The $237 billion California Public Employees’ Retirement System has reaped a 2.9x gain from its 4.2 percent stake in The Carlyle Group upon the firm’s initial public offering on Thursday, according to an exclusive analysis by Buyouts, peHUB’s sister magazine, based on a California Public Records Act request.

Silver Lake has agreed to buy a minority stake in William Morris Endeavor Entertainment. Financial terms weren’t announced. Press reports say Silver Lake’s stake is 31%. William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, of Beverly Hills, Calif., is a talent agency. PRESS RELEASE William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (WME), one of the world’s leading entertainment and media companies, and [...]

Milestone Partners has raised about $150 million for its fourth fund, Buyouts reported yesterday, citing a source close to the firm’s plans. Executives at the Radnor, Pa.-based shop are targeting $350 million for the fund, Milestone Partners IV LP. The firm has also hired Capstone Partners, a Dallas-based placement agent with offices in Europe and [...]

(Reuters) – Brocade Communications System Inc has received first-round bids from a handful of potential buyers as the company explores a sale, sources familiar with the matter said. Shares of the San-Jose, California-based maker of switches and routers for managing data traffic jumped as much as 10.4 percent on Monday after Reuters reported the company [...]

In a surprise (for me), peHUB readers have chosen Mitt Romney’s political ascension as the biggest PE story of the year.

Nearly 28% of voters picked the Bain Capital founder as 2011′s top story.

The plunge in M&A and fundraising during the second half of the year came in second with about 22% of votes. And, the fact that PE firms are actually interested in bidding for Yahoo came in third place with 19.6% of voters.

A handful of lenders are considering committing to the $4 billion loan for Alibaba Group that will help the Chinese e-commerce giant buy back part of the 40 percent stake that Yahoo owns in the company, Thomson Reuters publication Basis Point reported. Apart from Yahoo, Softbank also owns 40 percent of Alibaba, while Yunfeng Capital [...]

I Dunno… We all liked Meryl as Anna….

Big Cake: Silver Lake looks to up the ante with competitors’ footsteps audible

As Washington Kicks the Can down the road, they’ve at least likely extended the IPO window a few more weeks

… But Will European contagion fears spoil the holiday party?

Hungry Eyes: PE likes the looks of El Paso assets

Redwood City, Calif.-based Coraid Inc. has added $50 million in a new round led by Crosslink Capital. Existing investors Menlo Ventures, Allegis Capital, Azure Capital Partners and affiliates of Silver Lake, as well as new investors Seagate Technology and Kinetic Ventures also contributed. Coraid is a developer of Ethernet SAN technology.

Yunfeng Capital, Silver Lake and other investors have completed the purchase of a 5% stake in Alibaba Group, parent of listed Alibaba.com, worth $1.6 billion on November 1, Reuters reported Thursday.The private equity firms were purchasing the shares by leading a tender offer for employee shareholders, option holders and certain other shareholders of Alibaba Group, Reuters wrote.

Microsoft has officially closed its acquisition of Internet communications company Skype. The $8.5 billion deal was led by investor group Silver Lake and the transaction was originally announced in May.