Private Equity
2 min read · 10 August 2010
KKR reported Q2 earnings this morning, and also said that it has scrapped a planned sale of $500 million worth of new common units. There's an analyst call scheduled for 10am, and I plan to live-blog it below. Too bad KKR isn't also doing a "media-only" call like Blackstone, since folks like me aren't typically allowed into the questioning queue on analyst calls... KKR Earnings Call
1 min read · 10 August 2010
KKR today received an A- counterparty credit rating from Standard & Poor's, about one month after the private equity firm began listing its shares on the New York Stock Exchange. The given outlook was "stable." "The stable outlook incorporates our expectation that fee-related earnings should remain stable, while distributable earnings are likely to fluctuate with investment realizations," wrote analyst Chris Cary.
1 min read · 09 August 2010
The VC-backed IPO pipeline got a bit more clogged since the last time we checked in, with six new issuers filing to raise around $616 million. Four companies priced offerings during the same period, meaning that the pipeline now holds 40 companies seeking to raise around $3.4 billion. The new filers are: Demand Media, JHorizon Pharma, Complete Genomics, SiGe Semiconductor, MakeMyTrip and Epocrates. I also considered including Skype, but that's more of a buyout-backed offering (despite the involvement of Andreessen Horowitz). Those that priced over were: Green Dot, Envestnet, Trius Therapeutics and RealD. The full pipeline is after the jump...
10 min read · 09 August 2010
Nearly 300 peHUB readers took over Engine 11 in Atlanta last Thursday night, for our latest peHUB Shindig. Plus, we raised over $2,500 for Reach for Excellence, a local group that each year picks 30 "educationally underserved 6th graders" for a 3-year program that helps them succeed in high school and prepare for college. Great to see so many of you there. A final thanks to our sponsors: Atlanta Venture Forum, Grant Thornton, Navigation Capital Partners and Womble Carlyle. Photos can be viewed after the jump:
1 min read · 09 August 2010
Each summer, advertising firm Deutsch Inc. has dozens of interns scurrying around its Manhattan offices. Most are in their early 20s, unpaid and (so far) relatively unaccomplished. But two years ago, the group also included a 34 year-old whose bank account would dwarf that of firm boss Donny Deutsch. That intern was Steve Nash, the future basketball Hall of Famer who still slings passes for the Phoenix Suns. His boss that summer was Mike Duda, Deutsch's chief strategy officer (and occasional peHUB contributor). The pair kept in touch after the internship ended, and late last year began discussing the creation of a new type of firm: One that would meld brand consulting with venture capital. The result is Consigliere, a New York-based group that has been meeting with potential investors and partners for the past several months (it also was the answer to a recent blind item). "There are a lot of guys who finish playing and then have no idea what to do with themselves," Nash told me during a recent phone call. "I'm not done yet but, when I am, I do not want to become one of them."
2 min read · 09 August 2010
Justin Wender and I weren 't able to connect via phone, but he sent over the following statement on his departure from Castle Harlan: “I have always been very committed to Castle Harlan and really expected to make it my whole career. I think most people who know me know that. After many conversations over the last several months about the long term direction and future ownership of the firm, it became clear to me that I didn’t share the same perspective as that of John and Leonard, and those differences simply couldn't be reconciled. I'm disappointed that we didn't come to a mutual agreement. I have the utmost respect for the people and the firm and wish them the best.” Still don't know what the differences were about -- sounds like firm economics -- nor why Wender and John Castle had such different views of the aforementioned conversations (Castle said he had been "flexible" earlier today)...
1 min read · 06 August 2010
2 min read · 06 August 2010
We've spent a lot of time lately discussing micro-VCs, including last week's news on Floodgate ($73m fund close) and 500 Startups (new $30m fund being raised). So I spent some time discussing the phenomenon with Chris Douvos, who invests in mico-VC funds through his role as a managing director with The Investment Fund for Foundations: How long have you been investing in micro-VC funds, or super-angel, funds?? We’ve been active in this space since around 2005, and have invested over time in several of the archetypal managers. Who are those archetypical managers? Well, the main one is someone we actually haven’t given money to: Ron Conway. He’s created a fantastic ecosystem. But we’ve backed some of the people who have taken types of things he does and refined them a bit. For example, one of our earliest investments was in First Round. We think those guys have brought an aggressively thoughtful approach to the challenges of investing in seed-stage companies. I love the O’Reilly AlphaTech guys, whose differential is that they’re leveraging the larger O’Reilly ecosystem. In the case of O’Reilly or First Round or Floodgate, they’ve created brands around themselves that magnetizes interesting people. That helps them punch above their weight.
5 min read · 05 August 2010
2 min read · 05 August 2010
