The financial crisis appears to be creating some jobs for at least one group of people - former banking executives.

As private equity firms turn their attention to banks, they are seeking out retired chiefs and other senior executives with banking experience to lead their investments and run the banks they buy. 

Besides their operational experience, these executives bring to the table a crucial quality that can sometimes make or break a group’s bid to take over a bank - street cred with U.S. banking regulators.

Credible management for the banks they oversee is one of the key concerns of regulators, who worry about the health of the industry and separation of banking and commerce. It becomes all the more crucial in the case of private equity groups that don’t already own banks and so have no recent track record for regulators to rely on.

John Kanas, a veteran of the banking industry and former head of North Fork Bank, made such a comeback with a successful bid for Florida’s BankUnited.

Kanas leads the management team for BankUnited, which was bought by a consortium of private equity investors including WL Ross, Carlyle and Blackstone. He was tapped early last year by Ross to explore just such a possibility.

In another deal expected to be announced Thursday, Fortress Investment, Crestview Partners and Lightyear Capital plan to install Gene Taylor, a former Bank of America executive, as CEO after injecting $800 million into Florida’s First Southern, according to the Financial Times.

As the banking landscape is redrawn, it wouldn’t be a surprise then if other old faces end up in new roles before this crisis is over.

One intriguing remark that Blackstone COO Tony James let slip on today’s earnings call is that it could be gearing up to sell an energy asset. 
James explained that while opportunities to exit investments weren’t numerous, it had succeeded making a profit on the sale of pharmaceutical company Stiefel. 
“We have another company in our portfolio… in the energy sector, which had some very, very exciting results finding unbelievable amounts of hydrocarbons and… that might be something we’d look to exit,” James said on a call to the media. 
He didn’t identify the company so we’re doing the guessing ourselves — out of the current energy investments Blackstone lists on its website, we reckon Kosmos Energy, which has a significant oil field in Ghana, could fit the bill.

(Additional reporting by Mike Erman)

Maybe the real headline should be, "Financial Times finds old way to save newspapers." It's called the lawsuit. As reported by Cityfile:

You know we're in a deep recession when even billionaire financiers can't afford to pay for subscriptions to the Financial Times. In what will go down as one of the more bizarre (and unintentionally hilarious) lawsuits we've seen in quite some time, the newspaper filed a lawsuit against Steve Schwarzman's Blackstone Group on Wednesday for sharing an FT username and password instead of setting up separate accounts for its employees. Yes, an unknown "senior employee" at the colossal private equity firm "authorized the initiation and repeated renewal of an individual, personal subscription to FT.com" and then distributed the login details to company employees so they could all join in on the fun. (The court documents list the username as "theblackstonegroup" and the password as "blackstone," although FT says it has since "disabled the credentials to mitigate damages.")

The New York Post gives us the background on why the situation is absurd on its face:

Blackstone's penny-pinching ways stand in stark contrast to the way Schwarzman lives. Two years ago, his wife threw a $3 million 60th-birthday party for the buyout king that featured 500 guests, and included a performance by Rod Stewart. A Wall Street Journal story chronicled Schwarzman's fondness for $40 crab legs and for running up weekend food bills of $3,000.

For MediaFile's part, we see another tool that U.S. newspapers can employ to enrich their depleted coffers. Newspaper publishers usually wait for one among them to step forward and take action before falling in en masse (cutting dividends, laying off workers, etc), and we wonder why the lawsuit route should be any different.

Yes, there are differences between the FT and most U.S. newspapers. The FT charges hefty subscriptions to read the paper in print and online. (Online subscriptions run $179 to $299 a year, as the FT's complaint states). That means there is a monetary value to "sharing." Most U.S. newspapers charge nothing, but require registration.

Think about it this way, newspaper websites depend upon the information they glean through registration -- including how many people have registered -- to set rates that they charge advertisers. If the entire municipal staff in Anytown, Kansas, is sharing access to the Kansas City Star, it's presenting a distorted picture to the paper, which then presents a distorted picture to advertisers. With ad revenue in free fall and the possibility that some big-city papers might die within weeks, it seems fair to imagine that a trip to the courthouse could result.

And here's one more thing to think about: The FT's tone in its lawsuit might come off as priggish when you consider how much rampant username/password abuse goes on in the nation's offices these days -- but if the paper wins, imagine all the rest of the gold out there just waiting to be mined. Oh yeah, it might be a good time to get your own FT and Wall Street Journal subscriptions. You're doing a good deed by paying for the news.

(Photo: Reuters)

Yet another case of insider trading in the M&A space.

A Blackstone investment banker is alleged to have shared information on the buyout of grocery chain Albertsons with a friend, who went on to make $3.6 million from the friendly chats. (The lawsuit says the banker passed on the tips in at least 20 telephone calls and at least 18 text messages)

33-year-old Ramesh Chakrapani was a vice president working on the deal, advising Albertsons as part of a Blackstone team. Wall Street firms are teeming with vice presidents — relatively junior bankers who work their way up to the first coveted title of managing director. Chakrapani himself was subsequently promoted to managing director and sent to the firm’s London offices.

Media reports have cited senior bankers from the Albertson deal as barely remembering Chakrapani. Some told the Wall Street Journal Chakrapani played a junior role and did not have much involvement with the negotiations.

Insider trading, historically associated with traders, now seems to be spreading to M&A professionals.

In 2007, a Credit Suisse banker was convicted for leaking confidential information on several deals, including the $32 billion buyout of power giant TXU. The banker was charged with one count of conspiracy and 28 counts of insider trading for relaying information to a former boss. Authorities tagged the profits at nearly $7.5 million.

Last month, U.S. authorities said a former Lehman Brothers salesman was charged with sharing information about 13 impending mergers gleaned from his wife, a partner at public relations firm Brunswick Group. Two day traders, a lawyer and a brokerage salesman were also charged with illegal trades that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said netted $4.8 million in illegal profits. 

It’s very unlikely insider trading will become a common phenomenon in the dealmaking space. Aside from the basic ethics involved,  bankers are usually keen on keeping the information confidential for fear of jeopardizing the deal. But it is certainly becoming more visible.

(Photo:  REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco)

Any regrets about the now-infamous birthday party, Steve?

That was the question asked by Fortune Magazine’s Andy Serwer at an intimate breakfast gathering at posh New York restaurant Per Se.

For those that have forgotten, Schwarzman’s 60th birthday party on Valentine’s Day in 2007, to which hundreds of guests were invited, featured British rocker Rod Stewart, comedian Martin Short, singer Patti LaBelle, two Harlem choirs and a marching band. It came to symbolize an era of excess — memories that some would now rather forget.  Months later, the financial crisis hit and Blackstone’s stock plummeted. It is currently about a quarter of its June 2007 IPO price.

“Obviously, I wouldn’t have wanted to do that and become some kind of symbol of that period of time — who would ever wish that on themselves? No one,” said Schwarzman, when asked if he’d do it again.

Lazard’s Bruce Wasserstein, being interviewed by Fortune alongside Schwarzman, chimed in:  “It was a great party”.

Schwarzman noted that his 61st birthday this year was muted. “61 is just fine. You notice it was quiet,” he said.

Fundraising for private equity buyout funds is getting tougher.

Thomson Reuters data for the first half of the year showed 59 buyout funds raised $35 billion, down from 74 funds totaling $62 billion the first half of 2008.

The immediate future looks no easier. Blackstone’s first close on its fund — which Private Equity Intelligence says has a target of $20 billion — was $7 billion, sources previously told Reuters. But it isn’t going so well, according to a Wall Street Journal report that said California State Teachers’ Retirement System, or Calstrs, intends to invest just $250 million into the fund, significantly less than the $1.7 billion it committed to the firm’s prior fund.

Blackstone has one of the biggest brand names in the business and its success in raising this fund will be closely watched for others in the market.

A day after Fox-Pitt Kelton analyst David Trone suggested Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc may be better off going private, the investment bank may be ready to do just that. Lehman Chief Executive Richard Fuld is considering ways to take the Wall Street bank private, but it’s not quite clear how such a move might work, the New York Post reported, citing sources. Lehman’s shares have plunged this year on the back of rumors and questions about its solvency. Talks of privatizing Lehman have got serious as a result, the papers said. The company’s shares closed down more than 14 percent on Monday, reaching their lowest level since August 1999. Lehman’s shares have fallen about 81 percent so far this year. Trone said on Monday Lehman may be better off going private to shake off short sellers that are spreading bogus rumors about the bank.

Those nasty rumors, if that’s what they are, may come back to bite some folks on the hindquarters. The Securities and Exchange Commission has sent subpoenas to more than 50 hedge-fund advisers as it investigates whether individuals spread false rumors to manipulate shares in Lehman and Bear Stearns Cos, The Wall Street Journal said, citing a person familiar with the matter. You remember Bear Stearns, right? You know, the one that initially sold for about $2 a share? No wonder Lehman may be thinking about getting out of the stock market limelight.

And now for something completely different (different from Lehman, anyway). Hong Kong phone company PCCW Ltd says it expects to shortlist bidders for its media and telecoms unit within a month. The deal could fetch more than $2.5 billion. Private equity firms are among those bidding for the newly formed unit, known as HKT Group Holdings, group managing director Alex Arena told reporters on Tuesday. Reuters reported on Friday that the Blackstone Group and Providence Equity Partners were among those pursuing a bid for HKT.

More deals of the day:

** Private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners purchased eight News Corp television stations for about $1.1 billion.

** Bank of Nova Scotia will expand its wealth-management business by buying the Canadian operations of U.S. online brokerage E*Trade Financial Group Inc for $442 million cash, the companies said.

** Barrick Gold Corp is launching a C$354 million ($350 million) hostile bid for Cadence Energy Inc as a hedge against oil prices to get control of soaring production costs, the world’s top gold miner said.

** Lawson Inc, Japan’s second-largest convenience store, will spend at least 3.98 billion yen ($38 million) to take control of discount grocery chain Ninety-nine Plus Inc, aiming to use acquisitions to grow in a mature market.

** China’s CITIC Resources Holdings has raised its stake in Australian miner Macarthur Coal Ltd to 20.39 percent, overtaking global steelmaker ArcelorMittal as the top shareholder.

** Hungarian drug maker Richter Gedeon said its takeover of Poland’s Polpharma was not completed as scheduled on Monday because Polpharma owner Genefar did not agree to the terms of the closure of the deal.

** French seeds company Vilmorin said it was taking a 25 percent stake in Australian Grain Technologies (AGT) for an undisclosed amount.

** Banca Popolare dell’Emilia Romagna has suspended plans to buy Banca delle Marche, it said in a statement.

** Irish billionaire investors the Quinn family said they would buy a 15 percent stake in Anglo Irish Bank which they saw as a long-term investment despite difficulties facing international banking.

In the end, he wasn’t in some sub-Saharan refuge, an Asian island paradise or a secluded European spa … fugitive former hedge fund manager Samuel Israel III (pictured right) was holed up in a mobile home (pictured below). Israel handed himself over to authorities in Massachusetts to start his 20-year prison sentence after having faked his suicide to avoid doing time. Israel, who co-founded Connecticut hedge fund Bayou Group, in 2005 pleaded guilty to a scheme to fabricate returns and cheat investors out of $450 million. He was sentenced in April. Police said his mother convinced him to turn himself over to police. If he was hoping for another shot at fleedom, he can forget about it. “There is not the slightest possibility that I or any other judge would release you at this point,” Judge Michael Ponsor told Israel before turning him over to U.S. Marshals.

Landmark Communications could announce the sale of the Weather Channel to a group made up of NBC Universal, Blackstone and Bain Capital in the next day or two, sources briefed on the matter said. The final price on the cable network, which produces national, regional and local weather-related programs, is expected to be between $3 billion and $3.5 billion, and likely at the higher end of that range, the sources said. The parties have been negotiating directly with Landmark since Time Warner withdrew its bid two weeks ago. There is always a small chance things could fall apart or slow down at the last minute, but absent any such unforeseen problems, the deal should be announced in the next couple days, one of the people said.

BHP Billiton said U.S. antitrust authorities have cleared its unsolicited $170 billion bid for rival miner Rio Tinto. The company’s announcement said the clearance satisfied part of U.S. antitrust law requirements. U.S. law gives antitrust authorities the right to re-open their investigation if new information comes to light before the transaction closes, experts say. However in reality, the United States has now given full clearance to the deal, not that U.S. opposition is a major issue for the mega merger. Problems are more likely to be raised in Asia and Europe.

British market research company Taylor Nelson Sofres rejected an improved approach worth 1.08 billion pounds ($2.14 billion) from WPP, saying it still preferred its merger with German peer GfK. WPP’s latest proposal substantially undervalued the company, said TNS, which had previously opened its books to WPP after rejecting previous approaches. TNS is the world’s third-biggest market research company, with clients such as Procter & Gamble and Unilever, while GfK is the world’s fifth-biggest and counts Panasonic and Henkel among its customers. A completed tie-up would step up pressure on market leader AC Nielsen in an industry which has become increasingly important as companies hunt for more information on their clients and services. Analysts have said from the start that WPP, which would merge TNS with its Kantar business, could disrupt the TNS-GfK deal, bidding up the price.

Storied New York public relations advisor Kekst & Co sold out to French advertising and communications company Publicis Groupe SA for an undisclosed sum. Kekst, known for advising on high profile financial takeovers, was founded in 1970 by its current chief executive, Gershon Kekst, 73, and employs about 70 people. The company, based on Madison Avenue, New York, has advised on more mergers and acquisitions than any other public relations agency over the last two decades, according to data from Corporate Control Alert. One industry insider who asked not to be identified, but is not involved with the deal, speculated that the transaction could be worth around $150 million. The figure assumes estimated profits of $20 million and an estimated deal multiple of 6 or 7 times, plus a premium, that person said.

Other deals of the day:

* U.S. private equity house Lone Star could offer shares in Korea Exchange Bank in a block sale if the pending $6.3 billion deal to sell control of KEB to HSBC falters, KEB chief executive said.

* Australian bank Macquarie has applied to Chinese regulators to buy a nearly 20 percent stake in a trust company, in order to expand its corporate banking and wealth management services in China, sources with direct knowledge of the deal said.

* Huawei Technologies, China’s largest mobile phone equipment maker, has narrowed the field of bidders for a stake in its mobile devices unit — reported to be worth more than $2 billion — to five private equity companies, sources said.

* Telecommunications firm Pacnet said it had signed a joint venture with China-based firm Zhong Ren Telecom, to offer Internet protocol services to Chinese companies and expand its presence in the country.

* International Business Machines said it has bought privately held software maker Platform Solutions Inc and the two companies have dropped their legal complaints against each other.

* Northstar Neuroscience said it received an unsolicited offer from Tang Capital Partners to buy the company for $2.25 per share.

* Hedge fund SAC Capital reported that it had cut its stake in Take-Two Interactive Software to 4.4 percent from 5.3 percent.