Mitt Romney left private equity firm Bain Capital nearly a decade ago. But if the former Massachusetts Gov. is chosen as McCain’s running mate it could push the industry back into the public spotlight anyway. Romney left the firm in 1999 to take over the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, but he built his reputation — and his fortune — during his 15 years at the buyout firm.

Michael Holland, chairman of private investment firm Holland & Co and a former partner at rival buyout firm Blackstone thinks it would only be good news if Romney is picked.

“The facts are pretty straightforward — he was successful there (at Bain). The businesses they invested in were successful. Taken on the face of it, if you don’t have any political ax to grind in this, it is probably something that should be at least somewhat favorable for the (private equity) industry.

But private equity shouldn’t expect any political favors, Holland says.

“I think he’d do nothing to have any outside effect on the industry, he’s much too smart to do anything that would put him in any position of favoring the industry,” he said.

The industry wouldn’t argue with a better image, at the very least. Lavish spending by certain buyout kings during the go-go-years of 2005-7 and a spate of deals collapsing didn’t do the industry any favors.

Richard Bove is really hammering home a point about Lehman Brothers: The investment bank has big problems that it better deal with it soon.

The Ladenburg Thalmann analyst put out a new research note — the second such note in a week –saying Lehman’s management will have to address its issues rather than just “toughing it out,” or it could face a hostile takeover bid.

What does the investment bank need to do? Says Bove: Lehman must more aggressively write down some of its real estate portfolio and hedge fund investments, raise new capital and rebuild relationships with key employees hurt by the stock’s nosedive.

“I repeat, that if Lehman does not take these actions it is likely that an outsider will do this for the firm through a hostile takeover,” Bove said.

There is good reason to hear the man out. He’s been right before. He was one of the first banking analysts to recommend selling financial stocks as credit market problems began last year.

Lehman is looking at cutting some 1,200 jobs in its latest round of cost cutting, a source said. Bove said that announcement will likely be the first in a series that may be made in the next 10 days.

 ”This saga is not likely to continue much longer,” Bove wrote. But he added that he believed the result will be a “positive one,” keeping his “buy” rating on the stock.

(Photo credit: Reuters)

After the pummeling U.S. banks have been taking from the credit crunch, you’d think British bankers would try to learn from the mistakes of their U.S. counterparts. Not so, writes the New York Times’ DealBook. A majority claim they have made no changes to their strategy, according to a survey to come out next week. That might be par for the course as British banks face turmoil: denial is the first of the Kuebler-Ross stages of coping with grief.

Print media companies are trying find buyers this summer, but PE Hub asks who would invest in companies with declining business model, pointing to the Newark Star-Ledger’s goal to sell itself. One area in traditional media that is looking up is radio.

Asia is becoming a growing hub for currency trading, with French bank Crédit Agricole moving its head of forex strategy to Hong Kong from London, according to the Wall Street Journal’s DealJournal.

Other deals of the day:

** GlaxoSmithKline Plc has signed a deal potentially worth up to $820 million with Valeant Pharmaceuticals International to access the U.S. company’s experimental epilepsy and pain treatments. The alliance gives Europe’s biggest drugmaker worldwide rights to a new epilepsy drug, retigabine, that could reach the market in 2010.

** Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Europe’s second-largest airline, plans to pay 65 million euros ($96.1 million) for a 45 percent stake in fledgling carrier Brussels Airlines with the option to buy all of the company in two years.

** The head of French car parts maker Valeo predicted on Thursday it would make a further acquisition this year to bolster its technology. The comments come amid speculation that Valeo among others could be interested in parts of German tire and components group Continental AG.

** Russia’s biggest mobile operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) said it was spending 11.1 billion roubles ($451.2 million) buying out shareholders who opposed a merger with a regional operator. New York-listed MTS said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission it would buy about 37.8 million shares from investors.
($1=24.60 Rouble)

Fannie Mae’s executive shake-up seemed to help build a floor under the tumbling mortgage finance company, with debate still raging about whether the Treasury will take it over. Bloomberg’s report yesterday that Pimco, the manager of the world’s biggest bond fund, was building funds to buy as much as $5 billion in mortgage-backed debt is also a sign of budding investor interest. Often a change of the old guard at a listed company points to a potential merger or buyout, particularly if the incoming chiefs have merger experience. That doesn’t appear to be the case for Fannie – the new CFO is the old Controller. But if the feared nationalization does not materialize and more buyers for mortgage-related debt stick there toes in, could Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac – cheap as they are – become (gulp) – takeover candidates, barring any conflicts with their charters? You have to suspend disbelief and squint your eyes hard, but it’s not like there is nobody out there without any resource to buy a $6 billion company with an implicit (if somewhat tarnished) pledge of government support. Given their rough ride of late, $6 billion of investment into Fannie might seem to a risk-averse white knight, such as Warren Buffett, a slightly less secure investment than $6 billion in quarters in Las Vegas.

The shaky economy and sluggish jobs market have driven a big jump in applications to business schools, BusinessWeek reports. The magazine said in its online edition that the Graduate Management Admission Council said 77 percent of business schools surveyed reported an increase in application volume in 2008, up from 64% in 2007. They say it’s the second-largest surge in applications to full-time programs since 2002, and the highest level of increase in five years

Deals of the day:

* British engineer Bodycote has agreed to sell its testing business to U.S. private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier and Rice for 417 million pounds and will return 260 million pounds to shareholders.

* Nokia Siemens Networks said it has sold its 56.1 percent stake in Korean telecoms network company Dasan Networks to a group of Korean investors. Nokia Siemens sold the shares for 6,000 Korean won each, valuing the deal at $43.5 million, Reuters data showed.

* British motor insurer Highway Insurance has agreed to a takeover by mutual society Liverpool Victoria Insurance Company in a deal worth around 150 million pounds ($276 million), the companies said.

* Mitsubishi UFJ Financial will spend over $910 million to raise its stake in consumer lender Acom to more than a third, financial sources said — a move that would boost its business in the troubled but potentially lucrative sector.

* Israeli holding company Koor Industries said it had raised its stake in Credit Suisse to 1.02 percent for a total investment of 1.627 billion shekels ($455.7 million).

* Private equity firm CVC Capital and Standard Chartered’s buyout unit are seeking potential buyers for Singapore’s Amtek Engineering, according to sources familiar with the matter.

* Sawai Pharmaceutical, Japan’s largest maker of generic drugs, is looking to acquire another generic drugmaker to survive in an increasingly competitive market, its president said.

* Diversified Indian firm Aditya Birla Nuvo said its board had approved the acquisition of 56 percent in Apollo Sindhoori Capital for 1.99 billion rupees ($46 million).

* Tech Mahindra said it would acquire a minority stake in European systems integrator, Servista, for an undisclosed sum and would be the latter’s delivery arm for three years.

* Shares in LG Electronics parts making units, LG Innotek and LG Micron, rose after the companies said they were considering a merger.

* HSBC said it will raise its stake in Vietnam bank Techcombank to 20 percent from 14.4 percent in a deal worth roughly $77.1 million.

* Arcelor Mittal plans to form a joint venture with Hunan Valin Iron and Steel that will require total investment of 6.5 billion yuan ($951 million), Valin Steel Tube & Wire.

* CITIC International Financial said its major shareholder, CITIC Group, had sweetened its offer to privatize the Hong Kong-listed company, boosting the cash portion by 48 percent.

* Siemens has held talks with sovereign wealth funds from the Gulf, Russia and other regions to expand its long-term investor base, the Financial Times reported, quoting its finance chief.

* Polymetal, Russia’s largest silver miner, said it acquired a license to explore and develop the Degtyarskoye gold and silver deposit in the Urals region for $6.25 million.

* Companies from Germany, Russia, Turkey and Kazakhstan have bid in a tendering to purchase a 78 percent stake in Kyrgyz fixed-line phone monopoly Kyrgyztelecom, the government said.

* Friends Provident is on the lookout for potential acquisitions in Asia that could take it beyond the Hong Kong and Singapore markets, though no specific deals are in the works, an executive with the UK insurer said.

* At least four companies have expressed interest in buying stake in the proposed commodity exchange promoted by Indiabulls Financial Services, a senior official said.

Forbes Magazine has released its list of the 100 most powerful women in the world today. Making the ranks?

Queens.

Presidents.

And a number of women in finance. Women at banks. Women at the core of dealmaking.

Ranking #2 on the list is Sheila Bair: the head of the embattled FDIC, who has been trying to reassure an edgy American public that the country’s financial institutions are sound even as six banks have failed this year. Bair’s domain is the last stop for capital-starved banks (and their insured customers) before going under.

Coming in at #8 is Ho Ching, chief executive of Temasek Holdings — Singapore’s $130 billion soveriegn wealth fund. Ching has been credited with converting Temasek from a Singapore-focused firm to a leading investor in Asia. The fund is a top investor in Merrill Lynch, having bought a 15-percent stake in the wake of the bank’s write-downs.

In at #11 is Gail Kelly, who took over Westpac, Australia’s third-largest bank, last February. Kelly sparked controversy last May when she announced plans to merge the $37 billion bank with her former employer, St. George Bank. Government regulators spent three months scrutinizing the deal before giving it the green light in August.

#42 — Jane Mendillo, president and CEO of Harvard Management Co. The former chief investment officer for Wellesley College took over Harvard University’s $35 billion endowment in July. She follows in the footsteps of star managers including Mohammed El-Erian, who left Harvard for PIMCO last year.

At # 48 is Amy Woods Brinkley, Global risk executive, Bank of America.  It’s not the easiest time to be in risk management and Brinkley has been tested this year as her bank and its competitors deal with the worldwide credit crisis.

# 53 is held by Dominique Senequier, head of AXA Private Equity, the investment buyout arm of French insurer AXA Group. With $27 billion of assets under her watch, Senequier makes direct investments in companies and sprinkles capital among various AXA funds of funds that invest in other private equity vehicles.

Sallie Krawcheck, chairman and chief executive, Global Wealth Management, Citigroup, made the list at #64. Krawcheck heads the world’s second-largest wealth manager and runs $2 trillion in client assets.

Also on the list is Beth Brooke (#79), global vice chairman, Ernst & Young. Brooke oversees public policy and investor engagement for the accounting giant.

At #89 is Maha Al-Ghunaim, chairman, managing director, Global Investment House.  With a $5 billion market capitalization, Global Investment House is now the largest non-government-owned investment bank in the Middle East. It manages 38 funds, ranging from Islamic funds to hedge funds, and totals $9.5 billion in assets.

Other interesting names include Sharon Allen - Chair, Deloitte; Jing Ulrich – chairman and managing director JP Morgan Chase China Equities; Ellen Alemany - CEO of Royal Bank of Scotland Americas and Clara Fuse - CEO of the London Stock Exchange.

Conspicuously absent from the list? Former Morgan Stanley President Zoe Cruz, who ranked on the list last year but was ousted from her job in November and Credit Suisse banker Erin Callan, who was briefly Lehman Brothers’ chief financial officer until being demoted and subsequently leaving the firm earlier this year.

Mitt Romney left private equity firm Bain Capital nearly a decade ago. But if the former Massachusetts Gov. is chosen as McCain’s running mate it could push the industry back into the public spotlight anyway. Romney left the firm in 1999 to take over the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, but he built his reputation — and his fortune — during his 15 years at the buyout firm.

Michael Holland, chairman of private investment firm Holland & Co and a former partner at rival buyout firm Blackstone thinks it would only be good news if Romney is picked.

“The facts are pretty straightforward — he was successful there (at Bain). The businesses they invested in were successful. Taken on the face of it, if you don’t have any political ax to grind in this, it is probably something that should be at least somewhat favorable for the (private equity) industry.

But private equity shouldn’t expect any political favors, Holland says.

“I think he’d do nothing to have any outside effect on the industry, he’s much too smart to do anything that would put him in any position of favoring the industry,” he said.

The industry wouldn’t argue with a better image, at the very least. Lavish spending by certain buyout kings during the go-go-years of 2005-7 and a spate of deals collapsing didn’t do the industry any favors.