TABLE OF CONTENTS July 2007

TUESDAY JULY 31
Armed And Dangerous

Each spring, the world’s top timepieces unite in Switzerland to do battle at Baselworld, the planet’s most prestigious watch show. In honor of this year’s unveiling, we offer our collection of the past year’s hottest watches, each a work of artisanal genius worthy of being strapped to your wrist. > read more

TUESDAY JULY 31
The Full Nelson

Billionaire investor Nelson Peltz (of watching-women-play-nude-tennis-on-his-private-court fame) is willing to ante up the dough for Wendy’s, but less keen on the company’s demand that he sign a confidentiality agreement. Could he be fixing to launch a hostile bid? > read more

TUESDAY JULY 31
Murdoch, Dow Jones: Just Merge Already

While the holdouts in the Bancroft family, which owns a controlling stake in Dow Jones, have continually appealed to highfalutin principals of journalistic integrity and editorial freedom for their beloved Wall Street Jounral, it looks like it’s all gonna’ come down to something a lot more primitive: The cold, hard cash. > read more

TUESDAY JULY 31
Acquisitions, Mergers, Buyouts –And The Rest Of It

A survey shows 30% of companies with $25 million to $1 billion in revenue raise financing for the funding of future acquisitions – the No. 2 most popular reason for building a war chest, next to investing in new technology. > read more

TUESDAY JULY 31
"Wall Of Worry" Reprise

On Wall Street, Bear Stearns, Lehman, Merrill Lynch and, yes, even the venerable Goldman Sachs are as good as junk. Their bonds are, anyway. > read more

TUESDAY JULY 31
The Pendulum Swings Back?

As credit markets keep up the belt-tightening, buyout shops have been left in the lurch – but corporate buyers are finally getting their turn to dominate. > read more

MONDAY JULY 30
Dealmaker Exclusive: Deutsche Bank Hires Star Film Banker
By Hilary Lewis
In a major coup, Deutsche Bank steals top media and entertainment banker Laura Fazio from Dresder Kleinwort. Can she help DB revive its lagging film financing division? > read more

MONDAY JULY 30
Bank Shot

By day, Gary Boren plays angel and rainmaker for the Dallas deal community. By night, he’s the secret weapon that gives the Mavericks hope for an NBA championship. > read more

MONDAY JULY 30
If Work Is Your Dysfunction…

Try boring your next date at "The Street," the musical. Billed as a tale "about broads on Wall Street," the singing-and-dancing comedy boasts "stock shorts, long odds, undercover moles and a misanthropic metrosexual." Sounds good to us. > read more

MONDAY JULY 30
VCs Loosen Up

Sex-related – but legal – businesses used to get the high hat from venture capitalists, no matter how lucrative. Those days of stuffiness are over. Adult Friendfinder, anyone? > read more

MONDAY JULY 30
Liberty Sniffs Around Carlyle’s Quarry

So John Malone's Liberty Global is interested in Virgin Media (which went into play this summer after Carlyle Group valued its equity at $8 to $10 billion). But with debt markets in a tizzy, it isn’t yet clear how tough a deal would be to pull together – particularly when Providence Equity Partners is also champing at the bit. > read more

MONDAY JULY 30
Q: What Keeps PE Firms Awake At Night?

A: Lawsuits, in all colors, shapes and sizes. But especially in the next 24 months and especially brought by regulators and especially over possible breaches of fiduciary duty. > read more

MONDAY JULY 30
Mackey’s Comeuppance

We said it once, and we’ll say it again: If you’re a CEO, don’t trash-talk the company you’re looking to buy on Yahoo message boards – unless you’re looking to get grilled by the SEC. And while you’re at it, don’t make statements that will otherwise put a wrench in the works of your own company’s (Whole Foods) deal to buy a competitor (Wild Oats). Just in case you’re reading, John Mackey. > read more

MONDAY JULY 30
$16 Bil? Still Too Low

Imperial Chemical Industries thinks it can do better than Akzo’s hefty bid. And with its shares up 37% so far this year, it may be right. After all, it’s rough going trying to buy a fast-growing company. > read more

MONDAY JULY 30
Largest Bank Deal Ever: New Twist

ABN finally wakes up and smells the moneybags, deciding – after what seemed like an interminable period – that maybe its board shouldn’t back a massively leveraged bid from Barclays at a time when debt markets are foundering and a competing RBS-consortium is offering gobs of cash. > read more

FRIDAY JULY 27
CS’s Cafeteria

Eleven Madison Park has many things to recommend it — proximity being just one of them. > read more

FRIDAY JULY 27
Another Sob Story

A page one thumbsucker piece in The Wall Street Journal today points out labor’s hardships amid corporate buyouts – a good read, but possibly off the mark. The WSJ’s biggest rival, The Financial Times, did an exhaustive survey earlier this year showing pretty conclusively that labor generally benefits more often than not from a buyout. > read more

FRIDAY JULY 27
TH Lee Gets Medieval

Slamming Mayer, Brown, Rowe with a lawsuit, Tommy Lee is alleging the law firm assisted Refco in a fraud cover-up. Out for blood, the buyout firm (which owned a stake in Refco before it imploded) wants $245 million for its troubles. > read more

FRIDAY JULY 27
"Extreme Volatility" In Debt Delays Cadbury Deal

We are expecting even more headlines like this before this snowball stops rolling. > read more

FRIDAY JULY 27
KKR’s IPO In Lurch?

As the golden era of fancy debt financing hits a rut – nay, a potentially bottomless crater – tongues are wagging over whether KKR will go ahead with its plans to float. > read more

FRIDAY JULY 27
Debt’s D-Day

Debt markets have officially met their perfect storm: Chrysler and Alliance Boots failed to find buyers this week for $20 billion of loans – a clear death knell for other deals in the global pipeline – while Blackstone’s shares have fallen 17% below their IPO price. On cue, corporate bond risk has soared to a new record high. Is this the final nail in the coffin? > read more

WEDNESDAY JULY 25
Making Matters Worse

The Deal.com poses an interesting question: "By avoiding the pain of the debt financing markets now, are issuers who are delaying their deals only making matters worse for themselves when they finally do come to market?" The answer, as you may have predicted, can be summarized by the word "probably." The problem is, issuers aren't just holding off, they are simply delaying and postponing. However, there's already a significant amount of debt in the pipeline. And these companies are simply adding to it as the demand continues to plummet further and further. > read more

WEDNESDAY JULY 25
An Indecent Proposal

The SEC is trying to determine what to do with a proposal that could potentially silence some shareholders. The proposal outlines a plan that would require shareholders to meet a minimum level, 5%, of ownership before they could gain access to company's ballots. Not surprisingly, activist shareholder groups are not pleased. Three organizations who fight for shareholder rights are coming out in strong resistance to the proposals and are hoping the SEC hears their pleas that setting a minimum - let alone one that is that high - would be a major blow to the basic rights of shareholders. > read more

WEDNESDAY JULY 25
Best Friends

According to the two companies invovled, a "significant new force" has been forced with the mutually agreed upon merger of the two insurance companies, Friends Provident and Resolution. The new company will be called Friends Financial. Heartwarming! Especially considering that the two companies, only three days ago, seemed to indicate they had reached tie ups in their talks. The question is: Will these Friends make their rival jealous? The Scotsman reports that this deal "could also turn up the heat on Standard to pull off a deal of its own." > read more

WEDNESDAY JULY 25
Bank Hold Up

Banks have had to postpone funds that would help finance the turnaround of Chrysler after investors did not come to agreement on terms of the deal. Forbes reports that the "banks, which include Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., will instead fund the bulk of that debt from their own pockets." Cerberus (who bought Chrysler) and DaimlerChrysler (who sold it) will pay for the rest. This came as no suprise to the Street. Crises in the mortgage market have made investors wary about getting involved in deals with high-yield debt. > read more

WEDNESDAY JULY 25
You've Angered Sardar Biglari, IHOP!

The purchase of Applebees by IHOP has left a very bad taste in Sardar Biglari's mouth. Biglari is chairman of The Lion Fund and says he controls 1.02 million shares of Applebees. Though that only amounts to a little over 1%, Biglari has shown that he is not one to be reckoned with. He is credited with being a driving force behind the sale of Friendly Ice Cream, and he's been called a "corporate raider." Among the reasons Biglari is not happy with the acquisition is that IHOP's stock has in fact risen since the deal was announced. Typically, a company making a large acquisition will see their shares fall. Biglari sees this as a clear sign that Applebees is being bought at a price that is too low. > read more

WEDNESDAY JULY 25
Siemens Is Making Deals

Just yesterday, Siemens managed to execute 18 billion euros worth of deals - some on the buy side, some on the sell side. Respectively, Siemens bought Dade Behring, a US medical equipment supplier. They also sold VDO, it's division which makes car parts. VDO was sold to the German company, Continental. Peter Löscher, CEO of Siemens' engineering group, said "Siemens needs to get faster, less complex and more focused." 18 billion euros worth of deals in one day? Yeah, that's pretty fast. > read more

WEDNESDAY JULY 25
No Sale?

The hedge fund giant KKR is rumored to have hit quite the wall in its quest to buy Alliance Boots Plc. KKR's banks, led by Deutsche Bank, were attempting to sell $10 billion in senior loans so it could afford the acquisition. However, Bloomberg is now reporting that there are rumors that KKR failed to make the sale. An industry expert commented, "This is a high watermark -- it's the first time a FTSE 100 company has been taken the private and they can't seem to sell the debt." Between this and Chrysler, it's shaping up to be a potentially tumultuous year for KKR. > read more

WEDNESDAY JULY 25
Watch List: Wrist Reward

If you’re going to engage in some highly volatile pursuits, take one of these virtually indestructible timepieces with you. > read more

WEDNESDAY JULY 25
The Great Beach Crusade

Whether you trade there or play there, TraderDaily.com wants to see footage of your favorite idyllic hot spots. > read more

WEDNESDAY JULY 25
Dollar’s Plunge: The Silver Lining

The greenback’s down more than 13.2% since January? No matter. By making U.S. goods cheaper overseas, the economy’s getting the boost it needs to offset the worst housing slump in 16 years. And bringing a lot of ailing enterprises back to life. > read more

WEDNESDAY JULY 25
The Cojones Of A Bear

You've gotta give them credit for chutzpah. Even as it continues to reel from its post-subprime-meltdown meltdown, Bear Stearns Structured Equity Products – yeah, we said structured – had it in them to launch a batch of exchange-traded notes. > read more

WEDNESDAY JULY 25
Greenwich: It’s A WASP Thing

This town’s penchant for attracting cash-laden hedgies seems to be fueling a separate but equal boom in high-end retail (maybe powered by hedgies’ wives?) yielding many a moronic utterance from retail stiffs like this one: "People who travel to Europe, whose kids travel to Europe, live in Greenwich…Greenwich was much WASP-ier before." Yeah, because it’s really not all that WASP-y now. > read more

WEDNESDAY JULY 25
To Ogle Or Not To Ogle

…That is the question. Wall Street and bikinis: It’s a combination as old as time. But after years of sex-discrimination lawsuits making the rounds, Morgan Stanley, Lehman and Smith Barney aren’t taking any chances. Employees can not, we repeat, can not, take their clients to Hawaiian Tropic Zone, where bathing beauties have been known to prance. Still, we submit some staffers will have to go – if for no other reason than to make sure their fellow brethren are keeping the rule, right? > read more

WEDNESDAY JULY 25
Hunter Becomes The Hunted

When Bear Stearns Cos. Chief Executive James E. "Jimmy" Cayne let it slip to the New York Times that the failure of his firm's hedge funds was a "body blow of massive proportion," he may have been using a tactic honed by three decades of championship bridge. Yeah. Really. > read more

TUESDAY JULY 24
London Calling?

Why London thinks it's taking the stuffing out of its longtime New York rival as the North Star of the financial world. Even though it is totally delusional. > read more

TUESDAY JULY 24
Elevator Pitch: Reinventing The Pager

Recorded by David Rose, CEO of Ambient Devices — a six-year-old company that recently relaunched with several million in B-round financing — on the elevator of Boston's John Hancock Building. Riding time: 63 seconds. > read more

TUESDAY JULY 24
Glossary For A Weirder Wall Street

Read on for the best-of-breed vocab terms that clog your e-mails daily and pollute your every conversation at the water-cooler– including, of course, the term "best of breed." > read more

TUESDAY JULY 24
On Looking – And Smelling – The Part

It's a toss-up: Has bad breath or bad style killed more careers? > read more

TUESDAY JULY 24
At Dow Jones, The Wheels Grind Slowly

The Bancroft family, which holds the controlling stake in Dow Jones & Co., STILL doesn't know if it wants to sell the company to Rupert Murdoch and watch its beloved Wall Street Journal be transformed into a Foxified three-ring circus. That said, if it takes honor over money, it would be the first time we've ever seen it. After all, honor don't pay the bottle service bill. > read more

TUESDAY JULY 24
Lowballed: Facebook

Facebook has been rumored to be for sale for many a moon, yet, to date, no deal has cropped up. The problem: The company reckons it's worth $7 to $10 billion, while suitors graciously beg to differ. > read more

TUESDAY JULY 24
Bear, Bear, Bear…

Do you really think you can just skulk away without answering any of the tough questions? > read more

TUESDAY JULY 24
Denial Ain't Just A River In Egypt

In fact, it appears to be running right through the board rooms and C-suites of America's CEOs, who ardently resist the notion that the subprime rout isn't contained. Even so, while they catnapped in June, U.S. high-yield bonds had their worst showing in almost two years. > read more

TUESDAY JULY 24
Its Aim Is True…

Yet Allison (Transmission), an actual money-making subsidiary of General Motors, is the latest company to hit a rut in the ever-bleaker debt-financing game. Other casualties of the last 24 hours include: Carlyle Group, Onex, Citigroup, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and Expedia. > read more

MONDAY JULY 23
My Mentor: Heirs To The Airmen

In the cutthroat banking world, how two men’s mutual admiration helped grease the way for mutual success. > read more

MONDAY JULY 23
The Great Beach Crusade

Whether you trade there or play there, TraderDaily.com wants to see footage of your favorite idyllic hot spots. > read more

MONDAY JULY 23
To Ogle Or Not To Ogle

…That is the question. Bankers and bikinis: It’s a combination as old as time. But after years of sex-discrimination lawsuits making the rounds on Wall Street, Morgan Stanley, Lehman and Smith Barney aren’t taking any chances. Bank employees can not, we repeat, can not, take their clients to Hawaiian Tropic Zone, where bathing beauties have been known to prance. But we submit some bankers will have to go – if for no other reason than to make sure their fellow brethren are keeping the rule. > read more

MONDAY JULY 23
Unions’ Buyout Beef

You slave over an employment contract for you and, say, 450,000 other workers. Everyone from the top brass down finally agrees to the terms (after much haggling, that is). Then your company gets bought out. Bye-bye leverage, bye-bye pact. > read more

MONDAY JULY 23
Barclays Hikes ABN Bid To $93.4 Bil

But that’s still less than what the RBS-led consortium is offering – with a much leaner cash component, too. > read more

MONDAY JULY 23
Deal-Crashing: Try It; You’ll Like It

Hey, just because someone else found it first, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take it away from them. Besides, playground rules are for sissies. > read more

MONDAY JULY 23
In The Bag – Almost

The buyout biz will get a much-needed shot in the arm if Cerberus Capital Management can pull together its highly leveraged purchase of United Rentals for $4 billion…even if the terms of its debt financing aren’t strictly cheap. > read more

MONDAY JULY 23
Cayne’s Good Game?

When Bear Stearns Cos. Chief Executive James E. ``Jimmy'' Cayne let it slip to the New York Times that the failure of his firm's hedge funds was a ``body blow of massive proportion,'' he may have been using a tactic honed by three decades of championship bridge. > read more

FRIDAY JULY 20
Book Value: Connecting The Dots

Daniel Altman does not lack ambition. In his new book, ~Connected: 24 Hours in the Global Economy~, the financial journalist and economics Ph.D. sets out to present a day in the life of world business — and he succeeds. > read more

FRIDAY JULY 20
Rolls’ Phantom: It’s Money, Baby

Behold, a machine so magnificent, it moves the grown man to emit involuntary cries of “Superfly!” and “YO, that’s dope!” Not necessarily becoming when you’re all decked out in your brown-checked pants and white tube socks up to your knees. > read more

FRIDAY JULY 20
Dow Jones Deal Gets Hairy

As the SEC cracks down on Dow director David Li (possibly tied to an insider-trading scandal involving DJ stock) fellow board member Dieter von Holtzbrinck (of a major German publishing dynasty) quits over the board’s endorsement of Rupert Murdoch’s $5 billion bid for the company. Meanwhile, DJ shares keep sinking. > read more

FRIDAY JULY 20
Blackstone Stock Tanks

Legions of green-gilled Schwarzman haters are silently, simperingly rejoicing today, after Blackstone’s stock dropped to its lowest point since the private-equity firm went public in June. With recent IPO pricings getting haircuts, could B’stone be suffering some blowback? > read more

FRIDAY JULY 20
`Leverage’ A Relative Term

There’s the kind of leverage you get when incurring debt to fund your massive takeover…and then there’s that other kind you have over your investors as you ram Chinese paper down their throats. Right about now, buyout firms could use a smidgen more of both. > read more

FRIDAY JULY 20
The Downside To Homemade Brothels

While many would posit there is no downside, Broadcom’s co-founder Henry T. Nicholas III may say differently. Lesson learned: When building an elaborate house of ill repute under your golf course (unbeknownst to your wife and your squeaky-clean community) don’t stick the contractors with the tab. > read more

FRIDAY JULY 20
Dealmaker Exclusive: Carlyle, Cypress To Unload MedPointe
By Teri Buhl
…To the tune of $900 million (-ish), according to sources close to the situation. That’s two in the bag for Cypress this week after cementing a deal to sell modular space maker Williams Scotsman to Europe’s Algeco for a cool $2.2 billion. > read more

THURSDAY JULY 19
What’s Your Lazard I.Q.?

It’s all here, from the first million-dollar merger advisory fee to the murder of Edouard Stern at the hand of his lover/call girl. Wanna’ hear more? Of course you do. > read more

THURSDAY JULY 19
Bear-Trap Avoidance: Lessons Learned

Despite announcing the near-annihilation of two of its hedge funds, Bear Stearns’s stock seems to have taken it on the chin. Guess coming clean has its upsides. But we have a funny feeling another shoe or two has yet to drop before the book is closed on this one. > read more

THURSDAY JULY 19
What Broke Up The Pepsi-Nestle Deal

Turns out health food is the ultimate home-wrecker when it comes to the prospective marriages of snack-food titans. > read more

THURSDAY JULY 19
Having Your Cake And Eating It Too

At long last, a major pension fund utters the brutal question: How does a publicly traded Blackstone or KKR avoid conflicts of interest between short-term shareholders of their stock and long-term investors in their funds? Heck if we know. > read more

THURSDAY JULY 19
When All Else Fails…

Just throw in those heaping, sweaty wads of cash. All-stock-bidder Barclays may be slowly waking up to this realization in its battle to edge out an RBS-led consortium for the hand of ABN Amro. But it better act soon, because the prize is quickly escaping its grasp. > read more

THURSDAY JULY 19
`Little Freeze’ – Or Deep Freeze?

While JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon describes the cold front gripping debt markets as “little,” others aren’t so sure that banks and buyout firms aren’t barreling toward an Ice Age. Why? Because getting stuck with huge chunks of debt no one else will buy sucks, that’s why. > read more

THURSDAY JULY 19
Here Comes The Tax Man

And if you’re Lehman or Citigroup, he will not be meeting you with a smile. At issue is whether derivatives trades conducted by these banks were for a) economic purposes only or b) to avoid taxes. (We would argue that if there ever was a sound economic purpose, avoiding taxes would be it, but alas and alack, the IRS begs to differ.) > read more

WEDNESDAY JULY 18
My Deal From Hell: Grumpy Old Man

You think you have it bad? Try wooing Ebenezer Scrooge. > read more

WEDNESDAY JULY 18
Coup Du Jour: One For Loeb

Looks like the scrappy and unreservedly scathing Third Point hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb has bullied himself up another deal. > read more

WEDNESDAY JULY 18
Dow Jones’s Moment Of Truth

The board of the company controlling The Wall Street Journal has (wisely? unwisely?) tipped its hand in favor of Rupert Murdoch’s $5 billion merger bid. But Dow’s faltering stock price makes clear the blessing of the family controlling the company is far from certain. > read more

WEDNESDAY JULY 18
The Stones Rock Deutsche

The Rolling Stones? Cool. Investment banking? Always cool. The Stones playing for investment bankers? Surprisingly uncool. > read more

WEDNESDAY JULY 18
The Adventures Of Tacky Mackey

The sheer delight and third-party embarrassment we have felt in our readings of the tripped-out postings of Whole Foods CEO Rahodeb – er, we mean John Mackey – have brought us tears of ennui-quashing joy. Read on for some of our favorite remarks from the man who, among other things, dared to call himself George W. Bush. > read more

WEDNESDAY JULY 18
Gauloises Cigar Brand Goes For $18 Bil

Global smoking bans be damned. Beating out private-equity mastodon CVC, Imperial Tobacco emerged the winner by swallowing its pride and raising its bid. > read more

WEDNESDAY JULY 18
A Very Special Fire Sale

It’s official: Bear Stearns’s two troubled hedge funds are now virtually worthless – and, as a bonus, a popular index tracking subprime loans has picked this moment to tank just as the bank attempts to sell for a song the shaky bonds it once coveted. > read more

TUESDAY JULY 17
By, Hold, Sell: Ali’s Latest Comeback

…And some Cabs (yes, as in Cabernet, piker) past their prime. > read more

TUESDAY JULY 17
Ben Stein: Being Rich Isn’t Always The S@#%

What with all those investment portfolios, extra vacation homes and the wife constantly nagging you for another Bentley, rolling in the bucks is a lot of work. But consider the alternative. > read more

TUESDAY JULY 17
Pancake Purveyors Unite!

Coffee-drinking, toast-munching, pancake-inhaling slouches everywhere are celebrating today, as IHOP agrees to buy Applebees for $1.9 billion. > read more

TUESDAY JULY 17
UBS: The One-Two Punch

It’s been a rough year for our favorite Swiss Miss. First, Massachusetts spanks the investment bank for its so-called “hedge fund hotels” and now the follow-up humiliation of New York fining it more than $20 million for mismatching customers with cost-laden brokerage accounts. > read more

TUESDAY JULY 17
Well, Whaddaya Know…

U.S. Democratic presidential hopefuls looking to raise taxes on private-equity firms are getting – gasp – fewer campaign donations from their targets than Republicans. But, in a sign of PE’s continued ignorance of the rules of engagement (read: to avoid the tax dragnet, you’ve gotta’ pay the piper) both parties so far have received less than $300,000. > read more

TUESDAY JULY 17
Dow Jones, Murdoch Strike A Deal

But it’s a tentative one. Meaning if Dow Jones can find even a magical leprechaun who will match or top Rupert Murdoch’s bid, they would gladly flee their would-be, deep-pocketed, covetous captor. > read more

TUESDAY JULY 17
A Case Of Acute Overconfidence?

With apologies to the late King Hussein bin Talal of Jordan, turns out boasting of glory, indeed, does not glory make. Wall Street’s biggest banks, which just a few months ago touted their ability to sell up to $100 billion of LBO debt, no sweat, are now struggling to offload at least $11 billion of loans and bonds. Karma’s a real bitch. > read more

TUESDAY JULY 17
Elephant In The Room

With so many companies being taken private, what’s going to happen once they’ve been flipped and taken public again? Possibly en masse? Bad things, that’s what. > read more

MONDAY JULY 16
My Charity: Hands-On In Haiti

How Jeffrey Leck, cofounder of the $250 million private-equity firm Florida Capital Partners, is applying rules of investing to his charity work. > read more

MONDAY JULY 16
Read Their Lips: No New Deals

Spain's Telefónica says it’s getting off the deal-making crack pipe. But as everyone knows, there is a time to quit and a time to…er, keep that pipe handy. > read more

MONDAY JULY 16
Off Your Duffs For The Multibillion-Dollar Fee Shower

Insurance companies are about to drop at least $1 billion of fees on fund managers. Yet only a handful of banks and other firms are out jockeying for the windfall. > read more

MONDAY JULY 16
Clinton Backs PE Tax Hike

Wow, big surprise there. Now that Hillary Clinton has joined the likes of Barack Obama and John Edwards on the carried-interest tax bandwagon, one thing has become painfully clear: Private-equity firms forgot to share their riches with Washington (always a big no-no). And Washington is not happy about it. > read more

MONDAY JULY 16
Tutorial: How To Screw Your Own Deal

Is the money good? It is sooo good. But giving up The Wall Street Journal to that Warlock Murdoch is just more than Christopher Bancroft – a prominent member of the family that controls Dow Jones – can bear. His plan to bust up the most lucrative deal his family has ever seen. > read more

MONDAY JULY 16
B Of A’s Xenophobia Play

Bank of America lands more U.S. retail business than any other financial institution – but the real gains are to be had abroad, where it has yet to expand its footprint. Has the bank learned its lesson yet? Doesn’t look like it. > read more

MONDAY JULY 16
What a Difference Five Working Days Make

That’s how much time Barclays will have to come up with a fresh counterbid for ABN Amro if the latter does consider an RBS-led consortium’s $98 billion bid – now with a 93% cash component (up from 79%). Mmm…cash components. > read more

FRIDAY JULY 13
36 Holes In: Pittsburgh

A famous-again country club and an up-and-coming resort put the irons back into the Iron City. > read more

FRIDAY JULY 13
Corporate Loans, Priced To Go

If the credit universe was a supermarket, corporate bonds would be in that malodorous and maligned section marked “clearance meat.” > read more

FRIDAY JULY 13
Blackstone’s Next Act: Dodging Tax Bullets?

Wow and wow is all we can say. If these guys pull this off, they’ll be, like, really and truly untouchable. (And we don’t mean in the Hindu way – we mean it in the God-you-guys-are-gods (and-please-show-us-how-you-do-it) kind of way.) > read more

FRIDAY JULY 13
Alcoa To Rio: You Can Have ‘Er

While Rio Tinto’s decisive victory will no doubt elevate the profile of new CEO Tom Albanese, there’s been some debate on message boards about whether it was strictly wise for Rio to top Alcoa’s bid by, oh, a cool $10 billion. What ever happened to keeping your powder dry? > read more

FRIDAY JULY 13
Dow Jones Deal `Value Neutral’?

It is for News Corp., anyway, if you listen to the verdict of one Bear Stearns analyst. > read more

FRIDAY JULY 13
Mackey’s Blog: Against The Law?

So far, it’s unclear whether John Mackey, chairman and chief executive of Whole Foods Market Inc., violated the law by touting his company under a pseudonym while blasting the company he wanted to buy. But we do know one thing: Using a word scramble of your wife’s first name (and a poor word scramble, at that) while admiring your own accomplishments and complimenting your own haircut is beyond totally lame. > read more

FRIDAY JULY 13
Barclays Retakes Edge In ABN Fight

One for Barclays, one for RBS, one for Barclays, one for RBS…infinity, para siempre, ad finitum. We just want this to wrap up already so we don’t have to write about it anymore. And we are sending the winning bidder our carpal tunnel bill. > read more

THURSDAY JULY 12
The Reel Deal

Angelina and Morgan Stanley? A couple? Yes, it appears so. > read more

THURSDAY JULY 12
Sex Tourism? Sex Tourism!

Apparently, ground zero for this phenom is Riga, the swinging capital of Latvia. And who says? Well… Riga does. Although if you happen to see its posters announcing “sex tourism,” the city will coyly tell you they’re not meant as ads, but as a warning. Whatever you say, Riga, just keep it coming. > read more

THURSDAY JULY 12
Bombast, Then Lambast

In a sign that buyout deals are getting tougher legal scrutiny, the Delaware Court of Chancery scolded Topps Co. and Lear Corp. for not giving shareholders enough information about executives’ incentives for doing the deals. > read more

THURSDAY JULY 12
Bad Chinese

Goldman Sachser Richard Ong won’t nail the bank’s job of China CEO because his written Chinese wasn’t strong enough… but not according to Goldman – according to the Chinese government. > read more

THURSDAY JULY 12
Private Equity `Stretching The Law’?

The answer would be yes, if you follow the strange logic behind Capitol Hill’s raging witch hunt…or if you just happen to be a congenital idiot. The debate is now in full swing, with lawmakers furiously chin-stroking, brow-furrowing and jawboning over whether this brouhaha is really a truthful pursuit of unsecured tax dollars – or just another petty war on the bourgeoisie. > read more

THURSDAY JULY 12
LBO Fest: It’ll Cost Ya

The global leveraged-buyout frenzy is going strong, despite recent credit hiccups. But the price of such questing is steep, with banks’ fees climbing to $8.4 billion in the first half of 2007. Brutal, but worth it. > read more

THURSDAY JULY 12
Have $38 Billion, Will Buy

Or so says dark horse Rio Tinto, which may very well thwart Alcoa’s hostile bid for Alcan with a superior, $38-bil offer that could lead to one of the biggest, most awesomest deals of the commodities boom. > read more

WEDNESDAY JULY 11
CME’s Victory May Spark More Mergers

The next main targets: NYMEX (which is ready, willing and able) and the ever-autonomous ICE (which will only go kicking, screaming and gouging its eyes out with paperclips). Let the games begin. > read more

WEDNESDAY JULY 11
Wall Street Journal Meets…MySpace?

Brad Greenspan, a founder of MySpace, has resurfaced in a possible bid for Dow Jones, owner of The Wall Street Journal – and this time, he comes with armament: Los Angeles billionaire Ronald Burkle. > read more

WEDNESDAY JULY 11
Citi: Buyouts Still Piping

Despite the credit-tightening wave, Citigroup’s CEO says that in the eyes of the bank, buyouts have yet to lose their sizzle. > read more

WEDNESDAY JULY 11
Blankfein (Almost) Buys His Dream House

In financial circles, he’s known as the intense and self-effacing son of a postal clerk who worked his way up from a Bronx housing project to run the richest and most powerful investment bank in the world. But in the toniest reaches of Long Island’s East End, he’s come to be known simply as the Runaway Buyer. > read more

WEDNESDAY JULY 11
PE’s Plight

Private equity is grappling for some allies – any allies – in its tax fight on Capitol Hill. > read more

WEDNESDAY JULY 11
Wuffli: Failure Or Fall Guy?

The departure of UBS CEO Peter Wuffli makes a good case for why banks may be too faint-hearted to get mixed up in high-risk investment vehicles like hedge funds. (Even a Swiss bank that, as we recall, had no compunction about getting its feet wet in the Holocaust.) > read more

WEDNESDAY JULY 11
Ground Control To S&P, Moody’s

Newsflash guys, no one – NO ONE – but you thought the subprime debacle was going to end so soon that you wouldn’t have to downgrade hundreds upon hundreds of mortgage-backed securities. Now do exactly as we say: Put down the JD for, like, five seconds, splash some cold water on your faces and get to work, you bums. > read more

TUESDAY JULY 10
You Are Here: The Grill Room’s Best Customers

The Four Seasons Grill Room is so ingrained in the upper echelons of dealmaking in New York, people forget that 20 years ago it was mainly a lunch spot for bookworms and the rag trade. > read more

TUESDAY JULY 10
Mo’ Money, Gates-Style

Bill and Melinda Gates show us what you can do when you have more money than God. > read more

TUESDAY JULY 10
It’s All About The Cash Flow, Baby

Takeover rumors and Air Liquide are like white on rice lately, with KKR fingered as the latest would-be suitor. There’s good reason for all the frothy interest: the company has a stable cash flow and isn't cyclical like your run-of-the-mill base-chemical enterprise. > read more

TUESDAY JULY 10
ABN’s ADRs: The Loaded Question

NYSE Euronext is looking into trades of ABN’s American depositary receipts just ahead of ABN’s acknowledgement in March that it was in "exclusive preliminary discussions" with Barclays about a certain, still-up-in-the-air merger. > read more

TUESDAY JULY 10
Icahn’s Lear Bid: Big Shareholders Leery

We just HAD to use “Lear” and “leery” in the same hed, and now that we’ve done it, we will die slightly less unsatisfied…Ahem, so, despite raising his bid for the Michigan auto-parts supplier from $36 to $37.25 a share, looks like billionaire investor Carl Icahn may still meet with resistance from the company’s top stakeholders. > read more

TUESDAY JULY 10
UBS CEO: He Cleans Good Creek

We’re not even kidding…Marcel Rohner, who replaced the deposed Peter Wuffli as UBS’s new chief exec, was earlier this year inducted into the Heinerich-Wirri-Zunft zue Arau der Stadt. That, of course, being the all-male guild based in Rohner’s hometown known for banding together every year for the celebrated cleansing of the city creek. > read more

MONDAY JULY 09
M&A Q&A: China Syndrome

The hottest deal market in the world is also the most complicated. In a freewheeling roundtable, three pioneers decipher the mysteries of Chinese buyouts and investing. > read more

MONDAY JULY 09
CME-CBOT? ICE-CBOT?: The Big Day

With the 11th-hour sweetening of its bid, the CME is now expected to win the hand of CBOT over rival bidder ICE in today’s much-awaited shareholder vote. All of which means ICE better have a good plan B if it wants to survive. > read more

MONDAY JULY 09
How (Not To) Game The System

Pay heed to the cautionary tale of Theodore Roxford (or Edward Pastorini or Theodore Vakil or Lawrence David Niren – depending on which name you believe) sometime con man, bidder of Sony Corp., non-bestselling author – and now prime SEC target. > read more

MONDAY JULY 09
Dow Jones’s Swan Song?

Dow Jones is taking a last stab at finding other bidders before acquiescing to the souped-up bid of the Warlock Murdoch. But it doesn’t look good. > read more

MONDAY JULY 09
RBS: Betting The House

Royal Bank of Scotland’s Fred Goodwin is in the mood to blow some serious dough in his pursuit of ABN – whether his shareholders think it’s a good idea or not. > read more

MONDAY JULY 09
CVC’s Momentous Move

As it puts the finishing touches on a $2.2 billion bid for Univar, London’s CVC Capital is finally putting itself on the U.S. buyout map. > read more

MONDAY JULY 09
Yes, But What The Heck Is AQUSA?

Villainous and threatening letters sent to Goldman were signed by A.Q.U.S.A., which clearly means...er, no one really knows. But the blogs are having a field day with it, positing everything from the highly militant to the utterly absurd. Suggestions include, but are not limited to: Al-Aqusa Martyrs Brigade (the military arm of Fatah) Americans Quite Upset with Sachs Administrators and, our favorite, Agnostic Quintets of the United States of America. > read more

FRIDAY JULY 06
If The Shoe Fits

Women’s-footwear stalwart Stuart Weitzman saw his business going to another level. So he tried on a pair from Bear Stearns Merchant Banking. That’s when the games began. > read more

FRIDAY JULY 06
We Knew It: The Turncoat!

Presidential hopeful John Edwards will take money from hedge funds and private-equity firms, thank you very much, but, all the while, he’s also been planning to hike their taxes. > read more

FRIDAY JULY 06
Apollo Management Mulling Stake Sale, IPO?

It’s looking mighty suspicious, with Apollo founder Leon Black moseying down to the oil-rich city of Abu Dhabi last week to shop a deal that could make him very, very wealthy. > read more

FRIDAY JULY 06
VC Veteran Blasts Private Equity

Dixon Doll, next in line to become chairman of the National Venture Capital Association, blames “the unbelievable egos” of Blackstone and KKR executives for the heightened tax scrutiny from Washington. Let the finger-pointing begin. > read more

FRIDAY JULY 06
Multibillion-Dollar Battle Over Bausche & Lomb

Advanced Medical has trumped Warburg Pincus’s bid for the Bausche – to the tune of $4.3 billion. Now what? > read more

FRIDAY JULY 06
Another Fund Rout, Another Head Rolls

The bank: UBS. The head: CEO Peter Wuffli’s. In fact, the din of rolling heads at banks has become so deafening, we at Dealmaker Daily can hardly hear the dulcet tones of our intraoffice death metal anymore (which we pipe through our ancient PA system to keep the interns on their toes). > read more

THURSDAY JULY 05
Executive Order: Buy Or Be Bought

Fraser Clarke is not only a prescient dealmaker who helped sell Hair Club — he’s also its president. And thanks to his war chest, he’s been on an acquisition tear. > read more

THURSDAY JULY 05
Talk Like A Mensite

One of those Mensa persons, that is… Here are the results of a yearly Mensa competition in which The Washington Post asks readers to supply alternative meanings for common words. Warning: Not for innuendo-haters. > read more

THURSDAY JULY 05
Banking On The Hamptons

Hedge funders have the Caymans, and bankers have the Hamptons. It’s the rules. But these days, it’s not just where you go on Sundays. > read more

THURSDAY JULY 05
UK `Discovers’ Leaks In M&A Deals

Complacency among firms about internal procedures? Routine hemorrhaging of top-secret information? Employees not knowing insider trading is illegal? Two hundred insiders at one firm handling a single deal? We at Dealmaker Daily are shocked! Thank Yahweh this never happens in the U.S. > read more

THURSDAY JULY 05
So…What To Do With $20 Billion In Cash?

Scoop up the Hilton Hotels, of course. As Blackstone pockets a deal to buy the 480,000-room hotel chain, other big PE players are starting to sniff out the Marriott and Starwood. > read more

THURSDAY JULY 05
KKR Earns Half As Much As Blackstone

While you were off planning your 4th of July three-legged races, KKR was busily filing its S-1 – and the results are in. > read more

THURSDAY JULY 05
Bear Could End Up In Play

So says CNBC’s Charles Gasparino. Still, judging by the withering response of Bear Stearns CEO Mr. James Cayne, the bank appears none too eager to sell on a dip. > read more

THURSDAY JULY 05
Swallowed Whole By The LBO?

It’s all beginning to look a bit treacherous for the world’s top buyers of LBO bonds. Some of the high-flyers – like Fidelity and Lehman – have the sneaking suspicion they’ve glutted themselves on too much plum cake. And now it’s time to go on a little diet. > read more

TUESDAY JULY 03
Lease On Life

In saving Angelo, Gordon’s deal for King Super Markets, W.P. Carey’s Benjamin Harris demonstrates the searing power of sale-lease back financing. > read more

TUESDAY JULY 03
HSBC’s Asia I-Banking Head Takes Off For Citi

At HSBC Asia, the rats are leaving the ship… And they are big, highfalutin rats. > read more

TUESDAY JULY 03
The Lure Of China

For Blackstone, China’s kind of like that tantalizing, would-be concubine you have to circle for eons before you can really get your talons in. > read more

TUESDAY JULY 03
Bidding On The Cookie Monster

Kraft bids $7.2 billion on Danone, maker of the ever-scrumptious Petit Ecolier and Crème Roulee cookies. (For you Americans reading out there – if you haven’t tried them, you haven’t lived!) > read more

TUESDAY JULY 03
Deflowering Of Virgin?

For its part, Virgin Media is being about as cagey as any blushing handmaiden, but it’s confirmed that it received a bid (from a suitor that will go unnamed as Carlyle Group). > read more

TUESDAY JULY 03
Return Of The `Giggling Guru’

The Beatles sought guidance from Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1968 – so why not Wall Street in 2007? > read more

TUESDAY JULY 03
Bear Gets Dirty With Georgia Possum

Aw yeah, this is the stuff we love to read about!: Only the possums are enjoying the backyard of 2035 Lilac Lane in Decatur, Georgia, where Bear Stearns is just another homeowner by default. Literally. > read more

MONDAY JULY 02
Up-And-Comer: Mr. Trouble

Let others chase cash-flow multiples — Steven B. Zuckerman looks to make his mark making cash from distress. > read more

MONDAY JULY 02
A Bancroft Vote-Down?

Dow Jones may get its precious deal with Rupert Murdoch, but it likely won’t be through any fault of the company’s controlling shareholders, that wacky Bancroft family. > read more

MONDAY JULY 02
Congress, Where The Boneheadedness Is Unceasing

As lawmakers make a land grab for private-equity’s profits and the Harvard-educated Rep. Sander Levin lets slip he’s never even heard of Blackstone (even as he trots out a bill to hike taxes on the very firms among which Blackstone reigns king) one columnist’s timely defense of the heavy-hitters. > read more

MONDAY JULY 02
Er, Sure Didn’t See That One Coming…

Bear Stearns still can’t tell what it’s lost investors in the subprime fiasco. Chalk it up to the pratfalls of speculating in a market that’s so opaque, even its own traders have no real idea what the value of anything is. > read more

MONDAY JULY 02
Star UBS Banker Quits To Make Distress Bet

Jeffrey A. McDermott, former co-head of investment banking at UBS, jumps ship to start a private-equity firm that will target troubled companies. > read more

MONDAY JULY 02
Insider Trading In Options Wacks Banks

When a trader buys an options contract knowing that the price of the underlying stock will rise, the market maker – from Goldman to Citadel – can’t win. > read more

MONDAY JULY 02
Canucks Score!

Sure, some buyouts are beginning to look a little rocky, but not in mountainous Canada, where telecom operator BCE and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan investment consortium just wrapped up the biggest private-equity deal in the history of the world. > read more

Previously » June 2007

More recently » August 2007

Current » Morning Call: November 20