Private Equity
2 min read · 22 December 2010
2 min read · 15 December 2010
2 min read · 13 December 2010
Buyout shops are expected to be all over the Fortune Brands break-up, according to two senior bankers. Firms that have had Fortune Brands on its radar for some time include The Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and TPG Capital, said the head of financial sponsors at one bank. "Private equity firms are like hawks," he said. "They're motivated by movement, and there's something happening here that makes this attractive." The Deerfield, Ill.-based company announced Dec. 8 that it plans to continue as a pure-play, publicly traded spirits business, while spinning off its home and security business to become an independent, publicly traded company; and selling or spinning off its golf business. The company made the move after pressure from hedge fund investor William Ackman.
3 min read · 10 December 2010
Quadrangle Group went on the offensive today, sending a letter (see link below) to LPs detailing fund performance progress, portfolio company activity and personnel developments at the firm while reaching out to the media. The idea was to cut through recent headlines that suggest a firm falling apart since the departure of founder Steven Rattner to one that is transitioning to more of a portfolio manager. I’ll have a more in-depth story in the upcoming issue of Buyouts. Quadrangle execs Michael Huber and Joshua Steiner (who will be transitioning out of day-to-operations at the firm) stressed in an interview that the firm has been concentrating on aligning Quadrangle's interests with its investors. To that end, the firm has reduced management fees. Managing Principals Huber and Peter Ezersky also plan to invest millions into the firm and devote a cut of their carry to continuing staff and new staff to keep them motivated.
2 min read · 06 December 2010
Below is some insight from Lou Moelchert, the founder of Private Advisors LLC, on the sale of 60 percent of the Richmond, Va.-based fund of funds to New York Life Investments. The firm's announced the deal Thursday. We'll have a broader story on the deal in the next issue of Buyouts. *In short, New York Life's investment provides more certainty to Private Advisors LPs, and it should be able to provide seed money for future products. Private Advisors had a few setbacks this year, namely in Europe, where it scrapped a fund of funds plan and lost a few executives. Firm co-founder Rafael Astruc also resigned earlier this year. "When you go through market periods that are as unsettled as last few years have been, this should give our LPs greater certainty," Moelchert said in a phone interview.
2 min read · 03 December 2010
4 min read · 01 December 2010
2 min read · 11 November 2010
The ever-prolific Riverside Company is expecting a flurry of deal activity by year end, according to Co-CEO Béla Szigethy. Szigethy told Buyouts in an interview for an unrelated story that the firm expects to buy up to six new platform companies and put around $200 million of equity to work by year end.
1 min read · 05 November 2010
Looking for return data? We have return data. Or rather, we have links to return data. Click "read more" below to get links to return data from nine pensions. The editorial team of sister publication Buyouts Magazine has been hard at work compiling all these numbers into a spreadsheet for our annual look at industry returns. Altogether our database has 443 U.S. and international buyout funds and turnaround/distressed funds spanning vintage years 1981 to 2005. Of those, we have investment multiples for 366 of them. And the quartile dividing lines? These probably won't come as a big surprise for dedicated students of industry performance. It takes an investment multiple of 2 to crach the top quartile, 1.5 is median and 1.2 marks the bottom quartile.
1 min read · 03 November 2010
