Filed under: Raising money, Private equity industry, Investments

Yesterday, a story came across Business Wire that was far from a normal private equity story.

A newly-created firm called Javan Capital Partners LLC has apparently purchased several businesses from what’s stated to be a great young entrepreneur named Artin Afsharjavan, for a total of $6 million in cash and equity. What those exact terms are might be something else, but here’s where the deal is different than 99.99% of all announcements of the sort: he is listed as being 19 years old, and it states he’d already invested $2 million in Javan before this one shut.

The businesses purchased include Restaurant Javan, a Persian restaurant located in Bethesda. This also includes L3 Investments, Continental Alliance Corp., RentSeek.com, USARecalls.com, HillStreetDiamonds.com, and L3 Transportation.

If you look over this, it sounds like the new firm wants him opening new operations rather than operating these other businesses. Robert Long, vice president of acquisitions at Javan Capital Partners, said they approached him about purchasing his companies to allow him devote more time to Javan Capital Partners.

There might be a bit of a PR ploy here, as Javan Capital Partners noted that it is continuing to raise additional capital and is about to shut it to new investments until some time in 2009. You can go poke around at all of these sites to see what your think on your own because some of the sites are down or state they’re being relaunched as of this day.

I haven’t been able to confirm any of the comments from the press release, so you’re on your own. I thought going to work for a stock broker at 18 was impressive, but this looks care about it blows that away.

Business Wire has another story about him buying a retail granite chain last month and YoungEntrepreneur.com has a profile you can see. Congratulations to him if the terms are all straightforward as they were laid out in the main release

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Deals, Private equity industry

If there was ever a long-standing company in the bicycle making business, it is Cannondale. In fact, Cannondale used to be a public company that traded under the stock ticker “BIKE” before it imploded and went bankrupt. This was ultimately acquired by private equity, but it wasn’t a public buyout. The higher-end bike manufacturer was bought in bankruptcy in 2003 and the prior common shareholders got a total tax write-off.

This morning Forbes ran a story from Thomson Financial out of London noting that Princess Private Equity Holding Ltd. has now sold Cannondale Bicycle Corp. for between $190 to $200 million through its partnership Pegasus II partners. Cannondale was bought out of bankruptcy by Pegasus II for almost $60 million.

A 200%+ gain in nearly 5-years isn’t too simple to knock. Let’s hope the buyers can run this one better than it was run the first time around.

Share This

Share This

Filed under: Private equity industry, Activist investing

The Treasury and Congress are still trying to get sovereign funds to concur that their investments in US companies are “financial” and not “political.” According to MarketWatch Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs David McCormick stated the government-controlled funds might raise “legitimate national security concerns,” and may distort markets if not managed properly

Without a shot being fired in anger, one of the largest funds appears to be willing to go along. Temasek Holdings of Singapore says that it comprehends the US need to look at national security as it examines whether taking in foreign-based capital is OK.

Temasek’s decision does a lot to undermine the positions of funds from China and the Middle East. Now that one sovereign fund has shown a willingness to go along with US policy, it is harder for the others not to follow. Those who are willing to get under the tent will have a pick of the prizes which include troubled US banks and brokerages

Read the rest of the story at 24/7 Wall St.

Share This

Share This

Chancellor Klein sets huddle on budget cuts with school principals
New York Daily News - We’re asking them to consider what services they value the most,” stated Kathleen Grimm , deputy chancellor for finance. Most of Klein’s major reforms - from a new school-funding formula that redistributes resources, to a major initiative giving

Clark’s guilty plea may toughen campaign finance rules
Anchorage Daily News - JUNEAU — Jim Clark’s admission of campaign reporting violations could lead lawmakers to strengthen the powers of say regulators. Clark, the former chief of staff to Gov. Frank Murkowski, in 2003 worked to have lawmakers reduce the statute of

Don’t Get Scammed at the Vehicle Dealership
ABC News - The only thing drivers despise more than rising fuel costs? Shrewd automobile dealers. They are among the country’s least-trusted business providers. The 2007 Better Business Bureau/Gallup Trust in Business Index reported that only 16% of survey respondents

Sri Lanka’s Sinhaputhra Finance’s long-term ratings cut to ‘BB-(lka
CNBC - BANGALORE (Thomson Financial) - Fitch Ratings said it has downgraded its national long-term ratings of Sri Lankan finance company Sinhaputhra Finance Ltd (SFL) to ‘BB-(lka)’ from ‘BB(lka)’. The outlook is negative. The agency said the downgrade

Nothing can stop Indian projects: Aditya Mittal
Daily News and Analysis - In a nostalgic mood, Aditya recounted the ‘hostile and cold reception’ that he got from a Prime Minister and a Finance Minister of some European countries.

Kenya’s Kibaki urges MPs to back peace deal
MSN UK News - Odinga’s side wants so-called “power ministries” like finance and internal security, which Kibaki’s allies are unlikely to concede. Both men are under pressure from their backers not to give away too much.

Kibaki urges parliament to back peace deal
International Herald Tribune - Odinga’s side wants so-called “power ministries” like finance and internal security, which Kibaki’s allies are unlikely to concede. Both men are under pressure from their backers not to give away too much.

Credit Swaps Thwart Fed’s Ease as Debt Costs Surge (Update2)
Bloomberg - The banks that have been using correlation to calculate their risk will have to go back to scratch,” stated Janet Tavakoli , president of Chicago-based Tavakoli Structured Finance. “By using correlation models as the main means of risk management, the

Carrefour strengthens focus on real estate management after 1.3
CNBC - Carrefour also said it anticipates to generate ??1.5 billion (US$2.28 billion) in free cash flow which will be used to finance acquisitions. Operating profit rose 3.4 percent to ??3.29 billion (US$5 billion) from ??3.18 billion a year ago, with fast

Transport finance sector eagerly awaits US election results
Janes - All eyes are on the upcoming US presidential election, which will profoundly affect financial markets in the near term. Longer term, trade flows will be affected, which will influence the fortunes of transportation-related business and institutions

RBI: budget in line with growth, price goals
Reuters India - Earlier, Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, who attended the central bank meeting, said the loan waiver would strengthen the banking sector and banks would be compensated in a way that would not constrain them.

Share This

Share This