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With hectic schedules, it can be hard to keep track of everything in your news feed. That’s why we created the TalkAndroid Daily Dose. This is where we recap the day’s hottest stories so you can get yourself up to speed in quick fashion. Happy reading!!

Guides

How to disable annoying Android notifications

Apps

Samsung’s annual Smart App Challenge has arrived, will focus on Chord SDK

Google+ Android app update includes photo enhancement and auto-backup features

Google Hangouts to seamlessly integrate Google Voice in the future

Carriers

Verizon updating pre-paid plans, data caps to increase

Google TV

Google’s latest media player hits the FCC

Phones

HTC Butterfly S screen resolution revealed, will adopt many HTC One features

Samsung Galaxy S 4 Active outed for your viewing pleasure

Samsung WatchOn app update hints at the Galaxy S 4 Mega, Mini, and Active

T-Mobile set to introduce the Galaxy S III LTE June 5th, Galaxy Exhibit smartphone on May 29th

Sony Xperia UL officially announced for Japan

Tablets

Retailer Adorama lists Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 for $199

Updates

Unlocked Samsung Galaxy S III gets a taste of Android 4.2.2, thanks to leaked firmware 

Miscellaneous

LG to unveil 5-inch unbreakable and flexible OLED display this week

 

 

Come comment on this article: TalkAndroid Daily Dose for May 20, 2013

Google appears to be working on a sequel to its ill-fated Nexus Q streaming device. The Nexus Q debuted at last year’s I/O Developers Conference with limited capabilities and a premium price tag that eventually led to Google postponing the project. But a recent filing with the Federal Communications Commission has revealed a mysterious Google-built device that “functions as a media player” and could be a revamped Q. Little is known about the device, although it is equipped with support for 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and was connected to a Dell 24-inch monitor for testing, giving further evidence that it is a potential Nexus Q sucessor. The device is known as the “H840 device” and features the model number H2G2-42, a reference to Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Since Google Hangouts was released last week, users haven’t been too happy with the lack of SMS and Google Voice integration. Google has already told us that SMS messaging will be included in the near future, and today a Google member is assuring us that Voice will also be a part of future versions. Nikhyl Singhal, product manager for real time communications at Google, went so far to say on his Google+ profile that Hangouts is “designed to be the future of Google Voice” and that future versions of Hangouts will integrate Google Voice more seamlessly.

In addition, the recent Gmail update that added Hangouts disabled Google Voice outbound calling. On his Google+ account, Singhal added that “outbound/inbound calls will soon be available.” It’s great to see that Google will continue working to add and restore features to their new client that users want, but with Google, it’s hard to expect anything less.

Source: +Nikhyl Singhal

Come comment on this article: Google Hangouts to seamlessly integrate Google Voice in the future

Ed. Note: You can help people affected by the recent tornadoes through American Red Cross Disaster Relief. If you are in the affected areas, you can also register as "Safe and Well" to let your friends and family know you are okay.

This evening the President spoke with Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin to express his concern for those who have been affected by the tornadoes last night and continuing today.

As the President told Governor Fallin tonight, the administration — through FEMA — is committed to providing all the assistance it can to Oklahoma as the response effort unfolds. Already, FEMA has deployed an Incident Management Assistance Team, Urban Search & Rescue Teams, and an Medical Emergency Response Support Team to provide resources to hard-hit areas in Oklahoma.

FEMA is urging those in impacted areas to listen carefully to instructions from local officials, and to take the recommended protective measures. Residents should monitor local radio or TV stations, or the National Weather Service at www.weather.gov.

As the response effort develops, here is a list of resources for those affected:

Department of Homeland Security
On Twitter @DHSJournal
On Facebook www.facebook.com/homelandsecurity

FEMA
On Twitter @FEMA
On Facebook www.facebook.com/FEMA
Blog Updates from FEMA

American Red Cross
Latest updates
On Twitter: @RedCross
On Facebook:  www.facebook.com/redcross

When Google unveiled its new Hangouts service last week, keen observers noted that there was a glaring omission in the company’s effort to cobble together all its messaging services onto one platform: Google Voice. But a new Google+ post from Google director of real-time communications Nikhyl Singhal suggests that Hangouts users won’t have to wait for Voice much longer. Specifically, Singhal says that while “today’s version of Hangouts doesn’t yet support outbound calls on the web and in the Chrome extension,” it will “support inbound calls to your Google Voice number.” He then adds that the company is “working hard on supporting both, and outbound/inbound calls will soon be available.” Singhal also says that Hangouts are “the future of Google Voice,” so it’s pretty clear that Google is placing all of its messaging service chips onto Hangouts for the foreseeable future.

PayPal may be taking on Square on its home mobile payments turf, but Square figures two can play that game. It has its own peer-to-peer payments in the works that will let users to transfer cash to each other by simply hitting the send button on an email.

A splash page first spotted by TechCrunch on Square’s website shows a demo of the service, which for now is available only to invited users. The demo shows that a registered user only has to send an email to the payment recipient with the dollar amount of the transfer in the subject line and [email protected] in the CC field to complete a transaction. According to the page, you can email money to any debit card. An accompanying FAQ reveals that all transactions will cost the sender 50 cents a pop, but the recipient pays nothing.

We reached out to Square to get more details on the mysterious service, but the company isn’t revealing any more details for now. “We’re excited to share Square Cash with our friends,” a Square spokesperson said via email. “We’ll continue to invite others to try it out in the coming weeks.”

Of course, Square is a bit late to the party given that PayPal has dominated this space for a decade, while other companies like Braintree’s Venmo have been filling whatever gaps PayPal left in mobile peer-to-peer payments. The major banks all have their own email transfer services, and just last week at I/O, Google announced its intention to dive head first into the same market by adding Google Wallet support to Gmail. Square might just be another peer-to-peer payments setup, but it’s building up a consumer following thanks to Square Wallet (and Starbucks, which will help it distinguish its cash service form others.

Speaking of Google, the search giant revealed a sunset date of Nov. 20 for Google Checkout, a service it’s been promising to shut down for two years. Google has long intended to fold Checkout’s on-screen instant payment technology into Wallet. Google finally announced that transition at I/O last week.

In a blog post, Google said it would continue to support U.S. merchants that have their own payment processing technology with its new Wallet Instant Buy system. For customers who don’t have their own payment processing, Google is working with Braintree, Shopify and Freshbooks to get them up and running on new a new commerce platform.

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Startup Eos Energy Storgae announced on Monday that it has raised a $15 million series B round from a group of investors including power company NRG Energy. Eos Energy, based in New Jersey, has been building a low cost grid battery using air and zinc that it hopes utilities and power companies will buy to help manage their grids and combine with solar and wind projects.

The company is looking to use the funding to help commercialize its batteries, which they’re calling Aurora, and Eos Energy hopes to deliver those to the market in 2014. According to a filing, this B round has been under development for over a year, and the company also says in its release that it is already in the process of raising a series C round, too.

Eos Energy is testing out its first batteries with New York utility ConEdison, and the two are using a state grant to install batteries on the New York grid. The company says it also has other utility partners in the works.

Scientists have been working on using air as the cathode for batteries for half a century. A battery is made up of an anode on one side and a cathode on the other, with an electrolyte in between. Air, of course, is abundant, light weight, and doesn’t require a heavy casing to contain it inside a battery cell. Also theoretically air can achieve a high energy density, or amount of energy that it can store.

Eos Energy tech innovation comes from founder and inventor Steven Amendola who discovered a breakthrough with his original design of the bi-directional air cathode that could last for 10,000 cycles (or around three decades). The company has told me that its initial battery could cost $160 per kWh, lasts 30 years and be made up of everyday benign materials.

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The Google+ Photos enhancements that were announced last week were already available on the web, and they have now been added to the Android app as well.

Auto-backup is added in the update to automatically backup user’s photos taken on their phone to the cloud, of course with permission. Snapseed features are also included. Users can use tweaks like cropping, rotating, and exposure adjustments, as well as the popular filters Snapseed offers. Google’s own “Auto-awesome” feature which was demonstrated at the I/O is also available in the app after the update. Searching for the best photos is also improved in the update, using the new “highlights” feature which allows Google to pick and display the best photos from an album on the main page of that album.

Among the other features the update offers are improved location sharing and automatic related hashtags. You can download the updated app through the link after the break.

Play Store Download Link

Come comment on this article: Google+ Android app update includes photo enhancement and auto-backup features

Samsung is rumored to be preparing a new Galaxy Tab tablet to debut in the coming months. Earlier reports claimed the device would be equipped with a 10.1-inch 1280 x 800 pixel resolution display, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, a 3-megapixel camera, a 7,000 mAh battery and Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. Recently discovered benchmark results, however, suggest Samsung may turn to Intel to power the Galaxy Tab 3 10.1. Results from the GLBenchmark database reveal that the upcoming tablet is equipped with a 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Atom Z2560 processor with a PowerVR SGX 544 MP2 GPU. Samsung has traditionally relied on ARM-based processors such as its in-house Exynos line or Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips to power its devices. A deal with Samsung, the world’s largest mobile vendor, would greatly benefit Intel as it attempts to increase its share in the mobile market. The most recent rumors claim the Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 will launch in late June or early July.

Microsoft is scheduled to take the wraps off its next Xbox at an event in Redmond, Wash. Tuesday, and the reveal of the new device is likely to not just get gaming fans excited: Game consoles have become the most popular devices to consume Netflix and other forms of online video in the living room, and Microsoft is expected to double down on TV viewing with the new device.

Of course, Microsoft has kept mum on what it is going to announce, but there have been a few leaks and reports that give us a good idea on what the new Xbox is going to offer:

A switch to PC hardware and Windows 8

The next Xbox is going to be based on an x86 processor likely made by AMD (for the specs lovers: there have been reports of an 8-core processor running at 1.6GHz CPU with 4MB of L2 cache), and a pretty powerful GPU to make those next-generation games look good. The device is also supposed to run a special version of Windows 8.

Why that matters: Moving away from ARM and closer to the hardware and software of an ordinary desktop PC should make it easier to develop apps for the platform, which could bring even more entertainment services to the platform. There’s also talk that the next Xbox will allow multitasking, which means you might be able to run Skype while you watch a video on Netflix, or watch TV while you do some casual gaming.

A Blu-ray drive

There have been a number of reports claiming that the next Xbox will come with an integrated Blu-ray player. Microsoft didn’t add a Blu-ray drive to its Xbox 360 game console, and instead opted to offer users the option to buy a drive for the competing HD DVD standard – only to pull out of HD DVD when it became obvious that the format had no chance against Blu-ray.

Why this matters: Blu-ray is a nice add-on for Xbox users who want HD movies without having to deal with yet another box in their living room. But it’s also an admission that physical media will still be around for some time, especially considering that high-quality movie downloads and bandwidth caps don’t mix all that well.

Live TV, courtesy of your cable box

Leaks of key documents about the next Xbox’s hardware have shown that the device will come with two HDMI ports: One to connect the Xbox to your TV, and one to connect your cable box to the Xbox. That’s the same setup used by Google TV and the latest Slingbox, and it allows Microsoft to access your live TV programming and overlay it with its own programming guide, widgets and apps.

Why this matters: Microsoft wants users to always consume TV through the Xbox — even if the actual TV programming comes from traditional cable, and not an Xbox Live app. This shows how important TV has become for the Xbox, but the somewhat cumbersome setup also goes to show how complicated it is for even someone like Microsoft to get access to the content that matters most to consumers.

No little sibling

Last year, rumors surfaced that Microsoft was going to offer two separate Xboxes: A full-blown game console, and a lighter and cheaper device that would focus on video and TV viewing and only offer casual gaming. It now looks like we won’t see that Xbox mini any time soon.

Why this matters: A cheap, and lightweight companion device like the Roku or the Apple TV could be a good way for Microsoft to address new audiences. But getting these devices right is challenging, which is one of the reasons why the existing Xbox 360 and PS3 have been so much more popular than any of the streaming boxes.

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This article originally appeared on GigaOM Pro, our premium research subscription service.

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has completed a study that comes up with two ways to use compressed air technology to store wind energy in underground chambers, the national lab said Monday. The two ways both use data and computer modelling to figure out the best sites that could successfully bank wind energy to be used at a later time.

Compressed air, as its name suggests, makes use of an electrically powered air compressor that sends pressurized air into a storage facility, which can be man-made or an underground reservoir. The pressurized air is let out later to run a turbine and generator to produce electricity. As much as 80 percent of the electricity used to compress air can be recovered when the pressurized air is used to generate energy, the lab said. Power losses are common when converting one form of energy to another.

Power in under ground caves

Utilities in the Northwest have a good reason for taking a look at energy storage technology. Wind power makes up about 13 percent (8.6 GW) of the power supply for the Northwest, the national lab said. Wind power tends to be most plentiful at night, when demand is at the lowest. Storing wind power for use during the day would help utilities meet their customers’ demand and manage their grids, which run smoothly when there is a balance of supply and demand. That prompted the Bonneville Power Administration to work with the lab to look into whether compressed air would be a good fit.

Many U.S. utilities or power producers have done preliminary studies or even pilot projects to check out different types of energy storage technologies, including various types of batteries. Often their regulators require them to gradually increase the amount of renewable energy they supply to their customers. Wind and solar have been popular choices, but they don’t generate a steady supply of electricity around the clock. Here is where energy storage comes in handy to help utilities manage their supply and demand.

The researchers were looking for two suitable underground sites for storing compressed air. They used data from gas exploration in Washington state and a computer model that simulates the flow of fluids underground. The idea is to see how much air a site can hold and how easy it’d be for the air to be harvested for power generation. For the study, an ideal underground storage would be at least 1,500 feet deep and 30 feet thick, and it should be close to transmission lines, the lab said.

Pacific Northwest

They found two locations, a place by the Columbia River, just across from Boardman, Ore., and another one in the Yakima Canyon that is roughly 10 miles north of Selah, Wash.

The scientists then sketched out two different processes for storing and re-using energy. At the Columbia River location, which is close to a natural gas pipeline, a compressed air storage plant can use natural gas to heat the compressed air and in the process boost the amount of electricity that can be produced.

At the Yakima location, the facility can use geothermal heat to run a chiller, which will in turn cool the air compressor to make it run more efficiently. Geothermal energy also can heat up the compressed air when it’s released from storage.

Bonneville will now take the results of the $790,000 study and do a round of cost-and-benefit analysis to figure out if compressed air makes for a good business case.

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US Debt Ventures said on Monday that it has received a $100 million revolving credit facility from a major financial institution that has not been identified. The credit facility will help US Debt Ventures to expand its non-performing loan and REO disposition model. US Debt Ventures is a private-equity firm based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

PRESS RELEASE

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–US Debt Ventures, a private equity firm that has acquired over $750MM in non-performing loans to date, today announced that it has secured a $100 million revolving credit facility from a major financial institution. The facility gives US Debt Ventures increased capacity to further expand its successful non-performing loan and REO disposition model. The firm expects to surpass $1 billion in total portfolio purchases in 2013 and following the close on this financing facility, US Debt Ventures plans to deploy committed capital through national non-performing loan and REO portfolio acquisitions.
Todd Billings, CEO of US Debt Ventures recently stated, “We are pleased with the successful completion of securing this credit facility. This financing represents a significant milestone for US Debt Ventures. Securing this line of credit gives us the flexibility to acquire additional assets in a highly attractive environment. The securing of attractive debt financing also validates our success as an owner and manager of distressed mortgage and REO assets. This level of commitment from a large financial institution represents a vote of confidence in our performance and the strength of our company.”
With the real estate market on the rise and an influx of international dollars, the firm’s focus has remained the same. CEO, Todd Billings and the USDV team of professionals maximize returns by pursuing the best risk-adjusted work-out strategy on a loan by loan basis on behalf of their investors, while helping borrowers to clean up their negative credit through realistic, yet creative solutions. “USDV’s strategy is to continue to be a leading manager within this specialized market,” stated Billings.
ABOUT U.S. DEBT VENTURES
U.S. Debt Ventures is a private-equity firm based out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida led by Todd Billings and sponsored by a group of high net worth investors. The company focuses on acquisitions of distressed whole loans and real estate. For more information, please contact 800.716.2370 or visit www.usdebtventures.com.

The post US Debt Ventures Receives $100 Mln Loan appeared first on peHUB.

Pactera Technology, a global consulting and technology services provider in China, said on Monday that its board  has received a “going private” proposal to acquire all shares of Pactera from Blackstone and the company’s management. The bid is valued at $7.50 per American Depositary Share in cash. Reuters is valuing the deal at $680 million. Blackstone is acting as advisor for the proposal while Citigroup Global Markets is serving as financial advisor to Pactera’s executive team.

PRESS RELEASE
BEIJING, May 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Pactera Technology International Ltd. (Nasdaq: PACT) (“Pactera” or the “Company”), a global consulting and technology services provider strategically headquartered in China, today announced that its board of directors has received a non-binding proposal letter dated May 20, 2013 from an affiliate of funds managed or advised by Blackstone, the Company’s non-executive Chairman, Chris Chen , its Chief Executive Officer, Tiak Koon Loh , and its Executive Committee members, David Chen , Sidney Huang and Jun Su (collectively, the “Buyer Consortium”) to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Pactera not currently owned by the Buyer Consortium in a going private transaction (the “Transaction”) for US$7.50 per American Depositary Share (“ADS”, each ADS representing one common share of the Company) in cash, subject to certain conditions.
According to the proposal letter, the Buyer Consortium intends to form an acquisition vehicle for the purpose of implementing the Transaction, and the Transaction is intended to be financed with a combination of equity capital funded by the Buyer Consortium and third-party debt. A copy of the proposal letter is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
The Company expects that its board of directors will form a special committee consisting of independent directors (the “Special Committee”) to consider this proposal. The Company also expects that the Special Committee will retain a financial advisor and legal counsel to assist it in its work. The Company cautions its shareholders and others considering trading in its securities that the Company has just received the non-binding proposal and no decisions have been made with respect to the Company’s response to the proposal. There can be no assurance that any definitive offer will be made, that any agreement will be executed or that this or any other transaction will be approved or consummated.
Citigroup Global Markets Inc. is acting as financial advisor to the Consortium. Ropes & Gray LLP is acting as U.S. counsel to the Buyer Consortium, with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP acting as U.S. counsel to the senior management members in the Buyer Consortium mentioned above. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP is acting as the Company’s U.S. counsel.
About Pactera
Pactera Technology International Ltd. (NASDAQ: PACT), formed by a merger of equals between HiSoft Technology International Limited and VanceInfo Technologies Inc., is a global consulting and technology services provider strategically headquartered in China. Pactera provides world-class business / IT consulting, solutions, and outsourcing services to a wide range of leading multinational firms through a globally integrated network of onsite and offsite delivery locations in China, the United States, Europe, Australia, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia. Pactera’s comprehensive services include business and technology advisory, enterprise application services, business intelligence, application development & maintenance, mobility, cloud computing, infrastructure management, software product engineering & globalization, and business process outsourcing.
For more information about Pactera, please visit www.pactera.com.

The post China’s Pactera Technology Receives “Going Private” Proposal from Blackstone, Management appeared first on peHUB.

Wausau Paper said Monday it has agreed to sell its specialty paper business to KPS Capital Partners. KPS previously announced it was buying the specialty paper business of Packaging Dynamics Corp. KPS plans to combine this business with the Wausau unit and create a new company that will be called Expera Specialty Solutions. The sale will result in net cash proceeds to Wausau Paper of approximately $110 million.

PRESS RELEASE
MOSINEE, Wis.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Wausau Paper (NYSE:WPP) today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its specialty paper business to a new company sponsored by KPS Capital Partners L.P. (“KPS”), a New York-based private equity firm with significant experience in the paper industry. The new company will be known as Expera Specialty Solutions, LLC (“Expera”).

KPS, as previously announced, has also entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the specialty paper business of Packaging Dynamics Corporation (“Thilmany”), which operates paper mills in De Pere and Kaukauna, Wisconsin. Expera will combine the Thilmany business with Wausau Paper’s specialty paper business to create a leading North American manufacturer of specialty paper products for the food packaging, industrial, and pressure-sensitive release liner segments.

A collective bargaining agreement covering employees at the Mosinee, Rhinelander, and Kaukauna facilities has been negotiated and ratified. The collective bargaining agreement and the Thilmany acquisition agreement were both conditions to Wausau Paper entering into its agreement with KPS.

Key highlights of the transaction are as follows:

The transaction will result in net cash proceeds to Wausau Paper of approximately $110 million after settlement of transaction-related liabilities, transaction costs and taxes.
Expera will acquire the assets of Wausau Paper’s Rhinelander and Mosinee mills; the assets of the company’s Brainerd mill are not included in the transaction.
Wausau Paper will retain defined benefit pension and other post-retirement benefit obligations; however, effective with the closing of the transaction, approximately $41 million of future liability will be eliminated.
Wausau Paper will not hold any equity ownership in Expera.
Wausau Paper will have the opportunity to receive a contingent payment that would be equal to what the holder of a 5% equity interest in Expera would receive if certain performance thresholds and KPS liquidity events occur.
Hank Newell, president and CEO of Wausau Paper, commented, “This transaction accomplishes all of our key objectives: divesting our paper business in a way that creates value for our shareholders, creating a specialty business under new ownership with the scale and product breadth to compete globally, and narrowing our focus to accelerating growth in our tissue business.”

The transaction has received required regulatory approval under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. Other customary conditions to closing, including third party financing, remain. The Wausau Paper sale to Expera is also conditioned upon Expera completing the acquisition of the Thilmany business. While the company expects to finalize the transaction in the second or third quarter of 2013, there can be no certainty or assurance about the timing or completion of a transaction.

Mesirow Financial, Inc. and Ruder Ware, L.L.S.C. have been the financial and legal advisors to Wausau Paper.

About Wausau Paper:
Wausau Paper produces and markets specialty papers for industrial, commercial and consumer end markets as well as a complete line of away-from-home towel and tissue products. The company is headquartered in Mosinee, Wisconsin and is listed on the NYSE under the symbol WPP. To learn more about Wausau Paper visit: www.wausaupaper.com.

Safe Harbor under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The matters discussed in this news release concerning the company’s future performance or anticipated financial results are forward-looking statements and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties which may cause results to differ materially from those set forth in these statements. Among other things, these risks and uncertainties include the strength of the economy and demand for paper products, increases in raw material and energy prices, manufacturing problems at company facilities, and other risks and assumptions described under “Information Concerning Forward-Looking Statements” in Item 7 and in Item 1A of the company’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012. The company assumes no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events.

The post KPS Capital to Buy Wausau Paper Unit appeared first on peHUB.

 

Today President Obama welcomed President Thein Sein of Myanmar to the White House for a bilateral meeting, the first visit to the United States by a leader of that country in almost 50 years. 

“During this period in between there have been significant bilateral tensions between our countries,” President Obama said. “But what has allowed this shift in relations is the leadership that President Sein has shown in moving Myanmar down a path of both political and economic reform.”

But as President Sein is the first to admit, this is a long journey and there is still much work to be done.  And during our discussions, President Sein shared with me the fact — the manner in which he intends to continue to move forward on releasing more political prisoners; making sure that the government of Myanmar institutionalizes some of the political reforms that have already taken place; how rule of law is codified so that it continues into the future; and the process whereby these ethnic conflicts that have existed are resolved not simply by a ceasefire but an actual incorporation of all these communities into the political process.

read more

Specialty chemicals producer Rockwood Holdings Inc’s pigments businesses have attracted offers from buyout firms including Blackstone Group LP and Advent International Corp, several sources told peHUB.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Specialty chemicals producer Rockwood Holdings Inc’s (ROC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) pigments businesses have attracted offers from buyout firms including Blackstone Group LP (BX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Advent International Corp, several people familiar with the matter said.

The auction for the assets, in which Apollo Global Management LLC (APO.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Bain Capital LLC, Golden Gate Capital LLC and Rhone Group LLC are also participating, is now in its second round, with meetings with management taking place, the people said.

The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because the process is confidential. Some of the persons spoke on Monday and others spoke in recent days.

Rockwood has packaged its Sachtleben titanium dioxide unit with its color additives units and is hoping to sell or spin off the businesses by the end of the year. Rockwood previously tried to sell just Sachtleben, which yielded little interest, people familiar with the matter told Reuters earlier this year.

Combined earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) at the businesses was around $300 million in 2012, three of the sources said. The assets could fetch between $1.5 billion and $2 billion, they added.

Sachtleben’s EBITDA has dipped in 2013. While the company has said it believes the business has hit the bottom of an earnings trough, some private equity buyers are not convinced about the rebound, sources said. One source said that EBITDA for the combined businesses for the 12 months ending in June is around $200 million.

The business could bring in five to seven times forward EBITDA, the sources said.

Rockwood, Blackstone, Apollo, Advent, Golden Gate and Bain declined to comment. Rhone did not respond to a request for comment.

Titanium dioxide particles reflect light, creating the whiteness in paints and car coatings. Their products are also used to protect wood or plastic surfaces from bleaching out, as sunblock in skin cream, and to take the shine out of synthetic fibres.

The titanium dioxide industry – whose largest players include Dupont (DD.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Saudi Arabia’s Cristal Global, Tronox Ltd (TROX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Huntsman Corp (HUN.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) – has been on a roller-coaster ride in recent years.

Huntsman is also exploring options for its titanium dioxide business.

Producers slashed capacity in 2009 during the economic crisis, only to see demand rebound and product prices soar in 2010 and 2011, driven by automotive demand. As idled plants came back on stream, prices came under pressure again in 2012.

The performance additives unit produces color pigments which are sold to firms making paint and clay additives which can be used to improve the characteristics of building materials.

Home construction has begun its recovery from a rut that preceded the worst recession since the Great Depression, adding to U.S. economic growth last year for the first time since 2005.

Rockwood has also put Germany-based CeramTec up for sale and is reviewing bids by private equity firms Bain Capital, BC Partners and Cinven. CeramTec has a price tag of around 1.4 billion euros ($1.80 billion), people familiar with the matter said.

The post Rockwood Pigments Businesses Attract Private Equity Bids: Sources appeared first on peHUB.