Roundup, deals, Life Sciences Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: It’s hard for any company to raise capital in this recession, but several San Diego life sciences startups disclosed last week they had done just that. A few bright spots also appeared during a local seminar on mergers and acquisitionsR...

Canadian oil sands, filled with 173 billion barrels of hard-to-reach oil, are quickly becoming the staging ground for the world's largest oilpatch wrestling match. You'd think the $100 drop in oil prices, which caused companies to cut capital spending and delay projects, coupled with the threat of s...

Loud were the snorts from RBS staff as they watched the men who had led their bank to ruin make their excuses to MPs. Although the press described the "humiliation" of Sir Tom McKillop, the former chairman, and Sir Fred Goodwin, the former chief executive, insiders knew the pair had got away with mu...

Yesterday's The Wall Street Journal documented the most detailed evidence to date that many community banks who don't need the government's TARP money are backing away from participating in the Capital Purchase Program, primarily because their "fear of the unknown" is being tipped into near paranoia...

The American Banker had an interesting article the other day (paid subscription required) about the private investors who the FDIC and other federal bank regulators are attempting to entice into making investments in banks and thrifts in need of cold, hard capital. According to a number of experts c...

It seems that Bank of America didn't really appreciate that unexpected $15.4 billion dollar 4th quarter loss by Merrill Lynch — because its former CEO, John Thain has been shown the door. From Bloomberg: Thain, who in September negotiated the sale of Merrill with Bank of America CEO Kenneth Le...

Last week's rank speculation reasonable assumption that the FDIC as receiver of the late, great IndyMac retained the liability for buyback demands made by Fannie Mae was confirmed Sunday by the New York Post ( a bastion of responsible reporting, so we don't doubt its word). According to the Post, ho...

Roundup, deals, Life Sciences Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: The best part about last week’s deals and biztech news was that so much of it amounted to the first act in a continuing drama. Will the deal go through? Will that drug get approved? Stay tuned… Who needs TV soaps when a corporate buyo...

funding, Private Equity, Fund-Raising Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: Fund-raising by private equity firms slowed dramatically during the last three months of 2008, so much so, in fact, that an analysis shows an 18 percent overall decline among fund-raising by U.S. firms compared to 2007—all of it due...

Shortly before New Years Day, Housing Wire broke the story that the FDIC's negotiations to sell most of IndyMac to a consortium of Wall Street sharks private equity funds was being held up by mortgage loan buyback demands made by Fannie Mae. While one source stated that Fannie Mae often had a hard t...