Time Warner stock up; PPG shares climb on SigmaKalon deal; ev3 buys FoxHollow, shares up

By Sheri Kasprzak

New York, Oct. 4 - Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. received the final green light to close its $234 million purchase of seven pay-television networks in the Latin American market from Claxson Interactive Group Inc., and the move sent shares of parent Time Warner Inc. up Thursday.

The move is smart, one analyst said.

"The Latin market is an amazingly huge market right now and a lot of companies are moving into Spanish-language programming," said the analyst.

Meanwhile, for the second straight session, merger and acquisition activity remained relatively light.

A sellside trader said it's really nothing.

"I don't see it as a big deal," he noted. "Sometimes these things happen. I still think there will be a bit more activity coming up this fall and winter."

In other merger news, shares of PPG Industries ended the day higher Thursday after the company said it will buy SigmaKalon Group, a coatings producer, from investment firm Bain Capital.

The price tag attached to the purchase is €2.2 billion.

A sellside trader said Thursday that even though he wasn't completely familiar with the sale, he feels in most cases, it's best for companies like SigmaKalon to be held by companies within that sector.

"Investment firms obviously have their purpose and I'm not dogging investment firms in the least," he said. "But in terms of management, it makes sense. I'm not that familiar with the transaction, but I will say, broadly, it does makes sense that a coatings company would buy another coatings company."

Elsewhere, ev3 Inc. completed its merger with FoxHollow Technologies, Inc., sending shares of ev3 up by almost 3%.

Both ev3 and FoxHollow are medical device companies.

Time Warner shares gain

Looking back at Atlanta-based Turner's purchase of seven Latin American pay-television stations, the television giant received the nod from Comision Nacional de Defensa de la Competencia in Argentina to buy the pay stations, officially sealing the $234 million acquisition.

Shares of Time Warner Inc. were elevated after subsidiary Turner Broadcasting got the nod to buy seven pay television networks in the Latin American market.

By 1:12 p.m. ET, Time Warner's stock was up 1.44%, or 27 cents. The stock closed the day up 26 cents, or 1.39%, at $18.99 (NYSE: TWX). The stock fell by a penny after hours.

The acquisition includes Fashion TV, HTV, Infinito, I.Sat, MuchMusic, Retro and Space. The new Turner channels will be led by Juan Carlos Urdaneta, Claxson's current president.

"We are pleased to complete this strategic acquisition, which greatly enhances Turner's already compelling portfolio of branded entertainment and news programming," said Louise Sams, president of TBS International and executive vice president and general counsel for TBS, Inc., in a news release.

"The addition of these networks will not only enhance our current channel offerings, but will also allow us to deliver a whole new range of quality programming genres to audiences throughout Latin America."

Turner's current Latin American television holdings include CNN International, TNT, Cartoon Network, CNN en Espanol and TCM Classic Hollywood.

Claxson is a multimedia company focused on Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking customers. The company has headquarters in Buenos Aires.

PPG to buy SigmaKalon

Elsewhere in merger news, PPG Industries is gearing up to buy SigmaKalon Group from private equity firm Bain Capital for €2.2 billion.

PPG's stock gained 59 cents to close at $76.87 (NYSE: PPG).

"The process of consulting with and obtaining advice from the relevant employee representative bodies was cooperative and constructive," said Michael McGarry, vice president of coatings and managing director of PPG Europe, in a news release.

"As a result, we completed this phase of the process and are now seeking approvals from several regulatory agencies in Europe and elsewhere."

Based in the Netherlands, SigmaKalon makes architectural, protective, marine and industrial coatings. Pittsburgh-based PPG is also an industrial coatings company.

"We are pleased with how the sale process has progressed and continue to be pleased with management's efforts to move the business forward," said Steve Barnes, managing director at Bain Capital, in a news release.

ev3 stock up

Finally, ev3 sealed its acquisition of FoxHollow Technologies.

Ev3's stock ended Thursday up 2.91%, or 47 cents, to close at $16.64 (Nasdaq: EVVV). Shares of FoxHollow were up 74 cents, or 2.83%, to close at $26.91. FoxHollow's shares were up another 14 cents in after-hours trading activity.

Ev3 purchased all of the outstanding shares of FoxHollow in the transaction. The full terms were unavailable by press time Thursday.

The two have combined to form one of the largest U.S. distributors of endovascular devices.

"We are extremely pleased with the outcome of today's vote of the FoxHollow stockholders and the timely completion of the transaction," said Jim Corbett, ev3's CEO, in a statement.

"This combination has produced a much more financially powerful company, as we expect to generate significant annual cost savings from enhanced efficiency of sales and marketing efforts, increased purchasing scale, sourcing and logistics efficiencies and shared administrative services. In addition to enhancing profitability, this will allow for more opportunities for growth through internal and external development programs."

John Simpson, FoxHollow's CEO and vice chairman of the board, will remain on as vice chairman of the board at the combined company, and ev3 will add three other former FoxHollow directors to their board - Jeffrey B. Child, Richard N. Kender and Myrtle S. Potter.

Ev3 is a medical device company focused on minimally invasive treatments for vascular disorders and diseases. FoxHollow makes minimally invasive devices to remove plaque and thrombus to treat peripheral artery disease.

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