Private Equity
In Europe its 9.02.10. Ha. (Entertainment Fix) $140 1BR Affordable Snow Fort Sublet in Capitol Hill: Now available for rent! Includes Wireless internet, doorman with fez, premade snowballs. (Craigslist) Get It While You Can: The Flotation Window could slam shut on PE. (Telegraph) Paranoid optimism: PE firms "shouldn't underestimate the impact on their industry that rising populism and politicians taking whacks at banks and bureaucracies will have." (NY Times) Email Forward of the Day: Rice Student Thinks Jefferies Is "More Courteous" Than Its Counterparts And Has "The Best Corporate Culture In Town" (Dealbreaker) And here's another, more service-y take on the same topic. (Business Insider) RISKY: The key to LBOs is not a lack of risk (that would not be an LBO by nature) but less of it. (NY Times)
1 min read · 09 February 2010
For the restaurant industry, a recession can mean feast or famine. For Roark Capital, the plan is to chow down. The Atlanta-based buyout firm looking both for new restaurant acquisitions and add-on to its FOCUS Brands platform, which already includes Carvel, Cinnabon, Moe's Southwest Grill, Schlotzsky's, Seattle's Best International and McAlister's Deli. Roark's $1 billion fund, which closed in 2008, is 30% deployed. I spoke with Steve Romaniello, a managing director with the firm, on being "on-trend," bidding for cheese, deal multiples, and zigging while everyone else is zagging. What's the firm's outlook for restaurant performance this year? Will sales improve? We think its going to be another difficult year. Not quite as bad as last year, but we don't expect to see meaningful improvement in many segments until we start seeing employment growth again. And no one has any idea when that will be.
5 min read · 09 February 2010
A new white paper from Deloitte indicates that O&G divestitures and carve-outs could be on the rise. Several "supermajors" in the industry have announced divestiture plans in order invest in E&P activities. Meanwhile, independent oil and gas companies are looking to exit non-core domestic, international and offshore portfolios to streamline their operations. The same thing is happening in oilfield services companies. Download the white paper below:
1 min read · 09 February 2010
Wall Street's Rising Stars: Ten to watch in ‘10. (Barron's) Q&A: View from the top with Tony James. (FT) New Investors Topple Masters of the Universe: Asian sovereign wealth funds and venture capitalists, rather than big firms of the past, were the most active investors last year (Wealth Bulletin) Update: The Kleen Energy plant explosion has claimed five identified casualties. The company, backed by Energy Investors Fund, won Goldman Sachs a Deal of the Year award from Project Finance. (Courant.com) Watch Your Backs Guys: Four pensioners have appeared in a German court charged with kidnapping a financial adviser they blamed for making rotten US property investments. (BBC) Tired of Complaining Customers? Ban them! That's what Tim Horton's did! (CBC News)
1 min read · 09 February 2010
Here are some potential M&A ideas, rumored or official, to jumpstart your deal pipeline. Our sources are various news reports and the Buyouts “Seeking Buyers” list. For prior lists, see below. PLC Systems Inc., an OTC-traded medical device maker has hired investment advisory firm Natixis Bleichroeder to help it raise capital and examine "strategic alternatives." German cable provider Kabel Deutschland is for sale. Carlyle, BC Partners and Advent are currently in the bidding pool. Miramax is for sale, and Lionsgate is interested in it. That could change the bidding dynamics of the auction for MGM. Iteration Energy, a listed Canadian oil and gas explorer, initiated a process to explore strategic alternatives. The company engaged FirstEnergy Capital Corp and Scotia Waterous Inc as co-financial advisors to assist it in this process. Hanmi Financial Corporation's Board of Directors authorized the Company's management team to explore a broad range of strategic alternatives. Cappello Capital Corp. has been engaged as the Company's financial advisor in this process. Hanmi is parent to Hanmi Bank, which provides multi-ethnic banking services in L.A.
2 min read · 08 February 2010
Here's a look at the last week's worth of scoops, data, and analysis from the peHUB team. Catch up on what you missed before it goes behind our paywall... All First Reads | All Second Opinions Tesla's Pitch to the Public: "Fund our DOE Debt" Boston VC Will Kohler Makes His Move ThisNext Goes Shopping, Buys Stylehive and Raises $1.2M Buyouts South: Sun Capital on its Fund Size Reduction David Turner at Guardian Life: "There Has to Be a Fire in the (GP's) Belly" Quote of the Day New York Shindig Photos Cognitive Dissonance Meets PE Fundraising Seth Gardner Goes from Cerberus to the Academy Q&A with Prophet Equity on Raising an Oversubscribed Debut Fund CIA Agents Search for Corporate Dirt 100 Bankers Advise on How to Get Your Companies Public This Year One Year In, How Would You Grade Obama? M&A Madness Apax Must Be Glad Its Psagot Deal Isn't Closed Report: Markstone Reaches Settlement with Cuomo HIG Capital Raising Bio-Focused Venture Fund TheFunded's Version of the Midas List Talking Private Equity Scandal
2 min read · 07 February 2010
"Insensitivity - It lets you sleep." The FT has 20 questions with Jon Moulton, formerly of Alchemy Partners, now with Better Capital. (FT) Super Bowl Special: If the private equity industry needed to fill out a football team, it would be in a good position to do so. (PE Beat) Prodding: The Federal Reserve and other financial regulators, which have faced strong pressure from the White House and Congress to stimulate lending to small businesses, prodded banks on Friday to ease such financing. (NY Times) Remember the Macquarie Group Employee Browsing Nude Photos in the Background of a Newscast? He gets to keep his job. (BusinessWeek) European Meltdown? We may be close to a "Lehman/Merrill/AIG kind of September weekend", but with no buyer of last resort, writes Minyanville.
1 min read · 05 February 2010
As usual, we have a week’s worth of ratings actions on the debt of LBO-backed companies from ratings agencies Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services and Moody’s Investors Service. Company: Hexion Specialty Chemicals Inc. Sponsor: Apollo Management Action: S&P raised its ratings, including its corporate credit rating to 'B-' from 'CCC+', on the company. Highlight: "The upgrade reflects an improvement in credit quality following the successful completion of Hexion's financing transaction including amendments to its senior secured credit facilities, and our expectation that an ongoing trend of improving operating results will continue into 2010," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Paul Kurias.
3 min read · 05 February 2010
TV for Job Hunters: If you're unemployed, or looking for a better job, you should consider watching a new series starting at 9 p.m. called "Job Hunt," on Channel 25. (Cityroom) Steak for Stock: Can't afford to eat at Smith & Wollensky? The restaurant is now accepting worthless stock in exchange for meals. (BI) Yikes: Does former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul A. Volcker know the difference between private equity firms and hedge funds? (Dealbook) Roubini's New Name: Dissatisfied with "Dr. Doom," Nouriel Roubini is on the prowl for a new nickname. CNBC and Dealbreaker have some suggestions. Ah yes, the "Sentiment Gauge": Sentiment in the private equity industry improved in the fourth quarter of 2009 as the global economy recovered, according to a survey by Deloitte & Touche. (Bloomberg)
1 min read · 03 February 2010
In case you were hibernating last month, here’s a rundown of January’s 14 biggest buyout news stories. Slideshow after the jump...
5 min read · 03 February 2010
