Opinion

Last week’s blog called for courage, an attribute in rather short supply in this presumed credit crunched environment. This week, let’s turn the tables and dig out some cockeyed optimism from a decidedly bearish headline last Thursday: “Deal value slumps as credit crunch hits.” Reuters, citing numbers reported by Dealogic for deals through March 25, […]

It’s taken me a few seasons and heavy lobbying from my wife, but I confess to finally becoming a convert when it comes to American Idol.  The show is simply mesmerizing when you blend the individual personalities and talents of the contestants with the judges.  In particular, I find that the three judges work incredibly […]

As an LP with broad exposure to alternative investments, I’ve previously lamented owning entire capital structures. In mega-buyouts, we often find ourselves owning the equity and the debt, and paying 2-and-20 on each. If you took that approach to public companies, you wouldn’t be in the investment field very long. For LPs with exposure to […]

What a difference a year makes. Last March, credit markets were wide open and each week seemed to bring a new multi-billion buyout. At that time, the biggest challenge facing private equity firms was coping with rising multiples and the frantic pace of dealmaking. Today, as the credit markets struggle and the economy slows, it’s […]

Michael Butler is chairman and CEO of investment bank Cascadia Capital. He is writing a book titled Financing the Future and the Next Wave of 21st Century Innovation, and is serializing it at peHUB. What follows is an excerpt from the second chapter. It’s not the end of the world, but the wrenching global market crisis that’s now unfolding […]

Michael Butler is chairman and CEO of investment bank Cascadia Capital. What follows is the introductory chapter to a new book he is writing called Financing the Future and the Next Wave of 21st Century Innovation. Butler has agreed to serialize the chapters here at peHUB, and we can expect around one per week: The world is […]

Back in New York City from several weeks in California. Much has been made about the divide between East Coast and West Coast investors. Perspectives on deal terms and sector strategies often vary, but the stark contrast in outlook between the two financial communities today is astonishing. New York investors are seized in sheer panic, […]

Last week, Thomson’s Buyout East featured a panel that included Robert Stewart of the Private Equity Council, which represents the top ten PE firms, as well as Stephen Lerner from the Service Employees International Union, a frequently noisy irritant to the mega funds. Stewart yielded no ground on the carried interest issue, or on any […]

References are a funny tool. In my experience, few folks really know what they’re looking for when they check references. It’s a sensitive topic when to check references and the generally accepted practice in this industry is to check references either just before or just after making an offer (in which instance, the offer is […]

Reading the newspapers and magazines covering the US economy is downright depressing (today’s Wall Street Journal is particularly depressing – hammering on both the worsening credit market problems and brain drain away from start-ups).  But meeting with fresh-faced MBA students is downright inspiring. I had the opportunity to meeet with 100 Harvard Business School and […]