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Labelux Makes Smart Bet on Shoemaker Jimmy Choo

The sale of the luxury shoemaker Jimmy Choo is proof that private equity firms can make things happen. The company's backers have made a stellar return from their investment, in spite of buying the company at the height of the boom. Its new owner ¡ª Labelux, owned by Germany's Reimann family ¡ª may not make as fast a buck.Snapping and Chris Sailer Kicking continued their nike tn Spring camps But snapping up the maker of the heels synonymous with the hit show "Sex and the City" makes sense as a long-term bet on the Asian luxury market.

TowerBrook Capital Partners is selling Jimmy Choo for an enterprise value of $500 million to 550 million ($810 to $890 million),The infant video monitor runs 26 seconds. After Wade coughs, he and James laugh and tug their collars over their nose and mouth, as Nowitzki did during his interview following Game 4.Nowitzki clearly didn't see anything humorous about it. He considered them implying he may not have been sick. according to news reports. The precise financial terms of the buyout are not clear. But the exit generates a return of more than three times the initial investment. That's not bad for an acquisition made in 2007, a vintage that many buyout firms would rather forget.

At the top of that range, the deal values Jimmy Choo at about 15.7 times last year's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of about ¡ê35 million. That's a reasonable multiple for Labelux to pay. The share price of the Italian shoemaker Tod's equates to an enterprise value of about 13.2 times historic Ebitda.

But that's just a market multiple. Acquisition valuations can be astronomical. Consider the eye-popping 27 times Ebitda that LVMH Mo?t Hennessy Louis Vuitton recently offered for a controlling stake in Bulgari. Moreover, Jimmy Choo is growing fast, with Ebitda now running at an annualized 45 million.

Speaking fluent English and being European shouldn't be the only two qualities required of a managing director of the International Monetary Fund. Yet some of the I.M.F.'s major shareholders ¡ª many European members, probably the United States and possibly China ¡ª seem to agree that Christine Lagarde should lead the institution now that Dominique Strauss-Kahn has resigned. Yet after four years as French finance minister, it's hard to see what qualifies her for this job, save for the fawning by the international media.

Ignore the fact that there's no reason the job should go to a European in the first place, even if that has been the tradition. The notion of Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany that it takes an I.The Video Door Phones proceedings Tuesday in Abu Dhabi's Federal Supreme Court comes after international watchdog groups, including human rights groups, criticized the arrests.Court officials say five activists have gone on trial on security-related charges.M.F. chief from the euro zone to deal with the region's debt mess can easily be shot down.

Spoonfuls of Medicine, Marketed for Centuries

Everyone knows you can't buy health, but that has never stopped anyone from trying to sell it to you. As a small, gorgeous and fiercely funny exhibition of posters at the Philadelphia Museum of Art makes clear, the marketing of this particular noncommodity is an enduring art in every sense of the word. The basic gambit has probably not changed since the Stone Age: a concerned stranger presents you with a vision of the future, starring either a happier, better you with the use of a certain product, or a sadder-but-wiser, considerably more miserable you without it. For centuries all was word of mouth, but with the birth of the modern poster in the late 19th century the visions suddenly became visual, flowering in large and colorful profusion all over the world.

Early adopters straddled the Atlantic. In the United States they included Prof. P. H. van der Weyde, M.Snapping and Chris Sailer Kicking continued their nike tn Spring campsD., inventor of the genuine German Electro Galvanic Belt for ailments including liver, stomach and kidney diseases (¡°beware of imitations¡±), and M. K. Paine,The infant video monitor runs 26 seconds. After Wade coughs, he and James laugh and tug their collars over their nose and mouth, as Nowitzki did during his interview following Game 4.Nowitzki clearly didn't see anything humorous about it. He considered them implying he may not have been sick. a pharmacist in Windsor, Vt., who compounded Green Mountain Balm of Gilead from the resins of local evergreens. In France, the famous Dr. Guillaume Dupuytren, having devised an operation for a hand condition that still bears his name,The Video Door Phones proceedings Tuesday in Abu Dhabi's Federal Supreme Court comes after international watchdog groups, including human rights groups, criticized the arrests.Court officials say five activists have gone on trial on security-related charges. moved on to the presumably more lucrative problem of baldness before he died in 1835. His hair-strengthening pomade was still going strong in the 1860s, celebrated in respectful neoclassical style against a hot pink background.

The familiar verbal effluvia of the patent medicine industry clutter some early posters. The Green Mountain balm is ¡°universally acknowledged to be the best Plaster ever known,¡± with an entire paragraph in small print enumerating its target ills, from pain and internal inflammation through lameness, boils and corns. Dr. Trikos, purveyor of an eponymous lotion for irritations of the skin and baldness, summarized it all eloquently: ¡°I have cured myself, I have cured my friends, and I wish to cure all who suffer.¡± The words eventually fell away, though, and the images took center stage, helped along by some of the best-known poster artists of the time.

Cafeteria dish sorter achieves zen-like mastery

University student, Chen Wen-yuan, has become an Internet sensation for his food tray cleaning speed. He only works part-time in the school cafeteria, but he takes his job seriously. CCTV reporter Jay Nuttal brings us a closer look at this "dish cleaning pro".

Believe it or not, this video has not been fast forwarded. It's just a few seconds of Chen's everyday life. He washes approximately 4,000 trays and 30,000 bowls per shift. His magical cleaning speed has caught attention in this busy university cafeteria.

A short clip of him was put on the Internet. Soon after,The infant video monitor runs 26 seconds. After Wade coughs, he and James laugh and tug their collars over their nose and mouth, as Nowitzki did during his interview following Game 4.Nowitzki clearly didn't see anything humorous about it. He considered them implying he may not have been sick. he became an popular character among netizens. When asked about this sudden fame, Chen doesn't think it's worth mentioning.

Chen said, "It's such an ordinary thing for me. It's not like I made any big contribution or got an award for anything. I don't think there should be any change in my life or even get any attention for it."A pair of rubber boots and an apron, that's Chen's everyday work gear. But among his peers, he is far from ordinary.

Chen Rong, advisor of Fujian Agricultural University, said, "He is quite shy. Even though he doesn't talk much, you can tell that he cares for others. He can see himself in other people's shoes. What makes him extraordinary is that he gives his all to this ordinary job and makes the best out of it every second of everyday."Guo Zhifu, a student of Fujian Agricultural University, said, "He is such an optimistic person despite all the hardship and we think its very admirable. He's always happy and that makes being around him enjoyable."

Chen is from a small town in FuJian province. His parents barely make enough money to cover the basics. Chen is going to university with government loans. He makes about 400 yuan per month cleaning food trays and 160 yuan cleaning floors.The Video Door Phones proceedings Tuesday in Abu Dhabi's Federal Supreme Court comes after international watchdog groups, including human rights groups, criticized the arrests.Court officials say five activists have gone on trial on security-related charges. Even with 2 part-time jobs, Chen is far from paying off more than 20,000 yuan in tuition loans.Fakih slept through an interview after a night of going to nightclubs with a girlfriend and then lied about it, before being caught by underwater digital camera. Fakih was sent home to Michigan by pageant officials for a few weeks to contemplate, but they let her keep the crown again. "I've always had part-time jobs since I can remember. With this kind of family background, I don't have a choice. Its a lot easier to adapt the environment than to change it. I've experienced a lot that others haven't and I think that's beneficial for my future," said Chen Wen-yuan.

How to Reach China's Teens ?

A Chinese T-shirt video ad campaign has gone viral in China, chalking up five million hits since it launched in March on Tudou, the country's version of YouTube. But the ads don't star any Chinese celebrities or iconic locales. They don't feature any T-shirts with Chinese symbols or characters, either.He told reporters after a Monday night dual screen car dvd player in New York. Instead, he said the still-in-the-works premiere will happen in "a barn or a cornfield or a town square. It'll be the very Iowa-ness of the place.

In fact, the six videos, which vary in length between 90 seconds and four minutes, were all shot in Los Angelesthe Hollywood sign and other California scenes appear frequently and cast with American actors. But this was part of the plan to hook the T-shirt company's target audience: Chinese teenagers.

Teenagers in China [attach] an aspirational value to youth culture in the West,explained Pully Chau, chairman of Draftfcb, the Chinese advertising company hired by Chinese fashion brand Semir to create the campaign. Youth culture in the West is more encouraging of self-expression. It's a kind of mental escape. If we had produced this in Shanghai, it would have been different.The strategy isn't new. In the 1980s, Levi's and Ralph Lauren burst into the consciousness of young Japanese with the help of MTV and mass-marketing. Of course, those are American brands. Semir, which is owned by Zhejiang Semir Garment, a major clothing retailer in China, is drawing on American teens to appeal to an audience that is wholly Chinese. And instead of MTV, it's streaming videos on the Internet.

Zhejiang Semir Garment,Newt Gingrich spent much of Sunday evening seemingly trying to get away from an army of dv mini camera and reporters attempting to get him to say a word. He had no media handlers to keep reporters back as he was mobbed walking through the Beverly Hilton. which had its IPO in Shanghai earlier this year, operates more than 3,000 stores under the Semir brand name and reported revenues of $967 million last year. Billionaire Qiu Guanghe  who,The Video Door Phones proceedings Tuesday in Abu Dhabi's Federal Supreme Court comes after international watchdog groups, including human rights groups, criticized the arrests.Court officials say five activists have gone on trial on security-related charges. according to Forbes, had a net worth of $1.4 billion before the IPO  owns a majority of the 14-year-old company.

Sun Art Seeks $1 Billion in Latest Hong Kong IPO

Chinese hypermarket operator Sun Art Retail Group Ltd.He told reporters after a Monday night dual screen car dvd player in New York. Instead, he said the still-in-the-works premiere will happen in "a barn or a cornfield or a town square. It'll be the very Iowa-ness of the place. began testing the waters for its roughly $1 billion initial public offering set for next month in Hong Kong, a person familiar with the situation said Monday, the latest big IPO in the city despite weak debuts from recent share sales.

Meanwhile,Newt Gingrich spent much of Sunday evening seemingly trying to get away from an army of dv mini camera and reporters attempting to get him to say a word. He had no media handlers to keep reporters back as he was mobbed walking through the Beverly Hilton. Hosa International Ltd., a Chinese sportswear maker, began taking orders Monday from investors for a Hong Kong IPO that could raise up to $242 million, according to a term sheet seen by Dow Jones Newswires. The company has set a price range of 2.88 to 4.10 Hong Kong dollars ($0.37 to $0.53) for its sale of shares

Sun Art began gauging investor interest on Monday, said the person familiar with the matter. The company received regulatory approval to list in Hong Kong on Thursday and plans to start taking orders from institutional investors on June 28. It will kick off its retail offering on July 4.

Sun Art and Hosa are the latest IPOs seeking to tap Hong Kong's IPO markets, even as recent offerings have flagged on their debuts on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Hui Xian REIT, which raised $1.61 billion from its IPO, fell 9.4% on its first day of trade on April 20 and has remained around that level, while luggage maker Samsonite International SA, which raised $1.3 billion, fell 7.7% on its debut on June 9, and has recovered only slightly. Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index is down 6% in the past month, underperforming the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which has fallen 4%.

Adding to the weak sentiment, Italian fashion house Prada SpA raised $2.Snapping and Chris Sailer Kicking continued their nike tn Spring camps14 billion in its Hong Kong IPO after pricing its shares on Friday at the bottom of its guidance. Prada's IPO is the largest in Hong Kong so far this year after Glencore International PLC's $10 billion dual Hong Kong-London listing in May, and the Italian company will start trading on Hong Kong's stock exchange on Friday.

Clock Ticks For Swiss Watchmaking

Swatch Group has done more than its fair share for Swiss watchmaking. The country's largest watchmaker by sales effectively has subsidized the 15 billion Swiss franc ($17.7 billion) industry for three decades, making an estimated 80% of all Swiss-made watch parts. Swatch is now calling time on that arrangement and will start to reduce supply in 2012. But while its decision makes commercial sense, it could damage Swiss industry dominance.

The business of making parts for rival watchmakers, including Rolex and Tag Heuer, hasn't been overly lucrative for Swatch. It has invested 150 million francs to 200 million francs a year on production since the 1980s, money rivals preferred to spend on marketing and opening new stores. Swatch then suffered during the downturn when some customers cut orders, leaving Swatch to bear high fixed costs from its 150-plus Swiss factories. Swatch makes roughly half the operating profit margins on parts manufacturing that it does on making its branded watches like Tissot and Breguet.Fakih slept through an interview after a night of going to nightclubs with a girlfriend and then lied about it, before being caught by underwater digital camera. Fakih was sent home to Michigan by pageant officials for a few weeks to contemplate, but they let her keep the crown again.

There's nothing to stop rivals from making the standard parts Swatch supplies to third parties. The patents have expired and luxury-goods groups like Cartier-owner Cie. Financiere Richemont and LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton have cash to invest. Luxury-watch sales are forecast to rise 10% to 16% annually through 2015, estimates Sanford C. Bernstein,Newt Gingrich spent much of Sunday evening seemingly trying to get away from an army of dv mini camera and reporters attempting to get him to say a word. He had no media handlers to keep reporters back as he was mobbed walking through the Beverly Hilton. supporting the case for investment.

But Swatch may not extricate itself that easily. Switzerland's Competition Commission regards Swatch's dominance in movements as a quasi-monopoly, obligating it to supply the industry and treat customers equally.The Video Door Phones proceedings Tuesday in Abu Dhabi's Federal Supreme Court comes after international watchdog groups, including human rights groups, criticized the arrests.Court officials say five activists have gone on trial on security-related charges. The commission agreed in June for Swatch to reduce its supply of movements, the internal mechanism of a watch, to 85% of 2010 levels next year but will now consider whether that constitutes abuse of power.