The Buyout Touch

You've heard of Genesis' song Invisible Touch, but have you heard of the Buyout Touch?

Here's how the song goes:

"MMI Investments seems to have a buyout touch - yeah. They take a stake, and you should take it to heart.

MMI Investments seems to have a buyout touch - yeah. They take control before a buyer looks to tear it apart."


Looking at MMI Investments' recent holding many have been acquired or are in the process of being acquired. These are not arbitrage plays, MMI owned the positions before the deals were announced.

Here is their current portfolio as of May 31, 2007.

Acxiom Corp (Nasdaq: ACXM): In May, the company agreed to be acquired by Silver Lake and ValueAct Capital for $27.10 per share. MMI Investments said they plan to vote against the deal, calling it too cheap.

Brinks Co (NYSE: BCO): The company is said to be considering strategic alternatives. MMI has pushed for a sale or other strategic alternatives. Another activist investor, Pirate Capital, which was also pushing for a sale, had its founder Tom Hudson added to Brink's board.

Dendrite Intl (Nasdaq: DRTE): Recently closed a transaction in which French company, Cegedim SA, acquired the company for $16 per share in cash.

Paxar (NYSE: PXR) Avery Dennison (NYSE: AVY) will acquire the company for $30.50 per share in a cash.

Unisys (NYSE: UIS): No merger deal or discussions. (YET!)

In the recent past, MMI also owned Andrx (Nasdaq: ADRX) which was acquired by Watson Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: WPI) for $25 per share.

MMI is run by Clay Lifflander. Prior to joining MMI, Lifflander served as President of the NYC Economic Development Corp under Mayor Rudolph Giuiliani and prior to that was Managing Director in the M&A Group at Smith Barney.