Private Equity
2 min read · 25 March 2010
Wachovia Capital Partners declared its independence from Wells Fargo yesterday, spinning off into a new firm called Pamlico Capital. I spent some time on the phone with managing partner Scott Perper, and here are some highlights in notes form: * The spin-off is unrelated to the proposed Volcker Rule, whereby banks would be required to divest in-house private equity groups. Perper says discussions over what to do with WCP began shortly after the Wells Fargo acquisition in late 2008. He also said that there were never discussions about merging WCP with Norwest Equity Partners, which receives all of its fund capital from Wells Fargo.
2 min read · 25 March 2010
I was playing around in our VC funding database, and noticed that I could do searches by Congressional districts. So I decided to look at which districts had secured the most VC funding since the 111th Congress was sworn in on January 7, 2008. My metric was # of companies funded, as opposed to total amount invested. I felt this was a better gauge of VC-backed startup activity, and less likely to be skewed by one or two big deals. Get it after the jump...
4 min read · 24 March 2010
Littlejohn & Co. is in talks to buy CTI Foods Inc. from CIC Partners, according to a recent list of transactions granted early termination of the HSR waiting period. No pricing terms were disclosed. Both Littlejohn and CIC Partners declined comment, although a source tells me that "this is far from done." CIC Partners formed CTI Foods in 2003, via the acqusition and merger of SSI Food Services and S&S Foods LLC from J.R. Simplot Company. The Wilder, Idaho-based company already had a processing facility in California, and later would add a couple in Texas, in order to provide frozen, fresh and precooked food products to restaurant chains like Wendy's and Taco Bell.
1 min read · 24 March 2010
Back in 2008, Dow Jones reported that a group of large institutional investors had formed a lobbying group to collectively press for more LP-friendly fund terms. The story was later refuted by some of the reported participants (one Canadian pension plan rep called it “poppycock”), but not before I wondered if such an effort could be viewed as a form of collusion. Fast forward to last week, when Private Equity International’s David Snow raised the “C” word in reference to the ILPA guidelines drafted last fall. This was followed up yesterday by WSJ scribe Peter Lattman, who reported that “at least three large private equity firms have retained outside counsel to examine potential antitrust issues.” In other words, some general partners believe in an LP cartel, with the ILPA guidelines being used as the preferred means of intimidation. Let us count the reasons why they’re wrong:
4 min read · 24 March 2010
We're still a few weeks away from Q3 venture capital deal data, but fired up the old database to see which firms have been the most active so far. It's mostly the usual suspects, although Benchmark Capital and Redpoint Ventures moved into the Top 10 with much faster investment paces than they exhibited last year. What follows after the jump is based on our VentureXpert database, based on global investment pace (the MoneyTree numbers, on the other hand, are only for investments in U.S. companies). Per usual, just a reminder that money in doesn't always correlate to money out.
3 min read · 23 March 2010
Golden Gate Capital is in talks to make an investment in Clover Technologies, a company that recycles and remanufactures imaging supplies like ink cartridges and cell phones. The deal was first disclosed yesterday by the Federal Trade Commission, in a list of transactions granted early termination of the HSR waiting period. There were no financing details, including whether or not Golden Gate is planning to take a majority stake (the San Francisco-based firm makes both buyout and growth equity investments).
1 min read · 23 March 2010
Cleantech startup BioFuelBox has ceased operations, after being unable to reach agreeement on a new round of funding with its investors. The San Jose, Calif.-based company had developed a technology whereby it could convert waste fats and greases from wastewater into "road-grade" biodiesel fuel. It had begun generating revenue from its conversion facility in Idaho, and had raised a $9 million Series A round in 2007 from Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Element Partners. "We were chugging right along, trying to help ease America's dependence on foreign oil," says Marc Privitera, the company's vice president of engineering. "I had no idea we were going to be shut down, but I guess that's common at venture capital-backed companies."
1 min read · 23 March 2010
2 min read · 22 March 2010
Following last night's House passage of the landmark healthcare reform bill, we asked some healthcare VCs (and a healthcare PE pro) for their thoughts on the bill and what it might mean for healthcare investing. Get their answers after the jump...
4 min read · 22 March 2010
