Erin Griffith

For most deals, the next month will be make or break. New deals rarely originate between Thanksgiving and New Years, and old deals on hiatus are usually forced to, well, use it or lose it. This year will be more interesting than usual, since we've seen a a near 1:1 ration of completed to canceled deals, which is a big increase in cancellations over last quarter and Q4 last year. Whether that ratio will continue through December is anyone's guess. Today I reported on the third-largest deal closure of the quarter, a $600 million take private. To provide us with a little context for that ranking, Ari Nathanson of Buyouts helped me compile a list of the top ten US sponsor deals since October 1. Note that this is for disclosed values only. Interestingly, two different firms (and not the ones you'd expect) make two appearances: Gores Group and HIG Capital. It says a lot that number ten is valued at a whopping $50 million. You can download it in spreadsheet form after the jump.

It all goes back to the “need to sell” sellers. That’s how Centre Partners managed to pull off a $600 million deal in the midst of the financial crisis of the century (yes, I realize this credit crunch could be topped in the next 91.08 years). It’s the third largest deal to close thus far […]

Trickle Down Effects: BCE’s stock shot up as a result of the Citi bailout, since the troubled financier was one of the worrisome contingencies of the deal’s closing. Blackstone Is The Turkey Of The Year: Not sure this protest is SEUI-related, since (a) The great carry disparity is basically DOA come January and (b) It’s focused on real estate and mortgages. Get it, Blackstone owns a ton of real estate, through Equity Office and its own real estate funds. What Does it Mean: “When Harvard grads pile into Wall Street jobs, the market is probably overheated and could be heading for a tumble.” Economist’s View: Calculating exactly how much it costs to create a job: $90,323 Read why. Revisited: The whole PE-made-money-on-a-failed-investment thing with Mervyns.

With murmurs that PE firms may not be immune to layoffs (and proof of that rumor trickling in), what’s a private equity recruiter to do? I asked Todd Monti, head of the PE practice at global executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles what's going on with the private equity job market. So your firm recruits upper level private equity pros. That must be tough if there aren’t any openings to fill. What are you seeing there? It really depends on the amount of assets under management and how much of it is deployed versus dry powder. Firms that have access to capital are being opportunistic in hiring. It’s a wait-and-see approach with a lot of questions. The main hiring I’ve been doing is when a fund has just been raised and the firm feels a need to supplement the team. The second category of firms hiring is the firms that are starting to view distressed as an opportunity. A number of firms are bringing in turnaround pros. What about layoffs?

Despite its bad reputation for backing out of deals, private equity has managed to avoid Thomson Reuters' list of the largest withdrawn M&A bids. It was released today in honor of the largest pulled bid of all time, BHP Billiton's $188 million offer for Rio Tinto. The entry level price for the list is $54 billion (a French deal), which means even BCE, at $46.8 billion, wouldn't have qualified had the consortia walked away. So in a quasi-PR win, PE gets a pass today. Baby steps. For posterity's sake, thus far in Q4, the US has had $362 billion in deal announcements and $322 billion in cancellations, according to Thomson Reuters. That looks pretty bad compared

Guess the Firm: "The performance of this fund is frankly pretty embarrassing for them and that is all the motivation they need. Sometimes it is about pride more than money." LP Stakes In TPG: Selling for 45 cents on the dollar, reflecting concerns over Harrah’s and other companies. It Just Looks Bad: Dealzone points out that Citigroup’s 20-year, $400 million naming rights to the new Mets stadium has now been basically sponsored by us, the taxpayers. Citi’s response is quite expected: “That was a decision made in a different time. We have binding legal agreements… I don’t think it’s an issue.” Clusterstock: Compares the new Mets Stadium to Enron Field. Trickle Down Effects: With the golden banker era over, gold diggers are having to really, really dig these days.

A new Deloitte recruitment ad has struck some the wrong way. The Office Newb, for example, has criticized the ad for offering a confusing, if not just plain idiotic, message. I’m not sure if I quite get the message myself. It’s a string of humorous interview scenes with a 12-year-old asking asinine questions including Rorschach tests, the number of ping pong balls that fit into a 747, and snap decisions about lunch. (View it after the jump) For the first two minutes and 25 seconds, you’d think the ad’s goal is to turn you off of other consulting firms that might actually use such ridiculous interviewing processes, conducted by young, inexperienced know-it-alls. Most of the interviewees get frustrated, except the one immature “dude” who gives high fives and acts like a monkey. But then, in the last five seconds,

You may remember American Capital’s ugly quarterly earnings report earlier this month, in which the firm reported a $548 million loss, purchased its European Capital arm and suspended its quarterly dividend. You may also remember my skepticism toward the firm's stated goal of successfully selling 14 portfolio companies. It’s only been two weeks since then, and ACAS understandably hasen’t announced any sales, but today the firm did release details on six company exits and some senior loan syndications from the prior quarter. Pulling off an exit in Q4 of this year is going to be nearly impossible, but that was said of Q3, too, and American Capital managed to swing six deals. The news hasn’t completely renewed my faith that the firm’ll close many exits in the coming month, but it is

Pirates, Obviously: Private Equity Versus Pirates. Word still out on Pirate Capital. Speaking Of: This is a day old, but in case you missed, it, Somali pirates are in talks to acquire Citigroup. But Never Fear: Gasparino has a plan for Citi. It involves stock price predictions. Moelis: The stock market is ruining attempts to value companies, and therefore deals. Sh*t: How swear words function in the work place.

Summit Partners' investment in Airborne Health has turned out to be a massive headache. It featured a busted auction, a class-action lawsuit over false health claims and a violation of covenant agreements. Last month the firm finally got out of the mess, quietly selling the nutritional supplement maker back to its founder, former second grade teacher, Victoria Knight-McDowell. If only it were that simple. In an attempt to start anew, Knight-McDowell today released a commercial trashing the firm's management of her company (watch video at bottom of post). In it, she explains her buying back of the Airborne: Three years ago, I sold Airborne to a private equity group and went on to raise my family during this time. However, I became increasingly unhappy with how my company was being managed, and so, in October of 2008, I bought it back. The commercial leaves out a few big things. First of all, she was both a minority shareholder and board member during Summit's ownership ...