Week in Review: SEC, Kosher, and Specialization

On Monday Reuters announced that the SEC formed a “dedicated group to examine private equity and hedge funds” to “look at areas including how private equity and hedge funds value their assets, disclose their fees, and communicate with investors.” Hours later, Bloomberg reported that, “a majority of private equity firms inflate fees and expenses charged to companies in which they hold stakes.”

Well, that’s troubling.

It remains unclear whether these two announcements are connected — beyond the common Dodd-Frank root. Either way, this week has been a bit of a setback for private equity firms and their reputations. Whether investigators have become intolerant of private equity’s opacity or have noticed the evolving LPAs, GPs should prepare to have their books in order — or hire ex-SEC officials to run their compliance.

In other news, private equity thinks that kosher could be the new organic and Robert F. Smith discusses Vista’s performance.

Opinions

• The secret to successful private equity investing is specialization
• The amount of capital raised by first time PE funds plummets
• Private equity tax breaks: How long will they last?
• The insider’s guide to working in investment banking
• Private equity is driving insurance industry M&A
• Is Dodd-Frank interfering with small business investment?
• 5 ways to finance a small business
• How an ESOP can keep the peace among a business owner’s children
• Private equity nearly saturated in upstream market
• Why family businesses come roaring out of recessions
• Green light for all private equity exit channels

Transactions:

• Intrix Technology acquires Witt Merchant Services
• IBM to acquire Silverpop
• AMETEK to acquire Zygo Corporation
• Brentwood-backed Zoe’s Kitchen goes public
• The Riverside Company adds-on Diversified Property Solutions
• The Gores Group invests in Tweddle Group
• Baird invests in Workforce Insight
• Sycamore Partners carves out Stuart Weitzman from The Jones Group
• GTCR takes Vocus private for $446.5 million
• Ally Financial announces pricing of IPO

Member Spotlight:

Houlihan Capital is a Chicago-based valuation firm focused on providing high quality fairness and solvency opinions, portfolio valuations (level 3), and other transactional advisory services at a Midwestern price. Their clients include the world’s largest hedge funds, private equity funds, sovereign wealth funds and corporations.

The firm offers solutions in the ever-evolving regulatory environment of Private Equity Funds by helping to protect corporate boards from shareholder lawsuits in corporate transactions, helping to resolve shareholder disagreements in shareholder buyouts, helping to stay in compliance from additional regulatory oversight, and more. Houlihan is SOC compliant, a member of FINRA and SIPC, and committed to the highest levels of professional ethics and standards.

For more information, contact Don Wyper ([email protected] / 312-450-8608).