Dan Primack

Q3 venture capital data won’t be finalized for a few more weeks, but preliminary numbers look grim. Current figures from the VentureXpert database show just $5.71 billion disbursed into 624 U.S.-based companies last quarter, compared to $7.58 billion for 1,004 U.S.-based companies in Q2. That number is sure to rise as Thomson Reuters receives more quarter-end […]

Lehman Brothers this afternoon announced that it is selling its Investment Management division to Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman for $2.15 billion. The deal includes Neuberger Berman, the fixed income unit and all non-direct alternative investment activities. What that leaves out is direct alternatives, which includes Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking (buyouts), Lehman Brothers Venture Capital and Lehman Brothers Real Estate. As of this moment, it is not clear what will become of the direct businesses. Assuming a bankruptcy judge approves the larger sale to Bain and H&F, the most likely scenario would be that each group would spin out into independent entities. It also is possible that the three could stick together as an independent alternatives house, which could be attractive due to certain shared services. In either case, the groups would have to decide what to do about existing funds, which were raised with large minority nuts from Lehman that will no longer be honored. They may just decrease the fund sizes, keep them steady with pro rata increases from third-party investors or cut off the funds and raise new ones. It’s also important to note that there is a third scenario, whereby the three groups somehow get reabsorbed by the Investment Management unit. Not sure how that would work, but I’ve been told the situation is fluid enough that it should not be discounted. The Lehman alternatives group had been run by

A handful of quick hits before I walk over to the Wynkoop Brewing Co. to help set up tonight’s peHUB Shindig: * A reporter asked me this afternoon if the private equity model is still viable, given the relative unavailability of credit. It’s a great question, and not one easily answered. My initial stab is […]

Antibody developer KaloBios Pharmaceuticals this morning announced that it has raised $20 million in a first close of its Series D funding round (it wants to close the total round at $30m). Notably absent from the participating investor list was Lehman Brothers, which had led the company’s Series C round last year. This seemed like […]

Austin Ventures last Monday closed its tenth fund with $900 million in capital commitments. The entire vehicle is structured as a single fund, but includes a $300 million “opportunity pool” that will be used to help finance larger growth equity and/or buyout transactions. This is a lot like the Battery Ventures overage fund, with management fees […]

This morning, I asked PE Week Wire readers to name the latest electric vehicle company to raise its first round of funding. My only hint was “don’t think cars.” A few folks got it right, so now let’s share: The company is Brammo, an Ashland, Ore.-based developer of an electric motorcycle called the Enertia (no, […]

Last night I attended a fundraiser for The Greenlight Foundation, a philanthropic organization co-founded by John Simon of General Catalyst Partners. Each year, Greenlight identifies an unmet community need and then goes out in search of a nonprofit that is trying to launch a relevant program in Boston. This year, the beneficiary was Youth Villages, […]

Just got off the phone with a venture capitalist whose firm just raised a new fund (sorry, under embargo on the details). While explaining why his firm doesn't do cleantech investing, he said: "We decided that we prefer capital efficiency over capital intensity." From the mouths of VCs...

We interrupt our Wall Street carnage coverage, to bring you something scoopy from Silicon Valley: True Ventures has closed its second fund with $195 million in capital commitments. We reported on a $165 million first close back in July, saying that the fund would be capped just south of $200 million. Seems that’s a toxic […]

Brian Shortsleeve has left H.I.G. Capital to become a principal with General Catalyst Partners, peHUB has learned. In an email to friends and colleagues, Shortsleeve wrote that he will concentrate on “leading recapitalizations, buyouts and growth equity investments in lower middle-market growth companies.” Such investments clearly are not what VC-focused General Catalyst is known for, although it […]