Despite a small number of transactions, the Los Angeles mergers and acquisitions market in April benefited from a pair of billion-dollar-plus deals that pushed the total value to its second highest level in eight months. Forty deals were announced, which tied March for the lowest number since the Business Journal began tracking M & A; activity in July 2005. The total value of the transactions, however, was $3.59 billion nearly three times that of March. More than half of the total came with the $1.9 billion acquisition by Farmers Group Inc., a Los Angeles subsidiary of a Swiss insurance conglomerate, of the personal auto insurance division of American International Group Inc. Also topping the $1 billion mark was the $1.36 billion merger agreement between natural gas producer Atlas Energy Resources and Atlas America Inc. Atlas Energy is a portfolio company of several investors including Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors of Los Angeles. The following is a list of deals in which the acquirer, seller or targeted business is based in Los Angeles.
BUSINESS SERVICES
Target: AIG – personal auto insurance business (New York, NY)
Business: Provides automotive insurance
services
Acquirer: Farmers Group (Los Angeles)
Deal Value: $1.9 billion
Target: Bliss & Glennon (Redondo Beach)
Business: Provides insurance products and
services
Acquirer: Fortegra Financial Corp.
(Jacksonville, FL)
Deal Value: ND
Target: En Pointe Technologies India, a
subsidiary of En Pointe Technologies
(Gardena)
Business: Provides SAP consulting
and support services
Acquirer: Allied Digital Services Ltd.
(Mumbai, India)
Deal Value: ND
Target: GKM Advisers (Los Angeles)
Business: Provides investment management services
Acquirer: First Western Investment
Management (Denver, CO)
Deal Value: ND
Target: PharmEcology Associates
(Wauwatosa, WI)
Business: Provides consulting services for
treatment of pharmaceutical hazardous waste
Acquirer: WM Healthcare Solutions (Vernon)
Deal Value: ND
CONSUMER
Target: 7 Studios (Los Angeles)
Business: Operates as a game development studio
Acquirer: Activision Blizzard (Santa Monica)
Deal Value: ND
Target: ByDesign Financial Solutions
(Los Angeles)
Business: Provides personal finance solutions
Acquirer: ClearPoint Credit Counseling
Solutions (Jonesboro, AR)
Deal Value: ND
Target: Filene’s Basement Corp.
(Burlington, MA)
Business: Owns and operates department stores
Acquirer: FB II Acquisition Corp., a subsidiary of Buxbaum Group (Agoura Hills)
Deal Value: ND
Target: Stila Corp. (Glendale)
Business: Manufactures makeup products
Acquirer: Patriarch Partners
(New York, NY)
Deal Value: ND
Target: Sundari (Los Angeles)
Business: Offers skin and body care products
Acquirer: Wellness Systems (Lafayette)
Deal Value: ND
Target: TNR Entertainment Corp., a portfolio company of several investors including Celerity Partners (Los Angeles)
Business: Owns and operates self-service DVD kiosks in supermarkets and grocery stores
Acquirer: NCR Corp. (Dayton, OH)
Deal Value: ND
ENERGY
Target: Access Energy (Tarzana)
Business: Design, develops, and produces energy from wind, sun, and the ocean
Acquirer: Undisclosed
Deal Value: ND
Target: Atlas Energy Resources, a portfolio
company of several investors including Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors (Los Angeles)
Business: Develops and produces natural gas
and oil
Acquirer: Atlas America
(Moon Township, PA)
Deal Value: $1.36 billion
Target: Bioenergy Applied Technologies
(Undisclosed, DE)
Business: Provides technologies in the areas of waste destruction, energetic materials, chemical recycling processes, and coal gasification
Acquirer: Tree Top Industries (Beverly Hills)
Deal Value: ND
Target: Placer Gold Corp. – certain assets
(Beverly Hills)
Business: Four oil and gas reserves
Acquirer: Pavilion Energy Resources
(Beverly Hills)
Deal Value: $8.25 million
FOOD
Target: Heartland Farms
(City of Industry)
Business: Manufactures and distributes fruit drinks, fluid milk, and diary products
Acquirer: Dean Foods Co. (Dallas, TX)
Deal Value: ND
HEALTH CARE
Target: BioHygiene Laboratories
(Torrance)
Business: Provides microbial testing services
Acquirer: EMSL Analytical
(Westmont, NJ)
Deal Value: ND
Target: Brotman Medical Center
(Culver City)
Business: Operates as a hospital
Acquirer: Prospect Hospital Advisory Services (Los Angeles)
Deal Value: $2.5 million
Target: Medical Resources – certain assets
(Yonkers, NY)
Business: Ten diagnostic imaging centers
Acquirer: RadNet (Los Angeles)
Deal Value: ND
Target: Memorial Maritime Clinic
(Long Beach)
Business: Operates medical centers
Acquirer: U.S. Healthworks (Valencia)
Deal Value: ND
INDUSTRIAL
Target: Alcoa – certain assets
(Pittsburgh, PA)
Business: Wire harness and electrical
distribution business
Acquirer: Platinum Equity (Beverly Hills)
Deal Value: ND
Target: Gala Properties (Los Angeles)
Business: Interest in marine transportation vessel
Acquirer: Diana Shipping (Athens, Greece)
Deal Value: ND
Target: Safe Security (San Ramon)
Business: Manufactures security alarm
equipment
Acquirer: Rustic Canyon/Fontis Partners
(Pasadena)
Deal Value: ND
Target: Southwest Water Co.
(Los Angeles) – water testing business
Business: Provides water, waste water and
public works services
Acquirer: Accutest Laboratories
(Dayton, NJ)
Deal Value: ND
Target: Viaspace – certain assets (Pasadena)
Business: Humidity sensor products business line
Acquirer: Landtec North America (Colton)
Deal Value: ND
MEDIA
Target: 310 Holdings Inc.
(Beverly Hills)
Business: A holding company for film and music distribution firms, as well as clothing line
companies
Acquirer: Management Buyout
Deal Value: ND
Target: Advertise.com
(Sherman Oaks)
Business: Operates as an online platform for search and display marketing
Acquirer: ABCSearch
(Sherman Oaks)
Deal Value: ND
Target: Endeavor Agency
(Beverly Hills)
Business: Provides talent agency services
Acquirer: William Morris Agency
(New York, NY)
Deal Value: ND
Target: Moving Images NY LLC
(New York, NY)
Business: Operates as a motion picture
processing facility
Acquirer: Point.360
(Burbank)
Deal Value: $800,000
Target: SearchMedia International Ltd.
(China)
Business: Provides advertising services
Acquirer: Ideation Acquisition Corp.
(Los Angeles)
Deal Value: $177 million
Target: Tagline Communications
(Los Angeles)
Business: Provides visual marketing services
Acquirer: Undisclosed
Deal Value: $275,000
Target: Third Coast Artists Agency
(Nashville, TN)
Business: Provides music artist registration
services
Acquirer: Paradigm Talent Agency
(Beverly Hills)
Deal Value: ND
Target: Westlake Entertainment – certain assets (Chatsworth)
Business: A film library with over 400 films
Acquirer: Osiris Entertainment
(Woodland Hills)
Deal Value: ND
TECHNOLOGY
Target: Canvas Systems
(Norcross, GA)
Business: Supplies refurbished and used
information technology equipment and systems
Acquirer: Platinum Equity
(Beverly Hills)
Deal Value: ND
Target: Common CENTS Solutions
(Ridgeland, MS)
Business: Develops nutrition management
software
Acquirer: Computrition
(Chatsworth)
Deal Value: ND
Target: DataPath, a portfolio company of
several investors including The Capital Group
(Los Angeles) and First Pacific Advisors
(Los Angeles)
Business: Designs customized satellite
communication networks
Acquirer: Rockwell Collins
(Cedar Rapids, IA)
Deal Value: $130 million
Target: Hybrid Shop Ltd.
(Hong Kong)
Business: Provides technology and software
solutions for B2B and B2C transactions
Acquirer: American Pacific Rim Commerce Group (Century City)
Deal Value: ND
Target: iSports (Venice)
Business: Provides mobile social
gaming solutions for iPhone and iPod Touch devices
Acquirer: NTN Buzztime
(Carlsbad)
Deal Value: ND
Target: Kaboose
(Toronto, Canada)
Business: Provides online marketing services
Acquirer: Disney Online
(Burbank)
Deal Value: $18.4 million
Target: Talk Motion
(Tujunga)
Business: Operates as an internet phone
service provider
Acquirer: Individual Investor
Deal Value: ND