Erin Griffith

CEO One Liners: Silicon Alley Insider likes Yahoo's new CEO-here are a few of her greatest hits (including plenty o' four letter words). Not Cool AT&T: Now merely owning a cell phone is inviting unsolicited ads from your service provider? (Bits) Steve Schwarzman's Bulletin: On Chakrapani: He's "personally infuriated" about the insider trading scandal. (Deal Journal) Layoff Etiquette: Thanks Business Pundit. NEWSFLASH: PE relied on debt!, the FT reports. That's obvious enough, but how much of the profits came from debt? For as many of you that tout operational know-how, the results of this study are surprising. (FT)

Spectrum Equity Investors is in the market with its sixth fund, according to a regulatory filing. Principal Benjamin Spero said the fund held a first close in Q4 of last year, comments he made at yesterday's Gridley Conference at the Essex House in New York. A liveblog of that conference is available here. Spero declined to comment further and his colleagues didn't return calls asking the size of the first close. However, according to the filing, the fund has a $1.25 billion target. That's not a big leap from its prior fund, a $1.2 billion pool that closed in 2005. Here's what I could could find on the performance of

CNBC: Clusterstock points out that the calibur of advertiser on CNBC has really sunk. My personal favorite is the one for Grand Prospect Hall (probably becuase it's in my neighborhood). The commenters chime in with a few, including the VC favorite, Cash4Gold! Stress Relief: Businesspeople in Japan are blowing off steam by breaking plates at a store called the Venting Place. (Business Pundit) Here's A Wild Idea: Breaking Views suggests its time for KKR to take Dollar General public. With a lot of caveats. MBO Fail: The SEC caused Landry's to pull its planned MBO, because it required the firm to break its confidentiality agreements with lenders. Landry's decided to keep mum so it could at least obtain alternative financing. There is something wrong with this picture. (Reuters)

Today I'm reporting from a Gridley & Company conference at the Essex House. The conference is somewhat media-focused, making it all the more appropriate to try out Coveritlive liveblogging software, barring no technical difficulties. Panelists are Ellen Marshall, MD at CIT Group, Brad Woloson, GP at JMI Equity Fund, Michael S. Berk, MD at TA Associates, and Benjamin C. Spero, Principal at Spectrum Equity Investors. Follow the jump to follow along...

This is what happens when LPs are cash-strapped: PE interests are piling up on the secondary market, there’s no debt to do deals and no companies want to sell. PE is out of vogue. Not unlike conspicuous-consumption-in-a-recession out of vogue. The fate of the fundraising processes that have sputtered to a standstill hangs in limbo--a little place LPs have been calling “fundraising purgatory.” This is especially true for many first-time funds, with no existing LPs to rely on to at least participate pro rata. Of course, the first-time funds are also the slowest to admit trouble, claiming they’re still working away, despite prolonged periods with no sign of a close. Others have come clean. In recent weeks, the following firms have put their fundraising on hiatus until the storm passes, according to reports at peHUB or elsewhere:

Daniel Gross Asks: The health care industry was supposed to be recession-proof. So why is it in trouble? (Moneybox) Rants: Why the Times article stating that Google is bad for the environment is bunk. (Altgate) Sir Michael Rake says: He won't "name and shame" private equity firms that don't comply with new British transparency rules. (FT) Sigh Of Relief: TPG investors, bruised this year by WaMu and Harrahs, muust've been happy to read that the sale of Alltel to Verizon is finally, officially, once and for all, closed. (Deal Journal)

Westview Capital Partners has held a first close on just over $248 million toward its second fund, a source familiar with the situation said. The firm will then hold a final close on $300 million in late Q1. The fund, Westview Capital Partners II LP, has a hard cap of $325 million. If this sounds familiar, it's because I just filed a fundraising story on West Hill Partners. The names are similar, but other than their shared location (Boston), West Hill Partners and Westview Capital Partners are unrelated. Westview came to market just as the fundraising market began to slide in September. Probitas Partners, which declined to comment, is acting as the group's placement agent.

West Hill Partners continues to work toward a first close on its debut fund, after more than a year of fundraising. Since November of 2007, the firm, formed by alums of PE firm J. W. Childs, has marketed its first effort. The firm hasn’t held a first close to date but expects one this quarter, a source said. Boston-based West Hill seeks to raise $500 million and has engaged Park Hill Group as its placement agent. The effort has experienced the challenges of a first-time fund in a difficult fundraising market but continues to push ahead with the effort, the source said. West Hill was created when Dana Schmaltz, former J.W. Childs President, left the firm in mid-2007.

Following last week’s interview with secondaries intermediary, Colin McGrady of Cogent Partners, here is the other side of the coin: A Q&A with the buyside. I've spoken with David Tom, a Vox Populi contributor and investment pro at VCFA Group, a buyer of middle market secondary interests in LBO, mezzanine and VC funds. Will Q4 numbers make much of a difference in valuations? I think they will. Not that we’re pricing off of the GP’s valuations, but investment committees and sellers will. So if we’re telling them to take a loss, it’s different than the fund manager telling them to take a loss. It’s true that we don’t care what the GP’s valuation is, but it helps negotiating a deal. Deals can collapse when it gets to the investment committee. Either way, we won’t get Q4 numbers until February or so. Does that give you an incentive to wait to do any deals? From our perspective, we’re still going to do the work, but we’re realistic in it taking longer to close deals.

PIPE Dreams: Ron Burkle's investment vehicle Yucaipa has taken a stake in Whole Foods, the company Leonard Green recently made a PIPE investment in. (Dealscape) Headcount: Has Google laid off 6,000 and then tried to keep it a secret? (Layoff blog) Drunken Ann Coulter/Olive Oyl Comparisons: What do you get when you cross a music-mixing Microsoft Surface with a sleep-deprived Al Roker? Engadget shows us here. Dealscape asks: Will Maxim keep Steve Rattner from becoming car czar?