April 26, 2024

DealBook: Carlyle Joins Hellman & Friedman in $3.9 Billion Deal for Drug Research Firm

The private equity firms Carlyle Group and Hellman Friedman on Monday agreed to buy Pharmaceutical Product Development, a contract medical research company, for $3.9 billion.

Under the terms of the deal, the firms will pay $33.25 a share in cash, about 30 percent above the stock’s closing price on Friday. The buyout is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

“The sale of P.P.D. to the Carlyle Group and Hellman Friedman provides an attractive return for our shareholders, while also ensuring a secure foundation and commitment to investment, innovation and excellence for P.P.D. clients and employees as the company builds on its 25-year history of success,” Fred Eshelman, executive chairman of the company, said in a statement.

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=202c3aed178f79d63d6ac2d12f08bd61

DealBook: Fugitive Moody’s Analyst Ordered to Pay $35 Million to S.E.C.

Of the 26 defendants criminally charged in the government’s insider trading investigation centered on Raj Rajaratnam, the hedge fund billionaire, only one has not been convicted or pleaded guilty: Deep Shah.

Mr. Shah, a former bond analyst at Moody’s Investors Service, has been declared a fugitive and is believed to be in Mumbai.

On Tuesday, a federal judge ordered Mr. Shah to pay the government $34.6 million related to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s insider trading lawsuit against him.

Federal authorities have accused Mr. Shah of leaking the news of two impending private equity takeovers to hedge fund traders: Hellman Friedman’s acquisition of the software company Kronos and the Blackstone Group’s purchase of Hilton Hotels. As a Moody’s analyst, Mr. Shah would get advance word of the deals so the ratings agency could update its analysis of the company’s debt.

On Tuesday, a Federal District Court judge, Jed S. Rakoff, signed a judgment that ordered Mr. Shah to pay a $24.6 million civil fines, $1.76 million of interest and forfeit $8.2 million of illegal profits. But unless the authorities can track Mr. Shah down, it will be difficult for the government to recover this money.

Mr. Shah, who is in his late 20’s, was involved in an insider trading ring led by Zvi Goffer, a former Galleon employee. A jury convicted him, his brother, Emanuel Goffer, and another hedge fund trader of earning more than $20 million in illegal profits by trading on illegal tips about upcoming mergers and acquisitions. Some of those tips came from Mr. Shah, the government says.

He is also accused of leaking the Hilton deal to Roomy Khan, a former Intel executive, who in turned passed them on to Mr. Rajaratnam. A jury found Mr. Rajaratnam guilty in May of insider trading crimes. His sentencing is set for Sept. 27.

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=2fe9a8feee3f7052f3ac962c586e54f0