Erin Griffith

There have been plenty of busted auctions this year, with buyer and seller expectations set miles apart. That's bad news for PE shops in search of exits, but some firms are getting creative by using partial exits (i.e., selling a minority stake). It's simple. You scour your debt agreements and find out how much you can sell without triggering a change of control clause. Then sell exactly that much, in cash, to another private equity firm. It should be a small enough chunk that at least someone can afford to bridge it. The capital structure stays in place, you gain liquidity and your buyer gets an attractively priced stake in a company with a pre-credit crunch capital structure already in place. It's a way to rustle up some liquidity, which you could return to LPs, use to pay down debt, or help an ailing company make it through the downturn. Several sources have told me they're seeing books circulate for the

Even though global loan defaults have quadrupled in 2008, the percentage of defaults with private equity fingerprints on them has decreased in the last quarter, according to a recent Standard & Poor's report. Titled "Private Equity Swirling In The Eye Of The Storm," the report states that 53 of the 86 loan defaulters this year have been involved with private equity firms, which equals 61%. Compare that with the ratings agency's September report, which traced 70% of the 55 defaults back to private equity firms. I'm not sure what the drop means, other than an increase in companies with non-LBO leverage are having a tough time servicing their debt. In general, I predict a spike in defaults in 2009 but don't expect the percentage of private equity involvement

Romney On The Big Three: He's opposed to the bail out. GE Capital: We know there are layoffs to come, but Aleph lays out what GE Capital is doing to GE's stock. On Mark Cuban: "If the case illustrates anything, it is how far the Securities and Exchange Commission has descended into irrelevance since Christopher Cox became chairman," writes Joe Nocera. Not To Surprising: Where Fortress stands on carry, and other Obama ideas, Footnoted reports. Paulson Wants PE Alongside TARP: But is the feeling mutual? American Banker thinks not thanks to one TARP Provision, according to Dealbook.

In my final Buyouts West Liveblog, I’m covering a panel called “The Great Debates,” a panel moderated by Houlihan Lokey’s Lindsay Alley. Panelists include Mark Bradley of Morgan Stanley, Kelvin Davis of TPG Capital, Dipanjan Deb of Francisco Partners, Robert Poletti of Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, and Ajay Shah of Silver Lake Sumeru. 2:29 I’m […]

Big: America's 25 largest private equity-backed companies. Not the biggest deals or biggest exits or biggest returns, but the largest companies, in terms of revenues, under PE ownership now. Sneak peek, the top two are Cerberus companies, 3, 4 and 5 have KKR money. O, Canada: Last month I wrote that Canadian banks are not only open for business but healthy. Mergermarket takes it a step further, saying they'll be on the prowl for acquisitions. Scoopy: Apax, Oaktree and 3i are taking a look at Taylor Wimpley, the British Homebuilder. If You Missed the Automaker Hearing: Here's a very detailed liveblog. Kedrosky Was Right: The Path to financial engineering isn't quite as attractive to MBAs anymore, the Journal writes.

As promised, the slides to the keynote presentation given by Thomson Reuters' Matt Toole. The presentation covers fundraising, deal, cross border, and performance data for the first three quarters of the year. Some surprising stats, which I tried to keep up with in my liveblog. Download the full presentation here.

Reporting from the Beverly Hills Hotel in sunny 90210, peHUB brings you a live and uncensored take on the state of left coast private equity. In a marathon liveblogging session, I'll be covering a keynote address from Thomson Reuters' Matt Toole, a keynote interview with Antony Ressler of Ares Management, and an LP panel. 1:14 The curtains have been drawn, and Matt Toole has taken the stage. Bring on the slideshow. 1:16 Missed the first two slides. He's saying co-investments and local offices in Asia will lead cross border investments. 1:17 We haven't seen a deal over $5 billion since July of last year. The decline in deals under that value is only in the 40 percentile, versus a 95% decline for

VMG Equity, a San Francisco consumer products-focused PE firm, has purchased a controlling stake in Robert’s American Gourmet Foods, a healthy snack maker based in New York. While I don’t know the multiple or price, this deal looks like a score for VMG. The target was highly sought after with a strong brand and revenue growth in […]

Fortune: The "Why" behind denominator effect and the booming secondary market. Fingers Crossed: In an attempt to negate any excuses, Cerberus has said it'd forgo profits on its investment if Chrysler could have bailout money. Busy: Several of Citi's directors are transition advisors to Obama, Dealzone reports. Waiting Game: Two thirds of you have stopped investing altogether. And other such survey observations.

Picture it: On NPR, via Andy Kessler, "...have they given up hope, have they just said, 'you know what, sell everything,' and just en mass, people are puking out stocks..." Well They Aren't Busy With Deals: Dealzone notices that buyout pros have been busy on the conference circuit as of late. "You would think maybe that some of the private equity big shots that stole the headlines during the credit bubble would recede a bit from the limelight." Private Goldman Sachs: If Goldman Sachs goes private, and Blackstone Group stays public, I think it'll be like The Parent Trap, where identical twin sisters switch places and go home to the wrong parent, only to miss the way things were and long to return to their real home. Especially after a law professor suggested Goldman's structure, "could be the beefed up private equity approach, plus SOX." Bargain Prices: For shares of Berkshire Hathaway. Unfortunately for me, a lowly blogger's annual salary won't cover the cost of a single share, even at depressed values. Antitrust: InBev shall divest Labatt's as part of its acquisition of Anheuser. The Canadian business formed a JV with the Cuban government 11 years ...