Madison Dearborn Partners

Infobox_Company
company_
company_name = Madison Dearborn Partners
company_type = Private Ownership
foundation = 1992
location = | industry = Private Equity
products = Leveraged Buyout
assets = $14 billion [Capital raised since inception in 1992]
homepage = [http://www.madisondearborn.com/ www.madisondearborn.com]
num_employees = 50+ (2007)

Madison Dearborn Partners (MDP) is a private equity firm specializing in leveraged buyouts of privately held or publicly traded companies, or divisions of larger companies; recapitalizations of family-owned or closely held companies; balance sheet restructurings; acquisition financings; and growth capital investments in mature companies.

History

Madison Dearborn Partners was founded in 1992 and is based in Chicago, Illinois. The founders of Madison Dearborn had previously made private equity investments for First Chicago Bank. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE5D8103CF934A35752C0A964958260 COMPANY NEWS; Fund Venture Begun in Chicago] (New York Times, 1992)]

Madison Dearborn's chairman, John Canning, Jr., is also a minority owner of the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team and has been rumored to be a potential buyer of the Chicago Cubs [ [http://www.thedeal.com/dealscape/2007/09/is_john_canning_jr_the_next_jo.php Is John Canning Jr. the next John Henry?] (TheDeal.com, 2007)] [ [http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=532472&format=print Brewers stakeholder in the fan business] (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)]

In 2007, the firm joined forces with Michael Eisner's Tornante investment company to buy out baseball card maker The Topps Company. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E5D81630F936A15756C0A9619C8B63&scp=3&sq=%22madison+dearborn%22&st=nyt A Bid for Topps, the Baseball Card Company] (New York Times, 2007)] Madison Dearborn completed leveraged buyout transactions for a number of publicly traded companies in 2006 and 2007 including:

*CDW [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/30/technology/30deal.html?_r=1&sq= Equity Firm to Acquire Net Retailer] (New York Times)]

*Nuveen investments [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0CEEDE103FF932A15755C0A9619C8B63&scp=4&sq=%22madison+dearborn%22&st=nyt Mutual Fund Manager Agrees to Buyout] (New York Times, 2007)]

*Univision Communications [ [http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=21128&seenIt=1 Madison Dearborn part of winning $12.3B bid for Univision] (Chicago Business News, Analysis & Articles, 2006)]

*Yankee Candle [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/26/business/26candle.html?scp=6&sq=%22madison+dearborn%22&st=nyt Candle Maker Accepts a Buyout Offer] (New York Times, 2006)]

Investment Funds

MDP invests through a series of private limited partnerships and its investors include a variety of pension funds, endowments and other institutional investors:

* 1993 - Madison Dearborn Capital Partners ($550 million)
* 1997 - Fund II ($925 million)
* 1999 - Fund III ($2.2 billion)
* 2000 - Fund IV ($4.1 billion)
* 2006 - Fund V ($6.5 billion)
* 2008 - Fund VI (TBD)

Source: Private Equity Intelligence [ [http://www.prequin.com Private Equity Intelligence] ] [ [http://www.madisondearborn.com/overview.asp Madison Dearborn Partners Overview] ]

Bell Canada

On June 30, 2007, Bell Canada Enterprises announced that the company entered into a definitive agreement for BCE to be acquired pursuant to a plan of arrangement by an investor group led by Teachers Private Capital, the private investment arm of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Providence Equity Partners Inc. and Madison Dearborn Partners. The all-cash transaction is valued at C$51.7 billion (US$48.5 billion), including C$16.9 billion (US$15.9 billion) of debt, preferred equity and minority interests. The arrangement was approved on September 21, 2007 at a Special Meeting of shareholders by more than 97% of the votes cast by holders of common and preferred shares, voting as a single class. [ [http://www.bce.ca/en/investors/shareholderinfo/privatization/ Privatization of BCE] ]

References

* [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/05/business/05place.html?scp=12&sq=madison+dearborn&st=nyt Good Times, Bad Times: Make a Deal] (New York Times, July 5, 2007)
* [http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/feb2008/db20080213_831704.htm?chan=search A Genteel Style of Buyouts] (BusinessWeek, February 13, 2008)

External links

* [http://www.madisondearborn.com Madison Dearborn] (official website)