Elevation Partners, the private equity firm that famously counts Irish rock star Bono among its co-founders, sold 5.2 million of its Facebook shares (or 13% of its stake) for $198 million as part of Facebook’s IPO on Friday.

The private equity group co-founded by Irish rock star Bono has approached investors seeking $1 billion (629.5 million pounds) for its second fund, writes Reuters. Elevation Partners invests in the media, entertainment and technology industries. The firm is hitting the fundraising trail as Facebook, its most high-profile investment, prepares for a $5 billion initial public [...]

Shares of Yelp rocket 60% in their first day of trade. Is this the rebirth of the IPO market?

Elevation is talking to current LPs about a mid-market growth equity fund, sources tell peHUB.

If Yelp is valued at $14 per share, Benchmark’s shares would be worth $163M, Bessemer’s would be worth $163M and Elevation’s would be worth $118M.

Yelp joined the parade of Internet companies angling toward the public market by unveiling plans for a $100 million IPO and bringing a potential payday to backers Bessemer Venture Partners, Benchmark Capital and Elevation Partners. The IPO market for established Internet companies is heating up again, at least for bigger name players, such as Groupon [...]

Too busy to keep up with your reading this week? No worries. We’ve got you covered. Here are the top 10 posts that garnered the most unique pageviews from regular readers from Nov. 7 to 11.

ONE: Here’s How VCs Did on Groupon Investment of ‘Like a Billion Dollars’ – by Lawrence Aragon
TWO: Top 10 U.S. Buyout and Mezz Fundraisings YTD - by Angela Sormani
THREE: Where Groupon Shares Go from Here? This List Gives a Hint – by Connie Loizos
FOUR: Slideshow: Top 10 Global Cleantech Funds Raised YTD – by Angela Sormani
FIVE: Silicon Valley Is A Multi-Inning Game, Relationships Are How You Play – by Ben Smith
SIX: Seven Terrible Startup Names, and One Really Great New One (subscribers only) – by Connie Loizos
SEVEN: VCs Are Working Hard on Job-Related Startups (slideshow) – by Joanna Glasner
EIGHT: Scoop: Elevation Partners Looks to Raise up to $1.9B for Growth Fund – by Luisa Beltran
NINE: Up to Half of PE General Partnerships Could Disappear in Next Five Years: Report – by Luisa Beltran
TEN: Hicks Muse Successor Struggles With Media Deals; Brodsky Gone – by Bernard Vaughan

Elevation Partners, the PE firm that sports Bono as a co-founder, is expected to begin formally raising a second fund soon, five sources tell peHUB. With offices in New York and San Francisco, Elevation is currently “unofficially” marketing to LPs, placement sources say. Officials for Elevation declined comment. Elevation is expected to seek a smaller [...]

Private equity may not be the last great hope for AOL. In fact, it may be no hope at all.

According to a story last week from Bloomberg News, buying AOL would be a cheap way for a PE firm to get online. AOL could sell for about $1.5 billion, according to an analyst cited in the story. Such an amount would be in line with the 41% premium paid in takeovers greater than $500 million.

The story didn’t name any PE firms that are or would be interested….

Time to catch up on the blog posts and news items that your peers found most interesting on peHUB this week. Following are the top 10 posts that garnered the most pageviews from regular readers from July 25 to July 29. (We did a separate list for the week’s most popular slideshows.) This week’s hot topics include David Lowe leaving the San Francisco buyout shop he co-founded; Elevation’s Roger McNamee announcing plans to get into seed investing; the sale of fried chicken restaurant Bojangles’; and strong interest among buyout shops to buy brokerage Morgan Keegan.
1. Co-Founder Has Left San Fran Firm, by Bernard Vaughan
2. McNamee Promises to Make Seed Investments from Buyout Shop Elevation Partners (subscribers only), by Mark Boslet
3. The Mystery of Bojangles’s New York Store Is Solved, by Luisa Beltran
4. Blackstone, Carlyle Among Bidders for Morgan Keegan, by Paritosh Bansal and Megan Davies, Reuters
5. Dealtalk: Buyout Firms Target Unloved Corporate Divisions, by Simon Meads, Reuters