Private Equity
A bunch of changes over at Altira Group, an energy-focused venture capital firm that’s been in business since 1996. Most notable is the addition of new partner Steve Foster, who had spent the past decade with TPG (including as co-founder of TPG Ventures). The firm also has promoted Hull McKinnon to partner, while existing partner Jan Boyer has quietly left for parts unknown. All of this seems to be in preparation of Altira’s plans to raise a new fund, since it’s almost done adding new portfolio companies to a $175 million pool raised in 2007.
1 min read · 21 July 2010
Yesterday I asked email readers to name the latest U.S. venture firm to seriously consider raising a China fund. Their hint was that it already has some Chinese companies in its general portfolio. The answer is Highland Capital Partners, which first broached the subject in an LP advisory call last week. The basic idea would be for the China fund to have a dedicated team and its own name (probably some Mandarin translation of “higher ground”) – with Highland serving as a cornerstone limited partner.
1 min read · 20 July 2010
Last year, a survey by executive search firm Polachi Inc. found that an overwhelming majority of venture capitalists considered their industry to be “broken.” Now it seems that things might have been “fixed,” based on results being officially released later this week. Fifty-six percent of respondents – over 98% of whom are VC firm partners or managing partners -- said they feel more confident and optimistic about the industry today than they did one year ago. A few other findings after the jump...
1 min read · 20 July 2010
Turns out there is another item of note in the FTC filing that revealed the Shoes for Crews auction winner. This one is about PSC Industrials, an industrial and environmental cleanup company owned by Carl Icahn. The filing indicates that private equity firm Lindsay Goldberg is buying PSC out of its third fund, which closed last year with $4.7 billion. No additional details were disclosed, although Icahn tells peHUB that the deal should be completed within a week or so. PSC Industrials used to be known as Philip Services Corp., before Icahn spun off its scrap metal processing unit into an independent business (and put it under the Ichan Enterprises umbrella). The Houston-based company provides industrial cleaning, envionmental, transportation and container services in North America, Mexico and Puerto Rico.
1 min read · 19 July 2010
AEA Investors has agreed to acquire Shoes for Crews, a West Palm Beach, Fla.-based maker of slip resistant footwear for restaurant workers. Sellers include Advent International, which acquired a minority stake in 2004. We first reported on the deal back in April, when ten prospective buyers had submitted bids in excess of $250 million. That type of pricing would have produced a 7x or 8x EBITDA multiple for Advent, which invested $30 million as part of a larger recap -- including $32 million in senior debt -- at an enterprise value of around $120 million. AEA's auction victory was first disclosed in an FTC filing, and the firm has not yet responded to messages left by peHUB. Advent declined to comment.
1 min read · 19 July 2010
Quick hit: There’s a WSJ report this morning that The Blackstone Group is expected to bid for private equity giant AlpInvest, which is being shopped by its Dutch pension fund owners. The second part is accurate (the part about being shopped), but multiple sources tell me that Blackstone has no plans to make an offer...
1 min read · 19 July 2010
We've done more than 20 peHUB Shindigs over the past few years, but somehow have ignored the Southeast. Unintentional, I assure you, and we hope to amends with an Atlanta event on Thursday, August 5. Tickets cost just $10 each, with proceeds going to a nonprofit that will be chosen by event attendees. So join me and a couple hundred local PE pros, venture capitalists, bankers, entrepreneurs, lawyers and assorted hangers on. No content, just cocktails and conversation. To get your ticket, go to: http://pehubatlanta.eventbrite.com BIG thanks to sponsors Grant Thornton, Navigation Capital Partners and Womble Carlyle. Without sponsors, there are no Shindigs... I look forward to seeing you there!
1 min read · 19 July 2010
Draper Fisher Jurvetson has wrapped up its tenth fund, with $350 million in capital commitments. The firm posted a related press release to its website late Friday, but didn’t submit it to the newswires. “Raising a fund is no longer a newsworthy event from our perspective,” DFJ partner Josh Stein explained to me over the weekend. “We want to generate attention for our exits.” It’s an interesting argument, and one worth further discussion. Maybe tomorrow. For now, however, let’s discuss the fundraise (because that is, for better or worse, what we do here)… DFJ originally sent out books in late 2008 with a $600 million cover, which was a slight reduction from the $650 million raised in 2007 for Fund IX. But launching a venture fundraise in late 2008 was a lot like me trying to buy a Porsche. You can say you’re going to do it. You can go through the opening motions. But, eventually, some inescapable realities turn the entire thing into a farce.
2 min read · 19 July 2010
Kleiner Perkins partner Joe Lacob yesterday agreed to buy the Golden State Warriors. Now I know what you're thinking: "Gee, he must have gotten tired of having to attend all those playoff games as a Celtics minority owner. Next May, he'll be able to turn in by 10pm each night." For me, the question is if he'll be a fulltime owner like Wyc Grousbeck, who quit his VC job before later returning in a part-time capacity (after he realized that there wasn't too much for him to do in the Celts office each day, after working out in the team gym). Or will he be like Steve Pagliuca, who kept his dayjob at Bain Capital (and even found time to run for U.S. Senate)? I put the question to Lacob via email, to which he replied: "Good question. But, I cannot comment on this one yet."
1 min read · 16 July 2010
1 min read · 16 July 2010
