Wall Street Folly

Tags: Allen Stanford, Bank of America, Barack Obama, Economists, Harvard, Inquisitions, Jamie Dimon, KKR, Morgan Stanley, recalls, SEC, Sovereign debt, Toyota, TPG

• Bernie Madoff, the $19B Con, Makes New Friends Behind Bars
• Buyout Pioneer Kravis Aims to Remake KKR Like Buffett
• Goldman Sachs Bars Cash Bonus for Top Officers
• Goldman Sachs Stock Bonus Plan to Defer Compensation Expense
• UK: Revenue to clarify bonus rules
• UK: Lawyers search for loopholes in supertax
• Moody’s Analyst: No Threat To US, UK Triple-A Ratings Now
• Ex-UBS Banker, Swiss Lawyer Declared U.S. Fugitives Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Bernie Madoff, Bonuses, Compensation, Goldman Sachs, Henry Kravis, KKR, Moody's, ponzi schemes, prison, scammers, Taxes

• Bear Managers Cioffi, Tannin Rest, Won’t Testify
• Raj Rajaratnam Said to Keep Personal Investments in Sri Lanka
• KKR — a Q&A With Pioneers in M&A
• Dollar May Gain 10% Against Euro, Faber Says Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Bear Stearns, Galleon, Hedge funds, Henry Kravis, KKR, Legal, Marc Faber, Raj Raratnam

• For Bank of America’s Dealmaker, One Deal Too Many?
• Ken Lewis farewell memo
• He’s not even cold
• A look at potential successors to Lewis
• Lewis departure catches BofA board off guard
• J.P. Morgan Hopes to Heal N.Y.-London Lacerations
• Super rich are $300 billion lighter
• CIT Draws Up Bankruptcy Option Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Autos, Bank of America, CIT, GM, JP Morgan, Ken Lewis, KKR, Revolving Door, TV, Wealth

• Morgan Stanley In Hiring Push To Jump-Start Trading
• F.D.I.C. Seeks to Attract More Buyers of Banks
• Fed Assets Increase 2.3% on Buying of MBS, Treasuries
• Rise of the Super-Rich Hits a Sobering Wall
• Biovail Suit Against SAC Capital Thrown Out by Judge
• AIG Says Madoff Suit Without Merit
• Switzerland Sells Stake in UBS for a Profit Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: AIG, Autos, Bernie Madoff, FDIC, Fed, GM, IPOs, KKR, Morgan Stanley, Revolving Door, SAC Capital, Sports, Starbucks, UBS, We're Hiring, Wealth

• Bondholders Plan CIT Rescue
• Bailout Overseer Says Banks Misused TARP Funds
• In Washington, One Bank Chief Still Holds Sway
• White House chief of staff declines JPMorgan invite
• Citi’s Latest Snag: Froman’s Funds Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Banks, Barclays, Ben Bernanke, CIT, Citigroup; Fortress, JP Morgan, KKR, Politics, recession, TARP

• Bernanke to Testify as New BofA Details Emerge
• Lawmaker accuses Fed of “cover-up” in BofA deal
• Fed Shielded Facts Of Merrill Sale, Republicans Say
• G.O.P. Expected to Paint Bernanke as Ally of Big Government
• AIG to Cut Debt to Federal Reserve of New York by $25 Billion
• Short Selling of S&P 500 Increases for First Time Since March Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: AIG; Short selling, Allen Stanford, AQR, Autos, Ben Bernanke, Fed, Harvard, Headline Roundup, KKR, Politics

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Tags: Bankruptcy, Cerberus, Fidelity, GLG, Hedge funds, KKR, Private equity

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Tags: Activist Investing, Bankruptcy, Blackstone, Carlyle, Cerberus, Hedge funds, KKR, Private equity

Package deal: Sounds like one of the big considerations in former Bear
Stearns CEO Alan Schwartz’s decision as to where he might land is whether he’ll be
able to bring a trusted Bear Stearns confidante with him.  Richard Metrick,
a 20 year Bear veteran in his mid-60s, who was a senior managing director with
the firm, will need to be part of the deal according to the NY Post.  Firms said to be
in the running for Schwartz, who won’t be staying with JP Morgan, include the oft mentioned KKR, Warburg Pincus,
Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Centerview Partners and Evercore Partners.

Bear’s
Schwartz Mulling Job Offers – NY Post

Tags: Alan Schwartz, Bear Stearns, Citigroup, Evercore, Goldman Sachs, KKR, Revolving Door

Former Bear Stearns CEO Alan Schwartz and JP Morgan are officially parting ways.  JP Morgan issued an internal memo to employees which was read to TheStreet.com: 

"With
most of the work on the merger integration behind us, Alan will be moving on
from the firm at the end of August to pursue other interests," said the
memo, signed by CEO Jamie Dimon and the co-heads of the investment banking unit,
Steve Black and Bill Winters.

"Despite the extremely difficult circumstances that brought our firms
together, Alan has been a terrific and constructive partner throughout the
process," the memo stated. 

So will he land at KKR as has been the rumor for some time?

Tags: Alan Schwartz, Bear Stearns, JPM Chase, KKR, Revolving Door

At least the ones in paintings.  Page Six "Sightings" notes that the KKR boss was seen "intently studying" one of the paintings of a hooker at the Museum of Modern Art’s "Kirchner and the Berlin Street" show of rare 1914 paintings from artist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner.  The painter focused on the street life in Berlin, and he liked to show ladies of the evening, who you could pick out of the crowd from their big plumed hats.  A far cry from what today’s hookers look like.

Tags: Art, Henry Kravis, Hookers, KKR

We’ve brought you the OfficeMax dancing elves of Wall Street, of Hedge Funds and now we present to you the dancing elves of Private Equity.  Watch Blackstone’s Steve Schwarzman, KKR’s Henry Kravis, Apollo’s Leon Black and J.C.Flowers & Co’s Christopher Flowers….

Prior Post: The Dancing Hedge Fund Elves

Tags: Apollo, Blackstone, Henry Kravis, Humor, KKR, Leon Black, Private equity

But the reception at Chez Kravis isn’t very warm.  Go figure.

Tags: Hamptons, Henry Kravis, KKR

The new issue of Vanity Fair (October) details the rivalry between Blackstone’s Steve Schwarzman and KKR’s Henry Kravis.  A link for the story isn’t up on the web yet, so we’ll have to wait for our copy of VF to arrive, but Page Six provides a tease for the article that describes their one upmanship in business, art, real estate as well as philanthropy.  The animosity started when Steve famously didn’t invite Henry to his now legendary 60th birthday party because Henry had never had him over to his pad for dinner.  And i’s escalated as Kravis blames Schwarzman for making the private equity a congressional target with tax increases possibly in the offing:

IN the battle of the billionaires, Stephen Schwarzman calls Henry Kravis "a
one-trick pony," while Kravis considers Schwarzman "the poster boy for
greed," Vanity Fair reports….

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Blackstone, Henry Kravis, KKR, Private equity

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Tags: Farallon, Hedge funds, KKR, Morgan Stanley

Even in the face of Blackstone’s abysmally performing IPO, the recent turbulent markets, and the likelihood that continuing credit market problems will lead to compressed profits, KKR is apparently still planning to go forward with their IPO according to an updated SEC filing.  In the same filing, they disclosed that the SEC has asked them for documents in a probe announced last October in an investigation of so-called "club deals", where private equity firms have been alleged to team up, to drive deal prices down.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, the private equity
group, yesterday indicated that it was continuing with plans to float, despite
severe losses last week in equity and debt markets and a warning that the credit
crunch may lead to reduced returns for its own investments.

KKR, one of the world’s biggest buyout
firms, also admitted yesterday, as part of amended regulatory filings ahead of
its flotation, that it had received a demand for documents from the antitrust
division of America’s Department of Justice. The firm, which had said in June
that it planned to raise $1.25 billion (£620 million), has still not committed
to a date for a float.

The documents requested form part of the
Department’s inquiry into whether private equity firms colluded over price in
buyouts in the US.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Henry Kravis, IPO, KKR, Private equity

Given the dismal performance of Blackstone’s IPO and the state of turmoil in the debt and equity  markets, it’s sounding more likely that KKR may have a problem with its own planned IPO….

Jeff Arricale, who runs a financial-stock
mutual fund for T. Rowe Price Group Inc., said he doubts KKR will be able to
find enough investors to pull off an IPO if current market conditions continue.
"Sure, at some price it is possible to do it, but I’d be shocked if they
end up doing this IPO."

Five blocks south of KKR’s New York headquarters overlooking Central Park, rival
firm Blackstone Group LP is learning just how tough this market has become.
Shares of its own initial public offering — priced just over a month ago — are
now 17% below their $31 debut, and closed yesterday in 4 p.m. New York Stock
Exchange composite trading at $25.70, up 19 cents, or 0.7%.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Blackstone, IPO, KKR, LBO / MBO

• Chrysler Sale to Be Completed After Banks Take Loans
• KKR to Accept Higher Loan Costs on Alliance Boots
• Basis Hires Blackstone to Limit Losses on Hedge Funds
• KKR, Blackstone Find `Tide Is Going Out,’ Pimco’s Gross Says

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Tags: Blackstone, KKR, LBO / MBO

• KKR Extends Deadline on Alliance Boots LBO Loans
• "Golden age" of private equity is behind: Carlyle
• A Private-Equity Peak?
• Citi gets boost from investment banking

 

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Tags: bonds, Carlyle, Citigroup, KKR, Law firms, LBO / MBO, Private equity

Not really a surprise, given how the Democrats have jumped on the taxation bandwagon, but private equity is throwing more cash at Republican candidates these days according to the Wall Street Journal:

Newly released campaign-finance reports show former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Arizona Sen. John McCain received a total of $262,000 in contributions from employees of private-equity companies since January. The top Democrats in the 2008 race,
Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York, Barack Obama of Illinois and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards received a total of $231,000, the reports show.

The numbers could be the first indication that private-equity managers are reversing their trend of giving most of their donations to Democrats. Since the 2000 election, the same private-equity firms were the source of an increasing share of their donations to Democrats, according to historical data provided by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

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Tags: Blackstone, Carlyle, KKR, Political Contributions, Politics, Private equity

Goldman and JP Morgan both came up with the short end of the stick in the Blackstone IPO and KKR’s upcoming one.  Citigroup and Morgan Stanley landed the roles as co-lead underwriters in those deals.  This time GS and JPM are getting a piece of the action as co-leads in the upcoming Apollo IPO:

JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs have lined up
key roles advising Apollo Management on its expected IPO, the first signs of a
comeback by other Wall Street banks after the early dominance of Morgan Stanley
and Citigroup in the battle to underwrite private equity floats…

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Tags: Apollo, Blackstone, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPM Chase, KKR, Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley

Private equity fees paid to Wall Street are on pace to set yet another record.  In the first half of this year, Blackstone Group  led the pack, spending $685.4 million, Apollo Management was #2 at $407.5 million, KKR was #3 at $334.8 million and CVC Capital Partners stood at #4 with a $309.1 million bill.  And with that kind of spending, private equity is looking for ways to keep more of those fees in house.  So they’re starting to imitate Goldman Sachs and its ability to play both sides.  That’s not good news for the Wall Street banks (or their bonus pools):

The windfall is occurring in a year when
private-equity firms announced about $670 billion of takeovers, more than double
the total at this time last year, according to Bloomberg data. Blackstone, the
New York-based firm founded by Stephen Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson that
sold shares to the public last month, spent $685.4 million on financial advice
in the first half, Freeman & Co. said.

“They’re paying these fees because business is very good,” said Matthew
Rhodes-Kropf, a finance professor at Columbia University’s Columbia Business
School in New York. “Paying the fees gets you better deal flow. Everyone wants
to be the first call” when a company goes up for sale, he said.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Apollo, Blackstone, Bonuses, Fees, Goldman Sachs, investment banking, KKR

Apollo Talks With Arab Fund Barbarians on the Sofa – Has Henry Kravis gone soft? Goldman, JPMorgan out in the cold for second private equity IPO NEWSMAKER-Blackstone’s president faces major test

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Tags: Apollo, Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Henry Kravis, JPM Chase, KKR, Leon Black, Private equity

With Blackston’e IPO seven times oversubscribed, KKR sounds like they’re the next to go the IPO route.  Or at least they’re testing the waters.  According to CNBC, KKR has hired Morgan Stanley and Citi "to prepare" for an IPO.  Stay tuned.

Tags: Blackstone, Citigroup, KKR, Morgan Stanley, Private equity