Elevation Partners related stories
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peHUB Wire: Wednesday, April 21, 2010Random Ramblings
- peHUB Wire: Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Random Ramblings
- M&A Monday
Here are some potential target ideas, rumored or official, to jumpstart your deal pipeline. Our sources are various news reports and the Buyouts “Seeking Buyers” list. CDC Global Services, a Shanghai unit of CDC Corp., is exploring strategic alternatives after appointing a new CEO. (Press release http://www.marketwatch.com/story/cdc-global-services-names-services-veteran-and-renowned-technologist-as-ceo-2010-04-15?reflink=MW_news_stmp ) GMAC has denied a report in the New York Post which stated ResCap, (Residential Capital), its mortgage unit, was for sale. Old Carco LLC, a unit of Cerberus Capital Management LP, announced that it was seeking a buyer for its 2 manufacturing plants, a manufacturer and wholesaler of cars and trucks.
- Outsized PE Deals = Troubled PE Deals
When writing about the Elevation Partners portfolio last month, I gave particular attention to its investment in Palm. As one source summed it up: “As goes Palm, as goes Elevation.” The reason, of course, is that Elevation has invested just over 25% of its $1.8 billion fund in Palm, via a series of commitments. Such over-allocation apparently was permitted by the fund’s LPA, but it is leading Elevation down a path well-worn by other private equity firms. Basically: If you invest 15% or more of your portfolio in a single company, you are just begging to be knocked to the ground. Remember these moldy oldies: Forstmann Little pumping $1 billion into McLeod USA (not to mention its big bet into XO Communications)? Or how about Parthenon Capital plugging around 20% of its second fund into
- peHUB Wire: Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Random Ramblings
- peHUB Wire: Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Random Ramblings
A Revealing Look at Mysterious DSTFew were familiar with Russia’s Digital Sky Technologies before it rocked the Internet world with its investments in Facebook and Zynga. Just who are these guys, anyway?
- peHUB First Read
* William Cohan: Bruce Wasserstein's last surprise http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2010/05/wasserstein-201005?currentPage=1 * Sarah Lacy advances the Elevation Partners story http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/29/how-facebook-may-save-elevation-partners/ reporting that the firm quietly bought around $90 million worth of Facebook shares on the direct secondary market. * Adam Lashinsky digs deeper into Terralliance http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/26/news/companies/terralliance_tech.fortune/ the high-tech wildcatting company that has become a legal morass for both its venture capitalists and former founder. * Morning Call: U.S. futures point higher http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62025220100330 London slips early http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE62T0VN20100330 European shares rise http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE62T0A520100330 the Nikkei hits 18-month high http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTOE62T06Q20100330 and Hong Kong shares rebound http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSHKF00227920100330 * Hey MBAs: Wall Street is hiring again http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1976339,00.html * Anthony Rodriguez on the state of academic entrepreneurs http://www.xconomy.com/seattle/2010/03/30/no-time-for-the-academic-entrepreneur/ * Four children's gizmos that inspired scientific breakthroughs http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=toy-box-tech * The FT checks in with some of China's private equity princelings http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e3e51a48-3b5d-11df-b622-00144feabdc0.html
- Eleven Funds Worse Than Elevation
Earlier today, I explained why /67445/no-bono-is-not-the-worst-investor-in-america/ Elevation Partners is far from the “the worst run institutional fund of any size in the United States?” Of course, this raised a follow-up question: So, what is the worst run institutional fund of any size in the United States? I don't think it's possible to give a definitive answer, at least when it comes to private equity and venture capital. After all, final judgement on these funds can only come once all the investments are realized. But we certainly can identify funds that are in trouble. To do so, I turned to CalPERS, which likely has more VC/PE fund investments than any other U.S. institution. CalPERS publicly discloses performance data for each of its 642 general partners, through the end of Q3 2009. I ranked each of those firms by IRR, excluding any fund closed in 2007 or later (such funds are relatively young, and their IRRs can be unfairly depressed by the fabled J-curve). I also removed non-U.S. funds, which means you won't see things like Permira Europe IV, Polish Enterprise Fund VI, Candover 2005 Fund or Carlyle Japan Partners. Get them after the jump...
- No, Bono Is Not "The Worst Investor In America"
Is Elevation Partners “the worst run institutional fund of any size in the United States?” That was the assertion of a Wall Street 24/7 post http://247wallst.com/2010/03/24/bono-becomes-the-worst-investor-in-america/ earlier this week, and a bunch of readers have emailed me for reaction. So I decided to take a dive into the media/tech-focused firm’s portfolio, from a financial perspective. What I found was hardly cause for celebration, particularly for a shop whose high-profile partners include Bono, Roger McNamee and Fred Anderson. At the same time, however, calling Elevation “the worst” is to give hyperbole a bad name. The knock on Elevation is that three of its largest investments are major duds: Palm, Move.com and Forbes Digital Media. So let’s look at them one by one: