BusinessWeek Online -- Deal Flow

Sallie Mae deal at risk

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 16:07:31 -0500

The $25 billion buyout of student loan company SLM could be scuttled as Congress debates new laws that would cut funding for the market. The private equity consortium, which includes JC Flowers, JP Morgan and others, argues that the legislation...

M&A advisor questions whether Avaya buyout will pay off

Fri, 08 Jun 2007 15:00:59 -0500

I thought that TPG and Silver Lake's $8.2 billion buyout of corporate phone-maker Avaya made a lot of sense. Sure, the company is in a tough business and faces competition from all sides, but buyout firms are supposed to be...

Another view on strategic buyers

Wed, 30 May 2007 15:05:31 -0500

I argued yesterday that strategic buyers are often at a disadvantage when they are in competitive situation with financial sponsors. Ken Marlin, the founder of investment bank Marlin & Asssociates, has a different view, which I am passing along. Thanks,...

Avaya: a near-perfect private equity target

Tue, 29 May 2007 16:24:28 -0500

For years, telephone handset maker Avaya was a sleepy corporate backwater in the old AT&T corporate empire. No one seemed to want to own it. AT&T spun off its entire network equipment making division as Lucent Technologies in 1996. But...

Carlyle Group Plans to List First Publicly Traded Fund

Thu, 10 May 2007 18:34:18 -0500

My colleague Emily Thornton passed this scoop to Deal Flow: Private equity powerhouse the Carlyle Group plans to file to list its first publicly traded fund by the end of June, people familiar with the transaction have told BusinessWeek.com. Recently,...

Goldman backs wireless broadband startup Arcadia

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 16:01:43 -0500

Arcadian Networks, a wireless broadband company that servces rural industries, said Thursday it had raised an additional $30 million from lead investor Goldman Sachs. The New York-based telecom startup has now raised a total of $90 million. Arcadian automates the...

Another view on IT services buyouts

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 13:43:37 -0500

I wrote today about the buyout boom in the IT services sector. link. Investment banker Ken Marlin, the founder of tech and media-oriented advisor Marlin & Associates, offered a long and thoughtful analysis that frames the issues in a cogent...

Alternative investment fees under pressure

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 17:33:59 -0500

Pension funds and other big investors have been saying for some time that hedge fund fees are too high. Now private equity funds are coming under the same sort of pressure. "Private equity management fees have come under the spotlight...

Derivatives create new ways for betting on LBOs

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 15:16:13 -0500

Today, I take a look at how hedge funds are using insurance policies, known as credit default swaps, to make bets on companies they think are likely to be acquired in a leveraged buyout. link. Private equity investors typically look...

Lazard chief's pay reflects boom

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 13:18:56 -0500

Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein may have done CEOs across the financial world a huge favor by earning a stunning $54 million in 2006. Blankfein set the bar for CEO pay so high that no one else is likely to...

BCE talks driven by regulatory issues

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 18:05:52 -0500

Like just about everything else in telecom, the buyout talks between the Ontario Teachers' Pension Fund and Bell Canada parent BCE are driven by regulatory issues. BCE wanted to enjoy a tax loophole popular with many Canadian companies for the...

BCE talks: eliminating the middle man

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 18:00:43 -0500

The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan is exploring a possible $45 billion buyout of Bell Canada parent BCE. The talks, first reported by The New York Times, could lead to the largest buyout in history, a record that doesn't stand for...

Balance of power tilts back to big companies

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 15:25:04 -0500

Verizon's stunning legal victory in patent suit against voice of IP upstart Vonage should be seen as part of a broader trend favoring big companies. Just a few years ago, it was common wisdom that upstarts would eat away at...

Satellite deal: Do broadcasters protest too much?

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 11:21:06 -0500

The proposed merger of satellite radio companies Sirius and XM has elicted a damning response from radio broadcasters. They helped fund a Carmel Group study that has powerfully attacked the deal's central defenese in a Justice Department antitrust review. The...

A public Blackstone Group would persue different kinds of deals

Wed, 21 Mar 2007 15:07:49 -0500

The Blackstone Group's potential IPO would force a shift in focus for the private equity giant. As a public company, Blackstone would lose some flexibility, says Phillip Phan, professor at the Lally School of Management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Private...