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peHUB First Read
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 * John Terrill: The moral imperative of investment banking * Larry Cheng: The tension between an optimistic CEO and a conservative CFO * Morning Call: U.S. futures point lower, London falls early, European shares slip on banks, the Nikkei loses 1% and tightening fears drop China and Hong Hong shares. * Micropayments and Subscriptions: How business models for startups are shifting * The men's NCAA tourney begins in just a few hours, and we've got our own pool going on (with prizes, of course). Get the sign-up info here. * Speaking of basketball, the hedgies crushed the PE pros in their annual charity game * Biz Insider goes beyond the NYC vs. Silicon Valley pissing match, and lists the 20 NYC startups you need to watch. * Scott Shane: America may benefit from policies that make it easier for certain immigrants to start businesses in this country (i.e., Startup Visa Act), but the basis should not be perceived differences in entrepreneurial aptitude between immigrants and the native-born. (as an aside: Has anyone seen a cogent argument against Startup Visa? I haven't) Read more »
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(Reuters) - U.S. regulators are set to hold a meeting on Monday with private equity executives and advisors as they review rules put in place last year to govern private investment in failed banks, sources familiar with the matter said. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp held a similar meeting over the summer before setting tough guidelines in August 2009 for private equity firms looking to invest in banks. The rules include requirements that private investors hold a higher capital level than bank buyers. This has dampened private equity deals in the sector, investors say. The guidelines were to be reviewed after six months, and the meeting to be held Monday afternoon is a part of that effort, the sources said. The list of attendees for the latest conference
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(Reuters) - Private equity firm Bridgepoint Capital Ltd, the largest shareholder of Safestore Holdings Plc (SAFE.L), said it planned to sell up to 32 million shares, or about half its stake in the British self-storage retailer. The shares represent about a 17 percent stake in Safestore, Bridgepoint said, adding that it would continue to hold at least 17.9 percent shares in Safestore after the deal. The investor said it would not sell further Safestore shares for 90 days from Thursday. Bridgepoint said the bookrunner for the placing is J.P Morgan Cazenove and that the placing price would be disclosed shortly. Safestore, which was listed initially in 1998, was taken private via a management led buyout for 39.8 million pounds ($61.0 million) by Chief Executive S
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Trada Opens Up To The Crowd, Announces VC Funding
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 The Boulder, Colo.-based company is focused on the paid search optimization space, and has created a crowd-sourced marketplace in which small and mid-sized businesses can get certified search experts to help improve their keyword campains. Read more »
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Greentech Musings on this Green St. Patty’s Day: It’s US vs UK
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 Thankfully, there are bloggers doing that comparison for me. Such is the case if you read this article by SolveClimate, an Internet news site that aims to cover climate news and analysis and promises to follow whether the “new U.S. administration under President Barack Obama can turn its promises about building a clean energy economy into effective governme...
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Bubble Fund Exits Improving, Says Secondary Buyer
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 Hans Swilden, founder of venture capital secondary investor Industry Ventures, estimates that today about half of his firm’s venture capital stakes are for funds closed in 1999 and 2000. This year he expects to invest in another 20 – and is likely to add even more the following year. Currently, Swilden says there are six companies in which Industry Ventures has stakes that are in registration for IPOs, including some founded during the dot-com boom. The firm also made money last week with the IPO of QuinStreet, a provider of online marketing services that first raised venture funding in 1999. Read more »
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peHUB Second Opinion 3.17
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Co-Investing with Lady Gaga: Hilco and Gordon Brothers, which bought Polaroid after a dramatic battle with Patriarch Partners, had an unusual coinvestor on the deal by the name of Stefani Germanotta aka, Lady Gaga. (NY Post)
KKR to buy Harley? If this rumour is true, I'd like to point out that a Harley take-private would mean private equity is responsible for the loss of yet another awesome stock ticker: HOG. The first, of course, was Apollo's buyout of Cedar Fair (Symbol: FUN.) (Reuters) Great, Great Quote: PR guru Mike Sitrick, the "spin doctor of restructuring," told the FT his clients range from "Thomas H. Lee to Tommy Lee." Awesome. (FT) Via PE Beat. Three Sins Against Innovation: In your enthusiasm to spur innovation, make sure you're not burning those who can provide it best. (Businessweek) Shia LeBeouf: The Wall Street 2 star said: "Wall Street is the most sex-drugs-and-rock-'n'-roll atmosphere that exists on the planet." (Daily Intel) Meanwhile: Paul Farrell says Oliver Stone's upcoming movie is an open of a great market crash in 2010. (MarketWatch) Read more »
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(Reuters) - Private equity firm Apax Partners has been talking with Polycom Inc (PLCM.O) to take the U.S. video conferencing company private for more than $3 billion, the Financial Times said. The news sent Polycom shares up 12 percent to $34.14, their highest since August 2007. They were trading up 9 percent at $33.25 Wednesday on Nasdaq. Apax has been in negotiations with Polycom since November and has been working towards making a formal offer, expected to be at around $37 a share, before the end of this month, the paper said. “If it’s a real bid, it’s a very generous offer,” Wells Fargo Securities analyst Jess Lubert said. “I would not be surprised to see them take it.” A deal could now prove unfeasible due to a surge i
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Skype, Dodgeball and Other Acquisition Disasters
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 That can take two major forms: The first is executives awarding themselves major bonuses for making deals go through. The second is manager demand for higher salaries that come with larger fiefdoms and more cubicle serfs. But there’s another school of thought blames executive hubris for synergy disappointments. The theory is that executives systematically over-estimate their ability to unlock the potential of corporate assets. They believe that they are superior managers than the schmoes running the acquisition target. Call it a crime of excessive self-esteem. Yet deals keep getting done. Read more »
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Lexington Partners Crosses $3 Billion Mark
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 As of last week, the firm had secured $2.378 billion in commitments from 91 US-based investors and $730.2 million in commitments from 48 overseas investors. Park Hill is serving as placement agent. Read more »
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Harley refused to comment on the market talk of a looming deal, which at least one analyst dis
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Odyssey Investment’s Quiet Packaging Deal
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 The New York-based private equity firm won the company in an auction run by BMO Capital, paying upwards of 7x Ebitda for the company, the people said. Currently, BMO is helping the firm arrange a financing package which includes a $53 million senior debt facility. That would give Peninsula Packaging a 2.5x to 3.6x debt-to-Ebitda ratio. Peninsula Packaging, ...
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - GMAC’s Residential Capital unit is attracting early buyer interest, including from BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) and Blackstone Group (BX.N), according to sources familiar with the matter. Others that could be interested in ResCap include investor Wilbur Ross, the sources said, declining to be named because these talks are private. A group of big funds had even put together a management team to explore a bid for ResCap, one of the sources said. GMAC, majority-owned by the U.S. government after multiple bailouts, has hired Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and Citigroup Inc (C.N) to advise it on a range of strategic issues, including alternatives for the mortgage business and repayment of the U.S. taxpayer, sources said. Any process to sell ResCap is sti
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peHUB First Read
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 * Justin Fox: What business should want out of financial regulatory reform * FINRA tells the SEC (.pdf) that it would be "delighted" to help regulate PE placement agents, per the SEC's request. This means that the proposed federal ban is all but history. * Morning Call: U.S. futures point higher, London rises early, European shares rally, the Nikkei hits 8-week closing high and strong days for both China and Hong Kong shares. * Mobile startup takes on drug counterfeiters * Gordon Brown tables new European PE/hedge fund regulations * Ho Nam: What's with all this talk of entrepreneurial failure? * Coming soon: A sitcom about life in Silicon Valley, written by Fake Steve Jobs and a former Seinfeld scribe. * David Crow: Canadian entrepreneurs need to take responsibility for their industry, not blame others for its failure. Read more »
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FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The owners of Cognis have launched a fresh campaign to sell the German maker of additives for cosmetics and detergents outright even as the firm prepares to go public, sources said. Permira and co-owner Goldman Sachs Capital Partners (GS.N), who turned down takeover offers as too low in 2006, are hoping to woo specialty chemical makers such as Lanxess (LXSG.DE) and Evonik to end their troubled investment in Cognis, the financial industry sources said. “A sale is now the more likely option,” one of the people said, adding that an IPO
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Groupon, Poggled, and Other Reasons VCs are Suddenly Traveling to Chicago These Days
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Private equity firm Mason Wells has held a strong first close on its third buyout fund. According to a regulatory filing, the growth equity firm has closed on $325 million in commitments from 18 investors. A source familiar with the situation said the fund has a target of $400 million with a hard cap of $500 million.
