Private Equity

Gardner Denver Inc., an industrial equipment maker with a small headquarters office in Wayne, agreed to be purchased by private-equity firm KKR & Co. for about $3.7 billion after KKR raised an earlier offer. KKR, run by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, will pay $76 a share for Gardner Denver, the companies said Friday in a statement. That's a 39 percent premium to the price on Oct. 24, the day before the company announced it was exploring a sale. KKR last month offered $75 a share, Bloomberg News reported Feb. 21. "The long-term future of Gardner Denver is bright," Pete Stavros, head of KKR's industrials team, said in the statement.

In the first sign of housecleaning as the Trump casinos here entertain offers from private-equity firms, Trump's chief executive officer announced that he would retire next month. James B. Perry's retirement comes two years after Trump plucked him out of retirement to lead his embattled casino company after it emerged from a second bankruptcy in May 2005. Perry, a former CEO of Argosy Gaming Co., was brought on board alongside Mark Juliano, the former president of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, to give the Trump casinos an overhaul and restore confidence among Trump shareholders.

Faltering debt markets might torpedo the sale of PHH Corp. to a unit of General Electric Capital Corp. and the Blackstone Group L.P. for $9.61 billion, PHH said yesterday. The Mount Laurel mortgage lender and vehicle-fleet manager said the investment banks raising billions toward Blackstone's purchase of the mortgage operation were leaving the private-equity firm $750 million short. PHH employs about 4,500 people in Mount Laurel, according to undated data on the Web site of the Burlington County Department of Economic Development.

NEW YORK - Shares of Burger King Holdings Inc. soared nearly 17 percent Wednesday after published reports said the fast food chain was in talks to be acquired by a private equity firm. Both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported that 3G Capital was among parties interested in pursuing a deal with Burger King. Neither publication named its sources. Earlier in the day, The Wall Street Journal reported that the interested party was a different firm, 3i Group PLC. When 3i denied its involvement, Burger King momentarily lost much of its hefty stock gains it made during the morning.

The Committee of Seventy, a nonpartisan organization advocating clean and effective government, fair elections, and a better-informed citizenry in the Philadelphia region, has elected Bruce D. Armon to its board. He is Philadelphia office managing partner at Saul Ewing L.L.P.   Safeguard Scientifics Inc., the Wayne holding company that invests in life-sciences and technology firms, said Keith B. Jarrett had been named to its board. Jarrett, who has been involved in venture capital, private equity, and finance technology for more than 25 years, is a private investor and active board representative to venture stage and other private growth equity organizations.

The $6.1 billion purchase of casino and racetrack operator Penn National Gaming Inc. by two private-equity firms is off, the latest in $65 billion worth of such buyouts to founder on credit-market turmoil since September. The termination, announced yesterday, comes as the gambling industry is under pressure from consumer-spending cutbacks driven by high gasoline prices and a weak job market. Unlike most jilted targets, however, Penn National, of Wyomissing, Pa., is getting a hefty consolation prize: $1.475 billion in cash from Fortress Investment Group L.L.C.

Contending with a cash shortage that has limited its ability to sufficiently stock its store shelves, Boscov's said yesterday that it was looking to the private-equity world for a loan to replenish inventory in time for back-to-school season. The Reading chain, whose department stores anchor a number of Philadelphia-area shopping malls, hopes to have the financing in place in a matter of weeks, said chief executive officer Ken Lakin. Lakin said the company was exploring a private-equity deal because traditional lenders had cut back acutely on loans - even to existing businesses such as retailers, who typically use revolving credit lines to pay for merchandise.

PHH Corp.'s largest shareholder reiterated his objections yesterday to the Mount Laurel company's proposed sale to General Electric Co. for $1.8 billion, or $31.50 a share. Alan P. Fournier, managing member of Pennant Capital Management L.L.C., urged PHH's board to consider allowing PHH's mortgage business to remain in the hands of shareholders while spinning off the company's vehicle-fleet-management unit in a tax-free transaction. Fournier, whose hedge fund manages $1.6 billion, estimated in a letter filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission that public shareholders could realize $51 to $68 a share over two or three years under continued public ownership.

Pension funds and investment strategies Your story on state pension investments ("Gambling big with Pa. pension funds," April 7) was outrageous sensationalism. We don't gamble. Calling our prudent, limited - and profitable - private equity and venture capital investments "gambling" is inflammatory and offensive. And to suggest that we are "doubling our bets" in a desperate effort to recoup losses is plain wrong. At both the Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System and the State Employees Retirement System, we invest only after exhaustive research by our staff and consultants.

Hundreds of billions of dollars have washed into private equity groups in recent years from pension funds, endowments and others seeking high investment returns. At the same time, stock prices have languished, and executives face new costs for accounting and consulting services to comply with antifraud regulations put in place after the Enron Corp. and WorldCom Inc. scandals. That's why yesterday's announcement that a group of private equity investors will buy SunGard Data Systems Inc. for $11.3 billion could be the start of a trend, buyout experts said.