Need To Know

Apollo Going Public, Subpoenaed In Pay-To-Play Investigation

Apollo Management is planning to list on the New York Stock Exchange, according to a recent report by the Financial Times. The newspaper said Apollo, headed by Leon Black, has $38.3 billion in assets under management. In the same story, the newspaper reported that the firm has received subpoenas related to ongoing pay-to-play investigations from California, New Jersey, New Mexico and New York, as well as from the Securities and Exchange Commission in New York and Denver.

TPG Decreases Fund Size

TPG is once again offering investors the chance to take back commitments made to one of its funds. The firm is allowing investors to reduce the size of commitments made to TPG Financial Partners in a move that could reduce the size of the fund to just $2.5 billion. The Fort Worth, Texas-based buyout shop had originally planned to raise $6 billion for the fund but in January reduced the target to $4.6 billion. The reduction was not requested by limited partners but was an effort to help their allocation pressures, according to a report by Reuters. Such investors were hard hit by the financial crisis, and some found that the fall in value of their equity holdings left them overexposed to private equity as an asset class. This is the second fund in a year that TPG has allowed its investors to pull out of. In December 2008, the firm said it would allow investors to reduce their commitments to the $19.8 billion TPG Partners VI by as much as 10 percent of the total fund size, or approximately $2 billion.

Carlyle Inks Landmark Infrastructure Deal

The Carlyle Group, in partnership with the parent of the Subway sandwich chain, announced a 35-year public-private partnership with the state of Connecticut whereby it will redevelop, operate and maintain the state’s 23 highway service areas. The state will share revenue with Carlyle, rather than the latter buying the assets outright. Connecticut also has a say regarding to whom Carlyle eventually sells its stake, according to reports. In an interesting twist, the Washington, D.C.-based buyout firm negotiated the deal with the Service Employees International Union, a fierce critic of Carlyle and private equity in general, whose members represent the janitorial and custodial workers at the service areas. The deal comes out of Carlyle’s infrastructure fund, which has a 14-year investment period.

Silver Lake Closes Skype Deal

Silver Lake Partners has closed its acquisition of Skype, as first reported by peHub.com, a sister publication of Buyouts. Jim Davids, co-founder of the firm, delivered the news as part of a keynote address at the Buyouts West conference in Beverly Hills on Nov. 19. The deal was briefly held up until a settlement reached earlier this month over pending litigation involving Skype’s founders, eBay and the buyers cleared the way for the sale. Silver Lake agreed to purchase the company from eBay alongside investment firm Andreessen Horowitz and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. The deal values Skype at $2.75 billion.