Friday Night Links
May 8, 2009
Madison Dearborn CFO Leaps: “More Of A Challenge” Might Be Nice. How much has the deal flow slowed in Chicago? Slow enough that the private equity firm’s chief financial officer, Thomas Goldstein, was gabby enough during his conversation with Crain’s to mention that he needed “more of a challenge.” Obviously the feeling isn’t unique, but the frankness it. See story.
Tyree Chases Sun-Times. Buffet Says: Not “At Any Price.” On hearing on The Chicago Sun-Times sad demise, the chairman of Mesirow Financial kicked into gear, readying for a buyout. In a parallel universe, Warren Buffet suggested holding on to one’s wallet instead, telling shareholders he wouldn’t buy newspapers “at any price.” See story.
Dell Cozies Up To Deal Pros. Dealers Say: Nah. Apparently displeased with its long-time laggard reputation, Dell is on the hunt for a whip smart M&A chief. Too bad all the smarties already know the computer maker isn’t the right place for an ambitious i-banker. What to do when the pay is right, the timing is right, but the environment is… something else. You already know the answer. See story.
Blackstone Isn’t Quite In The Black Yet, But Closer. The private equity giant posted yet more write-downs this quarter. We were inclined to make a requisite crack about the firm’s impending doom, but then noticed they only lost $93 million, compared to a $827 million loss in the fourth quarter 2008. Is that a light at the end of the tunnel, kids? Possibly. In other news, we feel ridiculous writing “only lost $93 million.” But that’s how far we’ve sunk. See story.
Hey, Schwarzman. At Least We Still Invited You. Exit here if you’re feeling Blackstone overload. TIME magazine ran its 100 Most Powerful People ceremony, guess who had fallen noticeably from grace since last year’s shindig. Nearly everyone in finance. For some reason, Schwarzman was re-invited this year, but he was shoved to the back of the room. If that wasn’t bad enough, check out the clowns he was sitting behind. See story.
Chris Cox Isn’t Going To Like This Report. If the former SEC chairman didn’t already have enough of a pr problem, the GAO has taken him to task with a damning report that Bloomberg cheerily heads “SEC Hindered Probes, Slowed Cases, Shrank Fines.” All in a day’s work. See story.
Welcome To The New Wall Street: The Lloyd and Jamie Show! After much anticipated stress test was fully unveiled, it became quickly clear that J.P. Morgan and Goldman were the big winners of the day, with their closest competitors each having to raise a bundle of cash. Now that that all the wannabees are going to be kept busy chasing cash where there isn’t any, Goldman Sachs’ Lloyd Blankfein and J.P. Morgan’s Jamie Dimon are going to have a huge home team advantage. See story.
Who Else is Finished? The Big Bad UAW. Now that a sizable chunk of Americans blame the UAW as having played a hand in the auto industry’s stagnation that led to its demise, it’s also become clear just how involved those same characters will be in the future of Chrysler following its sale to Fiat. In a word: Not very. Apparently, if the union, which will effectively morph into the Voluntary Employees Benefits Association (VEBA), decides to sell its Chrysler shares for cash, it would have to fork over anything more than $4.25 billion to the Fed. That’s how things work in the new state of controlled socialism. See story.
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