Private Equity
Forty billionaires today agreed to donate at least half of their fortunes to charity, as part of "The Giving Pledge" program launched earlier this year by Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. Among those to sign on are venture capitalist John Doerr (along with wife Ann) and buyout king David Rubenstein. It's not a legal contract -- described as a "moral" one -- but each participant is expected to write a letter explaining their decision to pledge. A bunch of them already have been posted online, but neither Doerr's nor Rubenstein's are among them. While we wait, here is the letter from Blackstone Group co-founder Pete Peterson:
5 min read · 04 August 2010
One of the big knocks on pre-crisis private equity was that it had eschewed its buy-low/sell-high mantra, in favor of buy high and (hope to) sell higher. A lot of it was properly pinned on cheap debt, but some was caused by a sheep-like portfolio land rush (“They did a deal? Well then, we’ll do a deal…”). I bring it up today because of some new data from Thomson Reuters (download here), about PE-backed M&A volume in 2010 (through Monday). It works out to 1,755 global deals valued at just over $103 billion, compared to 1,558 deals worth nearly $39 billion over the same period in 2009.
1 min read · 04 August 2010
Bertram Capital has raised more than $500 million for its second growth equity fund, peHUB has learned. The San Mateo, Calif.-based firm still needs to make a few more allocation decisions, and expects to hold a final close on $520 million within the next few weeks (including up to a $20 million general partner commitment). Bertram launched fundraising back in March with a $500 million target. It had originally planned to begin marketing in early 2009, but held off as smaller deal sizes allowed Bertram to lengthen the investment runway of its $350 million first fund.
1 min read · 04 August 2010
The Black Eyed Peas are performing in Boston tonight, and Will.i.am took some time out to meet with area venture capitalists. And their spouses. And their teenage daughters. It was a fundraiser for Will's i.am angel foundation, which provides: (1) College scholarships to disadvantaged teens; and (2) Finacial aid to those in jeopardy of defaulting on their home mortgages. Ron Conway has hosted a bunch of these in Silicon Valley, and .406 Ventures stepped up here in Boston. Pic after the jump...
1 min read · 03 August 2010
Ridgemont Equity Partners launched today, as an independent private equity firm staffed by the former Banc of America Capital Investors team. This is part of BoA's continued pruning of private equity exposure, which has included layoffs, spinoffs and secondary sales (most of which was set into motion long before Paul Volcker began to rule). Ridgemont will continue to manage a $1.5 billion legacy portfolio for BoA, plus also raise its own fund. Typical deals will be mid-market buyout and growth equity investments of between $25 million and $100 million. I spent some time of the phone with Ridgemont partner Travis Hain, who previously served as co-founder and managing partner of BACI. Some notes after the jump...
1 min read · 03 August 2010
Digital media companies like AOL and Yahoo get lots of flack for buying VC-backed startups at high valuations, and then later dumping them for just pennies on the dollar. Well, sometimes it also happens in the biotech world. Take the case of Idun Pharmaceuticals, developer of drugs focused on a type of cell death known as apoptosis. Idun raised around $100 million in VC funding between 1993 and 2005, at which point it was sold to Pfizer for around $298 million. Solid double for the VCs, and part of Pfizer's plan to use M&A to help supplant expiring patents. The Idun management team left a few months later to form Conatus Pharmaceuticals, a drug startup focused on inflammation and liver disease. It raised around $30 million -- all new investors, save for Aberdare Ventures -- and today announced that has bought Idun back from Pfizer.
1 min read · 02 August 2010
Flybridge Capital Partners spent the past weekend in Kenebunkport, for its annual Catch the Wave event with other area VCs, entrepreneurs and family members. Yours truly maintained a sterling record of promising to attend, and then not (I really do mean it at the time, however). The weekend's highlight is always the Saturday night costume party, and this year's theme was "alter egos." Below is a shot of the Flybridge team: (from left to right) Chip Hazard, Jon Karlen, Matt Witheiler, Michael Greeley, David Aronoff and Jeff Bussgang.
1 min read · 02 August 2010
Private equity deal volume his a two-year high last month, according to new numbers from Thomson Reuters. There was $27.4 billion of announced activity -- including the $4.6 billion deal for Tomkins PLC -- which was the largest level since $30.4 billion of announced activity in July 2008. Overall, PE-sponsored deals represented 15% of global M&A. You can get both global M&A and PE-backed M&A data after the jump:
1 min read · 02 August 2010
A couple of notes from the world of institutionalized super-angels, via filings with the SEC: First up is Floodgate, the firm formerly known as (Mike) Maples Investments. It has raised $73.5 million for its third fund, which more than doubles the $33 million raised for Fund II back in 2008.
1 min read · 30 July 2010
2 min read · 30 July 2010
