Barclays (BCS) Successfully Growing Brand in U.S., Landing Big Deals

Barclays (NYSE:BCS) has been working hard to implement its five-year plan to boost its brand in the U.S., and has won some significant deals along the way.

Barclays Capital, a division of Barclays PLC, "had roles in the $4.7 billion debt financing for KKR & Co.'s (NYSE:KKR) buyout of Del Monte Foods Co. and the $3.4 billion financing for the buyout of Tomkins PLC, the two largest leveraged buyouts of 2010. It also had recent big loan-refinancing deals for Dunkin' Brands Inc., Burger King and Michael Foods," according to the Wall Street Journal.

"Now it, along with other lenders, faces speed bumps. In the past two weeks, $19.5 billion of leveraged-loan and high-yield bond offerings have been postponed or canceled because of market turmoil, according to Standard & Poor's Leveraged Commentary & Data. That put a crimp on an otherwise strong start to the year.

"Through last week, Barclays had 33 U.S. loan deals this year, totaling $10 billion, nearly double in number what it had during last year's full first quarter, according to Dealogic. It currently ranks fourth among U.S. leveraged lenders, up from eighth last year."

Barclays was trading at $18.88, gaining $0.03, or 0.16 percent, as of 1:58 PM EDT.




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Del Monte (DLM) Taken Private, No Longer Trading

Shares of Del Monte (NYSE:DLM) are no longer listed on the New York Stock Exchange after being acquired by a group of Private equity firms led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. on Tuesday.

The food company was acquired for $4 billion.

Investors, including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Vestar Capital Partners and Centerview Partners agreed to acquire the food maker in November for $19 a share and to assume $1.3 billion in debt the firm held.

Richard Wolford, 66, chairman, president and CEO of Del Monte, is leaving the company. Neil Harrison, 58, senior advisor at Vestar, will take over the reins until a successor is found.

Also leaving Del Monte will be CFO David Meyers, 65, who will be replaced by Larry Bodner, 48, who is now executive vice president of finance.

This is the second time Kohlberg Kravis Roberts have owned Del Monte.

Judge Claims Barclays (NYSE:BCS) Manipulated Del Monte (NYSE:DEL) Sales Process

A judge in Delaware put a 20-day halt to a shareholder vote on the acquisition of Del Monte (NYSE:DEL) by a private equity group, saying Barclays Capital (NYSE:BCS) manipulated the sales process.

In the ruling of the judge, he said Barclays deliberately misled the board of Del Monte by working behind the scenes with members of the private equity group in order to generate more financing fees.

That's why the judge put the shareholder vote, which was going to be held Tuesday on hold for 20 days.

If Del Monte chooses, they can enter into negotiations with other potential bidders, as the judge also removed deal protection provisions which keep a company from looking for other offers.

The private equity group made an offer of $4 billion for the food company.

Del Monte closed Tuesday at $18.94, gaining $0.05, or 0.26 percent.

Del Monte (NYSE:DLM) Unlikely to Receive Another Bid

Based on the probability Del Monte (NYSE:DLM) won't be receiving another acquisition bid, Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) downgraded them from "Buy" to "Hold."

Deutsche said, "Based on the Board’s acceptance of a buyout offer from KKR, Vestar and Centerview for $19 a share in cash, we are changing our fundamental-based opinion to HOLD. As we see it highly unlikely other bidders will emerge, we are also increasing our price target to $19...We aren’t too surprised at the deal multiples for Del Monte given the mix of the attractive pet food operations combined with more commodity-oriented canned FV&T."

Del Monte closed Friday's session at $18.83, gaining $0.84, or 4.67 percent. Deutsche increased their price target on them from $17 to $19 a share.