Blackstone, Carlyle to table $10 bn bid for NCR Corp
17 Jun 2015
Private equity firms Blackstone Group and Carlyle Group have teamed together to make an over $10-billion bid, including debt, for NCR Corp in a leveraged buyout that would be the year's biggest, Reuters yesterday reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Blackstone and Carlyle have joined forces to outbid other buyout firms like Apollo Global Management and Thoma Bravo, while other private equity firms that are competing could also team up, the report said.
Duluth, Georgia-based NCR has been exploring options in recent months due to shareholder pressure. Marcato Capital Management, which has a board seat, has since last year been asking the company to explore strategic alternatives. Jana Partners is also reported to hold a 7-per cent passive stake.
Founded in 1884 by John Patterson, The National Cash Register Company made the first mechanical cash register and went public in 1926 and a year later changed its name to NCR Corporation.
It was acquired by AT&T in 1991 and was spun-off to AT&T shareholders in 1997, as an independent, publicly-traded company.
NCR Corp's main products are self-service kiosks, point-of-sale terminals, automated teller machines, check processing systems, barcode scanners, and business consumables. It also provides IT maintenance support services
It posted net profit of $353 million in 2014 on revenues of $6.591 billion (44 per cent from product sales and 56 per cent from services).