Citigroup's Chairman Richard Parsons told the board that he will split his time between Citigroup (NYSE: C) and Providence Equity Partners, a private equity firm. Is this the right time to be changing his focus just as Citi tries to climb out of its deep hole?

Citi is not ready for prime time if it's still raising funds using the FDIC's bond guarantee facility. Why would Parsons shift his focus just when Citi is in negotiations with the government to start weaning itself from its help?

With a market capitalization of $82 million, a $300 million buyout price would be a lot to pay for Playboy Enterprises (NYSE: PLA). But The New York Post reports that's the price the company is looking for as it quietly shops for a private equity firm interested in the flailing icon.

Keith J. Kelly reports that "Sources said the sellers are looking for far more than the company's market capitalization because that would ensure Hef has enough on hand to maintain his lavish lifestyle."

Famed studio MGM, which is owned by a bunch of companies including Texas Pacific Group, Providence Equity Partners, Sony (NYSE: SNE) and Comcast (NYSE: CMCSA), is considering a public offering as it looks to deal with its $3.1 billion debt load. The company has hired Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) to explore options for a way out of the 2005 buyout that left the company over-leveraged.

Studios have slowed production because of the credit crunch that is making financing films harder than it's been in a long time.

Other possible alternatives include a bond offering or some other form of debt refinancing, but the company says it's not for sale, although it remains coy on that topic, saying that that "there is no 'asking price' for the company."

Is that a veiled invitation for bids? Sounds like it. But in this environment, there might not be many takers. Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) made an unsuccessful bid back in 2004, but most the other interested parties ended up walking away with various sized stakes in the company.

The skulduggery of banks who want out of LBOs is already widely known, and expected. Big financial companies have tried to put the legs out from under a deal to take Clear Channel (NYSE:CCU) private, and now appear ready to take a powder on the contract to buy-out Bell Canada (NYSE:BCE).

Leaving aside the ethics of the matter, although that is hardly fair, the $51.8 billion which was offered for BCE was expensive. It was, according to the Guinness Book Of World Records and other sources, the largest deal of its kind, ever.

Now, banks, including Citigroup (NYSE:C), which does not have much of a reputation left at any level, want better terms including higher interest rates. According to The New York Times "The negotiations over the Bell Canada buyout began to fray late Friday."

Article continues at 24/7 Wall St.

BCE Inc. (NYSE: BCE), Canada's largest telecommunications company, announced on June 30, 2007, that it agreed to be acquired by an investment arm of Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Providence Equity Partners and Madison Dearborn Partners for an announced deal price of $42.75 per share. The Federal Communications Commissions cleared the deal on Dec. 20.

RBC Capital says, "Financial results were in-line with expectations . . . there was nothing in the release that should worry investors in the context of the pending privatization." BCE June option implied volatility of 53 is above its 26-week average of 34 according to Track Data, suggesting larger movement.

M&A Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

BCE Inc. (NYSE: BCE) is recently down 80 cents to $35.26.

BCE, Canada's largest telecommunications company, announced on June 30, 2007, that it agreed to be acquired by an investment arm of Ontario Teachers Pension, Providence Partners and Madison Dearborn Partners for an announced deal price of $42.75 per share. The Federal Communications Commissions cleared the deal on Dec. 20.

BMO Capital Markets says, "we reiterate our view that BCE stock could trade down to $27 should the deal break and trade in the $30 range on a seasoned basis." BCE May option implied volatility of 48 is above its 26-week average of 31 according to Track Data, suggesting larger movement.

M&A Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

The Clear Channel (NYSE: CCU) saga continues.

Clear Channel recently sued Providence Equity Partners to try to force it to complete the proposed $1.2 billion buyout of its television unit. But the two agreed last week to keep going with the deal, although with a price tag $100 million lower.

Now a new wrinkle: one of the banks financing the deal, Wachovia (NYSE: WB), is trying to back out of the deal. It has sued Providence, claiming that the new deal voids the previous agreement and frees Wachovia from its obligations in the deal. Wachovia committed to provide $450 million of financing for the original $1.2 billion deal.

It's not entirely clear why Wachovia is trying to back out. No doubt the reduced liquidity in the credit markets makes this a much less attractive deal. But as The New York Times speculates, Wachovia may be trying to escape from the much larger $25 billion buyout of Clear Channel itself. However, the tv unit deal is not related contractually to the larger deal, so escaping from one doesn't mean escaping from the other.

One thing is sure, though: buyouts are getting are harder to complete.

Clear Channel Communications (NYSE: CCU) has sued (subscription required) Providence Equity Partners in attempt to complete an agreed-upon deal to sell 56 TV stations to the firm $1.2 billion. Providence says that it is "surprised and disappointed that Clear Channel would suddenly bring this baseless lawsuit."

Interestingly, Providence is arguing that Clear Channel didn't have a right to sue them under the terms of the deal and that therefore it is under no obligation to pay the $46 million break-up fee if the deal falls apart.

Clear Channel also has a deal in place to be acquired in whole by Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital.

Nothing seems to be going well for Clear Channel as far as its efforts to get previously agreed to buyouts to close. The Lee-Bain deal has been dogged by rumors. At $32.35, Clear Channel shares trade at a substantial discount to the buyout price of $39.20.

Over at Seeking Alpha, Saul Sterman believes the buyout is a done deal. If that's the case, Clear Channel shares are a good deal here, but I wouldn't advise individual investors to speculate on something like this. Leave that game to more in-the-know arbitrageurs.

BCE Inc. (NYSE: BCE), Canada's largest telecommunications company, announced on June 30, 2007, that it agreed to be acquired by an investment arm of Ontario Teachers Pension, Providence Equity Partners and Madison Dearborn Partners for an announced deal price of $42.75 per share.

BCE closed at $36.23. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has scheduled a Feb. 25 hearing to examine the deal. The Federal Communications Commissions cleared the deal on Dec. 20. BCE over all option implied volatility of 44 is above its 26-week average of 22 according to Track Data, suggesting larger movement.

M&A Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

BCE Inc. (NYSE: BCE), Canada's largest telecommunications company, announced on June 30, 2007, that it agreed to be acquired by an investment arm of Ontario Teachers Pension, Providence Equity Partners and Madison Dearborn Partners for an announced deal price of $42.75 per share. The deal is expected to close in Q1 of 2008.

Yesterday, BCE stock closed at $37.41 per share. BMO Capital says, "we believe the deal will close as intended." BMOC also says, "the stock could trade down to the $27-30 range in the event the deal were canceled."

BCE over all option implied volatility of 36 is above its 26-week average of 20 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

M&A Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

According to a study by Moody's, the buyout firm KKR is actually less likely than other similar firms to do what many critics say buyout firms do: replace assets with debt in order to take a big payday, thereby leaving their target companies in precarious financial condition. Examining 176 deals over the last five years, the Moody's study paints a surprisingly positive view of KKR in this regard, at least when compared to similar firms.

In details discussed over at Deal Journal, KKR traded big money for big debt -- a process known as "dividend recapitalization" -- less than half the time over the five year period. By contrast, Providence Equity Partners and Cerberus Capital Management took that route in the majority of cases.

Another surprising bit of data: KKR is the only major private equity firm that saw the debt ratings of its target firms rise after the majority of its buyouts.

So say what you want about the savage pirates at KKR -- it turns out that they are actually the nicest pirates you're likely to encounter in the financial markets.

BCE Inc. (NYSE: BCE), Canada's largest telecommunications company, announced on June 30, 2007, it agreed to be acquired by an investment arm of Ontario Teachers Pension, Providence Equity Partners and Madison Dearborn Partners for an announced deal price of $42.75 per share. The deal is expected to close in Q1 of 2008. The Deal said on December 17 that the deal is "awaiting regulatory approvals; apparently on course." BCE closed at $39.17. BCE over all option implied volatility of 26 is above its 26-week average of 18 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

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

It's been a long process, but there's finally a deal. BCE (NYSE: BCE), which is the largest telecom company in Canada, has agreed to a $48.82 billion deal. The buyers include the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, Providence Equity Partners, and Madison Dearborn Partners.

And, yes, it's the biggest buyout in Canada's history. It's even bigger than the TXU (NYSE: TXU) deal.

The transaction involved several other potential suitors, such as KKR and Cerberus Capital.

Because of increased competition and slower growth, BCE was ripe for a buyout. It also helps that the company has juicy cash flows.

So, by being a private company, BCE will have more leeway in making some key operational changes (such as layoffs and spin-offs).

The biggest winners are BCE's shareholders. After all, since late March, the shares have surged about 40%.

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

Traditionally, private equity firms have focused on mainstream businesses. But, we are seeing more and more deals in the tech sector. In fact, Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG)'s buyout of DoubleClick was a sign that private equity can make a mint from tech.

According to a piece in The Wall Street Journal [a paid service], there's another important deal. That is, Providence Equity Partners has purchased a majority stake in NexTag for roughly $830 million.

Basically, NexTag is a comparison shopping site. And, yes, the space has been full of M&A deals over the past couple years -- such as Shopzilla, eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY)'s Shopping.com and so on.

Because NexTag is privately held, it's tough to gauge the revenues, but the rumor is that the figure is in the $200 million range. Thus, it looks like Providence is paying a hefty premium (at least by private equity standards).

My hunch is that this is a late-stage funding prior to an IPO or perhaps a sale to a major strategic player. But, this has historically been the role of VCs, not private equity firms. Yet with gazillions of dollars in the private equity space, we're probably going to see more unconventional deals.

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

I've mused on possible acquisitions of U.S. wireless carriers Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) and Alltel Wireless (NYSE: AT) before, and the rumor mill is again heating up on Alltel as of this week. The fifth-largest wireless carrier in the U.S. may be looking for a possible private equity suitor. Buyout candidates include Blackstone Group with Providence Equity Partners, TPG Capital and the private-equity arm of Goldman Sachs Group, and Carlyle and KKR, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal today.

While the unnamed sources for all this acquisition/LBO street blabber still remain at large, it follows in the footsteps of all kinds of buyout rumblings that have involved Alltel Wireless from late 2006 to the present. According to the Journal, all three private equity consortiums have begun meeting with Alltel's management, and we're sure that if that is really happening, something's afoot. As one would expect, representatives from Alltel and all three groups could not be reached for comment. Yet.

Acquisition mania has been fueled by executive comments since February, when a conference call revealed that Alltel was weighing all strategic options. In general, that means that the company is looking to be bought and possibly merged with another like company (namely Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ)) or taken private (which I highly doubt). Another possible merger suitor would be Sprint Nextel, which runs a compatible wireless network and would love to fold in Alltel's customers in an effort to catch up to AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon. And the rumor mill keeps churning . . .