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Empresas y finanzas

Exclusive: Blackstone close to over $5.5 billion Gates takeover - sources


    NEW YORK (Reuters) - Blackstone Group LP is close to a deal to buy industrial conglomerate Gates Global Inc for more than $5.5 billion, people familiar with the matter said, in what would be one of the largest leveraged buyouts so far this year.

    The buyout firm is in the final stages of negotiations with Gates' private equity owners, Onex Corp and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), and the two sides are aiming to finalize an agreement by early next week, the people said on Tuesday.

    Blackstone is preparing to do the deal on its own after another buyout firm, TPG Capital Management LP , which it had teamed up with to submit a joint bid two weeks ago, decided not to back a higher bid to meet Gates' price expectations, the people said. The pair had bid around $5.4 billion then, one person said.

    The final deal price could not be learned, but the transaction is now expected to value the auto parts and building products maker at between $5.5 billion and $6 billion including debt, according to the people.

    Blackstone has yet to complete confirmatory due diligence and a deal has yet to be signed, cautioned the people, who asked not to be named because the matter is not public.

    Representatives for Blackstone and CPPIB declined to comment, while Onex, TPG and Gates did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

    (Reporting by Soyoung Kim and Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)