Leisure/Hotels

Woodstock 40th a grim anniversary for music business

13 Aug 2009

The industry s fiscal circumstances look nothing like they did during the celebrated 1969 festival. The threeday concert was a financial disaster, but a subsequent live album and documentary made it profitable. Rob Cox looks at the economic reversal in today's rock and roll.

Glitzy image weighs on Las Vegas economy

13 Aug 2009

The US gaming capital s What happens here, stays here motto helped cement its naughty reputation during the boom. But that marketing message is now a burden. Budgetminded tourists and conventioneers are eschewing Sin City s selfconscious extravagance, battering its economy.

Pritzkers choose odd time to take Hyatt public

10 Aug 2009

The hotelier controlled by the Chicago family filed for a $1.15bn IPO. At first glance, that looks gutsy given the lodging sector s woes. But Hyatt may need the cash and insiders the liquidity. Plus hotel stocks have been on a tear.

Trump resurrection no bellwether for buyouts

4 Aug 2009

The Donald convinced a bank to bail out his Atlantic City casinos again. But that doesn t necessarily mean financing will start to flow for private equity restructurings, too. And buyout firms are less likely to invest the effort to resuscitate their cratered companies.

Luxury industry tries on cost cuts for size

15 Jul 2009

The fashion set has never been known for parsimony. But dire times call for less caviar and champagne. So costcutting is the industry's new black. Anyone who doesn t get the hang of less is more risks not being around when the good times slink back.

KKR/Bertelsmann music JV strikes the right note

8 Jul 2009

By joining forces, the buyout firm and media group can pounce on the choicest bits of the music business copyrights to artists songs. With the ructions of the recorded segment and the ownership of libraries like Michael Jackson s uncertain the timing looks impeccable.

Blackstone sidesteps another bankruptcy bullet

15 Jun 2009

Like its welltimed 2007 sales of some doomed commercial real estate, it looks like Schwarzman s shop wisely passed the parcel on another troubled asset the nowbankrupt US hotel chain Extended Stay. It s hard to say how much he reaped but at least he didn t lose his shirt.

Six Flags not a credit crunch casualty

15 Jun 2009

The US amusement park group has gone bust. Sure, its subprime client base is hurting. But even during the boom it looked so overindebted and underprofitable that buyout firms didn t want it. There's no magic fix for its Blist attractions, so cutting debt is the only hope.

Warner debt deal kicks off EMI countdown

25 May 2009

The US music group s $1.1bn refinancing last week has shaken off pesky debt covenants and extended its maturities. It s now in pole position to pounce on debthobbled rival EMI, whose lenders at Citi would love to unload. The dance music to a deal has begun.

Personal view: US consumers don’t need online gambling

6 May 2009

Legalising internet gaming would provide muchneeded tax revenue. But it would encourage bad behaviour all round. The gambling urge reduced saving and love of speculation and excess leverage has already done enough damage to the US economy.

India exports cricket, profits and prestige

23 Mar 2009

The country s most lucrative tournament will be held overseas because the government can t promise security it's rightly giving priority to the upcoming general elections. The foreign holiday of this revered sport is expensive, both financially and politically.

Steve Cohen’s Sotheby’s bet is no pickled shark

23 Mar 2009

The hedge fund manager has amassed a 6% stake in the auction house. Luckily for Cohen s investors, this bid looks smarter than some of his personal art indulgences like paying $8m for a poorly preserved shark in formaldehyde.

TPG and Apollo salami slice Harrah’s creditors

5 Mar 2009

The casino company controlled by the LBO firms is asking bondholders to take yet another haircut in a debt exchange. The prices on offer look tempting relative to market. But creditors set precedents and expectations each time they acquiesce. It s time to get tough.

In Vegas, the house doesn’t always win

4 Mar 2009

Ask Kirk Kerkorian. It s nearly impossible to see how the ancient financier can salvage his 54% stake in MGM Mirage. The casino operator can hardly meet interest payments. A debt restructuring that wipes out shareholders looks like the only option.

US stimulus changes bankruptcy calculus

3 Mar 2009

A change allows companies to do exchange deals that reduce debt without taking a tax hit. The rule change will encourage restructurings outside bankruptcy and give private equity and other company owners more ways to avoid pushing a company over the edge.

Harassed funds triumph in Accor civil war

25 Feb 2009

Colony Capital and Eurazeo own only 30% of the French hotel group, but that was enough to oust the chairman. Six outside directors resigned in protest. The funds, hit hard by margin calls, may use their control to squeeze out cash. Too bad for the other 70% of the holders.

French bloom won’t save art world gloom

24 Feb 2009

Record prices for Matisse and Brancusi at the Yves St Laurent auction in Paris may look reassuring for the ailing art market. But the setting, the seller, the selection and some Gulf support hardly made it a representative occasion. It s unlikely to mark a reversal of fortunes.

Music deal is marriage of convenience, not love

10 Feb 2009

Sure, the concert and ticket empires of Live Nation and Ticketmaster fit perhaps too well for regulators' liking. But the combination otherwise looks a bit defensive, matching Ticketmaster's uninspiring but cashed up business with strapped Live Nation's hope of profits later.

Harley fills up the tank with pricey Buffett fuel

3 Feb 2009

The billionaire has added the motorcycle maker to Berkshire s shelf of iconic American brands. He s buying half of Harley s $600m unsecured debt offering. But rather than Buffett handing over a trophy price, Harley is paying the premium for his vote of confidence.

Ecclestone is unwise to start F1 revenue row

20 Jan 2009

The Formula One boss has suggested that teams should receive a reduced share of the sport s profits. He may be feeling the squeeze, but giving already financiallystretched teams another reason to follow Honda out of motorracing is counterproductive.