Private Equity
Romney On The Big Three: He's opposed to the bail out. GE Capital: We know there are layoffs to come, but Aleph lays out what GE Capital is doing to GE's stock. On Mark Cuban: "If the case illustrates anything, it is how far the Securities and Exchange Commission has descended into irrelevance since Christopher Cox became chairman," writes Joe Nocera. Not To Surprising: Where Fortress stands on carry, and other Obama ideas, Footnoted reports. Paulson Wants PE Alongside TARP: But is the feeling mutual? American Banker thinks not thanks to one TARP Provision, according to Dealbook.
1 min read · 20 November 2008
5 min read · 19 November 2008
Big: America's 25 largest private equity-backed companies. Not the biggest deals or biggest exits or biggest returns, but the largest companies, in terms of revenues, under PE ownership now. Sneak peek, the top two are Cerberus companies, 3, 4 and 5 have KKR money. O, Canada: Last month I wrote that Canadian banks are not only open for business but healthy. Mergermarket takes it a step further, saying they'll be on the prowl for acquisitions. Scoopy: Apax, Oaktree and 3i are taking a look at Taylor Wimpley, the British Homebuilder. If You Missed the Automaker Hearing: Here's a very detailed liveblog. Kedrosky Was Right: The Path to financial engineering isn't quite as attractive to MBAs anymore, the Journal writes.
1 min read · 19 November 2008
As promised, the slides to the keynote presentation given by Thomson Reuters' Matt Toole. The presentation covers fundraising, deal, cross border, and performance data for the first three quarters of the year. Some surprising stats, which I tried to keep up with in my liveblog. Download the full presentation here.
1 min read · 18 November 2008
Reporting from the Beverly Hills Hotel in sunny 90210, peHUB brings you a live and uncensored take on the state of left coast private equity. In a marathon liveblogging session, I'll be covering a keynote address from Thomson Reuters' Matt Toole, a keynote interview with Antony Ressler of Ares Management, and an LP panel. 1:14 The curtains have been drawn, and Matt Toole has taken the stage. Bring on the slideshow. 1:16 Missed the first two slides. He's saying co-investments and local offices in Asia will lead cross border investments. 1:17 We haven't seen a deal over $5 billion since July of last year. The decline in deals under that value is only in the 40 percentile, versus a 95% decline for
9 min read · 18 November 2008
3 min read · 18 November 2008
Fortune: The "Why" behind denominator effect and the booming secondary market. Fingers Crossed: In an attempt to negate any excuses, Cerberus has said it'd forgo profits on its investment if Chrysler could have bailout money. Busy: Several of Citi's directors are transition advisors to Obama, Dealzone reports. Waiting Game: Two thirds of you have stopped investing altogether. And other such survey observations.
1 min read · 18 November 2008
Picture it: On NPR, via Andy Kessler, "...have they given up hope, have they just said, 'you know what, sell everything,' and just en mass, people are puking out stocks..." Well They Aren't Busy With Deals: Dealzone notices that buyout pros have been busy on the conference circuit as of late. "You would think maybe that some of the private equity big shots that stole the headlines during the credit bubble would recede a bit from the limelight." Private Goldman Sachs: If Goldman Sachs goes private, and Blackstone Group stays public, I think it'll be like The Parent Trap, where identical twin sisters switch places and go home to the wrong parent, only to miss the way things were and long to return to their real home. Especially after a law professor suggested Goldman's structure, "could be the beefed up private equity approach, plus SOX." Bargain Prices: For shares of Berkshire Hathaway. Unfortunately for me, a lowly blogger's annual salary won't cover the cost of a single share, even at depressed values. Antitrust: InBev shall divest Labatt's as part of its acquisition of Anheuser. The Canadian business formed a JV with the Cuban government 11 years ...
2 min read · 14 November 2008
Since BDCs rely on their stock for liquidity, it's safe to say they're in a world of hurt right now. We saw American Capital and Allied Capital post losses and either reduce or possibly eliminate their dividends last week, for example. Today Fifth Street Finance, a lower middle market BDC that went public in June (one of the whopping two financial services IPOs this year), released its monthly shareholder update. I spoke with CEO Len Tannenbaum about fake term sheets, who's really in business (he names names), nosebleed lending rates and what his firm will do when it runs out of money: What do you mean by "fake term sheets"? Are lenders really trying that hard to keep up the appearance of being open for business? Some of them have submitted term sheets that have no way or desire to be completed. They have no money to do it, so they're trying to do it with such onerous terms, and not negotiating
4 min read · 14 November 2008
Brilliant: George Soros managed to gratuitously plug his book during the House Oversight Committee's hedge fund testimony, according to Wall Street Folly. Unpopular: No one wants to be a real engineer anymore. The glory is in financial engineering, but Paul Kedrosky thinks that's about to change. Blah Blah Blah: More talking, predictions, thoughtful pontificating, etc, from buyout guys. Sotheby's Must Be Disappointed: The Fuld art collection isn't worth as much as initially thought. Nadir, Indeed: Three-month LIBOR rose for the first time in 23 business days.
1 min read · 13 November 2008
