Erin Griffith

Today Tom Hicks and his SPAC vehicle, Hicks Acquisition, announced plans to do the world’s largest reverse IPO. The target is Blackstone Group-backed Graham Packaging, a $2.5 billion-revenue plastic packaging maker. Once the formal agreement goes through (today’s announcement was pre-merger agreement), shareholders of the SPAC, which went public in September 2007, must vote in […]

*** So Carlyle wants to save the banks.  The firm even hired Wachovia’s Corporate Treasurer for the effort, according to the Wall Street Journal. They’ve made their argument for a loosening of the regulations that prohibit private equity firms from controlling the world (or something like that), but according to bloggers at The Deal, there […]

As the private equity industry matures, PE firms bat around terms like “operational expertise” and “value add” as a way to distinguish themselves from the sea of competitors, and also justify their existence. (If you’re not adding something, what exactly are you all doing?) But what do those terms even mean? And further, how do […]

* You may remember my brand analysis of Apax Partners’s success with Tommy Hilfiger. Well, in the spirit of revitalizing near-dead brands, two more private equity firms have big plans for The Sharper Image, the bankrupt retail chain once backed (through its equities fund) by Sun Capital. Liquidators Hilco Organization and Gordon Brothers Group purchased […]

*** Smith Whiley, a mid-market mezz fund, has raised $90 million on its way to $200 million. Buyouts has the scoop. *** Primus Capital Funds is nearing a final close on its fourth fund. The firm will exceed its $250 million target, a source said. *** Wind Point Partners is raising for its 7th fund, […]

Avista Capital Partners is approaching a first close on its second fund, slated for July, a source familiar with the situation said. The firm deployed its first $2 billion fund quickly, doing around six deals last year and around 11 in 2006. This time around it’s seeking $3 billion. Despite the increase in target size, […]

Northstar Capital will close its fifth mezzanine fund on Monday, peHub has learned. The fund, called Northstar Mezzanine Partners V, surpassed its $350 million target by a wide margin. It’ll close on its hard cap, $500 million, thanks in part to placement agent Pinnacle Trust Partners. This is a significant jump for Northstar, coming off […]

***An investment analogy: Warren Buffet’s portfolio is to the Met as a Buyout firm’s portfolio is to a porn shop. This according to Mr. Buffet. The direct quote, via Bloomberg: “You can sell it to Berkshire, and we’ll put it in the Metropolitan Museum; it’ll have a wing all by itself; it’ll be there forever,” […]

Earlier this year, you couldn’t glance at a business publication without the ugly letters S-P-A-C staring right back. Special purpose acquisition vehicles were all over the news, thanks to high-profile ones raised by once-prominent buyout pros like Tom Hicks and Michael Gross. By March, most of the investment banks had begun underwriting them, and the […]

Today’s Highlights: One FoF’s commitments, which PIKs are P-ing in K, and State Street’s private equity index. *** You may remember that TowerBrook Capital Partners is raising a fund, according to a report from Buyouts. Among Towerbrook’s past LPs is California Public Employees’ Retirement System, AIG and MetLife. For this fund, they’ve seen interest from […]