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Q&A On M&A: Roark’s Steve Romaniello Talks Restaurant Deals
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 The Atlanta-based buyout firm looking both for new restaurant acquisitions and add-on to its FOCUS Brands platform, which already includes Carvel, Cinnabon, Moe's Southwest Grill, Schlotzsky's, Seattle's Best International and McAlister's Deli. Roark's $1 billion fund, which closed in 2008, is 30% deployed. I spoke with Steve Romaniello, a managing director with the firm, on being "on-trend," bidding for cheese, deal multiples, and zigging while everyone else is zagging. What's the firm's outlook for restaurant performance this year? Will sales improve? We think its going to be another difficult year. Not quite as bad as last year, but we don't expect to see meaningful improvement in many segments until we start seeing employment growth again. And no one has any idea when that will be. Read more » |
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“The Bachelor” Dumped by Facebook Employee
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 It was a devasting turn in the “journey” of limo-business-owning pilot, Jake Pavelka, who stars in the show’s seventh season. Fedotowsky was among the final four contestants chosen by Pavelka. In fact, she broke the news to him on the ... |
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Invision Capital is raising up to $50 million for its debut fund, according to a regulatory filing. The Chicago-based firm plans to focus on buyout investments in the lower middle-markets. Invision’s principals include: Robert Castillo, a founder partner of Valor Equity Partners; Thomas Harrison, a co-founder of Diamond Creek Capital; and John Devaney, also a co-founder of Diamond Creek Capital. The firm already has secured more than $15 million in commitments. www.invisioncapitalgroup.com Read more » |
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New Fund Performance Data from UTIMCO
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 But Oregon and Washington are not the gold standard. That would be the University of Texas Investment Management Co. (UTIMCO), which seems to operate on one of those calendars that begins being sold around Halloween. You know, the ones with November, December and then all of next year… Yesterday I asked UTIMCO for its most current PE performance data, and it sent a file that includes numbers through the end of November 2009. That makes it the most current sheet out there, and I’ve posted it after the jump. I’ve also posted UTIMCO’s performance data through November 2008, for the sake of comparison. Read more » |
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Banks are certainly not lending “with all the bells and whistles… that we saw in 2007 and before”, Black said, at one of the private equity industry’s largest conferences, Super Return International. He was referring to the little or no covenant features seen in past deal |
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LONDON (Reuters) - Pension fund ATP, which manages 609 billion Danish crowns ($112 billion), is set to invest 1 billion crowns a year in hedge funds as part of a plan to create an “all weather” portfolio, the fund’s chief executive said. Lars Rohde told Reuters on Monday the Danish Labour market pension scheme also planned to double its exposure to private equity. From 2012, the scheme, which returned 8.5 percent in 2009, will increase its hedge fund and private equity allocation as it implements a long-term strategy aimed at achieving returns independent of market conditions — what Rohde described as an “all weather portfolio.” “We have a plan that going forward we should contribute approximately one billion a year,” |
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MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian conglomerate GMR Infrastructure (GMRI.BO) is in advanced talks with private equity firms to raise about 15 billion rupees ($322 million) for its power unit, the Economic Times reported, citing the group’s chairman. G.M. Rao told the newspaper the deal would be closed in the next two weeks, but did not disclose the names of the private equity firms that would provide the funds. The group is also talking to some funds to raise $400 million for its airports division, the paper said, citing Rao. In December, sources told Reuters GMR is in advanced talks with Singapore investment firm Temasek [TEM.UL] to raise $150 million by selling shares in its power unit. [ID:n |
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LPs’ $400 Million Vote of Confidence: Redpoint Ventures Raises Fund IV
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 No one is complaining about Yang’s favorite pastime anymore. Tonight, Redpoint announced it has just closed a $400 million fund, reward in part for a number of the envy-inducing exits it saw last year, at the height of the worst recession in d... |
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Afraid to Lose Money? Congratulations, You Have a Healthy Amygdala (or You’re a VC)
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 Published by scientists at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and at University College of London, the research centered on two women with Urbach-Wiethe, a disease that damages the amygdala, an almond-shaped part of the brain linked to feelings of fear and aggression. While it’s generally the case that Read more » |
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Monday said Champion Enterprises Inc (CJHBQ.PK), a maker of factory-built homes and modular buildings, could go ahead with an auction of its assets next month. Champion, which sought bankruptcy protection in November, has said it wants to complete the sale process no later than March 18. Judge Kevin Gross of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington, on Monday approved bid procedures for an auction, according to court papers. A group of the company’s secured creditors including its bank lenders and investment firms Ce |
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peHub Second Opinion 2.8
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Wall Street's Rising Stars: Ten to watch in ‘10. (Barron's)
Q&A: View from the top with Tony James. (FT) New Investors Topple Masters of the Universe: Asian sovereign wealth funds and venture capitalists, rather than big firms of the past, were the most active investors last year (Wealth Bulletin) Update: The Kleen Energy plant explosion has claimed five identified casualties. The company, backed by Energy Investors Fund, won Goldman Sachs a Deal of the Year award from Project Finance. (Courant.com) Watch Your Backs Guys: Four pensioners have appeared in a German court charged with kidnapping a financial adviser they blamed for making rotten US property investments. (BBC) Tired of Complaining Customers? Ban them! That's what Tim Horton's did! (CBC News) Read more » |
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More on Obama’s Proposal To Eliminate Small Biz Cap Gains
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 Many of our readers wondered what those words meant, exactly. So we looked for answers from Steven Franklin, head of the tax and venture capital and private equity funds practice at Gunderson Dettmer in Silicon Valley: Read more » |
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M&A Monday
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 PLC Systems Inc., an OTC-traded medical device maker has hired investment advisory firm Natixis Bleichroeder to help it raise capital and examine "strategic alternatives." German cable provider Kabel Deutschland is for sale. Carlyle, BC Partners and Advent are currently in the bidding pool. Miramax is for sale, and Lionsgate is interested in it. That could change the bidding dynamics of the auction for MGM. Iteration Energy, a listed Canadian oil and gas explorer, initiated a process to explore strategic alternatives. The company engaged FirstEnergy Capital Corp and Scotia Waterous Inc as co-financial advisors to assist it in this process. Hanmi Financial Corporation's Board of Directors authorized the Company's management team to explore a broad range of strategic alternatives. Cappello Capital Corp. has been engaged as the Company's financial advisor in this process. Hanmi is parent to Hanmi Bank, which provides multi-ethnic banking services in L.A. Read more » |
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Illinois TRS Gets “Bold” About Bribery
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Last month, the Teachers' Retirement System of Illinois issued an RFP to handle legal work related to the system's private market investments. Like other Illinois TRS requests for proposal, it included the following line:
Unlike other system RFPs, however, this request put the warning in bold (see bottom of page 8). Seems to be something Illinois TRS believes the private markets need made particularly clear... Read more » |
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LONDON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - A trio of private equity firms, Advent, BC Partners and Carlyle, are set to submit bids for German cable provider Kabel Deutschland, four people familiar with the matter said. Buyouts are finding favour while market volatility undermines plans for public share sales. The business could sell for up to 5 billion euros ($6.8 billion), bankers said, in what could be the largest leveraged buyout in more than two years as private equity firms look to put cash to work. Banks will offer up to four billion euros of leverage in support of a deal, one of the sources said. “(Bidders) need 30 percent equity … an IPO is highly unlikely now thanks to the good offers,” one of the people said. Kabel Deutschland is also weighing |
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 Craton Equity Partners and Espírito Santo Ventures co-led the round, and were joined by return backers Element Partners, Blue Run Ventures, OnPoint Technologies and Kuwait's National Technology Enterprises Company. Read more » |
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