DealBook: Centerview: A Hot Boutique in Tough Times

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Edited by Andrew Ross Sorkin

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES | Friday, February 29, 2008 M & A: Ross to Inject Up to $1 Billion Into Assured Guaranty BANKING: Why Surprises Still Lurk After Enron PRIVATE EQUITY: Bidders Said to Resubmit 3Com Offer HEDGE FUNDS: Lampert's New Role Model OFFERINGS: Syms Shares Soar in Re-Listing VENTURE CAPITAL: Clean-Tech Reaps More Green from V.C.'s LEGAL: Conrad Black Loses Bond Appeal TOP STORY Centerview: A Hot Boutique in Tough Times Centerview Partners, a boutique investment bank founded in 2006 by Blair W. Effron and Robert A. Pruzan, is becoming one of the few standout successes in these turbulent times on Wall Street. With a list of blue-chip clients including Altria, H.J. Heinz, the News Corporation and PepsiCo, Centerview Partners has worked on some of the biggest deals of late, outranking even Greenhill & Company, the model for Mr. Effron's and Mr. Pruzan's firm. Centerview is part of a wave of boutiques seeking to copy an investment banking model of the 1980s and earlier. Its early success is all the more remarkable because it launched just as the merger boom went bust. Go to Article from The New York Times» Read More Add a comment ADVERTISEMENT Back to Top MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS Wilbur L. Ross will acquired a $1 billion stake in bond insurer Assured Guaranty, he told CNBC Friday morning. Go to Item from DealBook» Go to Assured Guaranty Press Release via Business Wire» Read More Add a comment British American Tobacco, the world's second-biggest cigarette maker, has agreed a 20.3 billion Danish kroner ($4.14 billion) deal to buy Scandinavia's leading tobacco group in its second major acquisition in seven days. Go to Article from the Telegraph» Read More Add a comment Take-Two Interactive Software said late Thursday that it has received expressions of interest from other potential bidders since Electronic Arts unveiled a $2 billion takeover offer for the company earlier this week. Go to Article from MarketWatch» Read More Add a comment Yahoo's biggest shareholders may not demand that Microsoft raise its $44.6 billion takeover offer because there is more to lose from a decline in their holdings of the buyer, analysts at Friedman Billings Ramsey Group said. Go to Article from Bloomberg News via The Seattle Post-Intelligencer» Read More Add a comment The New York trial of UBS's suit against Finish Line and Genesco begins next week. The Deal Professor explains the latest developments in this highly litigated footwear deal. Go to Item from The Deal Professor» Read More Add a comment Sprint Nextel's grim fourth-quarter results could prompt more radical proposals for turning the wireless carrier around. Go to Item from DealBook» Read More Add a comment Struggling California bank Fremont General on late Thursday said it may sell itself as it faces a serious liquidity crunch. Go to Article from TheStreet.com» Read More Add a comment XM Satellite Radio Holdings, awaiting regulatory approval for its merger with Sirius Satellite Radio, said on Thursday that it narrowed its fourth-quarter loss, helped by a 20 percent increase in revenue and a favorable comparison to last year, when the company took a significant write-down. Go to Article from The Associated Press via The New York Times» Go to Related Item from DealBook» Read More Add a comment Digg founder Kevin Rose has poured cold water on yet more speculation that the site is on the verge of being acquired. Go to Article from CNet News.com» Read More Add a comment The Universal Music Group, the world's biggest music conglomerate reached a deal to acquire the recorded music and music publishing assets of Univision, the Spanish-language media giant, the companies said on Thursday. Go to Article from The New York Times» Read More Add a comment In a move that could alter the hierarchy of the live-music industry, the entertainment giant Cablevision and the ticketing powerhouse Ticketmaster are negotiating to acquire significant stakes in the nation's No. 2 concert promoter, AEG Live, The New York Times reported. Go to Article from The New York Times» Read More Add a comment Back to Top INVESTMENT BANKING As banks have reported losses from taking risks not mentioned in its financial statements, Floyd Norris of The New York Times asks: Haven't we seen this movie before, involving a company called Enron? Go to Article from The New York Times» Read More Add a comment MF Global, the giant commodities brokerage firm, has accused a wheat trader of making unauthorized trades that led to $141.5 million in losses for the firm. Go to Article from The New York Times» Read More Add a comment The recent profusion of rogue traders, including at Societe Generale and MF Global, may come down to little more than timing, Breakingviews says. Go to Article from Breakingviews» Read More Add a comment Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reported a first-quarter loss of 1.46 billion Canadian dollars ($1.49 billion) on Thursday, compared to a profit of 770 million Canadian dollars a year earlier, as the bank took a slew of charges related to its subprime mortgage exposure. Go to Article from The Globe and Mail» Read More Add a comment Merrill Lynch plans to wind down most of its First Franklin subprime mortgage lending unit, responding to continued deterioration in U.S. mortgage markets, CNBC reported. Go to Article from Reuters via The New York Times» Read More Add a comment One of the biggest financial groups in Germany, DZ Bank, joined the country's growing list of casualties from the subprime mortgage crisis on Thursday by posting 1.36 billion euros in write-downs. Go to Article from Reuters via The International Herald Tribune» Read More Add a comment Robert Pickering has resigned from his post as chief executive of Cazenove in a surprise move that The Telegraph reported was because of tensions with partner JPMorgan Chase. Go to Article from The Telegraph» Read More Add a comment Until recently, two people presided over Goldman Sachs's giant securities business; now, the unit will be run by four -- or more, depending on how you parse the recent promotions at the investment bank. Go to Item from DealBook» Read More Add a comment Wachovia, the bank based in Charlotte, N.C., said Thursday that two employees in its main banking unit are targets of a Department of Justice inquiry of municipal bid rigging. Go to Article from Reuters via The New York Times» Read More Add a comment Back to Top PRIVATE EQUITY Bain Capital and China's Huawei plan to resubmit an application seeking U.S. approval for a planned $2.2 billion buyout of 3Com within the next several weeks, according to The Wall Street Journal. Go to Article from Reuters via The New York Times» Read More Add a comment Blackstone Group chief executive Stephen A. Schwarzman is a regular presence in corporate boardrooms. But earlier this week, he and his wife were touring classrooms in the Bronx, New York, in recognition of their $5 million gift to the Inner-City Scholarship Fund. Go to Item from DealBook» Read More Add a comment Canadian private-equity group Onex said Thursday its pace of investment will slow this year as the "upheaval" in credit markets makes financing large deals more difficult. Go to Article from Reuters via The Globe and Mail» Read More Add a comment Back to Top HEDGE FUNDS Sears Holdings chairman Edward S. Lampert apparently sees himself as spiritual kin to Eli Manning, the New York Giants quarterback who led his team to victory this year after suffering years of ridicule. Go to Item from DealBook» Read More Add a comment One of London's most successful hedge funds imploded Thursday when Peloton Partners put the assets of its $2 billion flagship fund up for sale and froze its remaining fund after geared mortgage bets left it unable to meet lenders' demands, according to The Financial Times. Go to Article from The Financial Times» Read More Add a comment Rebel investors have seized two failed Bear Stearns hedge funds in a move their lawyers hope will give them a platform to sue the U.S. bank for compensation, The Financial Times reported. Go to Article from The Financial Times» Read More Add a comment The China Investment Corporation, the $200 billion Chinese sovereign wealth fund, is hiring foreign fund managers to invest in hedge funds and private equity, as well as in traditional assets like bonds and shares. Go to Article from Reuters via The International Herald Tribune» Read More Add a comment Back to Top I.P.O. / OFFERING Shares of off-price clothing retailer Syms soared 11 percent after they began trading on the Nasdaq, vindicating investors who had protested the company's controversial move to delist its shares last month. Go to Article from Bloomberg News via The New York Times» Read More Add a comment Major contractor China Railway Construction began subscriptions Friday for an initial public offering in Hong Kong that along with a Shanghai share offering is expected to raise up to $5.4 billion. Go to Article from Reuters via The International Herald Tribune» Read More Add a comment The initial public offering of CardioNet, a wireless heart monitoring company, is showing a pulse as it prepares what it hopes to be a $182.2 million I.P.O. Go to Article from the Red Herring» Read More Add a comment Back to Top VENTURE CAPITAL Global venture-capital investment in clean technologies rose 43 percent last year to a record $3 billion, overwhelmingly in the U.S., according to an annual survey of the industry. Go to Article from The Seattle Times» Read More Add a comment Mascoma, an East Coast biofuel startup with a multi-pronged approach to commercializing cellulosic ethanol, has just become one of the most heavily funded companies of its kind with a $50 million funding round first reported by peHUB. Go to Article from peHub» Read More Add a comment Web TV start-up TidalTV has closed a $15 million first round of funding led by New Enterprise Associates and Valhalla Partners. Go to Article from the Red Herring» Read More Add a comment Back to Top LEGAL Conrad Black, the former media mogul, cannot remain free on bond pending the outcome of his appeal and must report to prison on Monday, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday. Go to Article from The Chicago Tribune» Read More Add a comment Brokerages, including units of Merrill Lynch and UBS, have agreed to pay $2.4 million in fines and reimburse more than $20 million to customers to settle probes into improper mutual fund sales and transfers, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said on Thursday. Go to Article from Reuters via The New York Times» Read More Add a comment Covad Communications and its ex-general counsel have finally laid to rest a sordid, six-year saga of allegations of self-dealing directors, sexual harassment and retaliatory firing. Go to Article from The Recorder» Read More Add a comment The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil lawsuit against Bally Total Fitness Holding, alleging the Chicago health-club chain violated securities law -- and misled investors -- by issuing financial reports which fraudulently misrepresented Bally's financial condition during the years from 1997 to 2003. Go to Article from The Chicago Tribune» Read More Add a comment A smelting firm in Bahrain is seeking more than $1 billion in a lawsuit against the aluminum manufacturer Alcoa, accusing it of a 15-year conspiracy involving overcharging, fraud and bribery. Go to Article from Reuters via The New York Times» Read More Add a comment Law firms like Latham & Watkins, Dewey & LeBoeuf and Clifford Chance are following the money in a rush to tap business in the cash-rich Persian Gulf. Go to Article from The New York Times» Read More Add a comment American International Group on Thursday posted its biggest quarterly loss ever, missing Wall Street expectations after being hurt by a write-down of derivatives exposed to bad mortgage investments. Go to Article from The New York Times» Read More Add a comment Get home delivery of The New York Times for as low as $3.15 a week.

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