There have been numerous mentions of that ubiquitous BCE study from late December here at PEA. You may remember the study, it predicted a shake out of private equity firms to the tune of 20% to 40%. I expressed mild skepticism over the study in a post aptly titled, Merry Christmas, Your Firm May Fail. But the question for panelists is, do you agree? Their answers may surprise you. John LeClaire of Goodwin Procter said "It is more provocative than necessary." Judging by the feedback I received on the previously mentioned blog post, many a deal pro would agree. Is it wishful thinking? Stefan Selig of Bank of America said rather bearishly,
2 min read · 27 January 2009
2 min read · 27 January 2009
As Dan, the Buyouts team, and myself embark on coverage of yet another private equity conference (Dow Jones' PEA) I've got a few leftover snippets and highlights from the last one (Wharton, which I attended on Friday). For one, I attended a GP panel, where I sat so far back that I couldn't even see who was speaking. The most notable comments were: Apollo hires two associates per year. Standard. Every year. "The movie that plays out (in the next year) is going to be great. It'll be like ‘Slumdog Milionaire.' We all get rich but have to go through a lot of shit before we get there." Another panelist chimes in: "More like "My Bloody Valentine." "The number of idle hands with good brains is extraordinary-the old rules of finance don't apply anymore." For two, I sat in on an LP panel conducted by David Snow, the editor of Private Equity International. Some blind quote highlights:
3 min read · 27 January 2009
I'm at the PEA Conference at the Grand Hyatt in New York. The theme is "Where do we go from here?" which seems ironic, since that could have easily been the theme for the PEA Outlook conference in September. If you remember, that took place just days after the Lehman, Merrill and AIG disasters. It's probably safe to say little has improved since then. I'll be attending various panels and liveblogging two events: At 9:40, a one-on-one Q&A with Erik R. Hirsch, the Chief Investment Officer of Hamilton Lane. You can find that here. At 5:05, I'll liveblog a self-proclaimed "not-so-shy" panel called "Opinions, Opinions, Opinions." Isn't that all these conferences are in the first place? You can find that here.. I'll post updates in between on topics like Cleantech, financial services, portfolio company clean-up, and of course, Pontifications On The Future. I may also be commenting on the events at the official peHUB Twitter. Erik R. Hirsch, the Chief Investment Officer of Hamilton Lane.
1 min read · 27 January 2009
Lists: For The Newly Unemployed, Six words that make your resume suck. (Squawkfox) Lists: Six Errors on the path to financial crisis. (Dealbook) Lists: 25 Most Promising Green Businesses (Business Pundit) Seriously?: PE Firms are the least creative businesses ever when it comes to names. We have yet another similar-sounding set of firms, according to PE Database. Yet Another: Woe as me story about Blackstone and Fortress and their troubles as public entities. But this time there's definitive details that the companies could do MBOs with the proceeds of their IPOs! (WSJ)
2 min read · 27 January 2009
1 min read · 26 January 2009
Yep, that's a photo of a police officer posting security outside the banquet room at this year's Wharton PE conference in Philadelphia. The security move is clearly a result of last year's infamous SEIU protests, where they burst into the room during an appearance by Carlyle Group's David Rubenstein, who reportedly told them to "take a remedial course in English before you go any further." There doesn't appear to be any need for security at this point since (A) Obama is in office, meaning the carried interest debate might be over, and (B) SEIU hasn't protested private equity since July of last year. When I asked the officer why she was here, she burst into laughter (and so did the event's photographer standing next to her). Me: Were you two just talking about that?
1 min read · 23 January 2009
Starting at noon, I'll be live-blogging a keynote speech given by Leon Black. I have three questions for the guy--we'll see if I'll actually get to ask them. (1) Will Apollo give money back to its investors? It does not need the $15 billion fund it just closed. (2) How much does Apollo expect to write down from fund four? (3) Has Apollo's sixth, or even seventh, fund bumped up against its 2% maximum for secondary sales? UPDATE: The liveblog is over, and for those uninterested in scrolling through comments from Dan, myself and others, follow the jump for a summary of the highlights.
1 min read · 23 January 2009
I'm at the Wharton Private Equity and Venture Capital Conference, liveblogging a keynote speech by Philip Yea, the Chief Executive of 3i Group.
1 min read · 23 January 2009
1 min read · 22 January 2009
