Cleveland Pulse; 2012 goes out with some big deals

Albert D. Melchiorre, President, MelCap Partners, LLC

The last month of the year has historically been a prolific month for mergers and acquisitions, and December 2012 did not disappoint.
In the U.S. market, according to S&P CapitalIQ, the dollar value of closed transactions with disclosed values for December 2012, compared to December 2011, was up 4.4 percent, while the number of transactions was down 6.5 percent.
Likewise, for all of 2012, the number of transactions decreased 4.4 percent compared to 2011.  The transaction dollar values made up for the lack of volume with an increase of 7.8 percent across the same period.
Regarding the M&A industry, the purchasing power of private equity groups has been on a steady decline since 2007 as they seek to put money to work, while strategic purchasing power continues to climb. Conversely, private equity partnership commitments to all types of funds, according to Dow Jones, are up 30 percent from last year.
With respect to corporate buyers, Applied Industrial Technologies acquired Parts Associates Inc. of Cleveland. The distributor of maintenance supplies and solutions, including fasteners, fluid flow, chemicals and shop supplies has two locations, Cleveland and Atlanta, staffing an estimated 200 employees.
Gulfport Energy Corp. dug up $372 million to purchase 37,000 acres from Windsor, Ohio, in the Utica Shale region. This purchase increases Gulfport’s interests in the Utica Shale region to 137,000 acres.
DDR Corp. acquired two shopping centers for $151 million in December. This brings DDR’s total acquisitions in 2012 to $2.1 billion. First Communications Inc. in Akron sold subsidiary First Telecom Services for an electrifying $110 million to the Zayo Group. First Telecom Services is a provider of bandwidth infrastructure services.
With respect to private-equity-related transactions, Linsalata Capital Partners Inc. acquired Stag-Parkway Inc. from Ares Capital Corp. Stag is the largest aftermarket distributor of recreational vehicle parts and accessories in North America and is based in Atlanta. The Weinberg Capital Group, in conjunction with the The Riverside Co. and Hicks Equity Partners, acquired Overton Chicago Gear Corp., a manufacturer and distributor of large-diameter precision gears.
 
ALBERT D. MELCHIORRE is the president of MelCap Partners LLC, a middle-market investment banking firm. He is also a director on the ACG Cleveland board. For more information on MelCap Partners, please visit www.melcap.co.  For more information about the Association for Corporate Growth, please visit www.acg.org/cleveland.
 
Deal of the Month
This month, the honor goes to the Cleveland Indians for the sale of SportsTime Ohio to News Corp.’s Fox Sports Media Group for $230 million. This acquisition is part of a push by media and entertainment companies that target regional sports channels, since broadcast rights for professional sports events are locked in for years. Fox Sports Ohio serves more than 5 million homes throughout the Midwest and is the exclusive regional TV home of the Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Cavaliers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Columbus Crew, Xavier Musketeers and Cincinnati Bearcats.
“The acquisition of Sports Time Ohio solidifies our business in Ohio, and Fox Sports Media Group’s new long-term agreement with the Indians reunites the team with the Fox Sports family,” said Jeff Krolik, executive vice president of Fox Sports Networks. “We look forward to once again showcasing the Indians to their fans, as well as working with the Indians ownership to continue to enhance the value of this iconic franchise.”