Erin Griffith

Here are some potential M&A ideas, rumored or official, to jumpstart your deal pipeline. Our sources are various news reports and the Buyouts “Seeking Buyers” list. For prior lists, see below. Delta Petroleum Corp., the money-losing U.S. oil and gas producer whose largest shareholder is billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, rose 10 percent on takeover speculation, an analyst said. (Denver Post) Aryx Therapeutics Inc. hired investment bank Cowen & Co. to advise it on strategic alternatives after a potential deal for a long-term licensing agreement fell through. (WSJ) Sea Island Co., a resort owner and real estate developer based in Georgia has retained Goldman Sachs to explore strategic alternatives.

Here's a look at the last week's worth of scoops, data, and analysis from the peHUB team. Catch up on what you missed before it goes behind our paywall... All First Reads | All Second Opinions Clear Channel Bankruptcy No Longer Imminent Bright Spot in News Corp's Digital Media Group? IGN Entertainment, Seemingly It's Alive... Sequoia Capital's Heritage Fund Returns Kellogg Conference Notebooks In Memoriam: Edd Hendee Hey CalPERS: Where's That Investment Report? M&A Monday (On a Tuesday) A Startup Tries To Inject Better Odds Into Fertility Industry

Advance Reviews of Wall Street 2: "A surprisingly satirical movie." (Clusterstock) Under pressure: European private equity firms aren't getting their bread-and-butter. (WSJ) Where did all the laid off bankers go? Not out of finance, according to LinkedIn. The network has tracked the changes in employer of its users and found that they mostly went to Barclays and Credit Suisse. More details here. (LinkedIn) How Does It Feel To Be Beat by a Pension Fund? The Ontario Teachers' Pension Fund is doing an end run around private equity-and racking up better returns (BusinessWeek)

Hugo Boss, an upscale men's apparel retailer controlled by European buyout shop Permira, recently shuttered its last remaining U.S. plant. This isn't a struggling company lopping off a dying branch in an effort to save itself. Instead, it's a successful company trying to save a few bucks by shopping Rust Belt jobs to Eastern Europe. Not the best way to improve private equity's battered image. First, both the plant and publicly-listed Hugo Boss are profitable. Moreover, Permira increased the company's dividend in 2008, and added €750 million in new debt to pay a special dividend.

Add one more to the CalPERS “Oops” list. After the pension fund yesterday released the names of eight private equity firms which did not comply with its request for placement agent information, we learned that four of the firms claimed they were placed on the list in error. Today, we can add one more to […]

As usual, we have a week’s worth of ratings actions on the debt of LBO-backed companies by Moody's Investors Service Standard & Poor's Ratings Services. This week Moody’s rated an “aggressive” dividend recap, a move that seems to be back in vogue and totally uncontroversial again, with as often as we’re seeing them in recent weeks. In other bizarro news, an auto parts company was upgraded. What is this, 2006? Company: American Axle Sponsor: Blackstone Group Action: S&P raised its corporate credit rating on American Axle to 'B-' from 'CCC+'. Highlight: "The upgrade reflects our opinion that American Axle's liquidity has improved and that the company is now less likely to need to financially restructure," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Lawrence Orlowski. Supporting this view is our assumption that light-vehicle production in North America is starting to recover.

Don't Be a Sucky Presenter: Some tips from Jason Moriber (New Comm Biz) Link for Links: Reuters rounds up the recent influx of bankruptcy M&A news this week. (Reuters) Hahahha: It's no big deal that PE-backed IPOs aren't coming into fruition! Not at all! Even for a mega-funds! Like Carlyle! Just ask David Rubenstein! (BusinessWeek) From Finance to Film: After 10 years at Citadel and six more in the movie business, Julio DePietro, 38, is debuting his first film, "The Good Guy," a dramatic comedy whose main characters work at a financial institution called "Morgan Brothers."(Deal Journal) PE Arrogance: The private equity industry got a dressing-down from one of its chief defenders against potentially draconian regulation being discussed by the European Union. (Finalternatives)

Walgreen Co's respectable ‘A+’ corporate credit rating may be in danger thanks to private equity. Yesterday the drugstore chain agreed to buy Duane Reade from buyout firm Oak Hill Partners, earning the buyout firm a 1.5x return. As a result of the deal, Walgreen will take on $457 million of Duane Reade’s debt and operating leases. That caused Standard & Poor’s to place the Walgreens' corporate credit rating on CreditWatch with negative implications. The change reflects S&P’s belief that the deal will bring weaker-than-expected earnings and no improvement in the company’s credit metrics. S&P is also concerned with Walgreens' limited track record in integrated large acquisitions and aggressive financial policy. S&P said any ratings downgrade as a result of the deal won’t exceed one notch, meaning the worst rating Walgreens can really get as a result of Duane Reade is a medium-grade ‘A’ rating. That caused Standard & Poor’s to place the Walgreen's corporate credit rating on CreditWatch with negative implications. The change reflects S&P’s belief that the deal will bring weaker-than-expected earnings and no improvement in the company’s credit metrics. S&P is also concerned with Walgreen’s limited track record in integrated large acquisitions and aggressive financial policy. S&P said any ratings downgrade as a result of the deal won’t exceed one notch, meaning the worst rating Walgreen can really get as a result of Duane Reade is a medium-grade ‘A’ rating.

CalPERS may have messed up. The pension giant last night released a list of eight private equity and venture capital firms that did not reply to a voluntary request for historical placement agent information, but at least four of the firms claim that they did indeed comply. Ripplewood Holdings, EnerTech Capital, Fenway Partners and Pinnacle Ventures tell peHUB that they are working with CalPERS to correct the error. The mix-up may be related to the fact that CalPERS requested information in two waves; one of which used outside firm Steptoe & Johnson. A CalPERS spokesman said that, in one instance, the PE firm submitted its form to Steptoe & Johnson but not to CalPERS. The pension fund is looking into the other cases, he said.

Playing it safe: Johannes Huth, KKR's head of Europe, is "cautiously optimistic" about 2010. (Financial News) For Sale Already? Retweet.com, a competitor to the much more popular Tweetmeme service, has put itself on the auction block. (Mashable) Anyone Want to Make a Vanity Investment? Terra Firma may sell Abbey Road to raise money for EMI. Paul McCartney hopes someone will rescue it. (Sidney Morning Herald) Private equity needs to improve its courtship: Investors neither wanted nor were ready for the wave of private equity IPOs being pushed through. (Telegraph) Sharia PE: Reuters is holding its Islamic Summit, and speakers predicted a PE boom for Islamic finance. (Reuters) Women in PE: In terms of geography, North America-based private equity firms have the highest percentage, 8.5%, of female employees in senior management roles in the industry. Not surprising, but disappointing. (Preqin)