Erin Griffith

All Equity: In one of the largest deals of the year, Apax plans to take Bankrate private with all equity for $571 million. (Bloomberg) Poor Harman: Their rumoured takeover offer turned out to be fiction, which is even worse than the real offer that fell through back in ‘07. Beware unknown Mideast investors bearing big LBO premiums. (Deal Journal) Which College's Graduates Make the Most Money? Hint: It's not Harvard, Stanford, or MIT (Atlantic Monthly) Conference Call Hijinks: Do these things need security? A man posing as a Piper Jaffray analyst infiltrated Western Union's conference call and cursed at the CEO. (Bloomberg)

Now that the weather has finally warmed up, plenty of M&A bankers are hoping the market for deals will as well. We’ve noticed a few more targets coming to market in recent weeks and have compiled a list of some of those we’ve come across. Our sources are various news reports and the Buyouts “Seeking Buyers” list. The following companies (among many others) are either formally considering “strategic alternatives,” reported to be on the block or are rumored to be in sales talks. For prior lists, see below, and send any additions my way. P&G is in late stage talks with Cerberus Capital Management and Warner Chilcott to sell its prescription drug business, according to the Wall Street Journal. Yahoo is considering the sale of Yahoo Small Business and HotJobs.

About nine months ago, I posted a story called "Five Things You Need To Know About Debt Today," based on conversations I'd had with middle market lenders. I decided to revisit that list o' debt trends today to see what, if anything, has changed since November 2008. Here they are: 1. Sponsors are raising captive mezzanine funds to finance their own deals. With mezzanine so expensive, sponsors began thinking, "Why give away the upside to someone else? Why not have no-contingency financing at their fingertips with our own mezz fund?" Today: This is no longer the case. Firms like Insight Equity have succeeded in raising their own mezzanine pools, but the current outlook has tabled mezzanine capital as a priority in lieu of focusing on a much rarer commodity: senior debt. Besides, 2008 mezzanine funds raised a record-breaking $25 billion in 2008 while deal flow continued to shrink.

After yesterday's post on HM Capital's investment in organic food business Earthbound Farm, I spoke with HM partner Andrew Rosen for more color on the industry, his firm's investment thesis and the company's plans for growth. To recap, HM Capital invested an undisclosed amount of capital into Earthbound Farm, securing $135 million in debt funding from RBC Capital Markets. The stake size was not disclosed, but HM Capital historically acquires majority positions. How did HM Capital find the company? What's attractive about a farming business? We've been investing in food for around 20 years. We've done close to $6 billion worth of deal value and across a host of sectors. Food is something that's core for us. It's also something we're very selective about, but we get excited about the sector. Earthbound Farm is by far the market leader within organics. We were looking at the value-added produce sector for going on five years. We've been in a dialogue with Earthbound Farm for over 2 years.

Scoops: Blackstone is reportedly eying an Asian real estate fund operated by Merrill Lynch. (Deal) Via Abnormal Returns: I haven't read this yet, but I suspect it would be a worthwhile read for both small cap investors and middle market buyout funds. It's a Brandes Institute white paper from April called Is U.S. Small Cap a Viable Alternative to U.S. Private Equity? (SSRN via AR) Spoiler Alert: No. Do good students become good entrepreneurs? (You're The Boss) Recession Not Vicey Enough: Even though the S&P is up more than 43% for the year, the Vice Fund is only up 24%. (Zerobeta)

Even if the public markets won't forgive you, it's a good bet private equity will. Take Robert Nardelli, who earned himself plenty of criticism in recent years by the egregious $210 million “golden parachute” he received upon resignation as head of Home Depot. The paycheck earned him a spot as one of the highest-paid executives with the worst-performing companies. He further solidified his public enemy creds as CEO of Chrysler—on his watch, the company’s sales fell 30% last year and 45% in the first quarter of this year, leading, as we all know, to one of the year's largest bankruptcies. Yet he still has a career, thanks to private equity. Today Cerberus Capital Management hired him as CEO of its operating and advisory business.

HM Capital Partners has invested in Earthbound Farm, a San Juan Bautista, Calif.-based organic farm, peHUB has learned. Terms of the deal were not available but the company has secured $135 million in debt funding from RBC Capital Markets, a sum that totals around 1.9x to 2.9x leverage, according to reports published by two debt providers. The facility has a spread of 550 and 3% Libor floor. Dallas-based HM Capital joins the business’s existing partners, growers Mission Ranch and Tanimura & Antle, as well as founders Drew and Myra Goodman, as shareholders. The company’s President Charles Sweat will assume the role of CEO. The stake size was not disclosed, but HM Capital has historically made majority stake investments. HM Capital plans to help the company grow via add-on acquisitions of other organic food companies. “We see tremendous opportunities for Earthbound Farm to leverage its brand, organic acre base and farming expertise to introduce additional organic products, said Andrew Rosen, a partner with HM Capital.

The Internet is Dead (As An Investment): James Altucher can live all day on the internet, but he tells clients to "run for the hills" when investing in it. (DJ) Chronicling Facebook Without Facetime: A critical look at the new book "The Accidental Billionaires." Best moment in the book? When the readers learn that Zuckerberg's business cards say "I'm CEO - Bitch." (NYT) PE + Banks: In the South, Navigation Capital Partners and others are on the prowl for bank investments. (Atlanta Business Journal) PE-Backed Bust: Wilton Holdings, the maker of food decorating equipment, backed by GTCR, was forced into bankruptcy by a creditor owned by Towerbrook Capital. That's a recent deal which always confused me given the narrow, narrow narrow niche served by Wilton... (Reuters) 80s Revival: The Pac-Man bid (where a target turns around and makes a bid for its suitor) is back. (Reuters)

It seems private equity investors have finally listened to our endless harping--they're taking a stand against general partner impropriety. Today, two separate sets of limited partners (LPs) took action against their GPs: In Munich, buyout fund Nordwind Capital's investors blocked its deal for a fertility clinic roll-up play, claiming the deal is off-strategy. The firm decided to cancel the deal rather than force the resistant LPs into default (note: all of this happens back in February, but it only came out today). And, in the U.S., investors in two Citigroup infrastructure funds have voted to ban them from making future investments, citing a key man provision and several failed deals. These actions, while headline-grabbing, are just a piece of some of the behind-the-scenes LP uprisings. Cash-strapped or not, private equity investors are actually using this tough fundraising time to negotiate for better terms in their fund documents (LPAs).

Here's a look at the past two weeks of scoops, opinions and analysis from the peHUB blogging team. Facebook's London Sprawl Beginning to P.O. Neighbors [Social Networking] Silicon Valley Smackdown Over Twitter Leak and Its Handling [Social Networking] Amazing: Comic Dave Chappelle Tries Last-Minute Show in Portland; 4,000 Twitterers Crash Scene [Social Networking] The Curiously Unsociable CEO of Social Networking Giant LinkedIn [Social Networking] Google's Eric Schmidt: I Might Step Off Apple's Board. Eh, or Not. [Decisions Decisions] Oops! No website for Andreessen Horowitz [Ironies] Do "Operators" Make The Best VCs? [Midas List] Mark Cuban to peHUB: You're Wrong on This One [Impropriety] Mark Cuban Cleared of Insider Trading Charges [Impropriety] Steven Brill Tries Clearing the Air - and His Reputation - Around Clear Pass Debacle [Shrinking Violet] More Clarity on the Verified Identity Shutdown [Scoops]