Danger looms for U.S. banks looking to take part in the burgeoning LBO and M&A market, says Fitch Ratings. A possible pickup in deals could cause U.S. banks to put too much risk on their balance sheets.

Calypso Technology held talks to sell itself late last year but those discussions broke down, sources tell peHUB. Calypso hired Qatalyst Partners, the investment bank founded by Frank Quattrone, to find a buyer last year.

The value of U.S. announced mergers falls nearly 67% this week, while private equity-backed deals may not be as bad as they seem.

Dell is in talks with two private equity firms to go private, Bloomberg News reports.

The auction of Eze Castle, which is owned by ConvergEx Group, has hit the final stages, sources tell peHUB. TPG is still vying for Eze Castle as well as Hellman & Friedman, persons say. Advent International, which had teamed up with Advent Software, has dropped out, sources say.

Investcorp has completed the sale of US truck and trailer parts distributor FleetPride to TPG for over $1 billion. Since its acquisition of FleetPride in 2006, Investcorp has supported 31 different add-on acquisitions by the company, strengthening its cross-country supply chain and adding total acquired sales of over $270 million.

This morning find out about Secura’s new real estate venture capital fund; the pros and cons of enterprise investing and whether the Holy Land has what it takes to build a life sciences cluster.

This morning First Read brings you the latest PE and VC headlines revealing the start-up hub catching up Silicon Valley, how to build a biotech cluster, Washington’s waning interest in venture and a maiden deal from a Canadian newcomer.