Moelis is the chief executive officer of Moelis & Company and formerly the president of UBS Investment Bank, among other things. In addition to his keynote at The Deal’s Private Equity Symposium, he spoke with Jason Lopez for this podcast.

The Deal’s Private Capital Symposium brought together private equity professionals, angel investors, buyout and venture investors, corporate acquisition professionals, M&A advisors and professional services providers. The event took place in New York’s Essex House, on May 14, 2008.

Tags: The Deal, Private Capital Symposium

“It tells you something about the sophistication of the funds changing very quickly - in a matter of months, from buying common to buying structured securities — and secondly it tells you something about time horizon — they don’t have to worry about performance quarter to quarter.”

Parr was on-hand to give a keynote talk entitled, “The rise of sovereign wealth funds,” and Parr took time for this podcast to speak with Jason Lopez about foreign investment in the U.S. and around the globe. (Parr points out that the largest investments by sovereign wealth funds are being made in Europe, not the U.S., although the sovereigns are, for some, cause for concern.)

The Deal’s Private Capital Symposium brought together private equity professionals, angel investors, buyout and venture investors, corporate acquisition professionals, M&A advisors and professional services providers. The event took place in New York’s Essex House, on May 14, 2008.

Tags: Gary W. Parr, The Deal, Private Capital Symposium

In this podcast, although there was some consensus around the prediction that deal flow in the U.S. will drop below the impressive levels it has achieved in recent years, the expert voices of a panel discussion tackling “Opportunities and priorities in a sluggish economy” hold true to their panel title, expressing optimism at the opportunities that present in a down market.

From manufacturing to distribution and even food processing, all kinds of industries are facing tough decisions about how to continue in the current economic climate. That means opportunities for investors, and that’s just in the U.S. Abroad, particularly in Asia, there’s still a healthier climate for deals. About deals in Asia, Peter Berger, managing director at SAC Private Capital, says, “That’s where the dealflow is”

So, what’s going to happen? If we’re in the “eye of the storm,” as CCMP Capital Managing Director Jonathan Lynch says, then “it’s going to get worse.” But with an “inexhaustible supply of bad management,” even the so-called good times keep turnaround investors like Raquel Palmer at KPS Capital Partners busy. These days, with more shakeouts, they’re even busier than usual.

In addition to Berger, Lynch and Palmer, panelists included Steven Besen, partner at Shearman & Sterling; Timothy O’Hara, managing director and head of global credit business at Credit Suisse; and Hamilton “Tony” James, president and chief operating officer with The Blackstone Group.

The Deal’s Private Capital Symposium brought together private equity professionals, angel investors, buyout and venture investors, corporate acquisition professionals, M&A advisors and professional services providers. The event took place in New York’s Essex House, on May 14, 2008.

Tags: Peter Berger, Jonathan Lynch, Raquel Palmer, Steven Besen, Timothy O’Hara, Hamilton “Tony” James, The Deal, Private Capital Symposium

For this podcast, panelists Steven Rattner, managing director, DLJ Merchant Banking Partners, and James Epstein, partner, Pepper Hamilton, spoke with PodTech’s Jason Lopez.

The Deal’s Private Capital Symposium brought together private equity professionals, angel investors, buyout and venture investors, corporate acquisition professionals, M&A advisors and professional services providers. The event took place in New York’s Essex House, on May 14, 2008.

Tags: middle market, The Deal, Steven Rattner, James Epstein, Jason Lopez, The Deal, Private Capital Symposium

These and other issues are the subject of the upcoming Private Capital Symposium 2008, hosted by The Deal (May 14 in New York City). The one-day conference will cover issues such as where opportunities exist in a struggling economy, how financing has changed, why the middle markets are okay, and what is happening with sovereign wealth funds. Keynote speakers include Tony James of The Blackstone Group and legendary investment-banker Ken Moelis.

Tags: Buyout, John Morris, equity, Ken Moelis, private capital, the deal, Tony James

“Willingness to Pay” graphic from Strategy Analytics

Click here for transcript.

Tags: Google, CBS, PodTech News

As an interactive forum for the private equity community (including venture capitalists, buyouts professionals, attorneys, bankers, entrepreneurs, MBA candidates and assorted hangers-on, according to their site…), Private Equity Hub has become an important daily news resource for more than 30,000 readers.

It’s been great, but as an e-mail service, it had some limitations. As they say on their site, “PE Hub has now removed those technical shackles, and will help users both interact and be exposed to a wider range of ideas.”

Dan Primack, who created the PE Week Wire in 2002, will be editing (he is the first Editor-at-Large for Thomson Financial).

PE Hub includes blog market analysis from Dan and the editorial team at Thomson Financial, as well as an invited roster of guest bloggers from the field, industry news and job postings, and a comprehensive event calendar, among other features.

I interviewed Dan when I first started PodTech in 2005.

Congrats Dan and the entire PEHub team. Looking forward to getting the podcasts up on PodTech.

At PodTech we will be launching some text blogging shortly and I’m looking forward to linking to Dan.

- John Furrier

Click here for transcript.

Tags: Dan Primack, PE Week, PEHub, private equity, venture capital, PodTech, John Furrier

With a $7 million in investment from venture capital firm Sequoia Capital India, Anurag Dod and Gaurav Mishra have launched a local search engine Guruji.com. Supposedly the first search engine of its kind to focus on the Indian Subcontinent, Guruji is designed to provide users with specifically Indian content.

Garnett & Helfrich Capital, a private equity firm specializing in venture buyouts, is expanding its operations to India. Garnett and Helfrich Capital have also acquired a controlling stake in Celunite, a privately-held company with headquarters in Sunnyvale, California and development centers in Pune and Hyderabad, India. The private equity firm’s new India office will be located in Mumbai. Formed in March 2004, Garnett & Helfrich Capital is a $350 million private equity fund focused exclusively on the emerging venture buyout segment for mid-sized technology spinouts.

Providence Equity Partners spent $400 million dollars and acquired 16 percent in Idea Cellular. Idea is the sixth-largest wireless operator in India The US-based Providence had been in discussions with Idea for nearly four months because of stalling over the valuation of the company. Now Idea is considering an IPO (initial public offer) for early next year. Idea Cellular currently has about 10 million users.

Mobile blogging is catching on in India .Reliance has launched mobile blogging in India. The new service lets users share their photos and videos. Reliance partnered with Hyderabad-based IMI Mobile to launch the mobile blog service.

Last week Ram Sriram of Sherpalo Ventures and an early Google-backer commented that finding local IT employees in India is a challenge. Google Inc. has trouble recruiting employees in Bangalore compared to other parts of the world. Sriram, a founding member of Google’s board of directors, cites lack of Web development skills as a major problem. There is also a shortage of middle managers and engineers.

Google India appoints a new CTO. Earlier this week, Google appointed a new Chief Technology Officer, who was previously CTO of Yahoo India’s R&D arm. Dr. Prasad Bhaarat Ram will be in charge of Google’s R&D work and will be based in Bangalore. Dr. Ram was previously with Xerox Parc and Rand Corporation in the USA.