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US MEGAMERGERS ON THE WANE When the management of Alamito corp announced its decision to take the company private last autumn via a leveraged buyout (LBO) at $125 a share, few could have anticipated the bidding war that would ensue. At one point, remembered Daniel Good, head of the mergers and acquisitions department at EF Hutton, Alamito's investment bank, "we literally received a bid an hour and in totoal there were 14 separate bids". Eventually, the competition narrowed to four bidders and the victor was Osceola Energy Inc, which agreed to pay $165 a share, a whopping premium over management's original price.

TO FOCUS IS TO SUCCEED Through the spin-off of the Henley Group this past spring, said Gene Barron, manager of corporate finance at Allied Signal Corp, his company succeeded in divesting all its unwanted businesses "in one fell swoop" .Allied Signal retained a 30% interest in the group -- a hodgepodge of 35 different businesses -- whiel shareholders received the remaining 70% of the new company in the form of one Henley share for every four Allied shares. By thus removing all the businesses from its balance sheet at once rather than shopping each individually, noted Barron, Allied Signal achieved the same result with less time and effort while bringing additional value to shareholders.

SPACE RACE FOR ALBERT FRERE

TIME FOR LA RECONQUISTA

A BRIDGE TOO FAR FOR CLEARING-HOUSE RIVALS

Beware the dirty diggers | Canada grapples on the border | En France on va tout privatiser | Japan prepares for a takeover splurge | Leveraged funding | The city spins with merger mania | The thriving LBO | To focus is to succeed | U.S. megamergers on the wane

FOREIGN BANKS AND SECURITIES HOUSES IN SPAIN

THE THRIVING LBO Since Houdaille Industries went private in 1979 in the first major leveraged buyout (LBO) of a public company, the LBO has become a standard financing tool. At a time when few LBOs ever passed the $100 million mark, the $355 million Houdaille Industries deal marked the origin of a new market. The LBO business has prospered, perhaps beyond even its founder's wildest dreams. The total market has grown from $2.9 billion in 1981 to $16.7 billion in 1985. And, last year, Beatrice Co was taken private by the LBO specialist firm, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, in a record transaction totalling $6.2 billion.

LEADING THRIFTS THROUGH CHALLENGING TIMES

WA MEANS HARMONY -- OR DOES IT?

At first glance, it looks as if the US League of Savings Institutions is trying to make life more difficult for its members. The League is calling on regulators to crack down on the savings and loan industry which it represents, an unusual stand for any trade association.

CALIFORNIA LEADS THE WAY