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| Small-business legislation pending in the Senate would aid some profitable firms with tax breaks, but opinions are mixed on the extent to which it would help get credit flowing again. The Senate bill would inject up to $30 billion into community banks through purchases of preferred stock. |
| (Source: The Wall Street Journal, 2010-08-19) |
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| The Securities and Exchange Commission said that it will meet to consider rules that may make it easier for shareholders to oust corporate directors, after investor groups said that boards picked by management failed to rein in executive pay and risky lending before the financial crisis. Commissioners will vote on whether to let investors nominate board members on company ballots mailed to shareholders before director elections, the SEC said in a statement. |
| (Source: The Washington Post (free reg. req'd), 2010-08-19) |
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| Cash-rich U.S. corporations are sharply increasing their capital spending this year after scaling back drastically during the economic downturn. The trend has emerged as a bright spot in a recovery that lately has lost momentum and prompted worries that the U.S. could slip back into recession. |
| (Source: USA Today (free reg. req'd), 2010-08-19) |
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| A growing breed of start-up investors dubbed "super angels" is rapidly raising new money -- and ratcheting up competition with established venture capitalists in the process. What elevates super angels into an unofficial upper class generally is the magnetic effect their participation in a deal has on other investors -- a main reason entrepreneurs like to do business with them. |
| (Source: The Wall Street Journal, 2010-08-16) |
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| President Barack Obama signed an authorization for an additional $129 million to reform operations at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, an agency that admits it has stifled American innovation and impeded the creation of millions of jobs by failing to keep up with a huge backlog of patent applications. Despite its central role in safeguarding and promoting American innovation, the agency has long been neglected in Washington, where Congress siphoned its funding for many years in order to pay for unrelated federal projects. |
| (Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (free reg. req'd.), 2010-08-13) |
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| By all measures, Geoffrey Cook, 31, can count himself as a huge success in the world of online commerce, and his current venture, myYearbook.com, is no exception. A social-networking site conceived by his two younger siblings when they were in high school, the New Hope company, now five years old, brought in more than $2 million in revenue last month and finally turned its first official profit in the spring. It was Cook's network of friends and former investors that landed the company a total of $16.9 million in venture capital in two rounds -- enough to employ 84 people and outfit headquarters in trendy New Hope. |
| (Source: Philadelphia Inquirer (free reg. req'd), 2010-08-22) |
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| Companies raising venture capital saw improved valuations for the fourth quarter in a row, according to a 2010 Silicon Valley Venture Capital Survey. The survey found that 55 percent of companies sold equity on more favorable terms, compared to 27 percent who saw less favorable terms than in the previous round of financing. |
| (Source: law.com, 2010-08-13) |
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| Like most money managers, Rick Fearon thought outsized returns would be more than enough to grow his $20 million fund, but Fearon, founder of hedge fund Accretive Capital Partners LLC, faces what industry experts say is an almost impossible task as he tries to grow by raising $250 million -- more than 10 times his existing asset base. Although he has managed to boost returns almost fourfold since he started in March 2000, that record generally isn't enough to attract big institutional accounts, the experts say. |
| (Source: ABC News, 2010-08-23) |
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| As a former project-management banker at HSBC and Bank of America, Michael Whalen says he's been "eating my own cooking" as the current CFO of SolarReserve, where a big part of his job involves raising money to finance solar-energy plants that provide electricity to utilities. As the sole licensor of technology spawned by United Technologies's Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne subsidiary, SolarReserve develops plants that are able to produce power night and day by storing the sun's energy in molten salt. |
| (Source: CFO.com, 2010-08-23) |
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From Friending to Funding
Ninety-two people donated $11,350 so that Chris Young could shoot a stereoscopic, live-action short film. In return, they got special mention in the credits. Thirty-seven people contributed almost $2,700 to help Elaine Zelker produce "The Hands--Some Journey," a photography project for an Easton, Pa., gallery. Their perks ranged from a big thank-you to a coffee-table book of the collection.
Welcome to the world of crowd funding--where a batch of new Web sites let entrepreneurs combine social networking with project fundraising. Unlike peer-to-peer microlending, which has been around for decades, financial assistance received through crowd funding isn't paid back. Nor does it require pledging collateral, offering personal guarantees or giving up equity. The funds are outright donations from friends and strangers who believe in the dream and want to help.
Read the entire Entrepreneur article on crowd funding. |
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In a recent report by Towers Watson, companies that closed transactions in the second quarter of 2010 continued to outperform the market, beating the MSCI World Index (the Index) by 3.1 percent. The Towers Watson report confirms what we know, that M&A deals create value for shareholders in the midst of a recession.
North American dealmakers led in performance against the Index. North America also accounted for nearly half of the quarter's cross-border deals, which, for the first time in M&A history, surpassed domestic deals in delivering value. In fact, North American dealmakers surpassed our global colleagues in closed transactions by 3.8 percent.
Deal making in North America surged in Q2, both domestically and across borders, with a 50 percent jump from the Q1 of this year for a total of 94 deals completed. Not bad for a recession.
Source: "Cross-Border Deals Take the Lead" by Roger Aguinaldo in the August 13, 2010 M&A Alerts |
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Inc. magazine announced its 29th annual Inc. 5000, a ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. The list spotlights private companies whose innovative business models and formidable execution have taken their companies to the top of the heap in terms of percentage revenue growth over the past three years.
Two hundred eighty-four Illinois and Indiana companies were named to the list, including Firm clients and Ice Miller. Find out more about the Inc. 5000. |
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Governor Daniels to Welcome Attendees and Provide Opening Address
Former Ohio Congressman Michael G. Oxley, co-author of the landmark Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, has been announced as the keynote speaker for the second INVESTIndiana Equity Conference, to be held September 9, 2010, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Oxley, now senior advisor to The NASDAQ OMX Group board of directors, and Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels are the keynote speakers headlining the investment community event.
INVESTIndiana is a biennial conference featuring equity presentations from executives of publicly traded companies headquartered in Indiana. The 15 participating companies represent various industry sectors and sizes, including companies in pharmaceuticals, health and life sciences, manufacturing, materials, energy, high-tech, and the banking industry. The audience is a mix of regional and Wall Street fund managers, analysts and investment professionals.
Crowe Horwath and Ice Miller are title sponsors of INVESTIndiana.
Learn more about this event. |
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September
September 9 - 2010 INVESTIndiana Conference
September 14 - Indiana Biomedical Entrepreneur Network
September 16 - Economic Club of Indiana Speaker's Reception: David Simon
September 25 - Indiana Sports Corp's Corporate Challenge
October
October 5 - Indiana Chamber of Commerce Immigration Seminar
October 12 - Indiana Biomedical Entrepreneur Network
October 19 - Indiana Chamber of Commerce Tax Seminar
October 27 - TechPoint Indiana Innovation Summit
October 29 - Economic Club of Indiana The Ice Miller Speaker's Reception: Steve Forbes |
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