Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. is one of the largest private equity investment firms in the USA. The firm is based in New York City, and run by 48-year-old financier Steve Feinberg. Former U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle has been a prominent Cerberus spokesperson and runs one of its international units. Private equity is a broad term that refers to any type of equity investment in an asset in which the equity is not freely tradable on a public stock market. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Stephen A. Feinberg (March 29, 1960 - ) is an American businessman active in the field of private equity. ... James Danforth[1][2] Dan Quayle (born February 4, 1947) is an American politician and a former Senator from the state of Indiana. ...

History

Founded in 1992, Cerberus (named for the legendary three-headed dog in Greek mythology that guarded the gates of Hades) invests primarily in companies which are near bankruptcy in hopes to make the businesses it acquires profitable. Feinberg has stated to his employees that while the Cerberus name seemed like a good idea at the time, he later regretted naming the company after the mythological dog.^[1] This article is about the mythical three-headed dog. ... Hades, Greek god of the underworld, enthroned, with his bird-headed staff, on a red-figure Apulian vase made in the 4th century BC. For other uses, see Hades (disambiguation). ...

The company has been a voracious acquirer of businesses over the past several years and now includes sizable investments in sportswear, paper products, military services, real estate, energy, retail, glassmaking, transportation, and building products. Its holdings amounted to $24 billion in 2006. While many of its peers have bought out companies in order to strip assets and sell on for a profit, Cerberus builds its reputation on identifying firms that are undervalued, and assisting in rejuvenating them by working with current management.^[2]

On October 19, 2006, John W. Snow, President George W. Bush's second United States Secretary of the Treasury, was named chairman of Cerberus. John W. Snow John William Snow, Ph. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  US Government Portal      For other uses, see President of the United States (disambiguation). ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the forty-third and current President of the United States of America, originally inaugurated on January 20, 2001. ... The United States Secretary of the Treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, concerned with finance and monetary matters, and, until 2003, some issues of national security and defense. ...

Notable acquisitions

• Pharmaceuticals - In December 2004, the company announced the acquisition of Bayer's plasma products business and renamed it Talecris Biotherapeutics.
• Paper products - The company acquired MeadWestvaco's paper business for $2.3B in 2005 and renamed it NewPage Corporation. Cerberus also purchased, from Georgia Pacific Corporation, its Distribution Division/Building Products and all of its associated real estate. It renamed this new company BlueLinx Holdings, based in Atlanta.

• Government Services (Military, Energy, and Food & Drug) - owns IAP Worldwide Services, which bought Johnson Controls' World Services division in February 2005, and Netco Government Services.

• Real Estate - Through investment affiliate Blackacre Capital, the company has been making direct equity, mezzanine, first mortgage, distressed and special situation investments in all asset types. It also controls Miami Beach.-based LNR Property, a large real estate development and investment firm through subsidiary Riley Property. Cerberus also controls Kyo-ya, a Japan based group of entities that owns several Starwood managed assets in California, Hawaii and Florida.

• Retail - Cerberus purchased 655 of the 2,500 Albertson's, Inc., grocery stores, forming Albertsons LLC of Boise, Idaho, in June of 2006. They also own Mervyn's department stores, which was acquired from Target Corp. In June 2007, Cerberus acquired Torex Retail Plc., a retail solutions provider in troubled waters, for approximately 400 million US dollars.^[3]

• Transportation - Acquired bankrupt ANC Rental, owner of the National and Alamo car rental chains, for $230 million in October 2003 and purchased DaimlerChrysler's 45% share of debis AerFinance, an aircraft leasing business, in May 2005. Complete acquisition of debis AirFinance (later renamed AerCap) was concluded in July 2005. Also acquired North American Bus Industries, Optima Bus Corporation, and Blue Bird Corp. in the bus manufacturing sector. Cerberus also owns bus companies Coach America and American Coach Lines, which were acquired from Stagecoach Group.

• Automotive - Peguform, GDX, and Chrysler.

• Financial Services - General Motors sold a 51% stake in its GMAC finance unit to an investor group led by Cerberus Capital Management. GM expects to receive $14 billion over the next three years from the sale of General Motors Acceptance Corp. In December 2006, Cerberus acquired the Austrian bank BAWAG P.S.K. for a reported EUR3.2 billion. In August of 2007, Cerberus announced that it was closing one of their mortgage companies, Aegis Mortgage.

• Firearms - Acquired Bushmaster Firearms, Inc., from Windham, Maine native Dick Dyke for an undisclosed sum in April 2006, and purchased Remington Arms in April 2007. Under Cerberus direction, Bushmaster Firearms acquired Cobb Manufacturing, a well-respected manufacturer of large-caliber tactical rifles in August 2007. Cerberus also announced the acquisition of DPMS Panther Arms in December 2007.^[4] Remington Arms is in the process of acquiring Marlin Firearms.^[5]

• Entertainment - Acquired 6 television stations formerly owned and operated by CBS Corporation. The station group is called Four Points Media Group. As of September 1, 2007, the 6 stations are no longer listed on the CBS Television Station website.^[6] By the end of September 2007, all of the stations have launched new websites.

• Other holdings of the investment group include Formica, Inc., and the Aozora Bank in Japan; U.S. tech firm SSA Global Technologies, and cable operator Galaxy Cable.

Bayer AG (IPA pronunciation //) (ISIN: DE0005752000, NYSE: BAY, TYO: 4863 ) is a German chemical and pharmaceutical company founded in Barmen, Germany in 1863. ... Look up plasma in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... MeadWestvaco Corp. ... The West Virginia Paper Company or Westvaco was established in 1888 by William Luke on 50 acres (202,000 m²) of land along the Potomac River, known as West Piedmont (now Luke, Maryland). ... Georgia-Pacific Corp. ... There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ... Atlanta redirects here. ... Johnson Controls, Inc. ... Netco Government Services (Formerly WAM!NET) [1] Founded: 2000 Ownership: Privately held business Headquarters: Herndon, VA Employees: More than 600 employees with a nationwide presence. ... Location in Miami-Dade and the state of Florida. ... Starwood is a festival presented by the Association for Consciousness Exploration, along with many volunteers. ... Albertsons LLC is a chain of grocery stores owned and operated by Cerberus Capital Management after the acquisition of Albertsons, Inc. ... Boise redirects here. ... For other uses, see June (disambiguation). ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Mervyns is a neighborhood department store based in Hayward, California. ... This article is about the United States retail company. ... National Car Rental is a rental car company based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. ... Alamo Rent A Car is a car rental agency. ... DaimlerChrysler AG (ISIN: DE0007100000) is a German car corporation and the worlds eighth largest car manufacturer. ... North American Bus Industries, commonly known as NABI, is a major transit bus manufacturing company based in Anniston, Alabama. ... Optima Bus, LLC, formerly Chance Coach Inc. ... The Blue Bird Corporation is a large manufacturer of buses. ... Autobus redirects here. ... Stagecoach Group plc (LSE: SGC) is a leading international transport group operating bus, train, tram, express coach and ferry operations. ... For other uses, including the Chrysler Brand, see Chrysler (disambiguation). ... General Motors Corporation, also known as GM, is a multinational corporation headquartered in the United States and has been the worlds largest and most dominant automaker since 1931 till the second half of 2007, surpassed by Toyota; as well as the global industry sales leader for 77 years. ... General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC) is the financial services arm of General Motors, the worlds largest automobile manufacturer (by revenue). ... BAWAG P.S.K. is the fourth largest bank in Austria. ... Bushmaster Firearms Inc. ... Windham is a town located in Cumberland County, Maine. ... Remington Arms is a major American manufacturer of rifles, shotguns, other firearms, revolvers and ammunition. ... DPMS Panther Arms of St. ... CBS Corporation (NYSE: CBS, NYSE: CBSA) is an American media conglomerate focused on broadcasting, publishing, billboards, and television production, with most of its operations in the United States. ... is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... Formica is a brand of plastic laminate containing melamine resin. ... Aozora Bank is a financial institution of Japanese origin listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange that offers service in 19 branches in Japan and in 5 overseas representative offices. ... SSA Global Technologies (NASDAQ: SSAG) is a company developing Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. ...

Broken Deal for United Rentals

In the summer of 2007, Cerberus agreed to buy 100% of United Rentals, the world's largest equipment rental company and traded on the NYSE. After the credit markets began to tighten in August, Cerberus attempted to reduce the deal price. United Rentals refused to reprice the deal, and in November sued in Delaware court for "specific performance" (i.e., a court mandate that Cerberus complete the deal). Cerberus took the position that the deal agreements capped its liability for walking away from the deal at $100 million. After a two-day trial, the Delaware Chancellor in a closely watched decision ruled for Cerberus, allowing it to pay United Rentals the agreed-upon $100 million "reverse termination fee" and terminate the merger agreement. ^[7]

Notes & References

Notes

References

External links

• Cerberus Capital Management home page