CVC Capital Buys Ahlsell For EUR1.8 Billion From Cinven, Goldman Sachs

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Funds advised by Private equity and investment advisory firm CVC Capital Partners Wednesday announce the EUR1.8 billion acquisition of Ahlsell, a Nordic technical products wholesaler from Cinven and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners.
MAIN FACTS:
-Transaction marks the successful completion of exclusive talks between these parties.
-Ahlsell has over 220 outlets in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Estonia and Russia.
-Company specializes in providing professional users with a wide range of goods and peripheral services within the heating & plumbing, electrical, tools & machinery, refrigeration and DIY product space.
-In 2011, Ahlsell reported revenues of EUR2.3 billion
-Completion of the transaction is subject to customary competition clearances.
-CVC was advised by Deutsche Bank, Roschier, Freshfields, KPMG and BCG.
-Financing was led by Nordea, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Barclays Capital, DNB Nor and Danske Bank.
-By Ian Walker, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9296; ian.walker@dowjones.com
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Bank doubles profit from home loans

Commonwealth Bank ATMs. Picture: Alan Pryke Source: The Sunday Telegraph

AUSTRALIA’S biggest bank has more than doubled the money it makes on home loans since the height of the global financial crisis.

And, while the Commonwealth Bank and its peers complain of having to pay depositors higher rates for the funds they lend out, Reserve Bank figures show the gap between deposit rates and the RBA cash rate is narrowing. In fact, the gap is at the narrowest point in more than four years – evidence that bank lending is not entirely as expensive as they make out.
Of particular note, figures from the recent Commonwealth Bank profit announcement show net home loan incomes jumped more than 130 per cent since the height of the global financial crisis, to more than $2.6 billion.
Despite the income growth, the nation’s top lenders have drawn widespread criticism for suggesting future Reserve Bank rate cuts may not be passed on in full due to “higher lending costs”.
Speaking to reporters after Westpac’s annual meeting last month, boss Gail Kelly warned global money markets, a key source of funding for Australian banks, had “effectively closed”.
“As a direct result of the turmoil going on around the world, funding has become a more difficult issue,” she said.
“And when they open up, our estimation is that the cost of raising money will actually be more than it was at any point during the global financial crisis.”
The World Bank yesterday slashed its global growth forecasts, warning the world is on the edge of a new financial crisis, more damaging than the one that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.
Meanwhile, some analysts have suggested the impact of rising wholesale funding costs have been overstated by the banks, particularly as the sector can tap other sources for cheaper funding.
Deutsche Bank analyst James Freeman said he believed none of the major banks had yet to experience pressures on pricing. “While offshore wholesale funding costs have risen materially over recent months, the impact on banks margins and hence profit will be contained,” he said.
Matt Levey, head of campaigns at consumer group Choice, is another cynic of banks “crying poor”.
“We’ve seen from bank profits that they’re obviously very profitable,” Mr Levey said yesterday.
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AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. Announces Public Offering of Common Stock

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. (NYSE: MITT – News) (the “Company”) announced today that it is commencing an underwritten public offering of 4,000,000 shares of common stock. MITT expects to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 600,000 additional shares of common stock to cover overallotments.
The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the offering to make, as market conditions warrant, additional acquisitions of agency securities, non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities and other target assets, and for general corporate purposes.
Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., BofA Merrill Lynch and Stifel Nicolaus Weisel are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering.
A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective.
The offering will be made solely by means of a prospectus, copies of which may be obtained, when available, from: Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Attention: Prospectus Department, Harborside Financial Center, 100 Plaza One, Jersey City, NJ 07311-3988, by calling (800) 503-4611, or by emailing prospectus.cpdg@db.com; BofA Merrill Lynch, 4 World Financial Center, New York, New York 10080, Attention: Prospectus Department, or by e-mail at dg.prospectus_requests@baml.com; or Stifel Nicolaus Weisel, One Montgomery Street, Suite 3700, San Francisco, California 94104, telephone: (415) 364-2720.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of the Company’s securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such state or jurisdiction.
About AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc.
AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. is a real estate investment trust that invests in, acquires and manages a diversified portfolio of residential mortgage assets, other real estate-related securities and financial assets. AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. is externally managed and advised by AG REIT Management, LLC, a subsidiary of Angelo, Gordon & Co., L.P., an SEC-registered investment adviser that specializes in alternative investment activities. Please visit the Company’s website at www.agmortgageinvestmenttrust.com.
Cautionary Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates, projections, beliefs and assumptions of management of the Company at the time of such statements and are not guarantees of future performance. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties in predicting future results and conditions. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in these forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, including, without limitation, changes in interest rates, changes in the yield curve, changes in prepayment rates, the availability and terms of financing, changes in the market value of our assets, general economic conditions, market conditions, conditions in the market for agency securities, and legislative and regulatory changes that could adversely affect the business of the Company. Certain factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, are included in the Company’s periodic reports filed with the SEC. Copies are available on the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov. All written or oral forward-looking statements that the Company makes, or that are attributable to the Company, are expressly qualified by this cautionary notice. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update the information in any public disclosure if any forward-looking statement later turns out to be inaccurate
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