More VC Strangeness?
Earlier today, I reported that Highland Capital Partners had quietly invested $20 million into the $17.1 billion leveraged buyout of Harrah's Entertainment. My thesis was that this was a very strange commitment for an early/growth-stage venture capital firm like Highland, and that none of the available explanations seemed to hold justifiable water. Highland still hasn't called in to give its side, but a bunch of you have emailed to remind me that Battery Ventures participated on the $17.6 billion buyout of Freescale Semiconductor. Battery also got involved in the $4.3 billion buyout of travel reservations company Sabre Holdings. And then there was Spark Capital partnering with hedge fund Jana Partners on a bid for CNET (Velocity Interactive Group also participated, but not
