Harris Teeter confirmed today that it is, in fact, considering the sale of its stores.

New York private equity firm MidOcean Partners has acquired a majority ownership stake in Raleigh-based Jones & Frank, a company that sells petroleum equipment and services to convenience stores and other customers.

Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

Jones & Frank relocated its corporate headquarters to Raleigh from Norfolk, Va. in 2010.

The company has 12 branch offices along the East Coast and about 300 employees, including 120 service technicians.

Jones & Frank's corporate headquarters are on St. Mary's Street. The company also has a branch and distribution center on Old Poole Road.

This is MidOcean's second acquisition of a Triangle company in recent months.

The Gores Group, the Los Angeles private equity firm that acquired a controlling interest in Stock Building Supply in 2009, is now the sole owner of the Raleigh company.

The firm announced today that it had acquired the remaining 49 percent of Stock that it didn't own from Wolseley Plc for an undisclosed amount.

“We have high expectations for Stock, and this transaction solidifies our position in the company,” said Ryan Wald, managing director of The Gores Group, in a statement.
 

Morrisville-based Tekelec announced this morning that it has agreed to be acquired by a consortium of investors led by private equity firm Siris Capital Group.

The deal is valued at $780 million. Siris' group is paying $11.00 per share in cash, which is an 11 percent premium over the closing price of Tekelec's stock on Friday.

The deal is expected to close during the first quarter of next year, pending shareholder and regulatory approval.

Tekelec's management team is expected to remain in place. Merle Gilmore, former President of Motorola's Communications Enterprise and Chairman of the Board of Airvana Network Solutions Inc., will serve as Tekelec's executive chairman following the closing.

The company makes software and other telecommunications technology that helps move data and video over high-speed and wireless networks.

PPD, which earlier this month agreed to be bought by two private equity firms, has entered into a confidentiality agreement with another suitor, the company wrote in a regulatory filing today.

PPD has until the end of the day on Nov. 1 to solicit rival bids.

As of Thursday, the company that entered into the confidentiality agreement had not submitted a formal acquisition proposal.

The Carlyle Group and Hellman & Friedman are paying $33.25 per share for Wilmington-based PPD, a 30 percent premium over where the company's shares closed on the last day of trading before the deal was announced.

PPD's board has instructed Morgan Stanley to conduct a "go-show" process during which the investment bank contacted 22 parties to see if they were interested in making a superior offer to buy the company.
 

Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network, a new support network financed by the private equity giant, has named Robert Creeden to be its first executive director.

Creeden is founder and managing partner of Boston-based Partners Innovation Fund. 

The Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network was announced in April.

It is a partnership between the company and the Triangle's four major universities -- Duke University, North Carolina Central University, North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill -- as well as the Council for Entrepreneurial Development.

Financed with $3.6 million from Blackstone's charitable foundation, it is designed to provide entrepreneurs with the support they need to turn their ideas into fast-growing companies.

Stephen A. Schwarzman, CEO and co-founder of private equity firm The Blackstone Group, will be in Durham on Monday to announce a new charitable initiative designed to further entrepreneurship.

Schwarzman will be joined by a bevy of state politicians and university officials, including Gov. Bev Perdue, Senator Kay Hagan, Duke University President Richard Brodhead, N.C. Central University Chancellor Charlie Nelms, North Carolina State University Chancellor Randy Woodson and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chancellor Holden Thorp.

The event is being held on the American Tobacco Campus at 11 a.m.

Blackstone's charitable foundation earlier launched a $50 million entrepreneurship initiative, called LaunchPad, that is working with universities to develop programs for aspiring entrepreneurs. 

The foundation hopes to make LaunchPad a national model for developing entrepreneurship through higher education.

It has committed to expanding the number of LaunchPads in the U.S. over the next five years.

Private equity firm Avista Capital Partners and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan have agreed to acquire INC Research, a Raleigh company that assists drug makers with clinical trials.

Terms of the deal weren't included in a release announcing the acquisition.

Bloomberg News, quoting an unnamed person with direct knowledge of the deal, is reporting that the two investors are paying about $600 million for INC.

They are buying the privately-held INC from an investor group led by Crosspoint Venture Partners and Adams Street Partners.

“We are enthusiastic to partner with James Ogle, CEO of INC Research, and his talented management team, who have a strong track record of success,” said Neil Petroff, Teachers’ Executive Vice-President and Chief Investment Officer for the pension fund. 

“Under Mr. Ogle’s leadership, we are confident INC Research will continue to capitalize on favorable trends in the clinical development outsourcing market and utilize its global reach to enhance its market share.”

The Tar Heel native who recently served as the nation's top communications regulator is returning to his roots.

Kevin Martin, who stepped down as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission a year ago, is starting a private equity firm that will be based in Charlotte. Carmichael Partners will invest in family owned and privately held businesses with growth potential.

His partner is Brian Bailey, who recently left Carousel Capital, another Charlotte-based investment firm.

Martin, 43, grew up in Waxhaw, just south of Charlotte, and later earned degrees from UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University. He joined the FCC as a commissioner in July 2001 and was named chairman of the agency by President Bush in March 2005.

Raleigh-based Concord Hospitality Enterprises, a developer and operator of hotels, is forming a $300 million private equity fund to buy distressed hotels and debt.

The company said in a release today that it expects the fund to close within the next 90 days.

Concord has distinguished itself during the downturn by continuing to move forward on a handful of projects despite a credit crunch and a slowdown in travel.

Last Christmas, the company opened the $55 million Renaissance Raleigh Hotel at North Hills.

Concord wants to double its portfolio to at least 100 hotels by 2012. The company already provides management services for 57 hotels throughout the United States and Canada.

Distressed hotel sellers are expected to flood the market with fire-sale properties as their debt comes due in the coming months.

Concord, which unloaded 20 hotels at the top of the market in 2007 for $440 million, entering the downturn with very little short-term debt.

"The fund will allow us to continue our plan to double the size of our portfolio within the next few years, despite the recession," Mark Laport, Concord's president and CEO, said in the release. "We believe there will be attractive acquisition opportunities both for hotels and hotel debt, and we expect to be a significant player in those markets."