DealBook: Live from Germany: Super Return 2008

To view the latest DealBook headlines on your mobile device, go to: http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/dealbook

Edited by Andrew Ross Sorkin

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES | Tuesday, February 26, 2008 M & A: Mergers in a Time of Bears BANKING: Goldman Predicts More Write-Downs for Brokers PRIVATE EQUITY: Putting 2-and-20 to the Auction Test HEDGE FUNDS: Och-Ziff Posts Loss on I.P.O. Costs OFFERINGS: Visa I.P.O. Could Be Boon for Banks VENTURE CAPITAL: FriendFeed Hooks Up With V.C.s LEGAL: Guilty Verdict for 5 in A.I.G. Case TOP STORY Live from Germany: Super Return 2008 What a difference a year makes. Many of the world's top private equity bosses have gathered in Munich this week for the high-powered industry conference known as Super Return, and the tone is worlds away from last year's bubbly event in Frankfurt. DealBook is on the ground here at the conference, as speakers such as David Rubenstein of Carlyle Group, David Bonderman of TPG and Hamilton "Tony" James of Blackstone Group prepare to give updates on the state of the buyout business. The outlook is far bleaker than it was in 2007, in large part because of the credit crunch that has siphoned off the fuel that makes the private-equity machine run. The big questions at this year's conference will be how to outsmart the competition to grab the limited number of deals and how to maintain high debt levels over an uncertain long-term. One of Tuesday's main panels, which will include Johannes Huth of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Scott Sperling of Thomas H. Lee Partners, has this rather grim-sounding title: "Are We In The Post-Golden-Age Era & Where Do We Go From Here?" Today and tomorrow, DealBook will be bringing you coverage of the speeches and the sentiment at Super Return. Check our Web site for stories and photos throughout the day. Go to Full Coverage of Super Return 2008» Read More Add a comment ADVERTISEMENT Back to Top MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS Timing is everything when it comes to mergers. That is the key take-away of a new study that inspired this week's DealBook column by Andrew Ross Sorkin of The New York Times. The study turns the conventional wisdom about the value-killing deal on its head and suggests that deals are most likely to succeed in volatile markets -- like this one. Go to Column from The New York Times» Read More Add a comment Electronic Arts' bid for Take-Two Interactive has analysts asking whether E.A. is having so much trouble building new hits on its own that it must spend $2 billion for someone else's ideas. Meanwhile, at least one analyst suggested that THQ Interactive could become a takeover target if consolidation in the industry continues. Go to Article from The New York Times» Go to Item from DealBook» Read More Add a comment Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines shares fell on Monday partly on concerns their merger talks may fail on the inability of pilots to agree on how to combine their ranks. Go to Article from Reuters via The New York Times» Read More Add a comment John C. Malone's Liberty Media won approval form the Federal Commuications Commision for its 2006 acquisition of a controlling stake in the biggest U.S. satellite operator, DirecTV Group. Go to Article from Reuters via The New York Times» Go to Article from BusinessWeek» Read More Add a comment The Justice Department approved UnitedHealth Group's $2.4 billion acquisition of Sierra Health Services on Monday, but required UnitedHealth to sell its Medicare Advantage business in Las Vegas to Humana as a condition. Go to Article from The Deal.com» Read More Add a comment The British cable operator Virgin Media said Monday that it would appeal the British Competition Commission's ruling that BSkyB must cut its stake in the rival broadcaster ITV, arguing that the regulator was not requiring a big enough divestment. Go to Article from The International Herald Tribune» Read More Add a comment HDFC Bank on Monday offered $2.4 billion in shares for its smaller rival, Centurion Bank of Punjab, in an attempt to bulk up before the banking sector is opened to foreign competitors. Go to Article from Reuters via The International Herald Tribune» Read More Add a comment Novell said Monday it plans to acquire PlateSpin, a provider of virtualization services, for $205 million in cash, a move that could bolster Novell's software for helping customers manage their computing operations. Go to Article from CNet News.com» Go to Article from InformationWeek» Go to Article from The Financial Post» Read More Add a comment Motorola said Monday it has acquired the assets related to the digital cable set-top products of Zhejiang Dahua Digital Technology and Hangzhou Image Silicon. Go to Article from Dow Jones via The Chicago Tribune» Read More Add a comment Back to Top INVESTMENT BANKING Analysts at Goldman Sachs said they expect additional write-downs of about $1 billion to $12 billion each for several major U.S. brokers in the first quarter, with Citigroup estimated to record the highest amount of about $12 billion. Go to Article from Reuters via The New York Times» Go to Item from DealBook» Read More Add a comment French President Nicolas Sarkozy stepped up pressure on the head of Societe Generale to quit over the bank's record trading scandal on Tuesday, but France's top business lobby warned him not to interfere. Got o Article from Reuters via The New York Times» Read More Add a comment Morgan Stanley, it seems, is the darling of the mulitbillion dollar bear hug these days, having signed on as an adviser to Microsoft and Electronic Arts in their unsolicited bids. Go to Article from CNet News.com» Read More Add a comment Back to Top PRIVATE EQUITY "Two and 20" is a time-honored formula for setting fees at private equity and venture funds. But in a column on PEHub.com, Ian Charles of Landmark Partners wonders if, at least theoretically, an auction process would produce different numbers. Go to Column from PEHub.com» Read More Add a comment Wachovia's lawsuit against its client, Providence Equity Partners, over its Clear Channel deal could provide important guidance as to how much latitude private equity firms and their targets have to renegotiate the price of an acquisition and still hold the banks to their financing commitments. Go to Item from The Deal Professor» Read More Add a comment Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan's $48.5 billion proposed takeover of Canadian telephone giant BCE, the largest buyout in history, will comply with foreign ownership restrictions and broadcasting rules, the pension plan's chief executive officer said Monday, as the federal communications regulator grilled him about who will control the company. Go to Artice from The Globe and Mail» Read More Add a comment Back to Top HEDGE FUNDS Och-Ziff Capital Management posted a net loss in its first quarterly earnings report as a public company, mostly because of the costs of listing its shares in November. But the hedge-fund group reported higher-than-expected distributable earnings. Go to Article from Reuters» Read More Add a comment Two hedge funds trying to elect a dissident slate to the board of The New York Times Company have amassed 19.03 percent of the company's common stock before last week's deadline for gaining voting power at the annual meeting, according to a report filed Monday. Go to Article from The New York Times» Read More Add a comment Despite closer monitoring by regulators, hedge funds still pose significant risks to the financial system, a government report said Monday. Go to Article from BusinessWeek» Go to Article from Reuters» Read More Add a comment Edward S. Lampert, the billionaire hedge-fund investor mired in turning around Sears Holdings Corp., has been looking for a chief executive to run the retail giant since last fall, a longer time period than publicly acknowledged, according to The Chicago Tribune. Go to Article from The Chicago Tribune» Read More Add a comment Back to Top I.P.O. / OFFERING The $17.1 billion initial public offering of Visa stock is expected to generate a windfall for thousands of its so-called member banks, which own the company. The offering is likely to be the biggest ever in the United States; Dealogic gives a rundown of the top 10 initial offerings to date. Go to Article from The New York Times» Go to Item from DealBook» Read More Add a comment Back to Top VENTURE CAPITAL FriendFeed, the social, shared feed reader similar to Facebook's news feed, has announced a $5 million round of funding from Benchmark Capital as well as FriendFeed co-founders and former Google employees Paul Buchheit, and Sanjeev Singh. Go to Article from Mashable» Go to Article from VentureBeat» Read More Add a comment Radar Networks, which is preparing a public beta launch of Twine, a Web application that organizes and manages information, has raised $13 million in Series B funding from Velocity Interactive, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Vulcan Capital. Go to Article from InformationWeek» Go to Article from CNet News.com» Read More Add a comment Back to Top LEGAL Five former insurance executives were found guilty Monday of fraud and conspiracy in a scheme to manipulate the financial statements of the insurance company American International Group. Go to Article from The New York Times» Read More Add a comment Lawyers for former Enron chief Jeffery Skilling and the government will soon face off once again as his side argues to erase his convictions while prosecutors seek to maintain them. Go to Article from The Houston Chronicle» Read More Add a comment Get home delivery of The New York Times for as low as $3.15 a week.

SEARCH DEALBOOK SITE DealBook | E-mail Preferences Help | Advertising Opportunities Microsoft's Yahoo Memorandum In what sounded like a pep talk for the troops, a Microsoft executive explained the company's strategy in pursuing Yahoo -- and what it will do if and when it succeeds. More» A Savior for Chrysler? In a letter to investors about the state of Cerberus Capital's investments, the firm's founder, Stephen Feinberg, came off sounding at turns cavalier and ruthless. More» Revolving Door The latest hires, promotions and departures at Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Freescale and more. More» DealBook Talks Yahoo DealBook's Andrew Ross Sorkin discussed Microsoft's offer for the Internet giant on "Charlie Rose." Watch here. More» Microsoft's Yahoo Bid Full coverage of Microsoft's unsolicited $44.6 billion offer for Yahoo, what it means and how it might play out. More» DealBook for BlackBerry For readers who are BlackBerry addicts, we now offer DealBook for BlackBerry. With one-click access to DealBook -- formatted for your device -- it's easy to check the latest deal news throughout the day. You can install the DealBook shortcut by visiting mobile.nytimes.com/bbinstall directly from your BlackBerry or by sending the text message "bb install" to 698698. More information on DealBook for BlackBerry. The Deal Professor A blog-within-a-blog that looks at mergers, private equity and corporate governance through a legal lens, written by Steven M. Davidoff, a professor at Wayne State University Law School and a former lawyer at Shearman & Sterling. More» News By Industry Airlines / Autos Basic Industries Consumer Goods Energy / Utilities Financial Services Food & Beverage Healthcare Media Real Estate Retail / Leisure Technology Telecom Tools & Resources GET QUOTES Look Up Symbol RESEARCH SUITE Portfolio Company Research U.S. Markets International Markets Mutual Funds SEND A TIP OR FEEDBACK E-mail us at dealbook@nytimes.com Dealboard

About This E-mail DealBook is a joint production of The New York Times and NYTimes.com, published daily, Monday-Friday, except on U.S. Market holidays and during the last week of the year. Editorial staff: Andrew Ross Sorkin, Peter Edmonston, Michael de la Merced and Liza Klaussmann. You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's DealBook newsletter. As a member of the BBBOnline Privacy Program and the TRUSTe privacy program, we are committed to protecting your privacy. Manage Subscriptions | Unsubscribe| Change Your E-Mail | Privacy Policy | Contact | Advertise | nytimes.com/dealbook

Copyright 2008 | The New York Times Company | Privacy Policy | 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018