Second Opinion

Book Smart vs. Street Smart: "White-collar fugitives often fail to escape the law because of what prosecutors and bounty hunters say is a lack of preparation for the rigors of life on the lam." Brilliant. (Bloomberg) Showdown!!! Venture Capitalists are about to turn in private equity players: "The venture capital industry is gearing up to fight against raising the tax on carried interest. A key battle is differentiating itself from the private equity industry." (Bits) Rate Shopping: The nerve. Moody's is complaining that TALF is causing issuers to "shop" for credit-ratings, or seek the highest ratings with the lowest standards, according to Moody's Corp. (Bloomberg) Forced Default: Clear Channel's lenders want a forced default. Ouch. (FT) Closer Look: "The Worrying Wall of Debt" (The Deal) Movie Stars: They've casted a man to play Bernie Madoff in an upcoming movie. (Cityfile)

Bummer: How does the busted Rio-Chinalco deal hurt Blackstone Group? As advisors to the deal, they drop nine spots on global M&A ranking without it. (Deal Journal) Made Up His Mind: Roberto Cavalli finally decided to sell a stake to a buyout firm. (WSJ) This is a Problem: Dennis Berman does the math on the U.S. taxpayers' investment in GM and concludes that, short of a magic trick, we won't be getting that money back. Pretty much ever. (WSJ) Reviews: Here's an in-depth review of Pete Peterson's new memoir. (Reuters) MBA Report: "In year of unprecedented market downturn, seniors flee finance and consulting for education and health." (Harvard Crimson)

The Tale Of Two Buyouts: Further evidence of "how private equity groups are struggling to keep control of companies bought during the credit bubble and providing clues on whether they will succeed." (FT) Buyout Books: Towerbrook Capital doubled its money on its investment in celebrity show company Jimmy Choo. Now there's a book that details how the small couture business rose to become an "international sensation." (WSJ) Backing into it: WSJ breaks down just how big of a deal Delphi is for Platinum Equity: Platinum recently closed on a $2.75 billion private-equity fund. Typically a buyout fund will invest no more than 15% of a fund into a single deal, so not to concentrate its risk. Using that benchmark, Platinum's maximum capital commitment would be about $413 million. (WSJ) Won't Refi Again: Debt refinancings on buyout-owned companies are hitting a brick wall. (DJ) Bankers in Low Wage Jobs? How mortifying. "Carlos Araya used to order lobster, filet mignon and $200 bottles of red wine at the Palm Restaurant in midtown Manhattan. Now, he seats customers at its Tribeca branch." (WSJ)

Advice to New MBAs: Mean Street says "Hang in there, baby." (Deal Journal) Web 3.0? As Internet evolves, profit is still the missing factor. (Reuters) Great Quotes: From Kara Swisher's overview of the All Things Digital conference on the idea of Web 3.0: "Because whatever name you want to slap onto what's happening, the pace of change does not wait to be defined." (WSJ) You Love Acronyms: Here is a guide to TARP-y acronyms, including the RAT Board, SNAP, and LUST Recovery. (WSJ) Wow: How one car dealership ran up $40 billion in debts. (Reuters)

HIPOs: As a follow-up to Tim Draper's "prublic" idea, here's another IPO-alternative, the Hybrid IPO. (Bloomberg) Really, It's Bad Over There: The finger pointing over NY's pension fund's performance is flaring. (Dealbook) "You're a Disgrace:" That's what Mike Bloomberg told a reporter who dare question his run for a third term, now that the economy is showing signs of recovery. (Clusterstock) Michael Moore: He's got some ideas for the future of General Motors. (Michael Moore)

Flagrantly Thumbing His Nose: Steve Rattner's "lavish, $15 million summer home in the Lambert's Cove area of West Tisbury on Martha's Vineyard" is causing a furor with his neighbors, apparently. (New York Post) Mixed Metaphors: Peter Lattman agrees with me that private equity firms use way too many metaphors. Or maybe they just spend too much time talking about themselves. (Deal Journal) Annex Angst: LPs don't like annex funds. Understandably so. (The Deal) WSJ Weekend Headlines: Silicon Valley is Girding for a new Antitrust Regime and A Private Equity Bid for BankUnited is key for the future of buyouts in banking.

Clear Channel Bankruptcy? NY Post reports that the company is in early stage discussions with lenders about a pre-pack Chapter 11. (NY Post) Comeback? The last two weeks of equity issuance have been on par with the past four months. (Thomson Reuters) Carlyle in MENA: The firm is close to closing a Middle Eastern deal this year. (WSJ) Yikes: Sullivan & Cromwell is realllly cutting back on its summer program. (Above the Law)

Dispatch: Some private equity discussions from ACG in Las Vegas. (Dealscape) Loan To Own: The story of KKR's Masonite. (FT) Cramer Versus Stewart: The battle may not be over. (Wall Street Folly) The Bidding War Continues: Well Vista has sweetened its offer yet again for SumTotal. (RTT) See more background on the deal here. Sounds Familiar: VCs ignore business plans. (Dealbook) A month ago Joanna wrote something similar.

It Begins: Oregon plans to use the New York pension fund scandal as a way to push back on fees it pays to buyout funds and placement agents. (Oregon Business News) In Denial? Despite reports to the contrary (FT), Eversheds does not believe there will be an ‘exodus" of investors from private equity. "The private equity industry has been around for over 50 years and as such will not be materially impacted by the relatively small number of Limited Partners (LPs) that are likely to withdraw from the private equity space." (Eversheds) The World is Not Flat: Cross border deals are more often disastrous than not, Dealzone suggests. Chrysler and Fiat are about to find out. (Dealzone) Meanwhile: Public PE investors are showing signs of confidence. (Financial News) First! While Blackstone and KKR have basically said they want nothing to do with PPIP, reports show that Blackrock and PIMCO will be the first to take part. (CNBC)

Get Funded: What types of innovation and invention might attract funding dollars in the downturn? (BusinessWeek) Vindication: The FT points to the secondary market issues we've been writing about, including negative premiums. They've called private equity a "trap," but didn't allude to the real trap (US safe harbor laws). (FT) Tax Man: How Obama's tax plan hurts private equity-and we don't mean carried interest, we're talking about debt. (Deal Journal) Stock Analysis: TPG made money on J. Crew, did you? (Investopedia)