{"id":21145,"date":"2013-02-20T00:00:44","date_gmt":"2013-02-20T04:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.prefblog.com\/?p=21145"},"modified":"2013-02-20T00:00:44","modified_gmt":"2013-02-20T04:00:44","slug":"february-19-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prefblog.com\/?p=21145","title":{"rendered":"February 19, 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’ll begin with a condensed version of ‘The Old Order Passeth’<\/a>:<\/p>\n

RDA Holding Co., publisher of the 91-year-old Reader\u2019s Digest magazine, filed for bankruptcy to cut $465 million in debt and focus on North American operations as consumers shift from print to electronic media.<\/p>\n

The company is the latest in a line of iconic businesses to have recently sought court protection from creditors, after Hostess Brands Inc., maker of Twinkies and Wonder Bread, and Eastman Kodak Co., inventor of Kodachrome and the Instamatic camera.<\/p>\n

Reader\u2019s Digest, founded by DeWitt and Lila Wallace, went public in 1990. An investor group led by private-equity firm Ripplewood Holdings LLC bought it in 2007 for $1.6 billion and the assumption of about $800 million in debt. The company also filed for bankruptcy in August 2009, citing a drop in advertising spending and the debt load incurred in its acquisition.<\/p>\n

The company listed assets and debt of more than $1 billion each in Chapter 11 documents filed yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, New York. Under a restructuring agreement supported by Wells Fargo & Co., $465 million of remaining senior notes will all convert to equity. The company expects to have about $100 million in debt when it exits Chapter 11, about an 80 percent reduction.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

GWO is buying in Ireland<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Great-West Lifeco Inc. is buying Ireland\u2019s largest life, pensions and investment manager in a $1.75-billion deal.<\/p>\n

Winnipeg-based Great-West says it has reached a deal with the government of Ireland to acquire, through subsidiary Canada Life Ltd., all of the shares of Irish Life Group Ltd.<\/p>\n

Irish Life \u2013 which the government took over last year as part of its \u20ac4-billion ($5.4-billion Canadian) bailout of parent Irish Life & Permanent, has about $50-billion of assets under management and more than one million customers.
…<\/b>
Great-West\u2019s Irish subsidiary, Canada Life (Ireland), will be combined with
\nIrish Life over an 18 month period.<\/p>\n

The merged businesses should deliver about \u20ac40-million per year in cost savings, Great-West said in a news release Tuesday.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As previously reported, PWF is issuing a Straight Perpetual, 4.80%, $300-million<\/a> to fund a purchase of GWO subscription receipts.<\/p>\n

RBC today demonstrated the Acquire and Dismantle Model of Canadian Banking<\/a>:<\/p>\n

On February 1, 2013, Royal Bank of Canada announced it completed the acquisition of Ally Financial Inc.\u2019s Canadian auto finance business (Ally Credit Canada Limited) and Canadian deposit business (ResMor Trust Company).<\/p>\n

As a result of the acquisition, RBC Royal Bank has performed a comprehensive review of Ally\u2019s\u2021 product portfolio, and implemented some changes that may impact your account(s):<\/p>\n