Turkey’s finance minister, Mehmet Simsek, publicly threw his hat into the ring Tuesday, declaring: “I don’t have even the tiniest shortage in terms of experience or knowledge.” [NYT]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

IMF chief claims consent in hotel ‘attack’ (NY Post)
“The evidence, we believe, will not be consistent with a forcible encounter,” said Ben Brafman, the high-powered lawyer of IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, at the suspect’s sensational arraignment in a packed criminal courtroom. A source close to the defense later told The Post, “There may well have been consent.”

New York Investigates Banks’ Role in Fiscal Crisis (NYT)
The New York attorney general has requested information and documents in recent weeks from three major Wall Street banks about their mortgage securities operations during the credit boom, indicating the existence of a new investigation into practices that contributed to billions in mortgage losses. Officials in Eric T. Schneiderman’s, office have also requested meetings with representatives from Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, according to people briefed on the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly.

How Big Investors Are Betting (WSJ)
Mr. Cohen, whose SAC Capital reported a 9.3% increase in securities holdings in the quarter ended March 31, increased a stake in consumer electronics retailer Best Buy Co. to 2.3 million shares from 53,306 at the end of the previous quarter. SAC also more than doubled its stake in BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. to 2.8 million shares from 1.1 million.

John Paulson Loves Hewlett-Packard (Deal Journal)
The $5 Billion Man, hedge fund manager John Paulson, reported plowing $1 billion into Hewlett-Packard, pared his stake in Citigroup and is standing pat with his big investment in a gold ETF…Paulson & Co. also disclosed owning 123.6 million shares of Bank of America, down by 226,522 from the end of 2010. And one interesting new holding showing up on Paulson’s radar: Lubrizol.

Soros Fund Cuts Gold, BofA, J.P. Morgan Stakes; Adds to Citi, Wells (Deal Journal)
Soros decreased his holdings of the SPDR Gold Trust, a gold-backed exchanged-traded fund, by 4.7 million shares to 49,400 shares, valued at $6.9 million at March 31…The fund lowered its Bank of America holding by 1.2 million shares and now owns 29,400 shares. Soros sold 378,050 shares of J.P. Morgan, leaving him with 624,600 shares. In contrast, his firm tripled its stake in Citigroup to 29.4 million shares. Soros’ stake in Wells Fargo climbed six-fold to 3.5 million shares.

Bill Ackman Throws in the Towel on Target (Deal Journal)
Pershing Square reported owning 7.4 million Target shares as of Dec. 31, but there is no whisper of the Target investment in Pershing’s latest snapshot of its stock holdings as of March 31.

David Einhorn Buys…General Motors (DJ)
David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital investment fund reported new ownership stakes in two newly public companies, hospital operator HCA Holdings and General Motors, a.k.a. Government Motors.

Falcone’s Harbinger Holdings Adds Bunge Shares, Trims Gold Stake (Bloomberg)
Harbinger Holdings LLC, the hedge fund run by Philip Falcone, bought shares of food company Bunge Ltd. (BG) in the first quarter and sold shares of SPDR Gold Trust, according to a regulatory filing.

Schwarzenegger fathered a child with longtime member of household staff (LA Times)
Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, separated after she learned he had fathered a child more than a decade ago — before his first run for office — with a longtime member of their household staff.

Jump in Revenue Helps Halve California Deficit (NYT)
After months of doomsday scenarios and apocalyptic warnings about cuts to California schools, parks and the police, the news from Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday was nothing short of startling: California is now expected to see $6.6 billion more in revenue over the next two years than had been expected.

U.K. Inflation Quickens More Than Forecast (Bloomberg)l
Consumer prices rose 4.5 percent in April after a 4 percent increase in March, data today showed. The median forecast of 32 economists in a Bloomberg News survey was 4.1 percent. Core inflation quickened to the fastest in at least 14 years. King said in a letter to Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne that the surge is being driven by higher sales tax and increases in energy and import prices.

London Finance Job Openings Climbed 15% in April (Bloomberg)
The number of openings in the City, London’s main financial district, and elsewhere in the capital rose to 6,426 last month from 5,569 in April 2010, executive search firm Morgan McKinley said today. The figure was flat compared with the previous month.

President, first lady’s assets valued at $1.8 million to nearly $12 million (WaPo)
Financial disclosure documents released Monday showed the assets for last year…Assets are listed in wide ranges on the disclosure forms — for example, between $1 million and $5 million — making it difficult to determine their value with precision. Royalties from Obama’s books, “Dreams From My Father” and “Audacity of Hope,” totaled between about $1 million and $6 million.

Man To Eat 25,000th Big Mac (HP)
Wisconsin-based Don Gorske plans to eat his 25,000th Big Mac on May 17, 2011, 39 years after his first Big Mac bite on May 17, 1972. He averages two Big Macs per day and has 10,000 Big Mac cartons still in his possession. He keeps two Big Macs in his luggage in case he cannot find a McDonald’s when he travels. Gorske believes he has drank over 200,000 Cokes along with his burgers.

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

He took to Twitter last night to say as much.

[via TSF]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

Shares of memory chip interface technology developer Rambus (RMBS) are down $2.97, or 15%, at $16.33 after being halted multiple times as news circulated this afternoon that a U.S. appeals court ruled Rambus destroyed evidence in a patent infringement suit.

Dow Jones Newswires’s Shara Tibken writes that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated Rambus’s victory against memory maker Hynix Semiconductor (000660.KS) of Korea, and ordered the trial court to look at whether Rambus destroyed documents in the case.

The court also determined that Rambus had destroyed documents in a suit against Micron Technology (MU). Micron had already won a dismissal of Rambus’s charges because of the latter’s document destruction, but it appears that verdict now is also sent back to the lower courts for review.

Bloomberg’s Susan Decker and William McQuillen this afternoon write that, “If the district court again concludes on remand that there was bad faith and prejudice, the record evidence may indeed justify a dispositive sanction, but the seriousness of such a sanction warrants an analysis of all of the factors discussed,” citing the appeals court statement in the Micron matter.

Reuters’s Diane Bartz quotes the appellate court statement, which said, “It is undisputed that Rambus destroyed between 9,000 and 18,000 pounds of documents in 300 boxes.”

Micron shares are down 23 cents, or 2%, at $10.42.

Article courtesy of Tech Trader Daily

Pageonce, which helps manage financial accounts and bills through your smartphone, just announced that it has raised $15 million in a new round of funding.

It seems like the Palo Alto, Calif. company has become more focused over time. When it first launched a couple of years ago, Pageonce offered a centralized website for users’ online identity, allowing them to access all of their Web accounts in one place. N, ow it’s all about a mobile app that the company promises will become the “wallet of the future.”

With the Pageonce app, users can track all their money and bills, receive bill alerts, and get the big picture of all your transactions through reports. The current concept sounds similar to popular personal finance site Mint, but a spokesperson argued that the company “addresses a broader audience” because it’s about “about simplifying money and bills for daily use for everyone, rather giving lots of granular details, budgeting and goals.”

The company has now raised $25 million. The round was led by new investor Morgenthaler Ventures, with participation from Pitango ventures and Pageonce’s chairman Liron Petrushka.

“The Pageonce ‘wallet’ is a natural mobile play and a great bet to be a financial services category leader,” said Morgenthaler partner Rebecca Lynn in a press release. “With over 4.5 million users, they have already demonstrated a knack for simplifying the complex task of managing money and bills for their users.”

Tags: bills, wallet of the future

Companies: Morgenthaler Ventures, Pageonce, Pitango Ventures

People: Liron Pitrushka, Rebecca Lynn

Article courtesy of VentureBeat » deals

$$$ NY Fed ‘Pleased‘ With Sale of Ex-AIG Subprime Bonds (WSJ)

$$$ At around 10 last night, Lady Gaga arrived in a glowing egg positioned on top of a cart filled with cakes and macaroons. Escorted by brawny men in sleeveless Roman tunics, the cart rolled past hedge-fund founders Dan Och, David Einhorn, Steven A. Cohen, Ken Griffin, and more than 4,000 others gathered in the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center for the Robin Hood Foundation benefit. Soon “the Gaga,” as emcee Brian Williams called her, emerged onstage wearing a cream outfit that exposed her midriff. “I’d like to thank all the rich people for donating tonight,” she said. “And when I say rich, I mean rich in spirit.” (Bloomberg)

$$$ Goldman Sachs Cuts First-Quarter Estimate for Possible Legal Losses by 21% (Bloomberg)

$$$ Goldman Goes Long US Government Debt (CNBC)

$$$ JPMorgan denies gouging Lehman in $8.6 billion fight (Reuters)

$$$ Bank of America Billions in Losses at Stake on Moynihan Outlook (Bloomberg)

$$$ Charity to auction lunch date with Warren Buffett (Reuters)

$$$ Junk bond yields hit record lows (FT)

$$$ Whistleblowers in muniland (FT Alphaville)

$$$ Ireland to Impose Levy on Pension Funds to Finance Jobs Plan (Bloomberg)

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-10/ireland-to-impose-levy-on-pension-funds-to-finance-jobs-plan.html

$$$ Microsoft-Skype Deal May Upset AT&T, Verizon Relations (Bloomberg)

$$$ Google launches music service without labels (Reuters)

$$$ Japan Scraps Plan for New Nuclear Plants (NYT)

$$$ Donald Trump’s poll numbers collapse (Politico)

$$$ Northwestern University

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

Commodity hedge fund loses $400m in oil slide (FT)
Clive Capital, the world’s largest commodity hedge fund, has been left nursing losses of more than $400m as a result of the collapse in the price of oil last week…Others, including Astenbeck Capital, the Phibro-owned fund run by Andrew Hall, are thought to have taken double-digit percentage point losses to their portfolios, according to investors…In a letter sent to investors on Friday and seen by the Financial Times, Clive said it was down 8.9 per cent on the week after what it called “extraordinary” price movements on Thursday. Clive’s management said it was at a loss to explain what had caused crude oil markets to be “annihilated”.

Silver-Mad Small Investors Fueled an Epic Rise and Fall (WSJ)
Behind silver’s historic collapse is a market that came loose of its moorings, fueled by speculative traders, many of them small investors who may have jumped in at just the wrong moment. “If gold is a Monte Carlo casino, silver is a slot machine in Las Vegas,” says Andy Smith, a senior metals strategist at Bache Commodities.

Euro Nations Divided Over Greek Debt (WSJ)
Finance chiefs from the most important euro nations discussed Greece’s problems—and other issues, including Portugal’s imminent aid package—at informal talks in Luxembourg on Friday. The gathering, one of many informal meetings of select European officials since the financial crisis began, turned into a media circus after Germany’s Spiegel Online reported its existence Friday—and claimed it had been called because Greece was thinking of leaving the euro zone. The report sent the euro tumbling…”We are not discussing the exit of Greece from the euro area. This is a stupid idea and an avenue we would never take,” said the host of Friday’s meeting, Luxembourg Premier Jean-Claude Juncker.

EU eyes lower rates for Greece, Ireland amid chaos (Reuters)
The European Union is looking to lower interest rates on bailout loans to Greece and Ireland and is working on a second rescue for Athens in a chaotic effort to prevent a disorderly debt restructuring. The executive European Commission said on Monday it hoped to see a decision within weeks on reducing the rate charged to Ireland to make Dublin’s debt more sustainable.

Irish to Avoid ‘Doomsday,’ Honohan Says as Rescheduling Mooted (Bloomberg)
Irish central bank Governor Patrick Honohan said the country will avoid economic “doomsday,” as a government minister and prominent professor suggested the nation should reschedule debts from its as much as 85 billion-euro ($121 billion) bailout. Honohan was responding to Morgan Kelly, an economics professor dubbed Ireland’s Doctor Doom, who wrote in the Irish Times newspaper that Ireland faces a “prolonged and chaotic national bankruptcy.”

U.S. Will Urge China to Boost Interest Rates in Washington Talks (Bloomberg)
Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner will urge China to allow higher interest rates when he meets with Chinese leaders this week, as the U.S. extends its push for a stronger yuan.

Private Equity Has A Horse In This Race (Dealbook)
Carl Pascarella, an executive at TPG, the private equity firm, owns a piece of the the colt that shocked the horse racing world on Saturday with a come-from-behind victory. Animal Kingdom, who had never run on dirt and only had four races under his belt, covered the mile and a quarter in 2:02.04.

AIG Fall Blunts Talk Of Taxpayer Gain (WSJ)
What Treasury chooses to do with its AIG shares “is essentially a political decision,” says Jay Ritter, a finance professor at the University of Florida. “Government officials and politicians would like to say we broke even and didn’t lose any taxpayer money” in the AIG bailout, he says. “But as a taxpayer, I would be happy if we got out close to whole, and losing a little would ultimately be a good outcome” given the amount that was committed to the AIG bailout, Mr. Ritter says.

Fee Pitched for Fast Firms (WSJ)
Sen. Charles Schumer told regulators that sophisticated electronic traders should bear the cost of monitoring their dealings, with special fees assessed to firms that issue and then rapidly cancel securities orders.

UBS fears missing ambitious targets (FT)
Oswald Grübel, chief executive, surprised analysts last month by maintaining his medium-term goals of SFr20bn (€16bn) in annual revenues and SFr6bn in pre-tax profits for the group’s recovering investment bank. UBS’s performance targets were set in late 2009, before the new Basel III framework was finalised and before regulators in Switzerland proposed their own additional capital requirements for the group…However, according to senior UBS bankers, there is a growing acceptance that the targets are aspirational and will be extremely difficult to achieve over the next two years.

Moody’s: Expiring of US muni backstops going well (Reuters)
An expected flood of expirations of liquidity facilities on U.S. municipal debt this year is so far going well, Moody’s Investors Service reported on Monday.

SEC reform proposal threatens ‘dark pools’ (FT)
The US Securities and Exchange Commission is considering a proposal to move more trading back on to exchanges from alternative venues such as “dark pools”, which has drawn sharp criticism from banks and many trading firms. David Shillman, associate director of the SEC’s division of trading and markets, told the Financial Times that a so-called “trade at” rule is “very much in play. There’s interest in it”. The “trade at” rule, which would require non-exchange venues to improve on the displayed market price, is a response to concerns among some academics and market participants that a rising share of trading happening outside of exchanges is making trading more expensive and difficult.

US Q1 home values see biggest drop since 2008–Zillow (Reuters)
Zillow said its home value index fell 3 percent in the first three months of the year from the previous quarter, and was down 8.2 percent year-over-year.

Seeking Business, States Loosen Insurance Rules (NYT)
Vermont, and a handful of other states including Utah, South Carolina, Delaware and Hawaii, are aggressively remaking themselves as destinations of choice for the kind of complex private insurance transactions once done almost exclusively offshore. Roughly 30 states have passed some type of law to allow companies to set up special insurance subsidiaries called captives, which can conduct Bermuda-style financial wizardry right in a policyholder’s own backyard.

Berkshire Hathaway profit falls on Japan (Reuters)
Berkshire reported a net profit of $1.51 billion, or $917 per Class A share, compared with a profit of $3.63 billion, or $2,272 per Class A share, a year earlier. The company took a provision of $1.7 billion in the first quarter for catastrophe losses, primarily for the Japan earthquake but also from a quake in New Zealand and flooding in Australia…Berkshire also recorded losses of $506 million in the first quarter for stocks where the company’s investment was in a loss position and that loss was not considered temporary. The biggest share of the loss was an impairment on part of Berkshire’s stake in Wells Fargo, and the rest came from an impairment on the stake in Kraft Foods.

HSBC Costs Rise on New Hires and Customer Compensation (Bloomberg)
Costs as a proportion of income rose to 60.9 percent from 49.6 percent, the London-based bank said today in a statement. Net income rose 58 percent to $4.15 billion compared with $2.63 billion in the year-earlier period, the bank said in its first detailed quarterly earnings report. The shares fell.

U.S. gas prices hit $4 a gallon, but may retreat (Reuters)
The national average for self-serve, regular unleaded gas was $4 per gallon on May 6, up 11.98 cents from April 22, according to the nationwide Lundberg Survey. This was still below the all-time high of $4.11 on July, 11, 2008, and last week’s fall in crude oil prices may lead to a 8- to 12-cent drop in prices at the pump over the next few weeks, according to Trilby Lundberg, the survey’s editor.

Sweep is an ugly ending for Lakers and a bittersweet one for Phil Jackson (LA Times)
The Mavericks’ 122-86 blowout victory in Game 4, which completed their 4-0 sweep of the Western Conference semifinal series, perhaps came at the right time for the Lakers. They appeared to be teetering, perhaps because this was the 77th postseason game they had played since 2008, nearly an extra 82-game regular season in a four-year span. “I was talking to Kobe [after the game] and we both agreed it was better to lose now than to get to the [NBA] Finals and lose,” Jackson said. “Going all the way and losing in the Finals, now that’s really tough.”

What was in medicine chests at bin Laden compound? (MSNBC)
Either Osama bin Laden or those who lived with him at the Pakistan compound where he was killed apparently suffered from stomach ulcers, high blood pressure and nerve pain — plus the normal ailments that affect a family with children, according to a pharmacist’s analysis of medications reportedly found at the site. In addition, the medicine cache was said to contain Avena syrup, a botanical product that has at least two uses: as an artificial sweetener often used for a sour stomach and as “natural Viagra” that could be used to increase sexual desire and potency.

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

Fed Presidents Signal Record Stimulus Won’t Be Removed Soon (Bloomberg)
Eric Rosengren, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, and San Francisco’s John C. Williams followed the lead taken by Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, who signaled last week that policy makers will keep stimulus in place after ending large-scale bond purchases in June. “Right now we’re pretty far away from our targets, and right now we’re keeping monetary policy accommodative,” Rosengren, 53, said yesterday in an interview with Bloomberg News. “It’s very appropriate given how far we are from our targets.”

Traders Exit High-Speed Lane (WSJ)
Companies that use fast-trading, computer-driven strategies, which were painted by some as culprits of the collapse, have curtailed trading. So, too, have many long-term investors, for whom the trauma of that May 6 afternoon was the final straw after a decade of stock-market turmoil. In their absence, trading volume and volatility have plunged, further deterring high-frequency traders.

A Lack of Supply Feeds Rise in Munis (WSJ)
Yields on a benchmark of highly rated 10-year general-obligation bonds, backed by a government’s taxing authority, have fallen to 2.79% from 3.21% at the start of the year, according to Thomson Reuters. Meanwhile, the cost of insuring against default by some of the most financially troubled states also has dropped…A major driver of the dropping yields, which move opposite to price, is the lack of new supply, which hit an 11-year quarterly low in the first quarter. That slowdown has prompted many investors and bankers to caution it is too early to size up whether the market could absorb any significant uptick in bond issuance.

Claiming Fraud in A.I.G. Bailout, Whistle-Blower Lawsuit Names 3 Companies (NYT)
The lawsuit, filed by a pair of veteran political activists from the La Jolla area of San Diego, asserts that A.I.G. and two large banks engaged in a variety of fraudulent and speculative transactions, running up losses well into the billions of dollars. Then the three institutions persuaded the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to bail them out by giving A.I.G. two rescue loans, which were used to unwind hundreds of failed trades…The lawsuit names A.I.G., Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank as defendants, but not the Fed.

Facebook and Google mull Skype deals (Reuters)
Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has been involved in internal discussions about buying Skype, according to one of the sources. Another source said Facebook had reached out to the Luxembourg-based company about forming a joint venture.Google has also held early talks for a joint venture with Skype, the second source said.

Mexican central bank buys 100 tonnes of gold (FT)
The purchase, reported in monthly data published by Mexico’s central bank, is the latest in a series of large gold buys by emerging market economies intent on diversifying reserves away from the faltering US dollar. China, Russia and India have acquired large amounts of gold in recent years, while Thailand, Sri Lanka and Bolivia have made smaller purchases…Mexico bought 93.3 tonnes of gold in February and March, according to the central bank, in a haul valued at $4.5bn at current prices and equivalent to 3.5 per cent of annual mined output.

Hero dog helped snare Osama (The Sun)
Heavily armoured hounds — equipped with infrared night-sight cameras — have been used in the past by the top-secret unit. The war dogs wear ballistic body armour that is said to withstand damage from single and double-edged knives, as well as protective gear which shields them from shrapnel and gunfire…Wearing oxygen masks, the pooches have been trained to jump from aircraft at 25,000ft, before seeking out insurgents in hostile environments.

GM Profit Triples (WSJ)
GM said net income rose to $3.2 billion, or $1.77 a share, from $865 million or $0.55 a share. Operating profit, reflecting the strength of its core automotive business, increased to $2 billion from $1.7 billion. Revenue increased 15%, to $36.2 billion, from $31.5 billion.

Government Joins Bowl-Game Brawl (WSJ)
The Justice Department sent a letter Tuesday to the National Collegiate Athletic Association stating that “serious questions continue to arise” over whether the Bowl Championship Series—the sport’s much-criticized method for choosing a champion—complies with antitrust laws. The letter also asks why major-college football doesn’t have a playoff, when so many other college sports do; what steps the NCAA has taken to create a playoff; and whether the NCAA has determined that aspects of the BCS system are unfair.

Bank of America to Triple Number of Mortgage Help Centers (NYT)
The bank, which will announce the plan on Thursday, will focus on regions hit especially hard by the rising tide of homeowners struggling to make their mortgage payments. Seven locations will open in California and three in the Detroit area; other centers will be unveiled in St. Louis, Newark, Philadelphia and Tucson, among other cities…Additional centers may open later this year, the bank said. Counselors fluent in languages including Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese and Russian will be available for non-English speaking customers…Most of the counselors in the new centers will be transferred from other areas of the mortgage business, like sales and originations, which have slowed with the decline in mortgage demand.

Brazil Banks Beat Wall Street as Itau Shows JPMorgan Who Rules (Bloomberg)
Foreign firms pursuing investment-banking fees in Brazil, where an emerging middle class and rising commodity prices are propelling one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, face stiff competition. Local players have a greater capacity to finance deals, improved relationships with investors, experienced executives and the ability to provide services once offered only by large global banks.

Indian stocks suffer worst losing streak in 10 years (FT)
Mumbai’s BSE Sensex index fell for a ninth-consecutive session, its longest losing streak in a decade, on concerns over the impact of rising costs on corporate earnings. The BSE Sensex index fell 1.1 per cent to 18,266.79, taking its losses since Monday’s 50 basis point interest rate increase by the Reserve Bank of India to 4 per cent. Over the nine consecutive losing sessions, the index has fallen 6.8 per cent.

Charges, rising costs hit Societe Generale results (MarketWatch)
The group reported a profit of 916 million euros ($1.36 billion), compared to €1.06 billion a year earlier, driven by a €239 million accounting charge as improving spreads on the group’s own debt make it theoretically more expensive to buy back. The bottom line was below the €1.12 billion consensus forecast of analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires.

Citi Hires UBS Banker (DealBook)
Kevin Cox, formerly head of Americas investment banking at UBS, is joining Citigroup as co-chairman of global industrials banking.  

Dalai Lama suggests Osama bin Laden’s death was justified (LA Times)
As a human being, Bin Laden may have deserved compassion and even forgiveness, the Dalai Lama said in answer to a question about the assassination of the Al Qaeda leader. But, he said, “Forgiveness doesn’t mean forget what happened. … If something is serious and it is necessary to take counter-measures, you have to take counter-measures.”

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

Sayeth Tilson: “Buffett and Munger are razor sharp and at the top of their games, and Berkshire is just going gangbusters! (The insurance losses from Japan, New Zealand, etc. in Q1 that depressed quarterly earnings are essentially irrelevant to Berkshire’s long-term value.)”

T2 Partners also recently released a presentation on, among other things, why they believe Berkshire Hathaway is still a buy, things that scare them and “common mental mistakes” in investing like…

An Overview of Behavioral Finance and the Economy, What Worries Us, Our View of the Market, and Some Stock Ideas [PDF]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker

But an athlete does not have to get an MBA to break into finance, said Zoia of Glocap. Athletes may appeal to banks and private equity firms, but they are hired more so for business development roles than for technical ones, said Zoia. “They’re not doing detailed financial models and really advising the nitty gritty of the deal structure,” said Zoia. [FINS]

Article courtesy of Dealbreaker