Until recently, the financing markets had been fueling a robust M&A market, with strategic and financial buyers easily able to obtain credit on very favorable terms. However, the collapse of the credit markets in the middle of 2007 has acted to put the brakes on M&A activity. While M&A has not disappeared altogether, there has been a noticeable slow-down in buy-out activity across all market segments, particularly in large, going-private transactions.

With the collapse of the credit markets, many commentators and M&A practitioners predicted that deal terms in private equity buyouts, particularly in going-private transactions, would undoubtedly change. Yet, while there is little doubt that financing terms have changed, including the disappearance of "covenant-lite" loans and other debtor-friendly loan features, there has been surprisingly little change in deal terms.

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Primary Private Equity

Betsy Flanagan of Startup Studio interviews venture capitalist David Hornik of August Capital and the creator of VentureBlog.

Figuring out the type of business to open is only half the battle of an entrepreneur. Your choice of business structure will largely determine how your business income will be taxed. The most popular and familiar legal forms of business are C corporations, S corporations and Limited Liability Companies (LLCs).

These may look like just a few simple words on a page, but they could mean thousands of dollars to your bottom line. Many business owners choose S corporations because they provide limited liability, income flow-through to their individual income tax returns and tax-free merger benefits. But like other business structures, S corporations have their disadvantages. If you already have or intend to elect this entity or any other entity, you should understand how they are structured so you can establish a financial plan.

With big companies announcing layoffs almost daily, our economic success depends more than ever on entrepreneurs.

In TrafFix Devices v. Mktg. Displays, the Supreme Court held that the existence of an expired utility patent covering a particular product design provides strong evidence that the design is “functional.”* Consequently, a party would be hard-pressed to claim non-functional trade dress protection for the previously patented design. In Keystone Mfg. v. Jaccard Corp., the W.D.N.Y. federal court explored how trade dress protection is impacted by an expired design patent.

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Primary Law

Professors Colin Blaydon and Fred Wainwright published a piece on participating preferred in the July 2006 issue of the Venture Capital Journal titled "It's Time To Do Away With Participating Preferred." Participting preferred should go the way of the other risk-shifting terms that, now that the smoke has cleared, are seen as little needed. In today's world, particiption can be a negative signal to the marketplace about the investor's confidence in the company. It can also encourage future investors in later rounds of the same company to include it in their term sheets, thereby changing the risk/return equation for the early investors.

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Primary Private Equity

Venture capitalists are forecasting an active year for the industry with high growth in the CleanTech sector, an improving IPO market and fewer venture firms in 2008. These predictions are among the top line findings of the NVCA 2008 Predictions Survey. The results also show concerns about global investments in certain regions including China. Additionally, the industry believes fund sizes will become larger and returns for limited partners of venture capital funds will improve in both the short and long term horizons.

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Primary Private Equity