Erin Griffith

Today the New York Times ran a story on Apollo not unlike the one I wrote last week. The main difference (aside from this ridiculous photo illustration) is the fact that Leon Black actually spoke with the Times. In the story, he offers a few vague answers to accusations made by both the peHUB article and the Times reporter. Linens N Things wasn’t that big of an investment. Dividend recaps “are what’s best for our investors.” The firm “underestimated” the housing market downturn. Et cetera. No mention of the firm’s IPO. No mention of the performance of Apollo’s debt investments. However, Black does offer the sound byte, “Private equity is dead,” perhaps to explain away his firm’s return-killing performance of late. The best line in the 3000 word story is Apollo’s response to this stated death of private equity: “We’ve totally turned into a bond house,” he declares. Reminds me of what Josh Harris said at

We’re heading into the home stretch of 2008. The next three weeks of holiday sales may make or break many of the LBO-backed retail and consumer products companies teetering on the edge of default. Either way, Cerberus aside, we won’t likely see a slew of bankruptcies till those holiday results are booked in the new […]

Now That's Nice Of Them: Permira is offering its LPs the option of giving $5.6 billion in uncalled capital back to its investors. Deal Journal: While liveblogging yesterday's bailout, Ms. Moore recounts the ways people on camera need to brush up on their etiquette, for their own sakes, and for the sakes of viewers forced to endure their lackadaisical blackberry-ing. Even After Its Round of "Employee Assessments": Apax is doing deals, looking at investing in Bank of Ireland. Oh The Places We'll Lend: Will Banks Start Using Libor for SBA loans? Joe Nocera on why he hopes so.

Months after defaulting on its massive debt load, Avista Capital’s troubled newspaper investment continues to create negative headlines. The private equity firm’s latest attempt to save its investment in Star Tribune is an ultimatum to the paper’s union: Cough up $20 million in employee givebacks, or else this ship is goin down. And by down […]

Want to know what’s left of American Capital after it announced 110 layoffs and two office closings? The company’s statement from Tuesday night was quite vague, so we’ve dug up some rough details on this weeks round of pink slips. Remember this is ACAS’ second round of layoffs, the firm let 80 people go in May of this year. peHUB has confirmed that the two office closings went to Palo Alto and Boston. The damage done to the rest of the firm’s branches is broken down below. This is an approximation compiled by conversations with various sources familiar with American Capital. Bethesda Headquarters Buyout Team lost 4 people. Back office lost approximately 15. Communications Team lost Bryan Maney. Estimated total cuts: 20 New York Business Development lost 3

Fall Into The: There's an enormous Gap between the Big Three's self-image and reality, according to Daniel Gross, and driving to Washington and having detailed plans isn't enough to convince him otherwise.. Not Enough Grand Prospect Hall Ads: CNBC is laying off 80 people according to the Post. As If PE Were a Barometer: BusinessWeek is predicting November job losses could be the worst in 28 years. Panic: How Wall Streeters are dealing with the crisis, according to Vanity Fair. Via Abnormal Returns. Blame Game: The credit crisis can be traced to "insidious MBA" schools. "They believe business school can encourage the "culture of me", or individuals solely out for their own self-interest."

Tom Lee made his legacy doing LBOs. Based on today’s news of his massive losses on bad hedge fund plays, he may not want to stray from the buyout world again. Lucky for him, he’s nearing a close on a new pool of capital dedicated to just that. Lee Equity, the buyout fund Tom Lee launched in 2006, has raised more than $1 billion in commitments, a source familiar with the situation told peHUB. The fund plans to close with at least $1.5 billion in the coming months. According to a regulatory filing, limited partners include Teachers Retirements System of Texas. Bluff View Capital, Credit Suisse Securities, DAV/Weatherly Financial and Cambridge Financial Services provided advisory services. Beyond its namesake, Lee Equity is entirely separate from Tom Lee’s

Huntsman Gay Capital Partners has hit the hard cap for its debut fund, but it isn't stopping there, according to a source familiar with the situation. The firm, formed by industrialist Jon Huntsman and former Bain Capital investor Bob Gay, had a $1.25 billion ceiling, according to a regulatory filing. Thanks to anchor commitments from limited partners like like CalPERS, CalSTRS, AlpInvest, C.V. Starr & Co., and GIC (Massachusetts Group Insurance Commission), the firm has hit that $1.25 figure, our source said. But instead of holding a final close, H&G has extended its fund's closing to accommodate a commitment from New York State Common Retirement Fund and possibly one

I'd like to introduce Anjan Mukherjee, a managing director at Blackstone Group (full bio below). He's also a member of Barack Obama's economic transition team, as co-lead of its Commodity Future Trading Commission Review process. The other co-lead is James Johnson, a white-collar criminal defense litigator with Debevoise & Plimpton. Mukherjee is on leave from Blackstone while he helps vet potential CFTC chief nominees. Any private equity FOB (Friend of Barack) can only be good news for the industry, although the CFTC regulates futures, which don't have much to do to with private equity. Unless, of course, you're a publicly traded, like Blackstone. And Blackstone isn't just a public investment firm. Similar to Fortress Investment Group, it's a public partnership rather than a corporation. That means it gets to be a publicly traded company but retain its private equity tax treatment on carried interest, unlike corporations.