Private Equity
A media-focused buyout pro, on the quality of deal flow: We’re passing on junk – total junk. Bubble era flights of digital fancy now deflated and offered for scrap that they’re not worth.
1 min read · 14 October 2009
2 min read · 14 October 2009
Many buyout firms would like to join the $1 billion club, and they’re so very close. Before the recession, it was almost assumed that your average-performing $700 million firm would come back to market with a $1 billion vehicle. Not the case anymore. As one LP said, “$700 million is the new $1 billion.” The latest example of this leveling-off of fund sizes is Snow Phipps Group. The New York-based buyout firm has come to market with a $700 million target for its second fund -- only a slight jump from its $620 million debut vehicle. “Everyone expected they would raise $900 million or more,” said a source familiar with the situation. Snow Phipps declined to comment. The firm was founded in 2005 and invests in middle-market companies in the specialty franchising, basic and process industries, apparel and luxury retail, media technology, specialty finance, IT services and telecommunications equipment and industrial components sectors. A similar “adjusted target” situation occurred with Arlington Capital, which was expected to graduate from a $585 million fund to the $1 billion mark on its third vehicle. Instead, the fund has a $750 million target. The firm’s former placement agent, UBS, viewed even that increase as too steep, leading Arlington Capital to drop UBS for Credit Suisse.
1 min read · 13 October 2009
2 min read · 12 October 2009
Goodbye Joe Consumer: "The concept of an 'average American' is gone, probably forever. " (Ad Age) Liquidity Events: Private Equity's Exit Strategies Are A-Changin' (Pitchbook) Help or Hurt? More than half of companies have banned Facebook and Twitter at work. (Wired) Pile On: Another busted LBO that earned its PE backers a profit. (Zero hedge) Oh Dear God: This could be so very ugly. The New York Post reported that Energy Future Holdings, aka TXU, is having problems with the restructuring plan for its debt. (Reuters)
1 min read · 12 October 2009
2 min read · 12 October 2009
Here's a look at the past week of scoops, opinions and analysis from the peHUB blogging team. Read ‘em before they go behind our subscriber paywall... Venture Capital MetRx Founder Is Back, And On Prowl for Venture Capital Venture Capital Is Not A Road To Riches Keeping Limited Partners Happy One Analyst's Take On Internet M&A In Memory Of Craig Johnson A Craig Johnson Memorial Bike Ride The VC Gender Gap: Are VCs Sexist? IPO Report Is Nostalgic for 1996 Twitter.org? Facebook.org? Laundry Room Chronicles: Talking VC-Backed Busts Ten Busiest VCs of 2009 Sources: Sequoia To Consolidate Fund Strategy National Medals Of Science And Technology Winners Defining The "Threat Level" Of A VC Fund How Big Could Pacific Biosciences Get? Q&A With Knowledge Networks CEO People Still Spend on Pets, Kids and Possibly Snot Private Equity CalPERS Disclosure Woefully Incomplete The Big Picture on Private Equity Compensation Next LBO Verse, Same As The First? Secondary Bids Rising: Did Secondary Players Miss Their Chance?
2 min read · 10 October 2009
More Lending Thaw Predictions: This week the trigger is CD&R's stake purchase in Johnson Diversey. (AM Law) Steve Schwarzman owns Shamu: The Playgrounds of Private Equity, in which BX's new deal "could also prove to be a roller coaster in terms of value if Americans don't rediscover fun as part of the economic recovery." (Dealzone) At Least Someone is Excited about Private Equity: Guggenheim Investment Advisors LLC, which supervises $50 billion of assets, is renewing interest in private-equity funds after it halted such investments for two years because of concerns asset prices were too high. (Bloomberg) Fuzzy Channel: Citi, others give static to Clear Channel's PE firms. (New York Post) PEC VS NVCA: Have PE lobbyists thrown VCs under the bus? (Dealscape)
1 min read · 09 October 2009
2 min read · 09 October 2009
2 min read · 09 October 2009
