Private Equity
During President Obama’s first term, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Small Business Investment Company program has committed more capital to investors backing growth plays at the current—and dirt cheap—interest rate of about three percent. It’s because investors are increasingly seeking out SBIC funding to support mezzanine deals, growth plays and smaller buyouts. The SBIC program lent $1.2 billion last fiscal year (each ends Sept. 30) and will surely approve funds exceeding that amount this year, but it still has hundreds of millions of dollars that go unused thanks to too few applicants and too few approvals. Yet, the capital committed by the program over the past full fiscal year represents an increase over the four prior years’ commitment levels by a whopping 55 percent. Experts believe the gap in capital allotted to the program and the amount it actually deploys will continue to shrink; difficulty raising debt has turned more investment firms that would usually sneer at the prospect of partnering with the government instead into eager recipients of discount debt.
4 min read · 05 January 2011
Selling: British defense contractor BAE Systems is dealing its platform solutions division, possibly to PE firm Warburg Pincus Buying: And, the Atheros-Qualcomm deal Growing: At CES, they’re talking about another year of double-digit growth for consumer electronics sales Trading: Overseas, stocks did not impress, the Euro weakened and U.S. futures are headed lower
1 min read · 05 January 2011
Hal Rosser will leave New York-based private equity firm Bruckmann, Rosser, Sherrill & Co. to launch a new private equity firm with colleagues Jacob Organek and his son, Luke Rosser. He was one of the founders and managing directors of the firm. (UPDATE: peHub spoke with Stephen Sherrill, one of the PE firm's remaining founders, and he tells us that because Bruckmann's key man provision would require two, and not one, of its four most senior members to depart to constitute a breach, the defection of Rosser for his father-and-son endeavor does not get the remaining team in hot water with LPs. Sherrill and Thomas Baldwin, another of Bruckmann's most senior members, told peHub that the move has no impact on the PE firm's third fund, which is only about 25% deployed and has about 36 months remaining on its initial investment period. At this time, they said, there are no plans established to begin engaging LPs on a BRS Fund IV.)
2 min read · 04 January 2011
Raising cash: FitOrbit nets some growth capital to back those New Year’s resolutions Shares: Foreign stocks get a lift, U.S. markets poised for a boost IPO: Nope, not Facebook; but this combination of cleantech and China should have investors interested Fleeing: Senior staff at Citadel Securities Raising cash, part II: CQuotient nets $3M from Bain Capital Ventures
1 min read · 04 January 2011
Happy New Year! Ladies and gentlemen, the time has arrived. We’re going to shift things around at peHub.com and this year’s intern recruitment program will proceed NBA draft-style. Those of you following the Knicks, Nets or Timberwolves know the drill and are used to the early picks. That isn’t to say the #1 pick is going to a PE firm with the worst returns, of course. We’ll be determining picks via a highly specialized lottery process that may or may not simply be chicken-bingo behind the Thomson Reuters Times Square offices. Later, we’ll follow up with our successful interns, and PE firms, as we look to usher the next generation of Schwarzmans and Kravises into their first step to business stardom.
2 min read · 03 January 2011
Buying in: Goldman’s buying into Facebook as well… and as big banks show up at developing companies’ fundraisings, one can’t help but to expect this will result in more business for bulge brackets at IPO time Fundraising: Dorsey’s Square is also raising funds Turning: Strategic M&A is back up, possibly offering more to VCs than to private equity firms Foreign stocks: Start the New Year with some pop
1 min read · 03 January 2011
Fullchance Industrial, you should probably expect to be hearing from some potential investors any minute now… and, also, Apple's lawyers Snitchin’: 2011 edition One more deal this year? The $1,000 app (that’s apparently worth its salt)
1 min read · 31 December 2010
One more reason we haven’t seen as many IPOs as we’d like Sounds like this would exclude silk shorts. Darn. Facebook friends with this crowd? Get to work untagging! Rattner and Cuomo settle up, do not kiss and make up
1 min read · 30 December 2010
Thinking: ahead, Groupon could IPO by this time next year. Got that, Zuckerberg? Suing: Dick Fuld are his former employees Funding: SolFocus closes its Series D round Wishing: for a less crowded VC scene is Peter Boni
1 min read · 30 December 2010
Some more potential targets for buyouts in the retail space, since BJ’s is reportedly getting interest The mother of all prediction posts for 2011--this pretty much covers it all Next up, Apple’s going to start tailoring their iPads to users’ needs But not everything’s rosy Marty Lipton discusses his poison pill invention, 30 years later
1 min read · 29 December 2010
