated platforms which fractionalise

3000-602: Is often most closely associated with fast-growing technology , healthcare and biotechnology fields, venture funding has been used for other more traditional businesses. Investors generally commit to venture capital funds as part of a wider diversified private-equity portfolio , but also to pursue the larger returns the strategy has the potential to offer. However, venture capital funds have produced lower returns for investors over recent years compared to other private-equity fund types, particularly buyout. The category of distressed securities comprises financial strategies for

3120-519: Is the sixth-largest newspaper in the nation and the largest in the Western United States with a print circulation of 118,760. It has 500,000 online subscribers, the fifth-largest among U.S. newspapers. Owned by Patrick Soon-Shiong and published by California Times, the paper has won over 40 Pulitzer Prizes since its founding. In the 19th century, the paper developed a reputation for civic boosterism and opposition to labor unions ,

3240-406: Is to increase the valuation of the company for an early sale. The stock market is experiencing a bull market , and XYZ Industrial is sold two years after the buy-out for $ 13bn, yielding a profit of $ 2bn. The original loan can now be paid off with interest of, say, $ 0.5bn. The remaining profit of $ 1.5bn is shared among the partners. Taxation of such gains is at the capital gains tax rates , which in

3360-550: The Brand X tabloid ceased publication in June 2011 and the website was shut down the following month. In May 2018, the Times blocked access to its online edition from most of Europe because of the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation . In 1999, it was revealed that a revenue-sharing arrangement was in place between the Times and Staples Center in the preparation of

3480-695: The Carnegie Steel Company using private equity. Modern era private equity, however, is credited to Georges Doriot , the "father of venture capitalism" with the founding of ARDC and founder of INSEAD , with capital raised from institutional investors, to encourage private sector investments in businesses run by soldiers who were returning from World War II. ARDC is credited with the first major venture capital success story when its 1957 investment of $ 70,000 in Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) would be valued at over $ 355 million after

3600-591: The Chicago Cubs baseball club. He put up for sale the company's 25 percent interest in Comcast SportsNet Chicago. Until shareholder approval was received, Los Angeles billionaires Ron Burkle and Eli Broad had the right to submit a higher bid, in which case Zell would have received a $ 25 million buyout fee. In December 2008, the Tribune Company filed for bankruptcy protection . The bankruptcy

3720-564: The Democratic presidential candidate, rejected this alternative to endorsement, and after Donald Trump , the Republican candidate, alluded to the newspaper not having endorsed Harris, Mariel Garza, the editor of the opinion section, resigned in protest, as did two other members of the editorial board, Robert Greene and Karin Klein. Two hundred Times staff signed a letter condemning the way in which

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3840-631: The Hollywood Forever Cemetery near Paramount Studios . The site also includes a memorial to the Times Building bombing victims. In 1935, the newspaper moved to a new, landmark Art Deco building, the Los Angeles Times Building , to which the newspaper would add other facilities until taking up the entire city block between Spring, Broadway, First and Second streets, which came to be known as Times Mirror Square and would house

3960-621: The Los Angeles Daily Times , under the direction of Nathan Cole Jr. and Thomas Gardiner . It was first printed at the Mirror printing plant, owned by Jesse Yarnell and T. J. Caystile . Unable to pay the printing bill, Cole and Gardiner turned the paper over to the Mirror Company. In the meantime, S. J. Mathes had joined the firm, and it was at his insistence that the Times continued publication. In July 1882, Harrison Gray Otis moved from Santa Barbara, California to become

4080-572: The Los Angeles Times under the Chandler family. The paper's early history and subsequent transformation was chronicled in an unauthorized history, Thinking Big (1977, ISBN   0-399-11766-0 ), and was one of four organizations profiled by David Halberstam in The Powers That Be (1979, ISBN   0-394-50381-3 ; 2000 reprint ISBN   0-252-06941-2 ). Between the 1960s and

4200-586: The Poynter Institute reported that " ' At least 50' editorial positions will be culled from the Los Angeles Times " through a buyout. Nancy Cleeland, who took O'Shea's buyout offer, did so because of "frustration with the paper's coverage of working people and organized labor" (the beat that earned her Pulitzer). She speculated that the paper's revenue shortfall could be reversed by expanding coverage of economic justice topics, which she believed were increasingly relevant to Southern California; she cited

4320-622: The Sarbanes–Oxley Act ) would set the stage for the largest boom private equity had seen. Marked by the buyout of Dex Media in 2002, large multibillion-dollar U.S. buyouts could once again obtain significant high yield debt financing and larger transactions could be completed. By 2004 and 2005, major buyouts were once again becoming common, including the acquisitions of Toys "R" Us , The Hertz Corporation , Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and SunGard in 2005. As 2006 began, new "largest buyout" records were set and surpassed several times with nine of

4440-524: The Times drew fire for a last-minute story before the California recall election alleging that gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger groped scores of women during his movie career. Columnist Jill Stewart wrote on the American Reporter website that the Times did not do a story on allegations that former Governor Gray Davis had verbally and physically abused women in his office, and that

4560-597: The Times . Chandler was succeeded in 1944 by his son, Norman Chandler , who ran the paper during the rapid growth in Los Angeles following the end of World War II . Norman's wife, Dorothy Buffum Chandler , became active in civic affairs and led the effort to build the Los Angeles Music Center , whose main concert hall was named the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in her honor. Family members are buried at

4680-532: The " corporate raid " label to many private-equity investments, particularly those that featured a hostile takeover of the company, perceived asset stripping , major layoffs or other significant corporate restructuring activities. Among the most notable investors to be labeled corporate raiders in the 1980s included Carl Icahn , Victor Posner , Nelson Peltz , Robert M. Bass , T. Boone Pickens , Harold Clark Simmons , Kirk Kerkorian , Sir James Goldsmith , Saul Steinberg and Asher Edelman . Carl Icahn developed

4800-635: The 1965 Watts Riots and the 1992 Los Angeles riots . In the 19th century, the chief competition to the Times was the Los Angeles Examiner followed by the smaller Los Angeles Tribune . In December 1903, newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst began publishing the Los Angeles Examiner as a direct morning competitor to the Times. In the 20th century, the Los Angeles Express , Manchester Boddy 's Los Angeles Daily News ,

4920-638: The 1986 buyout of the Revco drug stores, Walter Industries, FEB Trucking and Eaton Leonard. Additionally, the RJR Nabisco deal was showing signs of strain, leading to a recapitalization in 1990 that involved the contribution of $ 1.7 billion of new equity from KKR. In the end, KKR lost $ 700 million on RJR. Drexel reached an agreement with the government in which it pleaded nolo contendere (no contest) to six felonies – three counts of stock parking and three counts of stock manipulation . It also agreed to pay

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5040-818: The Bolthouse Foundation. No members of The Bolthouse Foundation have a financial interest in Bolthouse Farms, and The Bolthouse Foundation receives neither financial support nor benefits from the profits of Bolthouse Farms. The division of Bolthouse Farms and The Bolthouse Foundation became evident in October 2008 when an article in the Los Angeles Times announced that the boycott of Bolthouse Farms had ended. The advocacy group Californians Against Hate (CAH) had urged consumers not to support Bolthouse Farms. On October 9, 2008, CAH campaign manager Fred Karger issued

5160-645: The Hearst afternoon Herald-Express and the morning Los Angeles Examiner merged to become the Herald-Examiner . The Herald-Examiner published its last number in 1989. In 2014, the Los Angeles Register , published by Freedom Communications, then-parent company of the Orange County Register , was launched as a daily newspaper to compete with the Times . By late September of that year, however,

5280-506: The Schwarzenegger story relied on a number of anonymous sources. Further, she said, four of the six alleged victims were not named. She also said that in the case of the Davis allegations, the Times decided against printing the Davis story because of its reliance on anonymous sources. The American Society of Newspaper Editors said that the Times lost more than 10,000 subscribers because of

5400-559: The Sunday edition. Garfield was dropped altogether shortly thereafter. Following the Republican Party 's defeat in the 2006 mid-term elections , an Opinion piece by Joshua Muravchik , a leading neoconservative and a resident scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute , published on November 19, 2006, was titled 'Bomb Iran'. The article shocked some readers, with its hawkish comments in support of more unilateral action by

5520-457: The US private-equity industry were planted in 1946 with the founding of two venture capital firms: American Research and Development Corporation (ARDC) and J.H. Whitney & Company . Before World War II, venture capital investments (originally known as "development capital") were primarily the domain of wealthy individuals and families. In 1901 J.P. Morgan arguably managed the first leveraged buyout of

5640-702: The United States and Canada. Two cases in Toronto, Ontario , Canada resulted in paralysis; three cases recorded in Georgia , United States resulted in respiratory failure, with the patients requiring ventilators; one case recorded in Florida resulted in hospitalization. The patient in Florida was last reported to be unresponsive since mid-September 2006. In response, Bolthouse Farms said the people may have failed to properly refrigerate

5760-484: The United States are lower than ordinary income tax rates. Note that part of that profit results from turning the company around, and part results from the general increase in share prices in a buoyant stock market, the latter often being the greater component. Notes: Growth capital refers to equity investments, most often minority investments, in relatively mature companies that are looking for capital to expand or restructure operations, enter new markets or finance

5880-460: The United States, this time against Iran. On March 22, 2007, editorial page editor Andrés Martinez resigned following an alleged scandal centering on his girlfriend's professional relationship with a Hollywood producer who had been asked to guest-edit a section in the newspaper. In an open letter written upon leaving the paper, Martinez criticized the publication for allowing the Chinese wall between

6000-548: The asset class, to invest in private equity from older vintages than would otherwise be available to them. Secondaries also typically experience a different cash flow profile, diminishing the j-curve effect of investing in new private-equity funds. Often investments in secondaries are made through third-party fund vehicle, structured similar to a fund of funds although many large institutional investors have purchased private-equity fund interests through secondary transactions. Sellers of private-equity fund investments sell not only

6120-634: The assets making investment sizes of $ 10,000 or less possible. Although the capital for private equity originally came from individual investors or corporations, in the 1970s, private equity became an asset class in which various institutional investors allocated capital in the hopes of achieving risk-adjusted returns that exceed those possible in the public equity markets . In the 1980s, insurers were major private-equity investors. Later, public pension funds and university and other endowments became more significant sources of capital. For most institutional investors, private-equity investments are made as part of

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6240-517: The assumption of $ 90 million in pension liabilities, closed on June 16, 2018. In 2000, John Carroll , former editor of the Baltimore Sun , was brought in to restore the luster of the newspaper. During his reign at the Times , he eliminated more than 200 jobs, but despite an operating profit margin of 20 percent, the Tribune executives were unsatisfied with returns, and by 2005 Carroll had left

6360-405: The brothers, who eventually pleaded guilty. Otis fastened a bronze eagle on top of a high frieze of the new Times headquarters building designed by Gordon Kaufmann , proclaiming anew the credo written by his wife, Eliza: "Stand Fast, Stand Firm, Stand Sure, Stand True". After Otis' death in 1917, his son-in-law and the paper's business manager, Harry Chandler , took control as publisher of

6480-409: The buyouts. One of the final major buyouts of the 1980s proved to be its most ambitious and marked both a high-water mark and a sign of the beginning of the end of the boom. In 1989, KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) closed in on a $ 31.1 billion takeover of RJR Nabisco . It was, at that time and for over 17 years, the largest leveraged buyout in history. The event was chronicled in the book (and later

6600-528: The cash flows of the acquisition target to make interest and principal payments. Acquisition debt in an LBO is often non-recourse to the financial sponsor and has no claim on other investments managed by the financial sponsor. Therefore, an LBO transaction's financial structure is particularly attractive to a fund's limited partners, allowing them the benefits of leverage, but limiting the degree of recourse of that leverage. This kind of financing structure leverage benefits an LBO's financial sponsor in two ways: (1)

6720-409: The companies in which that they invest. Private-equity capital is invested into a target company either by an investment management company ( private equity firm ), a venture capital fund, or an angel investor ; each category of investor has specific financial goals, management preferences, and investment strategies for profiting from their investments. Private equity provides working capital to

6840-571: The company markets packaged baby-cut carrots with cartoon mascots and spicing shakers under the name "Kids Veggie Snackers," including Carrot Meets Ranch (ranch dressing spices, cowboy carrot mascot) and Carrot Meets Chili Lime (cartoon hot pepper and carrot in romantic pairing). In 2020, Bolthouse Farms first cured and sold carrots to be grilled as carrot hot dogs . The grill-ready carrots are labeled Carrot Dogs and sold in 8 packs. The carrot hot dogs are sold in three flavors: Classic American-Style, Chorizo-Style and Sweet Italian-Style. The company at

6960-434: The company may not be willing to take the financial risk alone. By selling part of the company to private equity, the owner can take out some value and share the risk of growth with partners. Capital can also be used to effect a restructuring of a company's balance sheet, particularly to reduce the amount of leverage (or debt) the company has on its balance sheet . A private investment in public equity (PIPE), refer to

7080-405: The company's initial public offering in 1968 (a return of over 5,000 times its investment and an annualized rate of return of 101%). It is commonly noted that the first venture-backed startup is Fairchild Semiconductor , which produced the first commercially practicable integrated circuit, funded in 1959 by what would later become Venrock Associates . The first leveraged buyout may have been

7200-837: The costs of preventative safety protocols for COVID-19 infections and to more quickly reach herd immunity within the company, Bolthouse secured vaccine doses from public health officials to be given directly to their workers. The company will give $ 500 in cash for full time hourly workers who have been vaccinated. In September 2010, a marketing initiative was launched by a group of nearly 50 carrot producers led by Bolthouse Farms (calling themselves "A Bunch of Carrot Farmers") sought to promote baby-cut carrots as an alternative to junk food for children. The campaign mimicked tactics typically employed by snack food marketers, including snack-food-like packaging; futuristic, sexual, and extreme sports-themed TV commercials; carrot vending machines in schools; and an iPhone game and website. As of September 2016,

7320-453: The death of William Herman in 2004 at age 89. Private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners then owned Bolthouse from 2005 to 2012. It shut down all Michigan operations in June 2010. Campbell Soup Company acquired the company in 2012 for US$ 1.55 billion. In April 2019, Bolthouse Farms again fell in the hands of a private equity firm when it was bought from Campbell by an affiliate of Butterfly Equity for US$ 510 million. In an effort to reduce

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7440-443: The decision was reversed, condemning the decision as being "antithetical to the principles of a free press and [setting] a dangerous precedent in a time of already heightened hostility towards journalists". On November 7, 2017, Disney reversed its decision, stating that the company "had productive discussions with the newly installed leadership at the Los Angeles Times regarding our specific concerns". In October 2024, Soon-Shiong,

7560-586: The demands of the Tribune Group—as was publisher Jeffrey Johnson—and was replaced by James O'Shea of the Chicago Tribune . O'Shea himself left in January 2008 after a budget dispute with publisher David Hiller . The paper reported on July 3, 2008, that it planned to cut 250 jobs by Labor Day and reduce the number of published pages by 15 percent. That included about 17 percent of the news staff, as part of

7680-405: The families grew larger, the later generations found that only one or two branches got the power, and everyone else got a share of the money. Eventually the coupon-clipping branches realized that they could make more money investing in something other than newspapers. Under their pressure the companies went public, or split apart, or disappeared. That's the pattern followed over more than a century by

7800-432: The financial press as the superficial rebranding of investment management companies who specialized in the leveraged buyout of financially weak companies. Evaluations of the returns of private equity are mixed: some find that it outperforms public equity, but others find otherwise. Some key features of private equity investment include: The strategies private-equity firms may use are as follows, leveraged buyout being

7920-409: The first time surpassed the RJR Nabisco leveraged buyout in terms of nominal purchase price. However, adjusted for inflation, none of the leveraged buyouts of the 2006–2007 period would surpass RJR Nabisco. By the end of the 1980s the excesses of the buyout market were beginning to show, with the bankruptcy of several large buyouts including Robert Campeau 's 1988 buyout of Federated Department Stores ,

8040-468: The formation of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in that year. In January 1982, former United States Secretary of the Treasury William E. Simon and a group of investors acquired Gibson Greetings , a producer of greeting cards, for $ 80 million, of which only $ 1 million was rumored to have been contributed by the investors. By mid-1983, just sixteen months after the original deal, Gibson completed

8160-525: The former president of General Mills , was criticized for his lack of understanding of the newspaper business, and was derisively referred to by reporters and editors as The Cereal Killer . Subsequently, the Orange County plant closed in 2010. The Times ' s reported daily circulation in October 2010 was 600,449, down from a peak of 1,225,189 daily and 1,514,096 Sunday in April 1990. In December 2006,

8280-434: The investments in the fund but also their remaining unfunded commitments to the funds. Other strategies that can be considered private equity or a close adjacent market include: As well as this to compensate for private equities not being traded on the public market, a private-equity secondary market has formed, where private-equity investors purchase securities and assets from other private equity investors. The seeds of

8400-421: The investor only needs to provide a fraction of the capital for the acquisition, and (2) the returns to the investor will be enhanced, as long as the return on assets exceeds the cost of the debt. As a percentage of the purchase price for a leverage buyout target, the amount of debt used to finance a transaction varies according to the financial condition and history of the acquisition target, market conditions,

8520-454: The lack of market confidence prevented deals from pricing. By the end of September, the full extent of the credit situation became obvious as major lenders including Citigroup and UBS AG announced major writedowns due to credit losses. The leveraged finance markets came to a near standstill during a week in 2007. As 2008 began, lending standards tightened and the era of "mega-buyouts" came to an end. Nevertheless, private equity continues to be

8640-481: The latter of which led to the bombing of its headquarters in 1910. The paper's profile grew substantially in the 1960s under publisher Otis Chandler , who adopted a more national focus. As with other regional newspapers in California and the United States, the paper's readership has declined since 2010. It has also been beset by a series of ownership changes, staff reductions, and other controversies. In January 2018,

8760-577: The launch of startup companies to late stage and growth capital that is often used to fund expansion of existing business that are generating revenue but may not yet be profitable or generating cash flow to fund future growth. Entrepreneurs often develop products and ideas that require substantial capital during the formative stages of their companies' life cycles. Many entrepreneurs do not have sufficient funds to finance projects themselves, and they must, therefore, seek outside financing. The venture capitalist's need to deliver high returns to compensate for

8880-402: The launch of a seed or startup company, early-stage development, or expansion of a business. Venture investment is most often found in the application of new technology, new marketing concepts and new products that do not have a proven track record or stable revenue streams. Venture capital is often sub-divided by the stage of development of the company ranging from early-stage capital used for

9000-449: The levels that traditional lenders are willing to provide through bank loans. In compensation for the increased risk, mezzanine debt holders require a higher return for their investment than secured or other more senior lenders. Mezzanine securities are often structured with a current income coupon. Venture capital (VC) is a broad subcategory of private equity that refers to equity investments made, typically in less mature companies, for

9120-583: The life of the investment and multiple expansion, selling the business for a higher price than was originally paid. A key component of private equity as an asset class for institutional investors is that investments are typically realized after some period of time, which will vary depending on the investment strategy. Private-equity investment returns are typically realized through one of the following avenues: Large institutional asset owners such as pension funds (with typically long-dated liabilities), insurance companies, sovereign wealth and national reserve funds have

9240-749: The loan debt. Lewis Cullman's acquisition of Orkin Exterminating Company in 1964 is often cited as the first leveraged buyout. Similar to the approach employed in the McLean transaction, the use of publicly traded holding companies as investment vehicles to acquire portfolios of investments in corporate assets was a relatively new trend in the 1960s popularized by the likes of Warren Buffett ( Berkshire Hathaway ) and Victor Posner ( DWG Corporation ) and later adopted by Nelson Peltz ( Triarc ), Saul Steinberg (Reliance Insurance) and Gerry Schwartz ( Onex Corporation ). These investment vehicles would utilize

9360-455: The major banking players of the day, including Morgan Stanley , Goldman Sachs , Salomon Brothers , and Merrill Lynch were actively involved in advising and financing the parties. After Shearson's original bid, KKR quickly introduced a tender offer to obtain RJR Nabisco for $ 90 per share—a price that enabled it to proceed without the approval of RJR Nabisco's management. RJR's management team, working with Shearson and Salomon Brothers, submitted

9480-402: The mid-2000s it was also the whole or partial subject of nearly thirty dissertations in communications and social science. The Los Angeles Times has occupied five physical sites beginning in 1881. The Los Angeles Times was beset in the first decade of the 21st century by changes in ownership, a bankruptcy , a rapid succession of editors, reductions in staff, decreases in paid circulation,

9600-471: The most common. Leveraged buyout (LBO) refers to a strategy of making equity investments as part of a transaction in which a company, business unit, or business asset is acquired from the current shareholders typically with the use of financial leverage . The companies involved in these transactions are typically mature and generate operating cash flows . Private-equity firms view target companies as either Platform companies, which have sufficient scale and

9720-439: The most junior portion of a company's capital structure that is senior to the company's common equity . This form of financing is often used by private-equity investors to reduce the amount of equity capital required to finance a leveraged buyout or major expansion. Mezzanine capital, which is often used by smaller companies that are unable to access the high yield market , allows such companies to borrow additional capital beyond

9840-462: The movie), Barbarians at the Gate : The Fall of RJR Nabisco . KKR would eventually prevail in acquiring RJR Nabisco at $ 109 per share, marking a dramatic increase from the original announcement that Shearson Lehman Hutton would take RJR Nabisco private at $ 75 per share. A fierce series of negotiations and horse-trading ensued which pitted KKR against Shearson and later Forstmann Little & Co. Many of

9960-517: The need to increase its Web presence, and a series of controversies. In January 2024, the newsroom announced a roughly 20 percent reduction in staff, due to anemic subscription growth and other financial struggles. The newspaper moved to a new headquarters building in El Segundo , near Los Angeles International Airport , in July 2018. In 2000, Times Mirror Company , publisher of the Los Angeles Times ,

10080-492: The negative publicity surrounding the Schwarzenegger article. On November 12, 2005, new op-ed editor Andrés Martinez announced the dismissal of liberal op-ed columnist Robert Scheer and conservative editorial cartoonist Michael Ramirez . The Times also came under controversy for its decision to drop the weekday edition of the Garfield comic strip in 2005, in favor of a hipper comic strip Brevity , while retaining it in

10200-423: The new executive editor. Merida was then a senior vice president at ESPN and headed The Undefeated , a site focused on sports, race, and culture; he had previously been the first Black managing editor at The Washington Post . The Los Angeles Times Olympic Boulevard printing press was not purchased by Soon-Shiong and was kept by Tribune; in 2016 it was sold to developers who planned to build sound stages on

10320-498: The newly private media company's mandate to reduce costs. Hiller himself resigned on July 14. In January 2009, the Times eliminated the separate California/Metro section, folding it into the front section of the newspaper, and also announced seventy job cuts in news and editorial or a 10 percent cut in payroll. In September 2015, Austin Beutner , the publisher and chief executive, was replaced by Timothy E. Ryan . On October 5, 2015,

10440-487: The news and editorial departments to be weakened, accusing news staffers of lobbying the opinion desk. In November 2017, Walt Disney Studios blacklisted the Times from attending press screenings of its films, in retaliation for September 2017 reportage by the paper on Disney 's political influence in the Anaheim area. The company considered the coverage to be "biased and inaccurate". As a sign of condemnation and solidarity,

10560-429: The newspaper announced a layoff that would affect at least 115 employees. It named Terry Tang its next executive editor on April 8, 2024. The Times has suffered continued decline in distribution. Reasons offered for the circulation drop included a price increase and a rise in the proportion of readers preferring to read the online version instead of the print version. Editor Jim O'Shea, in an internal memo announcing

10680-416: The newspaper. His successor, Dean Baquet , refused to impose the additional cutbacks mandated by the Tribune Company. Baquet was the first African-American to hold this type of editorial position at a top-tier daily. During Baquet and Carroll's time at the paper, it won 13 Pulitzer Prizes , more than any other paper except The New York Times . However, Baquet was removed from the editorship for not meeting

10800-430: The non-endorsement was handled, and thousands of subscribers cancelled their subscriptions. Soon-Shiong had previously blocked an endorsement by the editorial board in 2020, when he overruled their decision to endorse Elizabeth Warren in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries . As of 2014, the Times has won 41 Pulitzer Prizes , including four in editorial cartooning, and one each in spot news reporting for

10920-630: The notification and disclosure of information in connection with buy-out activity. From 2010 to 2014 KKR , Carlyle , Apollo and Ares went public. Starting from 2018 these companies converted from partnerships into corporations with more shareholder rights and the inclusion in stock indices and mutual fund portfolios. But with the increased availability and scope of funding provided by private markets, many companies are staying private simply because they can. McKinsey & Company reports in its Global Private Markets Review 2018 that global private market fundraising increased by $ 28.2 billion from 2017, for

11040-548: The owner of the Times , told executive editor Terry Tang that the newspaper must not endorse a candidate in the 2024 United States presidential election , but should instead print "a factual analysis of all the POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE policies by EACH candidate during their tenures at the White House, and how these policies affected the nation". The Times editorial board, which had been preparing to endorse Kamala Harris ,

11160-493: The paper announced its circulation had fallen to 851,532, down 5.4 percent from 2005. The Times ' s loss of circulation was the largest of the top ten newspapers in the U.S. Some observers believed that the drop was due to the retirement of circulation director Bert Tiffany. Others thought the decline was a side effect of a succession of short-lived editors who were appointed by publisher Mark Willes after publisher Otis Chandler relinquished day-to-day control in 1995. Willes,

11280-773: The paper joined with The Washington Post to form the Los Angeles Times–Washington Post News Service to syndicate articles from both papers for other news organizations. He also toned down the unyielding conservatism that had characterized the paper over the years, adopting a much more centrist editorial stance. During the 1960s, the paper won four Pulitzer Prizes , more than its previous nine decades combined. In 2013, Times reporter Michael Hiltzik wrote that: The first generations bought or founded their local paper for profits and also social and political influence (which often brought more profits). Their children enjoyed both profits and influence, but as

11400-434: The paper supported efforts to expand the city's water supply by acquiring the rights to the water supply of the distant Owens Valley . The efforts of the Times to fight local unions led to the bombing of its headquarters on October 1, 1910, killing 21 people. Two of the union leaders, James and Joseph McNamara , were charged. The American Federation of Labor hired noted trial attorney Clarence Darrow to represent

11520-419: The paper underwent its largest percentage reduction in headcount—amounting to a layoff of over 20%, including senior staff editorial positions—in an effort to stem the tide of financial losses and maintain enough cash to be viably operational through the end of the year in a struggle for survival and relevance as a regional newspaper of diminished status. The Times was first published on December 4, 1881, as

11640-471: The paper until 2018. Harry Chandler , then the president and general manager of Times-Mirror Co. , declared the Los Angeles Times Building a "monument to the progress of our city and Southern California". The fourth generation of family publishers, Otis Chandler , held that position from 1960 till 1980. Otis Chandler sought legitimacy and recognition for his family's paper, often forgotten in

11760-504: The paper's attempted hiring of a "celebrity justice reporter" as an example of the wrong approach. On August 21, 2017, Ross Levinsohn , then aged 54, was named publisher and CEO, replacing Davan Maharaj , who had been both publisher and editor. On June 16, 2018, the same day the sale to Patrick Soon-Shiong closed, Norman Pearlstine was named executive editor. On May 3, 2021, the newspaper announced that it had selected Kevin Merida to be

11880-477: The paper's editor. At the same time he also purchased a 1/4 stake in the paper for $ 6,000 mostly secured on a bank loan. Historian Kevin Starr wrote that Otis was a businessman "capable of manipulating the entire apparatus of politics and public opinion for his own enrichment". Otis's editorial policy was based on civic boosterism , extolling the virtues of Los Angeles and promoting its growth. Toward those ends,

12000-581: The paper's staff voted to unionize and finalized their first union contract on October 16, 2019. The paper moved out of its historic headquarters in downtown Los Angeles to a facility in El Segundo, near the Los Angeles International Airport , in July 2018. Since 2020, the newspaper's coverage has evolved away from national and international news and toward coverage of California and especially Southern California news. In January 2024,

12120-506: The power centers of the Northeastern United States due to its geographic and cultural distance. He sought to remake the paper in the model of the nation's most respected newspapers, such as The New York Times and The Washington Post . Believing that the newsroom was "the heartbeat of the business", Otis Chandler increased the size and pay of the reporting staff and expanded its national and international reporting. In 1962,

12240-411: The previous record set in 2000 by 22% and 33% higher than the 2005 fundraising total The following year, despite the onset of turmoil in the credit markets in the summer, saw yet another record year of fundraising with $ 302 billion of investor commitments to 415 funds Among the mega-buyouts completed during the 2006 to 2007 boom were: EQ Office , HCA , Alliance Boots and TXU . In July 2007,

12360-482: The printing plant closure and with a refocusing of sports coverage for editorial reasons, daily game coverage and box scores were eliminated on July 9, 2023. The sports section now features less time-sensitive articles, billed as similar to a magazine. The change caused some consternation in the Los Angeles Jewish community , for many of whom reading box scores was a morning Shabbat ritual. On January 23, 2024,

12480-530: The products. Bolthouse Farms has subsequently released an FAQ regarding the event. The Bolthouse Foundation is a religious charity funding evangelical causes. Mr. and Mrs. William J. Bolthouse sold their interest in Wm. Bolthouse Farms in late 2005, and since then the Bolthouse Foundation has reflected their giving decisions exclusively. The Bolthouse Foundation is a separate entity from Bolthouse Farms, and all funding decisions by The Bolthouse Foundation are made solely by

12600-464: The products. On September 29, 2006, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended that Georgia residents not purchase Bolthouse Farms carrot juice and warned consumers not to purchase Bolthouse Farms products stale-dated November 11, 2006, or earlier. The warning and the recalls were due to reported cases of consumption of the beverages resulting in six cases of botulism in

12720-537: The profitable investment of working capital into the corporate equity and the securities of financially weak companies. The investment of private-equity capital into distressed securities is realised with two financial strategies: Moreover, the private-equity investment strategies of hedge funds also include actively trading the loans held and the bonds issued by the financially-weak target companies. Secondary investments refer to investments made in existing private-equity assets. These transactions can involve

12840-446: The purchase by McLean Industries, Inc. of Pan-Atlantic Steamship Company in January 1955 and Waterman Steamship Corporation in May 1955 Under the terms of that transaction, McLean borrowed $ 42 million and raised an additional $ 7 million through an issue of preferred stock . When the deal closed, $ 20 million of Waterman cash and assets were used to retire $ 20 million of

12960-434: The risk of these investments makes venture funding an expensive capital source for companies. Being able to secure financing is critical to any business, whether it is a startup seeking venture capital or a mid-sized firm that needs more cash to grow. Venture capital is most suitable for businesses with large up-front capital requirements which cannot be financed by cheaper alternatives such as debt . Although venture capital

13080-399: The sale of private equity fund interests or portfolios of direct investments in privately held companies through the purchase of these investments from existing institutional investors . By its nature, the private-equity asset class is illiquid, intended to be a long-term investment for buy and hold investors. Secondary investments allow institutional investors, particularly those new to

13200-606: The same time added carrot fettucine and riced carrots. The products were launched to appeal to consumers' who want more plant-based foods. In 2003, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration accepted Bolthouse Farms' self-certification that carrot fiber ingredient is generally recognized as safe (GRAS). In September 2006, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency ordered a recall of Bolthouse Farms "100 per cent Carrot Juice" and other Bolthouse Farms products because of several cases of botulism resulting from consumption of

13320-530: The site. It had opened in 1990 and could print 70,000 96-page newspapers an hour. The last issue of the Times printed at Olympic Boulevard was the March 11, 2024, edition. Printing moved to Riverside , at the Southern California News Group 's Press-Enterprise printer, which also prints Southern California editions of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal . In preparation for

13440-420: The target company to finance the expansion of the company with the development of new products and services, restructuring of operations, management, and formal control and ownership of the company. As a financial product, the private-equity fund is a type of private capital for financing a long-term investment strategy in an illiquid business enterprise. Private equity fund investing has been described by

13560-463: The three Bear Stearns bankers would complete a series of buyouts including Stern Metals (1965), Incom (a division of Rockwood International, 1971), Cobblers Industries (1971), and Boren Clay (1973) as well as Thompson Wire, Eagle Motors and Barrows through their investment in Stern Metals. By 1976, tensions had built up between Bear Stearns and Kohlberg, Kravis and Roberts leading to their departure and

13680-456: The time, Kohlberg and Kravis along with Kravis' cousin George Roberts began a series of what they described as "bootstrap" investments. Many of these companies lacked a viable or attractive exit for their founders as they were too small to be taken public and the founders were reluctant to sell out to competitors and so a sale to a financial buyer could prove attractive. In the following years

13800-403: The top ten buyouts at the end of 2007 having been announced in an 18-month window from the beginning of 2006 through the middle of 2007. In 2006, private-equity firms bought 654 U.S. companies for $ 375 billion, representing 18 times the level of transactions closed in 2003. Additionally, U.S.-based private-equity firms raised $ 215.4 billion in investor commitments to 322 funds, surpassing

13920-411: The turmoil that had been affecting the mortgage markets , spilled over into the leveraged finance and high-yield debt markets. The markets had been highly robust during the first six months of 2007, with highly issuer friendly developments including PIK and PIK Toggle (interest is " P ayable I n K ind") and covenant light debt widely available to finance large leveraged buyouts. July and August saw

14040-513: The willingness of lenders to extend credit (both to the LBO's financial sponsors and the company to be acquired) as well as the interest costs and the ability of the company to cover those costs. Historically the debt portion of a LBO will range from 60 to 90% of the purchase price. Between 2000 and 2005, debt averaged between 59.4% and 67.9% of total purchase price for LBOs in the United States. A private-equity fund, ABC Capital II, borrows $ 9bn from

14160-501: Was a result of declining advertising revenue and a debt load of $ 12.9 billion, much of it incurred when the paper was taken private by Zell. On February 7, 2018, Tribune Publishing , formerly Tronc Inc., agreed to sell the Los Angeles Times and its two other Southern California newspapers, The San Diego Union-Tribune and Hoy , to billionaire biotech investor Patrick Soon-Shiong . The sale to Soon-Shiong through his Nant Capital investment fund, for $ 500 million plus

14280-541: Was hired as the Opinion and Editorial ( op-ed ) Editor in April 2004 to help improve the quality of the opinion pieces. His role was controversial, for he forced writers to take a more decisive stance on issues. In 2005, he created a Wikitorial , the first Wiki by a major news organization. Although it failed, readers could combine forces to produce their own editorial pieces. It was shut down after being besieged with inappropriate material. He resigned later that year. In 2003,

14400-534: Was purchased by the Tribune Company of Chicago , Illinois, placing the paper in co-ownership with the then WB-affiliated (now CW -affiliated) KTLA , which Tribune acquired in 1985. On April 2, 2007, the Tribune Company announced its acceptance of real estate entrepreneur Sam Zell 's offer to buy the Chicago Tribune , the Los Angeles Times , and all other company assets. Zell announced that he would sell

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