Erin Griffith

Leveraged Loans are the New Bonds: lending is picking back up-deals are now less impossible and now merely complicated. (FT) On a Related Note: The Banks have reopened their checkbooks for M&A. (WSJ) The Coming Fight for Executive Talent: BusinessWeek on the inexorable rise of Asia will force the West into a battle for its managers (BW) W-Shaped What? Canadian private equity investors are preparing for a double dip. (Reuters)

This week in M&A and debt, via Thomson Reuters (download full report below): M&A Hit a Five-Month High Global announced M&A in November totaled $234 billion and marks the second busiest monthly level of activity of the last twelve months after June 2009 ($275 billion). There were ten transactions in excess of $1 billion announced […]

As usual, we have a week's worth of ratings actions (mostly downgrades) on the debt of LBO-backed companies from ratings agencies S&P and Moody's. This week was obviously slow on account of the holiday, with only two companies getting ratings changes. Moody's has doubts about whether GTCR's Graceway Pharmaceuticals will get its drug Aldara will be approved on schedule. Meanwhile S&P did the obligatory ‘SD' for its out-of-court debt-equity swap. Company: Graceway Pharmaceuticals Sponsor: GTCR Golder Rauner LLC Action: Moody's lowered the company's corporate family rating to Caa1 from B3 and the probability of default rating (PDR) to Caa1 from B3. Highlights: The ratings downgrade primarily reflects new uncertainties related to whether Graceway's life cycle management plans for Aldara will be successful based on lack of approval for Graceway's new lower-dose version.

Happy Thanksgiving! PE Battle Cry: Chief executives of private equity-backed companies should speak out to defend the industry against 'misguided' European Union regulation, according to the new head of the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association. (FT) First Rule of Business: Don't Get Emotional. Unless you're an investment firm called Emotional Assets. (Felix Salmon) New Kind of Corporate Raiders: The FBI has raided the office of buyout shops in Indiana and Ohio after a news article questioned their business practices. (Dealbook) Horse Before Carriage? Twitter is eyeing more acquisitions! Oh, and also, it is eying revenues next year. (Reuters)

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. Berens Energy Ltd, a Canadian junior oil and gas company, said its board began a process to explore strategic alternatives. The company engaged Peter & Co to assist in it in the process. (Reuters) First Marblehead Corporation continues to examine strategic alternatives for Union Federal. The company has sold the private education loans on Union Federal's books. (CNN) Danish telecommunications provider TDC has kicked-off a sales process and started interviewing banks with a view to a possible listing early next year. TDC is 88% owned by a private equity consortium comprising Kravis, Kohlberg, Roberts & Co., Permira, Apax Partners, Blackstone Group (BX) and Providence Equity Providence through Nordic Telephone Company. (Dow Jones) Global Energy Holdings Group, Inc. a diversified renewable energy company based in Atlanta, Georgia, is bankrupt and seeking a buyer.

Ever think you'd be competing against a crowd of young, hip (and possibly drunk) twenty-somethings in an M&A auction? Bet not. Through social networking and crowdsourcing, two ad agencies are hoping to cobble together $300 million in pledges to make a bid on Pabst Brewing Company. In the past two weeks, they've collected $11 million in pledges from cheap-beer aficionados, through BuyaBeerCompany.com. As delusional the whole thing sounds, that's faster than most buyout firms can put together a financing package these days. And face it, if they really approach the company with $300 million in cash (no contingencies!), the sellers may consider the offer, at least for a minute, right? Power to the people, right? Well, probably not. The campaign hasn't actually even contacted Pabst or Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which is running the auction. In fact, the entire campaign, including the purchase price, is based around a Nov. 2 New York Post article declaring the company for sale, all according to one source. For all we know, that $300 million is a dream price that a sell-side banker leaked to the Post to drum up buyer interest. So I hate to dash your hopes of being a “small business owner” or something, dear hipsters, but the Buy a Beer Company campaign is light years behind in the due diligence process.

Attacks: Yikes, the SEIU has gone after Audax and Bain pretty hard following the Boston Globe's story on the ways Bain minted a profit on a failed company (American Pad & Paper). (SEIU) Listen Up: Peter Brooke goes on NPR to talk about private equity. (WBUR) Revivals: Golub Capital has revived its plans for an IPO. (LBO Wire) Black Friday Predictions: Boom? Bust? Paul Kedrosky has a handy little chart from Mint.com. (Infectious Greed) President With A Sense of Humor: (Or is he really just scared of Robots?) In a speech about his "Educate to Innovate" program, Obama said, "♫ As president, I believe that robotics can inspire young people to pursue science and engineering. And I also want to keep an eye on those robots in case they try anything." Brilliant. (Gizmodo)

Chicago-based buyout firm Willis Stein & Partners has been unable to raise a new fund for the past couple of years. With that effort on hold, several of its top partners have left to hang their own shingle, but the jury is out on whether those efforts will prove to be more fruitful. In 2007, Willis Stein managing partner Dan Blumenthal left to form his own firm, taking with CFO Todd Smith and principals Bradley Shisler and Roy Jain with him. The new shop, called Blue River Partners, was expected to raise up to $150 million for lower mid-market investments. As with any number of first-time funds entering the market amid a credit crunch, Blue River's fundraising effort did not get off the ground. Bluementhal tells peHUB that the firm's formal fundraising process has been "deferred for the foreseeable future" -- with Blue River receiving some commitments, but not enough.

In a time of fundraising "haves" and "have-nots," Marlin Equity Partners is decidedly a "have." The mid-market private equity firm, which entered the market with its third fund only a few months ago, is just days away from holding a first and only close on a sum greater than its hard cap, two sources familiar with the situation said. Probitas Partners is serving as placement agent.

Chris Christie, New Jersey’s Governor-Elect, isn’t wasting any time. Even though Christie doesn’t officially take office until January, he recently sent a memo to Governor Corzine which outlined 14 “urgent action items” for the state budget. For a firm seeking investments from the state’s $68 billion pension fund, Item Number 11 might read like a death knell: "Freeze the retention of all new outside professionals, manager selections, and new contracts for managing alternative investments with respect to New Jersey’s pension funds." In other words, no new PE commitments. There’s no explicit reasoning given, other than to say it's part of a plan to “address weak revenue collections” and "prevent the crisis from worsening and budget hole we are in from deepening.” New Jersey currently has a 13% allocation to alternative investments, a basket that includes infrastructure, private equity, commodities, hedge funds and real estate. In response to Christie’s moves, Corzine’s office told the AP that “the Governor will review the details of the letter and take appropriate action with this fiscal principle in mind.” But one source close to the situation told peHUB no changes have been implemented to the fund’s commitment process at this point. Moreover, neither Christie nor Corzine technically have the ability to prevent the State Investment Council from making particular types of investments, save for stacking the board with like-minded appointees (council members are named on a staggered basis).