BW ONLINE DAILY BRIEFING

NEWS FLASH	May 27, 1999

The Dallas-based leveraged buyout firm of Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst is making a shaky start of its expansion in Europe. Hicks is trying to raise some $1.5 billion to $2.0 billion for European buyouts, but it has stubbed its toe a couple of times already.

In the latest pratfall, Hicks struck a deal in mid-May with the independent directors of Hillsdown Holdings PLC, a British maker of canned food and furniture, to buy the company for $740 million. But Hicks failed to get senior management on board and -- to its embarrassment -- Hillsdown is now negotiating a buyout offer from Candover, a British LBO firm. The deal has market participants in London saying that Hicks is out of its depth in Europe. Hicks principal John R. Muse, who runs the London office, insists that he's handling the Hillsdown deal properly. Still, to maintain credibility in Europe, Hicks will be under pressure to top any bid that Candover makes.

Hicks already was viewed with some skepticism in Europe after the firm pulled out of an agreement to buy business publishing units from Pearson PLC for $860 million last year. Pearson, the London-based publisher of the Financial Times newspaper, acquired the units as part of its $4.6 billion purchase of Simon & Schuster's textbook business. Pearson is suing for damages in the U.S. Muse says performance at the units deteriorated sharply after the firm agreed to buy them.

By Stanley Reed in London

EDITED BY RICHARD S. DUNHAM _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

BACK TO TOP