bloggingbuyouts

Apria Healthcare (NYSE: AHG), a home healthcare services firm, agreed to be acquired by an affiliate of Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) for approximately $1.6 billion. AHG share holders will receive $21 in cash for each share they own.

AHG closed at $15.82. AHG July option implied volatility of 46 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional risk.

Buyout Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

A fresh report out of Reuters is saying that Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) has withdrawn from the bidding process to acquire The Weather Channel due to price. The deadlines on this were supposed to be noon today.

Recent reports put Landmark Communications, the owner of the Weather Channel, was in direct talks with Time Warner and a rival group made up of General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) NBC Universal, The Blackstone Group, L.P. (NYSE: BX) and Bain Capital.

Because this is a private transaction and because this is such a large deal for the ultimate buyer(s) and sellers, this one has been a hard one to follow with any credible or dead set numbers and terms.

This is an ongoing and developing story with an outcome that is not yet known. Stay tuned.

Nothing like seeing billionaires have a hard time. But that's the case with big-time private equity kingpins, like KKR's Henry Kravis.

Despite being the pioneer of the industry, KKR was a bit late to the IPO feeding frenzy, with arch enemy Blackstone (NYSE: BX) snagging the riches.

Interestingly enough, KKR had to report some of the misery in an updated IPO filing (which is the first amended document).

If you look at page 30, you'll find the following:

"For example, the cost of financing leveraged buyout transactions by issuing high-yield debt securities in the public capital markets has recently increased significantly. If conditions in the debt markets do not become more favorable to us in the near term, we may need to rely on financing commitments provided directly by investment banks or other sources in order to consummate pending transactions or finance future transactions. Such financing may be significantly more costly, with terms that may be significantly more restrictive, than financing that was, until recently, available to us in the public capital markets. More costly and restrictive financing may adversely impact the returns of our leveraged buyout transactions and, therefore, adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. In addition, in the event of a prolonged market downturn, our business could be affected in different ways. Our profitability may also be adversely affected by our fixed costs and the possibility that we would be unable to scale back other costs within a time frame sufficient to match any decreases in net income relating to changes in market and economic conditions."

Yes, it's a bummer for an upcoming IPO. Just look at the horrendous after-market performance of Blackstone. In fact, despite a strong quarterly report, the stock had a tepid performance today.

And, if KKR does have troubles financing mega deals like TXU (NYSE: TXU) and First Data Corp (NYSE: FDC), we might see the next filing for withdrawal of the public offering.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Tuesday night two of America's biggest stars -- Napoleon -- a.k.a. Blackstone Group LP's (NYSE: BX) CEO Steve Schwarzman and Paris Hilton collided. The reason? The Wall Street Journal reports that Blackstone won a $20 billion bid to acquire Hilton Hotels Corp. (NYSE: HLT).

How much of this $20 billion will go to Paris? Nobody knows. However, the Conrad N. Hilton Fund, controls about 5.3% of Hilton's shares outstanding. If the Blackstone deal goes through, that stake will be worth about $990 million. Conrad has 8 children, including Paris's dad. Assuming that all the kids get an equal share, Paris's dad would get about $125 million -- if that figure was eventually split between Paris, and her sister, Nicky, Paris would receive over $60 million.

This spring a group of students in one of my classes delivered a presentation on the hotel industry. One of the students in that group predicted that Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR) and Hilton could get taken over by private equity. Another student commented, with apologies to Paris Hilton, "That's Hot!"

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned in this post.

The IPO of Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) continues to deteriorate but that doesn't seem to be an issue for other private equity firms that want to go public.

The latest buzz comes from The Carlyle Group, another top-tier global player. According to a report in the The Wall Street Journal, Carlye's managing director Jason Lee has called Blackstone's IPO a success and said that his firm is mulling the possibility of hitting the public markets.

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if Carlyle is working on putting together a prospectus right now. The fact is that Blackstone's valuation is still pretty frothy.

In fact, Carlyle may have no choice. With an IPO, it's easier to retain and recruit key employees (because the stock has liquid value).

There are also the possibilities with acquisitions. As seen with BlackRock Inc.'s (NYSE: BLK) deal to purchase a hedge fund this week, public stock can be a very useful tool.

So, we might see a filing for Carlyle in the summer and perhaps an IPO in the fall.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.