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PORTFOLIO UPDATES AND PRESS CLIPS


AIRVANA<http://www.airvana.com/>


Tmcnet 5/3

U.S. Patents Awarded to Inventors in New Hampshire<http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2012/05/03/6287595.htm>
Airvana, Chelmsford, Mass., has been assigned a patent (8,170,598) developed by four co-inventors for an "information sharing in a private access point network." The co-inventors are Balaji Raghothaman, Hollis, N.H., Deepak Das, Arlington, Mass., Anand Srinivas, Cambridge, Mass., and Pierre A. Humblet, Cambridge, Mass.


WSJ 5/7

Cellcom, Airvana and Taqua Partner to Deliver Femtocell-as-a-Service for Small North American Wireless Carriers Using FemtoCloud Technology<http://www.marketwatch.com/story/cellcom-airvana-and-taqua-partner-to-deliver-femtocell-as-a-service-for-small-north-american-wireless-carriers-using-femtocloud-technology-2012-05-07>

Airvana LLC, the global market share leader in femtocells, along with Taqua LLC, a leading supplier of small cell and convergence switching solutions, in concert with Cellcom, a forward-thinking regional wireless carrier will showcase the world's first FemtoCloud platform at CTIA. Cellcom plans to begin offering FemtoCloud as a service to CDMA North American regional carriers later this month.

Fiercewire 5/9

Sprint counts 600,000 femtocells, plans to update Airave<http://www.fiercewireless.com/ctialive/story/sprint-counts-600000-femtocells-plans-update-airave/2012-05-09>
A Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S<http://www.fiercewireless.com/tags/Sprint>) executive said the carrier now counts 600,000 femtocells in its network--a dramatic jump from the 250,000 femtocells Sprint said it had deployed as of March of 2011…Samsung built Sprint's first femtocell product and Airvana currently supplies Sprint's EV-DO Airave femtocell. Sprint began selling the Airave in 2008 and has said its goal is to distribute 1 million femtocells.

ALLOY ENTERTAINMENT<http://www.alloymarketing.com/>


WSJ Press Release 5/7

American Student List Merges With Alloy Direct Marketing<http://www.marketwatch.com/story/american-student-list-merges-with-alloy-direct-marketing-2012-05-07>

American Student List ("ASL") a leading supplier of youth marketing data and a division of Euro RSCG Discovery and Alloy Direct Marketing, a division of Alloy Media + Marketing and one of the nation's leading youth, young adult and student direct marketing providers, today announced they will merge effective immediately, launching a new company called AlloyASL. This new company combines extensive and unparalleled industry expertise in data content, aggregation and analytics of the youth, young adult and student demographics.


BUSCH ENTERTAINMENT


Environmental Leader 5/2

Seaworld, Busch Gardens to Eliminate Plastic Bags<http://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/05/02/seaworld-busch-gardens-to-eliminate-plastic-bags/>


Austin Chronicle 5/4

The Hightower Report SeaWorld profits from exploiting whales and dodges taxes<http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2012-05-04/the-hightower-report-summer-fun-or-slick-stunts-at-seaworld/>

The shame belongs to the corporation, which not only profits<http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2012-05-04/the-hightower-report-summer-fun-or-slick-stunts-at-seaworld/> from its exploitation of the whales, but also manages to dodge paying even a penny in national or state income taxes…This is because SeaWorld is owned by Blackstone Group, a multibillion-dollar private-equity giant that specializes in acrobatic accounting and spectacular twistings of our tax laws.


REHUB 5/10

SeaWorld Senior Secured Debt Rating Lowered<http://www.pehub.com/149747/seaworld-senior-secured-debt-rating-lowered/http:/www.pehub.com/149747/seaworld-senior-secured-debt-rating-lowered/>

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said today that it revised its recovery rating on Orlando, Fla.-based SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment Inc.’s senior secured credit facility to ’2′, indicating our expectation of substantial (70% to 90%) recovery for lenders in the event of a payment default, from ’1′. In addition, in accordance with our notching criteria, we lowered our issue-level rating on the senior secured credit facility to ‘BB-’ from ‘BB’ and removed the rating from CreditWatch, where it was placed with Negative implications on March 13, 2012. The revised recovery rating reflects the increase in senior secured debt following the addition of the $500 million incremental term loan B, which reduced recovery prospects under our simulated default scenario. The company’s senior secured credit facility now consists of a $172.5 million revolver, a $160 million term loan A, and a $1.3 billion term loan B. Our ‘B+’ corporate credit rating on SeaWorld remains unchanged. The rating outlook is stable.


ENERGY FUTURE HOLDINGS<http://www.energyfutureholdings.com>


State Impact 5/4

Sierra Club Files Suit Against Luminant<http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/2012/05/04/sierra-club-files-suit-against-luminant/>

This week the Sierra Club filed a federal lawsuit against Energy Future Holdings Corp. and its subsidiary, Luminant Generation Company. The Sierra Club alleges that Luminant’s Big Brown coal-fired power plant has “thousands of ongoing air pollution violations” of the Clean Air Act. The plant is located approximately 65 miles northeast of Waco in Freestone County.


Biz Journal 5/4

Drilling boom squeezes power generators in Texas<http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/print-edition/2012/05/04/drilling-boom-squeezes-power.html>


Bloomberg 5/4

Berkshire Profit Doubles on Insurance<http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-05-04/berkshire-profit-doubles-on-insurance-results-derivatives>

First-quarter results include a $337 million impairment related to bonds of Texas Competitive Electric Holdings, a unit of Energy Future Holdings Corp.


FISKER AUTOMOTIVE<http://www.fiskerautomotive.com/en-us>


Torque News 5/3

Fisker Karma to race the Alps in the Bodensee-Elektrik Rallye<http://www.torquenews.com/1075/fisker-karma-race-alps-bodensee-elektrik-rallye>

Fisker Automotive announced today it was entering a Fisker Karma in the the inaugural Bodensee-Elektrik Rallye, due to take place this weekend from May 3 – 6. The Rallye takes place on challenging roads in Switzerland, Germany and Austria, and covers a distance of hundreds of kilometers. Independent journalists from Autobild magazine will be among those driving the Karma throughout the event.


SNET 5/9<http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57430924-76/fisker-karma-involved-in-house-fire-but-battery-not-cause/>

Fisker Karma involved in house fire but battery not cause<http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57430924-76/fisker-karma-involved-in-house-fire-but-battery-not-cause/>

Bad karma for a Fisker Automotive electric vehicle destroyed in a house fire. Fire investigator says the Karma was the origin, but the cause is unknown, according to Autoweek. Fisker Automotive received worrying news last week when a Karma sedan burned in a house fire in Texas. The cause is still being investigated, according to the company. The fire started shortly after a new Karma owner parked the car<http://reviews.cnet.com/car-tech/> in a garage, according to areport in Autoweek<http://www.autoweek.com/article/20120508/CARNEWS/120509860#ixzz1uOCBbqGH>. A fire investigator told Autoweek that the Karma, which was not plugged in, was the origin of the fire, but the cause was not known.


Newswire 5/9

Fisker Karma Burns in Houston Fire<http://evworld.com/news.cfm?newsid=27897>

A house fire that destroyed a $100,000-plus Fisker Karma near Houston last week does not appear to have been caused by the plug-in hybrid's lithium-ion battery pack, Fisker Automotive said in a statement on Tuesday. Local officials and insurance companies are investigating the cause of the May 3 fire, which originated in the garage of a newly built home in Sugar Land, Texas. Two other cars in the garage were also destroyed.


HYBRID CARS 5/11

Fisker Karma Selling Strong in Holland, As Its Maker Eyes All of Europe<http://www.hybridcars.com/news/karma-strong-in-holland-fisker-eyes-all-europe-45752.html>

With stringent taxes penalizing big internal combustion luxury sedans in the country of Holland, Fisker Automotive’s extended-range electric Karma has managed a second-place sales spot in that segment for the first quarter of this year.


HEALTHSCOPE<http://www.healthscope.com.au/info/general/Home/get/0/0/>


Moreland Leader 5/4

Health hub revived in Coburg<http://moreland-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/health-hub-revived-in-coburg/>

Council is pressing ahead with its vision for a health precinct beside its Coburg headquarters. It comes eight months after Healthscope scrapped plans to build a 300-bed hospital - which was to be the debut project for the council’s $1 billion-plus Coburg Initiative - after a cost review. Mayor John Kavanagh said the council was open to selling or leasing the 8000sq m site to a private provider to build a hospital or health facility, with scope for future expansion. Providers have until May 11 to lodge an initial bid.


NORTHERN TIER ENERGY (NTE)<http://www.ntenergy.com/>


GreenTechMedia 4/30

ACC Announces 2012 Responsible Care® Energy Efficiency Award Winners<http://www.greentechmedia.com/industry/read/acc-announces-2012-responsible-care-energy-efficiency-award-w-81012/>

At the 21st Annual Responsible Care Conference and Expo this morning, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) honored 19 of its member companies for implementing energy-efficiency improvements in 2011. The companies receiving awards for 2012 are:

Northern Tier Energy – St. Paul Park Refining Co. LLC


THE WEATHER CHANNEL COMPANIES <http://press.weather.com/>


Chicago Tribune 5/9

Yahoo furor claims a victim<http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-mct-yahoo-furor-claims-a-victim-20120509,0,4568080.story>

The furor over Yahoo (YHOO) CEO Scott Thompson's erroneous academic credentials claimed its first casualty Tuesday….Reflecting the atmosphere of increased scrutiny, Yahoo on Tuesday filed with the SEC a minor change in the biography of director David Kenny, chairman and CEO of the Weather Channel. The biography was on a site called Yahoo Forward that was put together for the upcoming annual meeting and board election. Kenny's biography was changed to say the Weather Channel has "one of the top mobile websites" and "one of the most used apps on smartphones," rather than "the No. 1 mobile content site" and "the second most used apps" on all smartphones.


2-20 RECORDS<http://www.2-20rm.com/>


PR Log 5/1

InfoStore Joins the 2-20 Family of Companies Providing Information Management to the Tri-State Area<http://www.prlog.org/11863358-infostore-joins-the-2-20-family-of-companies-providing-information-management-to-the-tri-state-area.html>

The 2-20 Family of Companies, a leading provider of records and information management services, including document storage, data protection, imaging/digital solutions and secure shredding, welcomes InfoStore Records Management, LLC to its family of companies and expands its service radius to include New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.


TEKELEC


PR Web 5/11

Network Launches by Cable Operators and IMS for LTE Drives the IMS Test and Monitoring Solutions Market, According to New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc.<http://www.prweb.com/releases/IP_multimedia_subsystems/IMS_test_market/prweb9490187.htm>

GIA announces the release of a comprehensive global report on IP Multimedia Subsystems (IMS) Test and Monitoring Solutions markets. The global market for IP Multimedia Subsystems (IMS) Test And Monitoring Solutions is projected to reach US$1.18 billion by 2017, mainly driven by the projected rise in adoption of IMS Equipment as service providers undergo Class 5 replacement projects, wireless operators launch IMS for LTE, and cable operators gear up to introduce new networks. Robust activity in mobile IMS-based services with several mobile operators planning to launch mobile video calling services will also drive market growth for IMS Test and Monitoring Solutions… Major players in the marketplace include Accanto Systems Oy, Agilent Technologies, Anritsu Company, Empirix, EXFO Inc., Ixia, JDS Uniphase Corporation, RADCOM Ltd., Radvision Ltd., Shenick Network Systems, Spirent Communications Plc., Tekelec, Tektronix Inc., Telchemy Incorporated, and Witbe S.A., among others.


PRIVATE EQUTY


WSJ 5/4

Private Equity Goes Bargain Hunting for Natural Gas Assets<http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2012/05/04/private-equity-goes-shopping-for-natural-gas-in-bargain-bin/>

Natural gas prices that have hovered near decade lows are lifting U.S. oil and gas deal making….The first quarter saw private-equity oil-and-gas deals reach their highest level in at least 20 years, with more than $11.5 billion in transactions, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers tally. In all, there were $34 billion in U.S. oil and gas deals, about even with same period a year, the firm says.


WSJ 5/7

China Deals Blow To Buyout Firms<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052702303630404577389821099747032.html?KEYWORDS=%22private+equity%22>

In a blow to overseas private-equity firms that invest in China, the government's chief economic-planning agency ruled that all of the money in their funds must come from Chinese investors, or the funds will be treated as foreign.


WSJ 5/7

Private Equity Defends Business-Debt Deductions<http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/05/07/private-equity-defends-business-debt-deductions/>

A private-equity group will release a report on Tuesday that attacks one of the central tenets of many tax-overhaul plans in Washington – the idea of curbing deductibility of business debt. Limiting debt deductibility could raise the effective tax rate on new investment “and could well stifle growth in the United States, undermining a stated goal of corporate tax reform,” Steve Judge, president of the Private Equity Growth Capital Council, a trade group, says in a statement. “The reality is that debt is an essential part of a typical company’s capital structure. It is used to finance fundamental business activities, like meeting payroll, buying raw materials or making critical capital investments.”


Reuters 5/8

Leon Black's Apollo earnings beat estimates<http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/08/us-apollo-idUSBRE8470P020120508>

Apollo Global Management LLC (APO.N<http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=APO.N>), the private equity firm headed by billionaire Leon Black, gave investors disillusioned with publicly listed private equity firms something to cheer about on Tuesday as its portfolio outperformed expectations. Alternative asset managers have had a hard time convincing investors of their value. Peer Carlyle Group LP G.CO has been stuck around its IPO price of $22 per share following its $671 million stock market debut on May 3.


Blooomberg 5/9

Blackstone Counters Fee Pressure Via Custom Pension Deals<http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-10/blackstone-counters-fee-pressure-via-custom-pension-deals.html>

Blackstone Group LP (BX), the largest private-equity firm, may have to sacrifice some fee revenue to win a pledge from the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the largest U.S. pension. Blackstone and Calpers, which has committed more than $2 billion to the New York-based firm since 1994, may agree on a separate account with lower fees and more control over deals than traditional funds, a person briefed on the matter said last week. Calpers may allocate $500 million, according to a document on the pension’s website.


Forbes 5/10

Where Is Private Equity Headed In 2012?<http://www.forbes.com/sites/baininsights/2012/05/10/where-is-private-equity-headed-in-2012/>

But as we report in Bain & Company’s Global Private Equity Report 2012<http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/global-private-equity-report-2012.aspx>, the PE industry has seldom, if ever, experienced such choppy cyclical swings in so many variables that influence deal making, fund-raising, exits and returns as it has in the past two years.

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The continued rebound of the PE industry became a hostage to the stabilization and recovery of the global capital markets—a theme that has carried over into 2012….With growth in China, India and Brazil falling below their recent torrid pace, the major emerging markets, too, face uncertain prospects in 2012. In short, PE investors will need to navigate a sea of global macroeconomic and geopolitical worries in a year characterized by choppy equity markets and nervous debt markets that could be capsized by any number of policy miscalculations or exogenous shocks.


Reuters 5/10

Exclusive: Warburg tops $5 billion mark for fund: sources<http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/10/us-warburg-pincus-idUSBRE84911Q20120510>

Warburg Pincus LLC WP.UL has raised more than $5 billion in just over seven months for its 11th global private equity fund, a major step on the way toward its $12 billion target, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.


Bloomberg 5/10

Capital International Raises $3 Billion for Emerging Markets<http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-10/capital-international-raises-3-billion-for-emerging-markets.html>

The private equity unit of the Capital Group Companies, which includes the American Funds, closed an emerging markets fund at its $3 billion limit, in a signal of investor appetite for exposure to these regions. Capital International Private Equity Fund VI is larger than the prior fund that raised about $2.2 billion in 2007. Capital International Private Equity Funds, which has been investing in emerging markets since 1992, is benefiting from increased demand by global private equity investors.


FT 5/10

JPMorgan loses $2bn in ‘egregious’ error<http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/828376bc-9ae4-11e1-94d7-00144feabdc0.html>

JPMorgan Chase announced a surprise $2bn trading<http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/828376bc-9ae4-11e1-94d7-00144feabdc0.html> loss on credit derivatives trading, which chief executive Jamie Dimon blamed on “errors, sloppiness and bad judgement” and warned “could get worse”. The shock disclosure, made after the market closed in a regulatory filing, sent shares in the bank down by about 6 per cent and prompted renewed calls for tougher regulation.


FT 5/10

Goldman moves to pre-empt Volcker<http://www.ft.com/cms/s/5c524c50-9ab4-11e1-94d7-00144feabdc0,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F5c524c50-9ab4-11e1-94d7-00144feabdc0.html&_i_referer=#axzz1uZCyuij7>

Goldman Sachs has begun shedding some of its investments ahead of upcoming rules that will limit banks’ ability to keep money in hedge funds and private equity.


Reuters 5/11

Private equity: bank regulators tighten the collar on leveraged loans<http://blogs.reuters.com/financial-regulatory-forum/2012/05/11/private-equity-bank-regulators-tighten-the-collar-on-leveraged-loans/>

With the leveraged finance market coming back to life, bank regulators want financial institutions to seriously tighten oversight and maintenance of their leveraged portfolios. Leveraged loans are heavily utilized by private equity shops for their transactional activities but there is an ever-increasing concern that while loan volume has gone up, underwriting practices have deteriorated to unacceptable standards. On March 26, 2012, bank regulators released proposed guidance on leveraged lending for public comment.