Legendary dealmaker joins Apollo

Posted Feb 13th 2009 11:40AM by Tom Taulli
Filed under: Private Equity

In the world of private equity and M&A, Henry Silverman is a giant. And, at 68 years old, he's getting back into the game. That is, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal [a paid publication], he has joined Apollo Management as the chief operating officer.

With the credit crunch and terrible economy, Apollo has suffered a variety of setbacks over the past two years, such as the bankruptcy of Linens 'N Things and the legal battle over Huntsman (NYSE: HUN). So, the firm definitely needs a boost.

No doubt, Silverman's resume is sterling. Back in the mid 1980s, he worked with corporate raider Saul Steinberg and then moved over to the Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX). After this, he formed his own company to pull off deals, such as for Days Inn, Howard Johnson, Century 21, Avis and so on.

However, Silverman made a huge mistake in 1997, when he merged his company with CUC – creating Cendant. Unfortunately, CUC was riddled with fraud and Cendant's shares eventually cratered.

Since then, Silverman worked to repair things and unloaded the parts of Cendant. Ironically enough, he sold off Realogy to Apollo in 2007.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Streetsmart Guide to Short Selling: Techniques the Pros Use to Profit in Any Market. He is also the founder of BizEquity, a free online business valuation tool for small businesses.

Tags: Apollo Management, ApolloManagement, BX, Henry Silverman, HenrySilverman, HUN, inthenews