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Good Sports

July 7, 2008 - Some of the most notable names in private equity, Steve Pagliuca and Tom Hicks, have made personal investments in sports franchises, but rarely have these deal makers pursued similar bets on behalf of the firms listed on their business cards. Institutional money, though, may be slowly creeping into ball parks, race tracks and even soccer fields.

An Influx of European FIG PIPEs?

July 7, 2008 - When TPG announced it would inject £179 million into UK financial institution Bradford & Bingley, it didn't only signal the first capital infusion by a private equity firm into a UK bank. It also heralded the possibility of additional private investment in public equity (PIPE) issues by European financial services firms.

Carlyle Bolsters FIG Team

July 7, 2008 - The Carlyle Group has hired Wachovia veteran James Burr as a managing director in its global financial services group. Burr, who was most recently Wachovia's corporate treasurer, will start on Aug. 1 in Carlyle's New York office.

Gelband, Kirk Return To Lehman

June 30, 2008 - Several weeks after demoting its chief financial officer and chief operating officer, Lehman Brothers announced it brought back two senior managers and promoted two others.

FSA Regulates Short Selling

June 30, 2008 - Hedge funds around the globe will feel the impact of the Financial Services Authority's new rule that requires funds to disclose their short positions when it comes to rights offerings.

Choose Your Friends Wisely

June 30, 2008 - Activist shareholders were put on guard in June, after a US District Court ruling threatened to forever alter how hedge funds pursue investments and accumulate positions in target companies.

PE Pros Leading Debt Syndications

June 23, 2008 - Private equity firms are taking a much more active role in securing debt financing for leveraged acquisitions, illustrating the stiff challenge facing financial sponsors in the leveraged finance market amidst a slower deal market, a group of buyout executives said at IDD's 'Post Crunch M&A: Doing Deals in a Down Market' conference in midtown Manhattan last Wednesday.

M&A Honcho Heeds Academia's Calling

June 23, 2008 - Frank Yeary, who has headed global M&A at Citigroup for the past five years, is leaving the firm to become a vice chancellor at the University of California-Berkeley.

A Change Is Gonna Come

June 23, 2008 - The November Presidential election is creating banter about changes in the financial services industry, and most observers seem to agree that increased regulation, in some form, is coming for hedge funds.

Golden Days Ahead?

June 23, 2008 - Goldman Sachs posted better-than-expected results for the second quarter, but that news was almost overshadowed by other developments at the bank.

Deconstructing The Commercial Mortgage Market

June 23, 2008 - The credit crisis that's roiled Wall Street for nearly a year has dramatically changed how commercial properties are financed, altering the roles of different participants in a financial food chain that underwrites mortgages for properties such as malls and office buildings and then resells them into securities. Borrowers have had to turn to so-called portfolio lenders such as insurance companies and banks. In some cases, hedge funds and other funds have stepped in to provide short-term loans.

Calling All Non-Members

June 23, 2008 - Much like Tiger Woods and major championships, golf and Wall Street go hand-in-hand. But as the credit crunch and the ensuing slowdown in business continues to take its toll in the financial-services world, there's a raging question going on in the leafy suburbs surrounding the New York City area: to forgo the country club membership or not?

PE Shops Tap Bulge-Bracket Bankers

June 16, 2008 - Providence Equity Partners brought aboard Gary Weinstein as its chief operating officer from Lehman Brothers, while The Blackstone Group hired Laurence Tosi as its chief financial officer from Merrill Lynch.

Forgotten, But Not Gone

June 16, 2008 - The convergence of alternative assets has largely been a boon to M&A in recent years. Hedge funds, in particular, were a key factor fueling the market, using flexible mandates to assume roles as wide ranging as lender, buyer, venture capitalist and even instigator, in the case of activist investment funds. As the deal market resettles, however, many in M&A have been left asking, 'What's going to happen to the hedge funds?'

Help Wanted ... For Job Seekers

June 16, 2008 - The credit crisis and its offshoots have dramatically slowed hiring, separated thousands of financial professionals from their jobs and cut guarantees in compensation packages almost completely--and the cycle is not expected to end soon. Trying to quantify the impact, Smart Cube, a professional services firm that specializes in customized business and investment research and analysis, recently interviewed 20 US and UK recruiters to better understand how severely the financial services market has been impacted.