Erin Griffith

Frothy IPO Payday? Get in line. PE pros are going to have to wait it out. (Reuters) Yelp Grows Up: Fortune on Yelp's recent spate of changes, emphasizing that the changes are NOT "as a sign the company is capitulating to critics." (CNN Money) Going To Be a STAR: Bob Wigley, a former Merrill Lynch banker, is going to Hollywood. (Deal Journal) Two Things: In case you were away from the internet all day today, you may have missed the explosion of coverage (and arteries) over KFC's new Double Down sandwich. (It features fried chicken patties as buns.) Here's a review of it. And here's a letter to the CEO of PE-backed Yum! Brands (KFC's owner) requesting the company market the disgusting 1000-calorie sandwich ("a troubling symbol of corporate irresponsibility in the face of America's obesity epidemic") the same way cigarette companies market their products. Meaning, keep ‘em away from the kids. (Letter) Headline Speaks For Itself: Finally, a Broadway-Style Song About Credit Default Swaps. (NY Mag)

Andrew Bohutinsky has left his position as a partner with Lincoln International to launch a new private equity firm called Desco Capital, peHUB has learned. The Columbus, Ohio-based firm is backed by Desco Corp., a privately held group of 12 manufacturing and industrial technology businesses. Desco Corp. will provide the private equity firm with more than $50 million in new equity capital for acquisitions. The firm will focus on acquiring underperforming companies of up to $10 million in Ebitda in industries such as manufacturing, industrial services, and specialty distribution. Its key differentiator is its ability to leverage the operating expertise of Desco Corp.'s executives, Bohutinsky said. Desco Corp was founded in 1966 and is owned by Arnold "Al" Siemer.

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. Aker USA, may sell Aker Philadelphia Shipyard ASA and Aker Drilling USA. (BusinessWeek) Norilsk Nickel is considering selling a control stake in Stillwater Mining Co., according to American Metal Market. (AMM) Palm is seeking buyers after a week of rumours, Bloomberg reported. The company hired Goldman Sachs to shop it. HTC Corp. and Lenovo Group are two potential bidders.

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 Is the Media Putting Too Much Stock in SharesPost? Avoiding Pneumonia When An Investor Catches A Cold Hiring an MBA This Summer? Join Our Desperate Intern Drive The PEC Doth Protest Too Much? Prosper for Startups? MicroVentures Forms P2P Angel Marketplace Deal Scoop: Advent Selling Shoes for Crews Exclusive: Catterton Investing in Uppy's Investors Like Controversial Site Unvarnished, Give it $500K, with More Likely to Follow Soon Papa Murphy's Deal Garners Boom-Era Multiple With Credit Crunch-Era Financing Yelp to Small Business Owners: How's This? Is This Better? The Future of Venture Capital Is Gross CIT Sells Edgeview Back to Partners Laundry Room Chronicles: Where Are The Private Equity Exits? Housatonic Raises, Closes Fund Five ConAgra In Talks To Buy Elan Nutrition from Sun Capital Lex Gets Lazy on PE Fee Story So Much for Net Neutrality

Secrets Not Safe at a Pizza Place: Wow, this Reuters blogger overheard some details of the Galleon case via a consultation with a priest at a pizza place. Shoulda stuck to the confessional. (Reuters) Bro-ing Down: Alec and Tom Gores have joined forces to take on Miramax. Done It Again: The Wall Street Journal broke a big BIG story today on alcohol. Heard of it? It leads to "colorful" behavior. (Dealbreaker) IPOs Are Back. AGAIN. (WSJ) "Hot Girls:" Still love Wall Street. Here's a list of who showed up at Fashion meets Finance last night. (Deal Journal)

Deutsche Bank is raising $400 million toward a new fund of funds vehicle, according to a regulatory filing. The entity, called DB Private Equity & Credit Opportunities Select Fund, has closed on $36 million in commitments from 58 investors. Earlier this week Deutsche Bank announced it had consolidated its private equity asset management business, which includes funds of funds, secondaries and co-investments, into an entity called DB Private Equity. The business segment manages 6 billion euros.

Econoblogging: Which media companies will find their revenue streams threatened by the shift in the financial media landscape? (Naked Capital) Anti-Wall Street Film: Independent filmmaker Danny Schecter would like to remind Wall Street that the disdain for bankers "is not coming from a bunch of lefties in some basement in the East Village. It is coming from mainstream America." (Deal Journal) Debunk: The myth of the beautiful investment banker. (eFinancial News) Dire Warning: Guy Hands, chairman of Terra Firma, says Britain faces a decade of pain, social unrest and unemployment (Guardian) Are You Paying Taxes? You're in the minority. The recession and new tax credits have nearly half of US households paying no federal income tax. (AP) Beating Back the Vultures: A new law passed on Thursday will limit the ability of so-called vulture funds to sue some of the world's poorest countries in British courts for full repayment of debts. (Reuters)

The auction for Shoes for Crews, a non-slip shoe company being sold by Advent International, has garnered at least 10 first round bids from private equity suitors, a source familiar with the deal said. The bids were in excess of $250 million, which represents an Ebitda multiple of high 7x to low 8x. The auction […]

As usual, we have a week’s worth of ratings actions on the debt of LBO-backed companies from ratings agencies Moody’s Investors Service. This week three companies were a mix: one bankruptcy, one downgrade, and one outlook imrovement. Company: Electrical Components International Sponsor: Francisco Partners Action: Moody's lowered the company’s probability of default rating and the corporate family rating to Ca from Caa3 following its filing for protection under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code on March 30, 2010. Highlight: The last rating action was on January 6, 2009 at which time Moody's downgraded ECI's corporate family rating to Caa3 from Caa2.

Rumourtown: Business Insider is reporting that Yahoo wants to buy Foursquare for $100 million. Somehow I'm skeptical. And here's one blog post that agrees with my skepticism. Private Equity's Merger Vanguard: Funds of Funds are bulking up. (WSJ) Everybody Panic! There was a zany power outage today during Alan Greenspan's testimony. "Several gasps were heard." Sounds like a scene from a cheesy murder mystery. (Dealbook) MBAs with a Social Conscience: More business school applicants say they want jobs in sustainability and social enterprise. The implications are potentially huge. (BusinessWeek) Dimon:Schwarzenegger::Blankfein:DeVito What really gets Jamie Dimon's goat? Being lumped in with Lloyd Blankfein. (Dealbreaker)