Brad Meikle

A private equity fund manager admitted March 16 to stealing more than $8 million from investors, which he was accused of using to pay commissions in order to get investments, Reuters reported.

The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by Reuters as of 2000 GMT on Monday, March 16, 2015.

Buyout firm Apollo Global Management LLC is in advanced talks to acquire most of the assets of Digital First Media, publisher of the Denver Post and San Jose Mercury News, for around $400 million, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

A group comprised of KKR & Co, Varde Partners and Deutsche Bank is looking to securitize about A$7 billion ($5.33 billion) of debt they acquired from a unit of GE, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Germany expects the problems at Duesseldorfer Hypothekenbank AG (DuesselHyp) to remain an isolated case after the property lender had to be rescued due to its exposure to Austrian lender Hypo Alpe Adria’s “bad bank” Heta, Reuters reported.

Gym operator Life Time Fitness Inc said it would be taken private by Leonard Green & Partners and TPG in a deal valued at over $4 billion, Reuters reported.

The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported by Reuters and Buyouts sister publication PE HUB as of 2000 GMT on Thursday, March 12, 2015.

Levy Acquisition Corp, the blank-check acquisition vehicle of Chicago restaurateur Larry Levy, said it would buy U.S. fast-food chain Del Taco Inc for about $500 million, including debt.

U.S. regulators’ attempts to reign in risky lending are proving successful as leverage levels on the biggest buyout loans have fallen to a two-year low, according to Thomson Reuters Loan Pricing Corp data.

A consortium of private equity firms CVC and KKR has tabled the highest bid to take control of Philips’ lighting components business, though rival Bain Capital could still make a better offer, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.