Erin Griffith

A Little Reassurance: Limited partners need more certainty - and want some cash back, too. (Breakingviews) On The Goldman Sachs Front: Lloyd Blankfein's wife apparently missed yesterday's memo about high-profile spending. (Page 6) Cool Infographs: How Americans spend their days. (NY Times) Column One: Columnist Rolfe Winkler feels betrayed by Warren Buffett, the hypocrite. (Reuters Blogs) Column Two: Columnist Neil Unmack says that private equity deals won't be bailed out by the reviving high-yield bond world. (Reuters)

Trian Capital Corp., the investment fund run by Nelson Peltz, has dropped plans to raise a new corporate debt fund through a public offering worth $300 million, Bloomberg reported.The company filed to take the blind pool fund public in May. According to an industry source, the plan did not fail because of the market’s lack […]

American Capital reported its second quarter earnings today and they weren’t pretty. The business development corp. (BDC) lost $547 million in the quarter and provided no update on its default on $2.3 billion in credit. It has been in default for around five months, and continues negotiations with lenders over resolving the default. I listened to its 90 minute earnings call with CEO Malon Wilkus—highlights after the jump...

This year the bonuses will be distributed in blood diamonds: I love it when satire becomes reality. Weeks ago the New Yorker published a mock internal letter from Lloyd Blankfein to Goldman Sachs employees, asking them to cut down on conspicuous consumption in light of the firms egregious bonuses. This week Blankfein does just that, according to the New York Post. At It Again: That eternal thorn in private equity's side, Andy Stern, has filed a big private equity diss in the Wall Street Journal's op-ed pages, focusing on bank investments.(WSJ) They're Already Longer Than Most: "Fundraising cycles for large private equity houses are likely to lengthen as the slow pace of investment leaves many with unspent capital from previous funds, said the head of HarbourVest's fund of funds business in Europe." (Reuters) Pundit War: Its blogger versus talking head. Charlie Gasparino of CNBC says Felix Salmon (of Reuters) has a "bizarre, on-again, off-again obsession" with him. Appalling that Salmon can't even be consistently obsessed with a CNBC anchor. (Business Insider)

Dallas-based turnaround firm Insight Equity has closed on $361 million for its second fund, a $500 million effort it entered the market with almost a year ago, according to a regulatory filing. If that sounds like a teeny tiny improvement over the firm’s last close, that’s because it is. Just a month ago, Insight Equity closed on $312.5 million. If this seems like an insignificant development to report, that’s because it is.

Private equity has been dead, dead, dead in 2009, and the industry can thank the lack of available debt financing (among other things). However, some middle market firms have found regional banks willing to fill the void left by wounded senior debt providers. In recent months, debt providers like Keybanc Capital Markets, SunTrust, Fifth Third Bank, Union Bank and Tri-State Capital Bank have stepped up their efforts in providing senior loans for sponsor-backed transactions. With the traditional providers of capital, like CIT, GE Capital, and the bulge bracket banks on the sidelines. The regional lenders weren't as active in the LBO business over the past three to four years and haven't been hurt by "market excesses," so now is their time, according to lenders I spoke with. For example, Keybanc Capital Markets has launched efforts to expand its financial sponsor coverage, hiring former CIT Managing Director Thomas N. King as a managing director within its financial sponsors group

The Fee War: "Unlike many private-equity firms which have reduced fees, hedge funds aren't budging without concessions such as longer lock-up periods and commitments of at least $100 million, according to money managers and consultants." (Bloomberg) Rewarding Bad Actors: "If you aren't outraged, you haven't been paying attention." (Paul Krugman) The truth about grit: "Modern science builds the case for an old-fashioned virtue - and uncovers new secrets to success." ( Boston.com) Tarnished Brand: Well Matt Tiabbi and others seemed to have succeeded. According to a study conducted by the Financial Times, Goldman Sachs' brand and reputation have been "tarnished." (FT) That group of "others" includes Zero Hedge according to Wall Street Cheat Sheet. Back and Forth: Seeking Alpha's Robert Solomon is bearish on private equity, so he naturally disagrees with Economist's hopeful article from last week. (Seeking Alpha)

Here's your daily gossip fix: Page Six spotted Steve Schwarzman over the weekend partying with his wife and two friends in the style of a certain racy teen pop group. The gossip column reports (via Daily Intel): "BLACKSTONE billionaire Stephen Schwarzman staying cool at VIP Room in St. Tropez while his wife, Christine, and two blond friends, Michelle Herbert and Gina de Franco, danced together like the Pussycat Dolls." Maybe Steve is thinking of one-upping Henry Kravis, whose firm now owns the rights to such pop hits as "Who Let the Dogs Out" and "Livin' La Vida Loca." We now return to your regular private equity programming.

Buyout bosses have IPO fever, and last week's frenzied news cycle confirmed it. Today the Financial Times jumped on the exit-story bandwagon with its own version of the KKR/Dollar General story. On that note, we'd like to add two more potential IPO candidates to our list of 15 from last week. 16. Dollarama (Bain Capital) I don't know how I overlooked this one, but this Canadian discount retailer must be performing on par with Dollar General. Bain Capital took over the company in 2004, when the firm purchased an 80% stake for $850 million. The company just reported its first quarter earnings for fiscal 2010 and they're looking strong: "For the 13-week period ended May 3, 2009, Dollarama Group L.P. recorded sales of $273.4 million, a 15.5% increase from $236.8 million the prior year. Comparable store sales rose 7.5% over the same quarter last year, lifted in part by 4.0% increase in average transaction size, as well as a 3.5% increase in store traffic."

More PE Fraud: P.E. Manager Helped Partner Loot Firm Coffers (Fin Altnernatives) More Media Buyouts: Shed Media is in sale talks with private equity. (Guardian) Rants: A woman named Janet Tavakoli is asking: Where Were Drama Pundits [Whitney, Taleb and Gasparino] When It Mattered? (Tavakoli Structured Finance via Dealbreaker) Learning from Private Equity: Strategic buyers are picking up on the "reverse termination fee" trend started by private equity pros in the dealmaking boom. (Deal)