I have issued exactly one piece of investment advice since the credit crunch began six weeks ago: Buy stock in publicly-traded companies that have already agreed to go private. One or two might sour, but the overall “index” will generate positive returns. If you did so, I accept thanks in the form of story leads and/or […]
Fundless equity sponsors are the ultimate gamblers in the private equity universe. Sourcing and vetting deals without any committed capital, lining up financial sponsors on a deal-by-deal basis, and paying out of pocket for office space and due diligence, they roll the dice with each transaction. “We have to make it work. Fundless sponsors live […]
Today’s top news is that a tentative agreement has been reached by the feuding Hatfields, McCoys, Dimons, Fulds, Langones and every other party involved in the Home Depot Supply sale. The original $10.3 billion price-tag has been knocked to $8.5 billion, with Home Depot expected to retain a 12.5% position. Three quick reactions: 1. The […]
[Monday update] It looks like negotiations on the Home Depot Supply sale will drag into the weekend, as the three-headed monster continues to bicker with itself. One head is Home Depot, which was the first to blink by entertaining the notion of a $1.2 billion price reduction. It seems that its entertainment is serious enough to be deemed an upper-crust dinner […]
I was on CNBC this morning to discuss how hedge funds are forming side vehicles to invest in public companies that already have agreed to go private. As I’ve been saying for over a month – almost all of these deals will get done, so such a strategy is smart (although would have been smarter […]
Turnaround firms have enough dry powder to support a major offensive. Now the question is whether the downturn they’ve been stockpiling for is finally at hand. Fund-raising by firms that take active roles in distressed situations, either as creditors or owners, has really gathered steam in the last few months. Together such firms have raised […]
Goldman Sachs is raising a $1 billion fund to buy “hung bridge” debt from leveraged buyouts, peHUB has learned. It is called GS Liquidity Partners III, and is being marketed with a two-year term, 1.25% management fee and 20% carried interest. Goldman Sachs and its employees are expected to contribute $100 million. The first GS […]
Big buyout firms exploit the tax code, use debt financing to vacuum cash out of portfolio companies, fire legions of workers, and they may actually endanger the public pension funds they claim to bolster. Oh, and it’s possible they contributed to the bridge collapse in Minnesota. That’s the case Andy Stern, president of the Service […]
I’ve been trying to get my head around something Tony James said during Monday’s Blackstone earnings call. He argued that the past few weeks have caused a PE market shakeout, which has knocked out a variety of peripheral players. The result, he said, would be less competition for deals. Sorry, but it just doesn’t make […]
“Please don’t report that I’ve joined Cerberus. I think I could be in big trouble if it appears in print. Maybe even fired…” That came from a private equity pro who had sent me a “change of address” email when moving to Cerberus, because I happened to be in his contacts list. Most private equity […]