Following a
very lively previous week, this week saw only two deals. The first
came on Monday, when two groups; hedge fund Perry Capital and private
equity firm Yucaipa Companies, took over Barneys New York in exchange
for quashing $540 million in debt (exchanging bonds for equity). The
high-end retailer has been struggling with debt and dwindling demand
following the credit crunch.
The only other deal of the week came
the following day, when the Asahi Group acquired Calpis, a milk
producer, for $1.5 billion. The buyer is looking to diversify to
combat poor numbers in its core business, beer. The Japanese firm was
down 1.4%.
