Erin Griffith

Op-Eds: Jamie Dimon writes, "No bank should be too big too fail." (WaPo) Exit Signs: Looking closer at Castle Harlan's exit on United Malt Holdings via BusinessWeek. I'll save you the time if you only care about the return: They made 4.5x on a $90.5 million equity check with an 80% IRR. (BW) TPG's Troubles in Australia are seen as a one time situation. (Background: The Australian Tax Office was seeking to freeze the payment of TPG's proceeds on the IPO of Myers.) (Business Spectator) Up: Dollar General shares traded up on the first day. (AP) Fire Your Superstar CEOs: Paul Kedrosky unearths that "superstar" CEOs, the kind that award-winning CEOs underperform, spend more time on public and private activities outside their companies writing books or on boards, and are paid more. (Infectious Greed)

As usual, we have a week's worth of ratings agency actions on the debt of LBO-backed companies from Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investor Services. This was a ridiculously slow week for PE-backed debt (unless you count the Energy Future Holdings disappointment, which will surely change the company's ratings next week). This week there was just one downgrade and one withdrawal.

Prophet Equity, a new-ish turnaround shop based in Dallas, has acquired Chief Supply and Law Enforcement Supply from Brooks Equipment Company, a firefighting supplier that Behrman Capital had owned since 1998, according to a source familiar with the situation. Prophet Equity bought the two companies and combined them under the name Public Safety Supply Resources. […]

Nay Sayers: China Law blog and China Private Equity Blog argue that all these big remnibi funds from Blcakstone and the like are going to do crappy. (China Law Blog) M&A Q&A: Why Does Iconix, an apparel company, want Playboy, a media company? Well, it's because of the lingerie. (Dealscape) Hey Everyone: Bill Gates thinks Wall Street pay is too high, and also, he doesn't envy the pay czar. (Reuters) M&A Crystal Ball: Five media deals paidContent would like to see happen, including Google + Clear Channel and Microsoft + Rim. (paidContent) Women Hold Half of U.S. Jobs: Households That Could Afford to Have One Spouse Stay Home Find Roles Upended by Layoffs in Male-Dominated Industries (WSJ)

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. Blackstone, KKR, Apax, Providence and Permira-backed TDC is readying an IPO, according to rumors. (Reuters) Barrick Gold Corp could sell off a nickel project in Tanzania and other non-core assets to fund other projects or acquisitions, Chief Executive Aaron Regent said on Wednesday. (Reuters) Motorola hired JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs to explore a sale of its home and networks mobility division. Starcore International Mines Ltd., a TXU-traded mining company, has engaged Jordan Capital Markets Inc. as its financial advisor for the exploration of strategic alternatives.

Sleeping With Private Equity: The difference between Simmons and Sealy (one failed, one didn't, but why?). (FT Alphaville) More on The Buyout of America: A UK reviewer weighs in. (Times Online) And a WSJ reviewer does too. (WSJ) Advice to live by: Skip the beginning, but around the middle there is some great presentation advice, including, "When giving presentations, the only rule that matters is the rule of attention." I really wish some of the CEOs whose painful presentations I've sat through over the years could read this. (I'm talking to you, Nelson J. Marchioli!.) (Finite Attention Span) Clawbacks: They're not new to private equity, and they very well may make an appearance in the coming years, but now they're being applied to banker bonuses too. (Reuters) One Could Easily Argue That: RegFD is a joke. (Fierce ComplianceIT)

Private equity professionals are just as hopeful about the future as they were around this time last year. According to a new survey sponsored by Akin Gump, BMO Capital Markets, and mergermarket, buyout folks expect the market for financing to come back in the second half of next year. That sounds a lot like what they were saying around this time last year, a hopeful prediction that sadly has not come true. I asked Akin Gump Partner Patrick Dooley what that says about private equity investors. His response was "Hope springs eternal." He also insisted insisted that buyout pros do really expect that deal financing will return next year and valuation gaps will narrow. The survey found that 44% of survey respondents who expect valuation gaps to narrow predict it happening in the first half of next year. Meanwhile 61% of those surveyed said they expect financing markets to improve in the first half of 2010.

Thoma Bravo this week infused the stale exit market with fresh air, earning a 4x return on its investment in Datatel, a higher education software service provider. After a four-year ownership, the buyout shop sold Datatel to Hellman & Friedman and JMI Equity. Terms weren't disclosed, but a source familiar with the situation said the deal was valued at $570 million, earning Thoma Bravo a 4x return on one of the largest investments from the firm's seventh fund. Under Thoma Bravo's ownership, Datatel doubled its earnings and used its cash flow to pay down debt organically. Meanwhile, Thoma Bravo took a $124 million dividend recap in 2006. I spoke with Orlando Bravo, managing partner of Thoma Bravo, about selling in an exit draught, criticism of sponsor-to-sponsor deals and the importance of "high quality revenue." Get the Q&A after the jump...

You Guys Ready for a Surge in M&A? JPMorgan is. Richard Bove is particularly bullish on the firm's advisory prospects. (Dealzone) Keeping Up Appearances: What do laid off bankers do when the severance runs out? (WSJ) Meanwhile: Dealscape thinks the story is strangely similar to the plotline of the move "Fun with Dick and Jane." Loan Opinions: Nervous bankers are willing to lend again according to a recent survey. (Business Insider) Bloggers and Hedge Funders Can Be Friends: If Daily Intel and John Paulson were friends, this is what their IMs would look like. (Daily Intel)

A year ago, buyout deals were so dead that fundraising news was about all I could come by. It seems the opposite is now true, with deal activity on the mend and the fundraising market slower than ever. But today's question is whether those 2008 funds actually got raised and, if so, at what levels. So I've compiled a series of updates (if there were any) on 20 peHUB fundraising stories from the second half of 2008. The sad thing is, out of the 20, only four have announced their closing (please email if you have updates). Here are some more quick observations: * 4 have closed * 13 remain in the market * 8 have held closes * 2 have met their targets or are "near" a final close * 3 lowered their target * 1 was pulled from the market * 1 never launched * 1 adjusted its strategy You view them as a slideshow, or browse through the nice little directory below. View the Slideshow Directory of Firms