Aug 13, 2019

Austrian sensor maker AMS offers to buy German lighting company Osram

AMS, an Austrian sensor maker, said it would offer to buy German car-lighting company Osram for €4.3 billion ($4.8 billion) in cash, a 10% premium to an existing takeover offer from Bain Capital and The Carlyle Group.

Why it matters: It presents a strategic dilemma for Bain and Carlyle, even if they're willing to pay more. On the one hand, Osram's top outside shareholder, Allianz Global Investors, already said it would oppose the private equity firms' bid. On the other hand, this is actually the second time AMS has proposed a superior offer, having pulled the prior approach, suggesting Bain and Carlyle could just wait out the competition.

Go deeper: Big-name private equity firms are asking for bigger cuts of investment profits

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Dan Primack

EQT Partners announces IPO on Nasdaq Stockholm

EQT Partners, a Sweden-based private equity firm, formally announced plans to IPO on the Nasdaq Stockholm.

Why it matters: It would be the largest European private equity firm listing in over two decades, and the first major global buyout firm listing since The Carlyle Group in 2012.

Go deeperSep 3, 2019

Bob Herman

Doctors bring in a bevy of lobbyists on surprise billing

An ER is ready to treat, and bill, the next patient. Photo: Jeff Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Physician outsourcing companies and private equity firms are enlisting new groups to lobby Congress as it considers how to protect patients from receiving large bills from out-of-network doctors who are at in-network facilities.

The big picture: Physician groups who most often mail out surprise medical bills are fighting proposals that take a bite out of their incomes, but ease patients' financial burdens.

Go deeperAug 20, 2019

Dan Primack

Hasbro agrees to buy Peppa Pig studio Entertainment One for $4 billion

Peppa Pig characters. Photo: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images

Hasbro agreed to buy Entertainment One, the studio behind children's TV show "Peppa Pig," for around $4 billion.

Why it matters: This one could become a real muddy puddle. Hasbro's £5.60 per share represents a 26% premium to Thursday's closing price, but shares subsequently climbed even higher — with some investors and analysts expecting that a content company will try to top the toymaker.

Go deeperAug 23, 2019