Joseph

Millennium Technology Ventures, a VC secondaries fund, today announced an oversubscribed final close on it on its latest fund. As first reported by peHUB on April 7, Millennium topped its and $250 million hard cap by $30 million. The firm closed Millennium Technology Value Partners II LP with $280 million in commitments. The fund itself was around two times oversubscribed, making it the largest dedicated pool of capital focused solely on direct secondary liquidity, according to a press release from the firm. Its initial target of $200 million was stretched to accommodate as many investors as possible, but ultimately had to turn some away. The $280 million sum does not include the firm's GP commitment. Millennium's last fund was a 2006 vintage with $130 million in commitments. The firm's partners also managed a vintage 2000 traditional venture

Since the financial collapse, buyout firms have been actively interested, strategically or for their portfolios, in large pieces of "too big to fail banks," and other orphan asset management units. In addition to the sales of asset management units from Bank of America, Lehman Brothers, AIG and Barclays, industry experts predict a wave of consolidation for asset management that trickles down to the middle market and small market. In recent months deals like Macquarie's $428 million acquisition of Delaware Investments, Canadian insurer Sun Life Financial's $326.1 million acquisition of Lincoln National Corp further solidify that claim. In August, Guggenheim Partners acquired Claymore Group, a provider of ETFs, closed-end funds and unit investment trusts. I spoke with Paul Greenwood of Northern Lights Ventures to learn more about deal activity at the lower end of the market. Based in Seattle, Northern Lights Ventures makes minority stakes in asset management firms from an evergreen fund.

Back and Forth: The latest in the PE is back, PE is not back saga is... IT'S BACK! "Private equity is finally buying and selling companies again after being virtually halted in its tracks by the credit crisis, but skittish investors and a mountain of debt loom as key obstacles to the industry's full recovery." (Reuters) Annnd the flip side: Not everyone is a PE bull. Some, like Eric Gleacher, feel that the business model is broken. (Dealbook) More Proof Its Back? CVC Capital Partners' deal for the Central European operations of Anheuser-Busch Inbev is the second largest European private equity backed M&A deal year-to-date, bringing the total value of private equity activity to $23 billion so far this year. (Dealzone) Speaking of About-faces: Check out this quote from Alan Greenspan in Bloomberg, via Baseline Scenario: "If they're too big to fail, they're too big," Greenspan said today. "In 1911 we broke up Standard Oil - so what happened? The individual parts became more valuable than the whole. Maybe that's what we need to do." The Shorter, Faster, Cheaper MBA: Accelerated MBA programs of a year or less are gaining in popularity, but critics say they're not right for everyone and may leave some students shortchanged. (BusinessWeek)

* In a seemingly counter-intuitive move, CPP has asked fellow investors in PAI Partners to reject the buyout house’s plan to slash its fund in half. But speculation is that CPP may push for stricter changes, either a bigger cut or a wind-down of the fund. Ouch. * Lionel Pincus' vision "ushered in a new era of deal-making on Wall Street." *Halloween Time- Even though he'll likely be outsold by Michael Jackson, Bernie Madoff masks have hit the stores. * Ah, yes, the BIMBO (buy-in management buyout), and other such stock option tomfoolery. Deal Journal and David Yermack duke it out over whether giving stock options to a CEO in the midst of merger talks is essentially a bribe, and whether that's a bad thing. * Two-thirds of buyout firms have shifted their focus to defensive sectors, according to a Grant Thornton survey.

It's a Private Equity Love Connection: The daughter of Alec Gores and her husband fell in love over Ebitda multiples. (Private Equity Beat, NY Times) Where the Money Is? Considering recent closes by Siguler Guff, Abbott Capital, Morgan Stanley and others, funds of funds are going strong on the fundraising front. (The Deal) Outta Retirement: The financial crisis appears to be creating some jobs for at least one group of people - former banking executives. (Dealzone) Revived: The "Golden Goose" PR whose husband stole and traded on her confidential info has been hired at Edelman. (Mediabistro) Facebook Backer IPO: Digital Sky Technologies is considering an IPO, apparently. (Dealbook) Wall Street To Redeem Itself By Catching Terrorists? The CIA is looking to hire the same investment bankers and financial gurus that many hold responsible for sinking the economy to help President Obama pick up the pieces -- and also catch a few millionaire terrorists. (NY Post)

Did You Work Yesterday? Odds are you had Memorial Day off-but employees of AlixPartners, Evercore Partners and Blackrock, all advisors associated with GM, worked round the clock. (Dealscape) Felix Salmon: Revisits The Worst Private Equity Investment of All Time after news that JPMorgan may get much of its investment in WaMu Back. That won't change the deal's title, though, since TPG won't ever get a dime back. (Reuters.com) Rejected: Apparently, Goldman Sachs tried, and failed, to get in on the BankUnited deal. Goldman also lost out on its bid for IndyMac as well. (NY Post) And Also: In case you were wondering, how will PE firms profit from the BankUnited deal? Here's how.

False Encouragement? The half a billion dollars raised by three IPOs this week says more about spirits on investors than anything else. (Breaking Views) Rants: Why The Government Can't Run A Business-- Politicians need headlines. Executives need profits. (WSJ) To Answer Your Question: Yes, Capital One has finally laid off some employees as well, catching up with the rest of the middle market lenders. (Dealscape) Defying All Odds: Andreessen and Horowitz are likely to top their $250 million fundraising goal. (Paid Content)

This morning mergermarket reported that Meru Networks has once again struck the acquisitory fancy of Juniper Networks. That might be a relief for Meru’s myriad of venture backers, who’ve seen Meru's competitors get snapped up by potential strategic buyers left and right. According to The 451 Group, HP’s purchase of Colubris, Belden’s purchase of Trapeze Networks, Motorola’s purchase of AirDefense, and Brocade’s purchase of Foundry leave Meru as the odd man out in the summer’s round of WLAN matchmaking. Follow the jump for a list of Meru's VC backers.