Women of M&A
Article :
May/June 2007
Perhaps most remarkably, many women in M&A now feel quite comfortable talking about how they differ from men — and how that can help them close the deal.
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Balancing Act
Article :
Premiere Issue
When everyone else zigs, Brian Finn zags. That instinct and a proper set of priorities have taken the president of Credit Suisse’s I-banking unit to the top of Wall Street
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The Kid Gets In the Picture
Article :
Premiere Issue
In the world of intellectual-property deals, Salem Partners’ Brendan Houlihan is teaching the old Hollywood guard new tricks
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King of the Castle
Article :
Premiere Issue
Castle Harlan president Justin Wender knows how to come away from the negotiating table satisfied. Here, he happily serves up his defining rules
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Lights, Bankruptcy, Action
Article :
Premiere Issue
When the fortunes of a high-tech light bulb maker grew dim, I turned up the wattage — and helped turn things around
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Wing Man
Article :
Premiere Issue
US Airways was struggling to stay airborne in heavy turbulence. Could GE Commercial Finance’s Tom Quindlen and his copilots help guide it to safety?
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Legal Ease
Article :
Premiere Issue
He was a powerful attorney turned private-equity investor; they were young-gun lawyers turned entrepreneurs. But their deal hinged on convincing a reticent A round
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Sitdown With Sandy
Article :
Premiere Issue
He acquired companies by the gross in the ’70s and ’80s, and later pulled off the deal of the century. Wall Street icon Sandy Weill talks about global market forces and life after Citigroup
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The Pioneer
Article :
Premiere Issue
Bill Hambrecht all but created Silicon Valley finance back when Wall Street pooh-poohed it. Now he’s pursuing another vision that could upend the underwriting business
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Rock Steady
Article :
Premiere Issue
Since going public in 1993, Gibraltar Industries has been on an acquisition tear. CEO Brian J. Lipke provides a peek inside
his process
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Founder’s Keeper
Article :
March/April 2007
Citigroup Capital Strategies’ Brian Keane specializes in nurturing companies. Now the former rugby wing forward gives us a peek
at his playbook
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Blackstone’s Battery Mates
Article :
March/April 2007
Midsize Battery Ventures — quietly performing groundbreaking work — has won the support of private equity’s biggest player
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Helmsman for Hire
Article :
March/April 2007
When your company is reeling and the wolves are at the door, Texas turnaround artist Larry Young is the man to call
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Finding the Right Fit
Article :
March/April 2007
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
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Inside the HCA LBO
Article :
March/April 2007
Merrill Lynch’s Alan Hartman and Jim Forbes, architects of what was (until recently, at least) history’s biggest LBO, discuss the epic deal and reveal what drives them.
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Cuba, Inc.
Article :
March/April 2007
With Cuba poised for change, Sebastiaan Berger provides a window into the investment opportunities in the Marxist island nation
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The 19-Year Sale
Article :
March/April 2007
Nearly two decades after I first began to advise a Midwestern manufacturing company, it was finally time to flip the switch. Timing really is everything
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Buy or Be Bought
Article :
March/April 2007
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
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Can Private Equity (and Wilbur Ross) Save Detroit?
Article :
May/June 2007
The Chrysler buyout is shining a bright light onto what was, until recently, a quiet phenomenon: Private Rquity is methodically plowing billions into America's most fabled - and troubled - industry - by William Holstein
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Women of M&A Profiles
Article :
May/June 2007
Today's women dealmakers are right at home at the head of the boardroom table. Meet a few of the savvy women who are shattering the M&A glass ceiling.
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My Deal - Susan Saltzbart Kilsby
Article :
May/June 2007
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My Deal - Chris Ruggeri
Article :
May/June 2007
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My Deal - Accidental Pioneers
Article :
May/June 2007
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My Deal - Nisha Kumar
Article :
May/June 2007
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My Deal - Elizabeth Weatherman
Article :
May/June 2007
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Mr. Trouble
Article :
May/June 2007
Let others chase cash-flow multiples — Steven B. Zuckerman looks to make his mark making cash from distress.
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Lease on Life
Article :
May/June 2007
In saving Angelo, Gordon’s deal for King Super Markets, W.P. Carey’s Benjamin Harris demonstrates the potential of sale-lease
back financing.
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Head Butler -- Books: Playing the Enemy
Posting :
Jesse Kornbluth
:
10/03/2008
If you read nothing else this year, get your hands on Playing the Enemy and read pages 201 to 253.
It won't take long.
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EXCLUSIVE: Dealmaker’s Annual 40 Under 40
Article :
October 2008
For this year's list of 40 of the industry's best players under 40 years of age, we scoured the world to find the finest up-and-coming bankers and private-equity pros. Behold the mavens who are making a name for themselves, shaping the global economy and leading their firms through difficult times – and doing it all with a wealth of gravitas, guts and grace.
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Buffett’s Nuclear Option
Article :
September 2008
In exchange for $4.7 billion of cash, Warren Buffett has landed himself Constellation Energy, which gives him control of three nuclear power plants and half of a major nuclear-plant development firm. In the past, the Oracle of Omaha has come out swinging against the construction of nuclear plants. Will he change his mind now? How his decision will have global ramifications.
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Tiffany Takeover
Article :
September 2008
Once the gold standard of television networks, CBS was in decline when Westinghouse came calling in 1995.
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Noble Pursuits
Article :
September 2008
Built by the Aga Khan, Sardinia's Costa Smeralda is now a haven for princely pursuits -- yachting, polo, fine dining -- and the business barons who partake of them.
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40 Under 40
Article :
September 2008
For this year's list of 40 of the industry's best players under 40 years of age, we scoured the world to find the finest up-and-coming bankers and private-equity pros. Behold the mavens who are making a name for themselves, shaping the global economy and leading their firms through difficult times -- and doing it all with a wealth of gravitas, guts and grace.
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The Neuberger Berman Question
Article :
September 2008
Or was that Berberger Neuman? No matter. As soon as Lehman sells the one, it can start building the other. And it may have to, considering that the bank’s market capitalization of roughly $11 billion isn’t far from the value of the asset-management business. After that’s gone, what’s left? Others are making the same inquiry.
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How To Talk To An Investment Banker, If You Must
Article :
July 2008
Admittedly, much research has been done on this over the years, but no one has ever come out with a definitive cheat sheet. Prepare to be in the dark no more. Take a gander at the Deal Journal’s final word (this 20 seconds, anyway) on this burning subject.
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Gulf Rush
Article :
July 2008
It’s no secret that anyone who’s anyone in banking, corporate law, private-equity, et all are seeking refuge from the subprime storm in the oil-rich (read: flat-out rich) Middle East. Yet many are finding such “suitcase-banking” is easier said than done in a deeply challenging environment where outsiders are shunned and entrenched players rule the roost. So, what’s an eager newcomer to do?
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Rooms With A View
Article :
July 2008
Private spas? Personal cinemas? Opulent safaris? A basketball court...in your room? Yes, when the trading man travels, he does so in style – and with a degree of indulgence that others might find, well, indulgent. Still, check into these international luxury digs, and you'll know that you've truly arrived.
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Where The Deals Are
Article :
July 2008
Blockbuster buyouts may be rare this year, but small remains beautiful. Here’s why action in the middle market has rarely been more brisk and how some savvy players are creatively mining it.
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No One Goes to Either Store Anyway...
Article :
July 2008
What happens when two struggling players in the board game classic Monopoly try and team up and take down the big brother who has been dominating throughout? They often still lose. While it’s hard to say such a deal would have revived once strong franchises Blockbuster and Circuit City, now the argument is all but moot.
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Laid ‘Bear’: The Final, Final Chapter?
Article :
July 2008
Maybe it’s because shares of Lehman Brothers have recently fallen another 11% to their lowest level since 2000, spurring even more speculation of a Bear Stearns-like end. But here’s another reason why no one can stop writing stories about what unhinged Bear (not even Vanity Fair, which this month, still thought “Gossip Girls” made for a better cover): On March 10, at roughly 11 a.m., something happened that didn’t stop happening until the bank was no more. No one seems to know what it was – but we do know that it manifested itself in the death spiral of Bear’s stock. And we also know who everyone is trying to blame. Could the same forces be at work with Lehman?
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Software’s Ripple Effect
Article :
June 2008
Why an all-cash offer by Finland's Nokia Corp. for the rest of Symbian Ltd. likely will boost competition in the U.S. for such industry stalwarts as Google and Apple.
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Getting (And Giving) The Heave-Ho
Article :
June 2008
Who couldn’t get it together – Microsoft or Yahoo? Well, it looks like it doesn’t matter anymore. Now that all the scuffling has finally driven Yahoo straight into the arms of Google – which has wasted no time in cementing an iron-clad pact hammering a wedge between Yahoo and Microsoft forever – here’s where the rubber meets the road.
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Where The Deals Are
Article :
June 2008
Blockbuster buyouts may be rare this year, but in our latest issue of Dealmaker magazine we discover small is still beautiful. Indeed, action in the middle market has rarely been more brisk and some savvy players are creatively mining it.
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The Rising
Article :
June/July 2008
From the ruins of that unthinkable day comes, at long last, a rebirth.
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Where the Deals Are
Article :
June/July 2008
Blockbuster buyouts may be rare this year, but small remains beautiful: Action in the middle market has rarely been more brisk, and some savvy players are creatively mining it.
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I Can Definitely Hear You Now
Article :
June 2008
Further consolidating an already top-heavy industry, Verizon Wireless’ agreement to acquire Alltel for $28 billion catapults it past AT&T to become the largest U.S. cellphone carrier.
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Patience Pays Off
Article :
June/July 2008
When shareholders (and other bankers) called for a sale, Bill MacDonald called my firm, Watch Hill Partners. Together we devised a creative financing solution to unlock the company’s true value.
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Lending a Hand
Article :
June/July 2008
When a deal is on the brink, Jimmy Lee, JPMorgan Chase's leveraged-loan ace and master negotiator, can bridge the gap.
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Net Gain
Article :
June/July 2008
By adding Wall Street tactics to the playbook, Steve Orr is helping New York City youth charities score big.
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Big Oil: Trader Invasion?
Article :
May 2008
How one ambitious Houston hedge fund trader’s investment in hard assets underlying his trades could mark a tipping point in the world of Big Oil, as well-capitalized speculators begin wagering like private-equity firms on the future of the industry. (Plus, they can literally hedge their bets.) A peek at why he’s heading south of the border.
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The Bomb Heard Round The World?
Article :
May 2008
Wall Street is buzzing over yet another incident of a top private-equity exec somehow finding his foot, again, in his mouth. Given that this someone isn’t innocent of doing this in the past (it’s probably fair to say many times now) we suspect maybe he just likes the taste of his foot.
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Bear, Unmasked
Article :
May 2008
Now that it’s becoming much clearer who will get to stay at Bear Stearns and who will be forced to go, some of its bigger players are revealing what kind of brinksmanship really went down as the bank’s foundations buckled.
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NYFR: Cure For What Ails Ye?
Article :
May 2008
A broker in the U.S. is reportedly cooking up the next generation Libor: the New York Funding Rate, or NYFR, a Frankenstein that could be unleashed upon the world as soon as today. While we submit that perhaps the U.S. should be a bit more concerned about its widows and orphans getting slammed by the nation’s inflation-indexed savings bond paying out 0% for the first time ever, we digress. The broking firm launching “nyfer” assures us that it isn’t looking to replace Libor, as it reflects very different market fundamentals, but we say why not go for broke? If the pound is pounding the U.S. dollar, why shouldn’t we also get grabby with London? And now, here’s exactly how this very special toggle is expected to work.
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Head Butler - Books: Epictetus
Posting :
Jesse Kornbluth
:
04/18/2008
I took a nap after lunch. My sleep was deep, my awakening sudden --- I looked around as if I were seeing the bedroom for the first time on a fresh day, as if it were morning. The bed was made. Where was my wife?
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COVER STORY: Continental Divide
Article :
April 2008
After nearly two decades of taking a back seat to the U.S., Eurobankers have definitively reclaimed their place at the head of the global M&A deal table. But will they be able to hold onto their newfound title?
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Tech Dealmakers
Article :
April/May 2008
Heightened activity and global expansion in the multifaceted tech dealmaking world has Wall Street jockeying for position. Here's who's leading the charge.
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Continental Divide
Article :
April/May 2008
After nearly two decades of taking a back seat to the U.S.,
Eurobankers finally reclaim their place at the head of the global M&A deal table. Will they be able to hold onto their newfound title?
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Power Scene
Article :
April/May 2008
If breakfast is the most important meal of the day, the power breakfast could prove the most important meal of your career...
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WaMu Derring-Do
Article :
April 2008
Talks under way to give Washington Mutual a much-needed multibillion-dollar shot in the arm (to the tune of as much as $7 billion, according to the latest estimates) continue apace, but is this move strictly the greatest idea for the investor group led by TPG, one of the world’s biggest private-equity firms with decades-old ties to the bank? The name of the game is to bet that this killer financial cycle will turn in TPG’s favor before any capital infusion is wholly eroded by crippling write-downs. In the live minefield that is the credit crunch, a sneak peek at how some of the smart money (including KKR and Apollo) plan to outfox disaster lurking in the foxholes.
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Flight Of The Buyout Heavies
Article :
April 2008
Not sure what the correct terminology is here for this, whether it be a flight, a gaggle, a ruck, a swarm, a covey, a shoal or a legion, but they are fleeing and they are fleeing fast. In the latest case in point, one prominent J.P. Morgan rainmaker, who once basked in the glow of the M&A boom, having recently found his VIP room more like a waiting room, fled to the arms of this private-equity firm – and former client.
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It’s Getting Sirius
Article :
March 2008
The $5 billion marriage of competing radio networks XM and Sirius has been blessed by the U.S. Justice Department, at long last bringing together the programming of Oprah Winfrey, Willie Nelson, Snoop Dogg, Howard Stern, Martha Stewart and National Public Radio…into one giant, unholy union. But will the FCC and consumer groups screw this one up?
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Big Deal
Article :
March 2008
This is more like it. A $100 billion deal proposal being floated in Europe is signaling not only a willingness among corporate monoliths to band together in a renewed spirit of cooperation, but also the promise of greater support for once unheard-of cross-border configurations. Now, if only the politicians would shut up…
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Contrarian: Money Trail
Article :
March 2008
How Westwood Capital's Dan Alpert is working with overextended homeowners to profit from the mortgage mess.
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Carlyle: Bigger They Are, The Lighter They Fall?
Article :
March 2008
The unspoken rule of the U.S. financial system and its regulatory regime is that the better-capitalized players should be given plenty of room to fail – if they want it – because they can dust themselves off and get back in the game a lot faster than, say, Auntie Nell from the country who’s liable to squander her entire retirement savings on a flight-by-night forex scheme. But there are exceptions to every rule.
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Carlyle’s Calamity
Article :
March 2008
The credit crunch: it isn’t just for subprime mortgages anymore. Late last night, Carlyle Capital, which only recently held as much as $21.7 billion in mortgage securities, broke the news that its lenders are now ready to extract their pound of flesh.
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Hedge Fund: ‘Suckered’ By Banks
Article :
March 2008
As financial markets boiled over in past years, some Wall Street players began selling insurance against the possibility of things going wrong, in what seemed like an attempt at prudence. It wasn't.
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Blackstone Goes For Gold
Article :
February 2008
Black gold, that is. (And being Blackstone, what could be more appropriate?) In a $2 billion partnership likely to be announced today, the massive private-equity firm’s latest bid on oil refineries – just as oil prices, on cue, top $102 – highlights the pressure on institutional investors to chase down less conventional opportunities in hopes of booking fatter returns.
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Let The Games Begin
Article :
February 2008
With a huge, so-called “bear-hug” bid of $2 billion, Electronic Arts is looking to make Take-Two Interactive Software an offer it can’t refuse. Only it DID refuse…last week. Unfazed, EA is expected to pull a few more tricks from up its sleeve. After all, we’re only talking about it buying the company that brought your kids Grand Theft Auto, the criminally addictive video game that actually teaches them how to be a criminal. And what, from a financial standpoint, could possibly be wrong with that?
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Bear: Still Under The Gun
Article :
February 2008
A progressing criminal investigation into the implosion of two hedge funds at one of Wall Street’s top banks could hinge on whether the funds' managers misled investors during a conference call last spring about the desperate straits they faced. But in uncertain times, exactly what is a bank to disclose – and not disclose – to its investors?
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Contrarian
Article :
February/March 2008
Westwood Capital's Dan Alpert goes against the "vulture" culture by working with overextended homeowners to profit from the mortgage mess.
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Lehman’ Hail Mary
Article :
January 2008
The slashing of 1,300 jobs at Lehman Brothers and its exit from the U.S. wholesale mortgage-lending business that will result in a $40 million charge sparked a number of strong reactions from readers of financial news sites across the Web yesterday. Here, a few of the more strongly worded responses from both intelligent people who were goodly enough to append their names to their postings, as well as the usual rabble of strident morons.
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One Idea: Just Reinvent The Wheel
Article :
January 2008
Cavemen did it – how hard could it be? But when reinventing the wheel means possibly going back to the slow-and-steady-wins-the-race thing, that’s when a lot of fired-up bankers start to feel a little bit wistful for the good old days. Here’s how major institutions such as Merrill Lynch and Citigroup plan to toe the line.
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Bad Trade Goes Bad
Article :
January 2008
Real bad. Ever sell a car you hadn’t finished paying off? Yeah, us neither. But pretend you did. And you thought you were going to pay for it…one day. But you didn’t. And then it turned out that the car was worth $60 billion (we’re talking about a really nice car, here) and the person you sold it had no idea their purchase wasn’t any good – until today. And you without a nickel to spare. That’s basically what’s happened to ailing bond insurer ACA and its sale of billions in insurance contracts to banks across Wall Street. So, what’s going to happen to those banks now?
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Ready For Your Citi-Merrill News Detox Yet?
Article :
January 2008
We are. But apparently nobody else is, as the media rabidly highlights quotes from the Citigroup conference call yesterday as if such things were imminently going out of style (they’re not, btw) and trumpets $19.1 billion of capital infusions into both Citi and Merrill, courtesy of those ever-helpful sovereign wealth funds. So, does anyone have anything new to say about any of this today? Of course not. But they’re going to hash through the greatest hits, anyway. We would, however, like to point out one underappreciated fact: anyone else notice that banks aren’t having the slightest bit of trouble raising their gobs of cash? In fact, according to this story, the deep-pocketed sponsors are scrambling to bang down THEIR door.
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Blackstone’s Distress Signal
Article :
January 2008
In this case, a good kind of distress – especially as we’re talking about distressed assets, which are white-hot. Realizing the source of some of its more traditional revenue streams (ahem, buyouts) may be on the wind-down, the monster private-equity firm is ready to lay some serious lumber on finds with a proven track record in navigating these dangerous waters. Here’s where it’s placing some of its bets.
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Going Private…
Article :
January 2008
…Then public, then private again. Insights from the man who marshaled one of the biggest buyouts in history – to the tune of $21.3 billion (plus the assumption of $11.7 billion in debt).
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Executive Order: Up And Comers
Article :
December 2007
In the cutthroat world of private equity, it takes a steady hand to parlay know-how and high-powered relationships into top-drawer deals. It’s also doesn’t hurt if you have it in your blood.
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