Private equity firms might have ramped up their deal-making activity in Q3, but it wasn't on the heels of raising new funds. According to new data released this morning by Preqin, private equity firms raised less fund capital last quarter than in any other quarter since Q4 2003. The Q3 2009 figure was $38 billion, down 45% from the $84 billion raised in Q2, and a whopping 82% from the high-water mark of $208 billion set in Q2 2008. It's important to note that Preqin calculates its numbers by including all of a fund's committed capital in the quarter in which it holds its final close. For example, that means that the Q3 figures include $8.8 billion for Hellman & Friedman's new fund, even though
1 min read · 01 October 2009
The third quarter ends in just a few hours, so we'll jump the gun with official deal data from Thomson Reuters (which just happens to be our publisher). Global private equity volume came in at over $37.84 billion for 641 deals, compared to $15.92 billion for 573 deals during the previous quarter. This easily represents the busiest quarter for private equity since Q3 2008, when over $55 billion was transacted. (Note: The Q3 figure includes agreed-upon deals that have not yet closed, like Skype). It's important to keep the bump in context, however, by emphasizing that private equity activity during the first nine months of 2009 is 66.9% lower than it was during the first nine months of
1 min read · 01 October 2009
Court Square Capital Partners has quietly invested in Rocket Software, a Boston-area maker of enterprise infrastructure software. The deal was disclosed in a notice on the Federal Trade Commission website, indicating the it had received early termination of the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period. This is Court Square's first investment in Rocket, which was founded 19 years ago to developer and deliver software solutions to IBM mainframe customers deploying DB2 databse servers. Rocket soon licensed its IP to IBM, and had its products rebranded.
1 min read · 30 September 2009
1 min read · 30 September 2009
Earlier today I took a left out of the home office, and sat down next to the washer/dryer for a Reuters video segment on PE-backed IPOs. Topics include Talecris Biotherapeutics (the hit Cerberus has been thirsting for?), Dollarama/Dollar General (countercyclical indicators?) and Peak Sports (the Sequoia Capital IPO no one in the Valley is talking about):
1 min read · 29 September 2009
We've written a lot about the cleantech funding void, for VC-backed companies with some sort of manufacturing component (e-vehicles, biofuels, etc). Many of these startups were founded on the assumption of available credit, but fell into a capital hole when the banks began blowing up. This led to the creation of gap-filling “green growth” funds, from firms like Blackstone Group, C Change Capital, CMEA Capital and Kleiner Perkins. Actually, scratch CMEA Capital from that list. San Francisco-based CMEA has canceled plans to raise the $500 million-targeted fund, as first reported this morning by VentureWire. I spoke with CMEA managing general partner Jim Watson, who said that the decision was driven by the recognition that CMEA’s core competency is in early-stage transformative science rather than in later-stage growth financing.
1 min read · 29 September 2009
Last Twitter funding note (I promise): Spoke on the phone last night with Jeff Horing of Insight Venture Partners, whose firm led the $100 million-ish round at the $1 billion valuation. Jeff didn’t lead the deal for Insight – that was Jerry Murdock – but clearly knows plenty about it (you don’t do this sort of deal without everyone being very fully briefed). A couple quotes:
1 min read · 29 September 2009
With its Euronext listing just days away, KKR this morning will name Jonathan Levin to its newly-created positions of treasurer and head of investor relations. Levin has been with the firm since 2004, most recently as a member of its capital markets unit (previously he focused on financial institutions, including the CapMark Financial and First Data deals). KKR had originally retained executive recruiter Heidrick & Struggles to search for an IR chief last year, but the process was suspended due to KKR's IPO delays. It asked Heidrick to restart the search just a month or two ago, but ultimately decided to promote from within.
1 min read · 29 September 2009
In light of Twitter having raised over $135 million in VC funding so far this year (new round plus January round), I figured it was time for a Top 10 list of 2009 venture recipients. And, no, Twitter is not in the top spot. That honor goes to Clovis Oncology, which raised over $146 million in a Series A round four months ago. A few metrics notes: (1) The list only includes U.S.-based companies. It didn't appear that any non-U.S. companies qualified and, if they did, I didn't want to get bogged down in currency disputes; (2) The list aggregates all VC funding secured in 2009, rather than individual rounds; (3) The calculations do not include government funding (grants, etc); (4) The ability to secure lots of VC dollars does not necessarily correlate to a strong company or strong returns. So, without further ado, get the full list after the jump...
2 min read · 28 September 2009
The California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) recently updated the fund-by-fund performance data for its private equity portfolio, which is valued at approximately $14 billion (approx. 11.5% exposure). These new figures take us through the end of Q1, which reflects the typical lag in private equity reporting. The portfolio is buyout-heavy, with funds from firms like Apollo Management, Bain Capital, Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group, KKR, Madison Dearborn, Summit Partners and TA Associates. There also is a smattering of venture capital firms, like BlueRun Ventures, DCM, New Enterprise Associates, Shasta Ventures and VantagePoint Venture Partners. Get all of the data after the jump...
1 min read · 28 September 2009
