Bernard Vaughan

In what is not likely the only example of a late 2010 portfolio company sale driven by fears taxes on capital gains would increase this year, Sentinel Capital Partners sold ReachOut Healthcare America Dec. 29 because it began the process before President Barack Obama and Republicans reached a compromise that extended the Bush era tax […]

If The Carlyle Group buys AlpInvest Partners, as has been widely reported, it would put the Washington, D.C.-based firm in the odd position of being an indirect investor in more than 100 private equity funds. Many of these include mid-market funds managed by the likes of Catterton Partners, GTCR Golder Rauner and Sentinel Capital Partners. But it […]

I’m just coming up for air after finishing the annual PE deal-making wrap up/outlook story for Buyouts first issue of year, replete with the themes of the year that was, insights from industry execs and more Excel-sorted data than I care to stare at over the course of a lifetime. Below are a few highlights. Look […]

TIAA-CREF, long one of the most prolific investors in buyout funds, is raising around $400 million for a first-time fund of funds targeting distressed debt and equity funds, sister magazine Buyouts has learned from two sources familiar with the new fund. The New York-based limited partner would join a growing cadre of distressed fund of funds […]

J.W. Childs Associates LP, the Boston-based buyout shop that seemed doomed in 2007, has quietly crept back to life and is looking for new acquisitions. In November, JWC Acquisition Corp., the firm’s special purpose acquisition company, raised $125 million for new deals. J.W. Childs has not done a new acquisition since 2008, although it has […]

Buyout shops are expected to be all over the Fortune Brands break-up, according to two senior bankers. Firms that have had Fortune Brands on its radar for some time include The Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and TPG Capital, said the head of financial sponsors at one bank. "Private equity firms are like hawks," he said. "They're motivated by movement, and there's something happening here that makes this attractive." The Deerfield, Ill.-based company announced Dec. 8 that it plans to continue as a pure-play, publicly traded spirits business, while spinning off its home and security business to become an independent, publicly traded company; and selling or spinning off its golf business. The company made the move after pressure from hedge fund investor William Ackman.

Quadrangle Group went on the offensive today, sending a letter (see link below) to LPs detailing fund performance progress, portfolio company activity and personnel developments at the firm while reaching out to the media. The idea was to cut through recent headlines that suggest a firm falling apart since the departure of founder Steven Rattner to one that is transitioning to more of a portfolio manager. I’ll have a more in-depth story in the upcoming issue of Buyouts. Quadrangle execs Michael Huber and Joshua Steiner (who will be transitioning out of day-to-operations at the firm) stressed in an interview that the firm has been concentrating on aligning Quadrangle's interests with its investors. To that end, the firm has reduced management fees. Managing Principals Huber and Peter Ezersky also plan to invest millions into the firm and devote a cut of their carry to continuing staff and new staff to keep them motivated.

Below is some insight from Lou Moelchert, the founder of Private Advisors LLC, on the sale of 60 percent of the Richmond, Va.-based fund of funds to New York Life Investments. The firm's announced the deal Thursday. We'll have a broader story on the deal in the next issue of Buyouts. *In short, New York Life's investment provides more certainty to Private Advisors LPs, and it should be able to provide seed money for future products. Private Advisors had a few setbacks this year, namely in Europe, where it scrapped a fund of funds plan and lost a few executives. Firm co-founder Rafael Astruc also resigned earlier this year. "When you go through market periods that are as unsettled as last few years have been, this should give our LPs greater certainty," Moelchert said in a phone interview.

Huntsman Gay Global Capital LLC, an upstart buyout shop working through a $1.1 billion debut fund, is leading an investor group expected to pay $208 million for a 51 percent stake in Sunquest Information Systems Inc., a provider of laboratory, radiology and pharmacy software products to hospitals and commercial laboratories. Get the full story at Buyouts. Details of the complex transaction remain sketchy. But according to Moody's Investors Service, the company would simultaneously borrow $655 million as part of proposed bank credit facilities. Along with $38 million of cash on hand, the company would use $630 million in proceeds from the debt offering to "fund a dividend to existing shareholders, refinance $115 million of outstanding debt, and pay related fees and expenses," Moody's said. Vista Equity Partners, a technology-focused buyout shop with offices in San Francisco, Chicago, and Austin, Texas, helped create Sunquest in 2007 after buying the diagnostic systems business from Misys Healthcare Systems for a reported $381 million. The company is still listed as a portfolio company on the Vista Equity Partners Web site, suggesting it is one of the existing shareholders benefiting from the dividend. We were unable to reach executives at Vista Equity for comment, and an executive at Huntsman Gay declined to comment.

First Reserve Corp. is looking into an expansion into Asia, Managing Director Alex Krueger told sister magazine Buyouts. The plans are in their earliest stages and no office openings or personnel changes are imminent, Krueger said. Three spots where the Greenwich, Conn.-based firm is focusing for a possible office are Hong Kong, Beijing and Singapore, for now, Krueger said. "We are actively talking about what the best location is," he said.