Erin Griffith

Fifth Street Finance Corp., one of the few business development companies that's making new loans these days, has secured a new credit facility to deploy on sponsored transactions. It's notable, since middle market deal volume has yet to bounce back the same way the mega-market deals have in recent weeks. For several years Fifth Street, which went public in 2008, has been steadily creeping up from the small market to a position that is solidly lower middle market. The new facility, underwritten by Wachovia, is a $50 million live of credit with an accordion feature that allows expansion to $100 million. The new facility follows the termination of the company's $50 million line of credit with Bank of Montreal, which expired December 29, 2009. The Wachovia facility has a three year lifespan. I spoke briefly with Fifth Street's CEO Len Tannebaum about the deal and the state of middle market lending.

Private equity bust-ups: As the private equity industry has come off, so have the gloves. (FT) Hershey's Bargaining Chip With Cadbury: Twenty-one years ago, Hershey bought Cadbury's U.S. chocolate business, including factories and the exclusive rights to make and sell well-known brands such as Cadbury and York Peppermint Patty. (Deal Journal) A weekend at Bernie's in the Hamptons: At least two dozen prospective buyers spent the long Labor Day weekend at Bernie's in Montauk, at the tip of New York's Long Island, where they perused the oceanfront house. (The Deal) One Year Down, One to Go: "I always knew that business school was more than just an opportunity to change careers and develop networks, but what has surprised me is the amount of non-business education that comes with it." (BW)

Here are some potential target 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, and send any additions my way. Landry's Restaurants Inc announced it was exploring strategic alternatives after it received a letter from Tilman J. Fertitta, Chairman, President and CEO, expressing his desire to enter into formal discussions with the Special Committee regarding a going-private transaction and a related tax-free spin-off of the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Saltgrass, Inc. ("Saltgrass"). Helicos Biosciences retained investment bank Thomas Weisel partners to advise it on various strategic business options.

While we wait for a Cadbury counterbid that may never come, I ran some data to get an idea of private equity’s historic appetite for sweets. In the last five years, there have only been 11 US-based LBOs in the candy, confectionary, chewing gum and chocolate sectors, and they’ve all been pretty small (see chart below). That’s not necessarily for a lack of targets, either. In 2007, Campbell Soup sold its chain of Godiva chocolate stores for $750 million to a strategic buyer. At the time, reports claimed the confectioner received “several” private equity bids, but no firms were called out by name (and I have reason to believe those rumors were planted by the sell side). The company ultimately sold to Yildiz Holding, a Turkish candy company, for much less than the price it originally was reported to be seeking.

Lehmanniversary: Should Lehman Brothers have been saved? (WSJ) Was TARP wrong and is capitalism evil? (Reuters) Exclusive Interview with Dick Fuld, who says he's been "dumped on" for the failure of Lehman Brothers, but says he doesn't want to speak out in his own defense because "the facts are out there." (Reuters) Also, Dick Fuld is into giving hugs. (Reuters) Everyone Is Excited: Merger mania may not be quite in full swing, but the pace of deal-making is showing signs of coming back to life after nearly a year. (Dealbook) More IPO Mania: An interview with the "Mr. Private Equity" of Asia, Pacific Equity Partners managing director Tim Sims, according to sister publication Asian Venture Capital Journal. (The Age)

Following last year's Labor Day weekend, peHUB declared that "The Real Q4 Started Today," partly in wishful thinking that news would pick up after the painfully slow summer months. We welcomed the potential increase in activity with an informal survey of Q4 predictions by PE pros, and those predictions could not have been more off. For one thing, the sponsors we spoke with expected deal activity to return in Q4, with the back half of 2009 ending up on par with the first half of the year. That didn't happen.

The Internet is alive with the sound of memorializing. There's no shortage of retrospective Lehman Brothers coverage as we approach the one-year anniversary of the Wall Street stalwart's demise. The New York Times, CNN, Reuters, Forbes, Guardian, BBC and Times Online, have all chimed in, just to name a few. But since we at peHUB mostly care about private equity, we wanted to provide a "Where are they now" update on the fate of the buyout businesses affected by the collapses of Lehman, Merrill Lynch, AIG and, of course, Bear Stearns. Get it after the jump...

Here's a look at the past two weeks of scoops, opinions and analysis from the peHUB blogging team. Read ‘em before they go behind a our subscriber paywall... Venture Capital Posts As Venture Funds Shrink, So Will Salaries VC Leaves Firm After Violating Trading Rules Hope Is Not A Strategy for Venture Capital Jim Breyer Scores Big With Disney's Marvel Acquisition Zany Job Hunting Techniques Simply Don't Work Sequoia Completes Its First VIPE In China Facebook Ratchets Up Its Seed Fund Study Questions UK Gov's Record in VC Greystripe Raises $2 Million from NBC Universal RSS Is Dead, So Is The RSS Fund Social Investing Interest Up, Tho Funding's Not Why Are VCs Hanging Up on Mobile? Big Changes at Battery Ventures Rock & A Hard Place: Cleantech Startup Suspends Drilling

Happy Labor Day Weekend! Behind KKR's Ugly Real Estate Bet: "As part of its restructuring, Warren Buffett is doing a dance on Capmark's grave." (DealJournal) Private Equity Waits Out the Feds: More problem banks and less FDIC money mean tough takeover rules could eventually be loosened. (BusinessWeek) Speaking of KKR: The firm was poised to earn a return on the sale of Sun Microsystems to Oracle, but anti-trust concerns have made that less likely. But Deal Journal believes Europe will not block the deal. (DJ) The Gates Are Down: Well, the bad news for Cerberus continues. The firm has apparently barred investors in two new hedge funds from withdrawing money for three years. (FT)

American Capital's private noteholders have "accelerated" on the firm, which means they basically demanded their money. The troubled lender/buyout firm has been in default of one of its credit lines since December. On its most recent quarterly update, the firm sounded less hopeful that it could reach an agreement with lenders than in the past. Not reaching an agreement has dire consequences-the firm could go bankrupt or it could issue a reverse stock split. But in addition to the acceleration notice, the firm announced its lenders had signed a forbearance agreement in which states the company will pay default interest on all of the notes back-dated to March 30, and pays the lenders a $22 million "make-whole" agreement. The agreement also states that the lenders cannot force the company into bankruptcy, nor will they sue the company to collect payment. Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus expressed confusion over the combination of acceleration and forbearance agreement. Wrote Stifel Nicolaus Analyst Greg Mason: "Why would the lenders "accelerate" if they have also reached a forbearance agreement?"