Private Equity
Cautionary Tales: The bankers who wouldn't say sorry. (FT) Wow: This profile of Raj Rajaratnam, "The Man Who Wired Silicon Valley" is a bit shocking. Literally-he paid an employee 5K to voluntarily be stunned by a Taser. (WSJ) Unusual Focus: Curious and Curiouser. London-based Calunius Capital is raising a private equity fund earmarked for investments in commercial lawsuits claiming. (IDD) The New Buyout: How the financial crisis is changing private equity, by Partners Group. (Partners Group) Lowbrow Highlights: CNBC's top videos of 2009. (CNBC) Sourcing Deal Flow: USA Today profiles a defense consulting firm made up of former officers, many of which already have connections to buyout firms. (USA Today) Predictions: Always futile, yet we always do them. Naked Capitalism has some 2010 insights from Bruce Krasting, including Geithner's replacement, AIG's future and midterm election results. (Naked Capitalism)
1 min read · 29 December 2009
Here's a fun debunk: Yesterday Boston Business Journal reported that Riverside Partners had collected $85.6 million in commitments toward its fourth fund, citing an SEC filing for Riverside Fund IV Offshore LP. Technically, Boston Business Journal wasn't inaccurate, but that's kinda like calling Warren Buffett a millionaire. The Boston-based buyout firm indeed raised $85.6 million for its offshore fund, but everyone knows an offshore fund has an "onshore" counterpart. And that fund, in a separate SEC filing, gathered $292.36 million in commitments from 34 investors. So Riverside Partners has $377 million in total commitments. The filing lists a target of $314.365 million in commitments, leaving $22 million yet to be raised. Regardless of whether the offshore fund counts toward that total, Riverside Partners has far surpassed its initial target of $250 million, which peHUB reported in July.
2 min read · 29 December 2009
How Close Were You Paying Attention in 2009? Check out the New Yorker's Shouts and Murmurs quiz. (New Yorker) Overused Phrase of the Year: "New Normal." Lauren Silva Laughlin writes that LBO barons are preparing for a new normal. (Breakingviews) Private Equity To Save Us From Banana Republic? Not the retail chain, an actual banana republic, which is getting some help from buyout shops. (Guardian) Homewreckin: Mark Zuckerburg may have started Facebook as a way to get ladies, but now it's being used as a tool in divorces. One in five divorce petitions mentions the social networking site. (Techdirt)
1 min read · 28 December 2009
While news reports are calling the "00s" anything from a lost decade to one to skip, to one without authority to just plain sucky. For private equity, the aughts could not have been more exciting (that is, until around mid-2007). The industry ballooned in the face of low interest rates and lax lending, leading to record breaking dealmaking that won’t be matched for a very long time. Globally, the top ten buyout deals of all time occurred between 2006 and 2008. When they were struck, the buyout barons behind them were on top of the world (or, Masters of the Universe, if you prefer). But of course, when the good times ended, private equity was not immune. The last two years have been a wake-up call for private equity, with writedowns and stalled fundraisings to prove it. Here’s a rundown of the ten largest deals of all time--which all occurred in this decade--and how they’ve fared in the interim.
4 min read · 28 December 2009
4 min read · 28 December 2009
Last year, the largest LBO list looked like a tallest midget contest. This year, it looks like a frat party. Yes, the top deals of 2009 were largely alcohol-fueled. Beer giant AB Inbev spent the year scurrying to unload assets to meet a $7 billion payment on its debt this fall, a hangover from the $52 billion merger of Anheuser Busch and InBev in 2008. Buyout firms pounced at the opportunity, giving AB-Inbev divestitures three of the 10 spots. The year’s largest deals included both an infrastructure and a real estate play. The largest deal of the year was, appropriately, a creditor takeover of bankrupt auto parts company. But there was some encouraging action. TPG may even do what no one thought possible a year ago: a $5 billion LBO. A take-private, no less. That deal isn’t perfect and faces a few hurdles before closing (including its February shareholder vote), but the fact that the firm is going for it—financing in hand—is more than just a little encouraging. Get the full list after the jump...
5 min read · 28 December 2009
Although big deals seem to be picking up, exits--you know, the part where you make money--have not. Aside from the IPO resurgence (and then questions over whether the window has closed already), exits have not been on the table. This slideshow depicts the ten largest PE exits, globally, by M&A this year. Get them after the jump.
3 min read · 28 December 2009
I'm out till next Monday- Happy Holidays! Tepid I.P.O.'s Spell Trouble for Private Equity: Half of the 16 PE-backed IPOs this year have been priced below their expected offering range. (Breakingviews) Carl Icahn Drinks Trump's Milkshake: Carl and The Donald are verbally abusing one another over Trump's bankrupt casino assets in Atlantic City. (Reformed Broker) Zany Job Hunting Techniques: This guy shaved his head for a job and it worked. (CNBC) Financial Villian of the Decade: This is no surprise. How easily we forget Skilling and Lay, no? (SmartMoney)
1 min read · 22 December 2009
3 min read · 22 December 2009
Stock-wise, This Decade Sucked. Performance of US stocks was even better in the 1930s. Yeesh. (WSJ) What Our Bacon Intake Says About the Economy. Enough said. (Minyanville) Creativity, Meet Destruction: The Decade Rewrote the Corporate Handbook, Thanks to the Web, Globalization and the Collapse of Two Bubbles (WSJ) Ho No? I don't know about you guys, but I love to hate the New York Post's covers and ridiculous, shameless puns. Now you can relive the past decade's worth of covers (and vote on your favorite!) (NY Post) CFOs Gloomy About 2010, Survey Finds: The quarterly Duke University-CFO magazine survey finds finance chiefs glum on prospects for 2010, expecting further job cuts. (BusinessWeek) Nice Bet: David Tepper bet big on the financial sector and won big. His hedge fund is up 120% for the year. (WSJ) Listicle: Top five investing lessons from 2009. (LA Times)
1 min read · 22 December 2009
