The Morning Leverage: The Year Of PE-Backed Education

By Hillary Canada

Mike Lucas for Dow Jones

In this morning’s media roundup:

News: According to the Chinese Zodiac, this is supposed to be the Year of the Ox, but we believe it’s actually the Year of the Private Equity-Backed Education Company. Education Management Corp. is set to become the 112th PE-backed education company to go public this year, after its registration languished on the shelf for two years. If history is any indication, the IPO, which is set at $18 to $20 a share, should probably go off without a hitch. A secondary offering could be a mixed bag, however, as we learned from Rosetta Stone and Bridgepoint Education. Read on in LBO Wire.

Blackstone Group and Lion Capital look to have found a buyer for Orangina Schweppes. According to the Wall Street Journal, the firms received a binding offer from Japanese drinks company Suntory, but details of the deal were not disclosed. The firm paid $2.6 billion for Orangina in 2006. Perhaps soda sales have gone up the way alcohol sales do during a recession?

TPH Partners’ newest portfolio companies uses CAT scans, but not on people. Or even on cats. It uses them on rocks. The company, Ingrain Inc., uses the scans to locate oil and gas deposits based on hydrocarbon levels in reservoir rocks. Seeing as it is pretty much the only company to utilize the technology in this way, TPH is banking on Ingrain dominating the market. Read on via LBO Wire.

Nortel’s bankruptcy and subsequent dismantling has been a blow to the Canadian technology sector, but there are still good tech bets in our neighbor’s yard, at least according to Mistral Equity Partners’ thinking. The firm has been picking up wireless operators across the country, acquiring WorldLynx Wireless in its latest deal, according to LBO Wire.

Analysis: The New York Times has an interview with Guy Hands in which the Terra Firma founder elaborates further on some themes he brought up while speaking at our Private Equity Analyst Conference last week- specifically that buyout firms were highly overpaid during the boom. “It is time for investors to see through the elaborate marketing machines created by the industry.” Hmmm… perhaps like living in Guernsey to avoid paying taxes?

Just For Fun: Thoughts from our colleagues over at Deal Journal on the New York debut of Michael Moore’s new film, “Capitalism: A Love Story.” The screening took place at Lincoln Center, in a new theater sponsored by many of the institutions lambasted in the film. Ah, well. We’re sure Michael Moore can appreciate a little irony.