John Edwards has attacked Senator Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for accepting donations from News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) and Rupert Murdoch. Here's a sampling of his rhetoric:

"News Corp's purchase of the Dow Jones Co. and The Wall Street Journal should be the last straw when it comes to media consolidation. I'm challenging every Democratic presidential candidate to refuse contributions from News Corp executives and return any they've already taken, beginning with Rupert Murdoch."

"John Edwards will never ask Rupert Murdoch for money -- he won't accept his money."

"The basis of a strong democracy begins and ends with a strong, unbiased and fair media -- all qualities which are pretty hard to subscribe to Fox News and News Corp. It's time for all Democrats, including those running for president, to stand up and speak out against this merger and other forms of media consolidation."

But according to DealBook, "News Corporation claims that its publishing unit, HarperCollins, paid Mr. Edwards a $500,000 advance -- and $300,000 in expenses -- for his 2006 book, Home: The Blueprints of Our Lives.

Oops. Don't you hate it when you get caught?

And as for "speaking out against this merger," hasn't Mr. Edwards heard of the free market? If Rupert Murdoch wants to buy Dow Jones (NYSE: DJ), and Dow Jones wants to sell, how or why should it be blocked? It's really not an anti-trust case at all, as far as I've heard.

The only thing more hypocritical than this would be if Mr. Edwards spoke out about poverty but worked at a hedge fund for a large salary. Oh wait ...

Hypocrite! John Edwards slams others for taking Murdoch money originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 05 Aug 2007 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Is the most-storied franchise in baseball history for sale? The New York Times Dealbook speculates that with YES, the Yankee's television network currently up for sale, that the team itself might not be too far behind. Much of the speculation is based on a recent article in Fortune magazine. There are rumors that owner/lunatic George Steinbrenner's health is deteriorating, and he has been less openly crazy than in the past. (Full disclosure: I am a die-hard Red Sox fan, and one of the highlights of my life was watching Jason Varitek stuff his mitt in A-Rod's face.)

According to Fortune:

The topic of a sale "comes up all the time" in conversations with the other partners, says Yanks minority owner Edward Rosenthal, a retired steel executive. Adds another Yankees limited partner: "If I were handicapping it, I think we're looking at a sale of the team within three or four years."

The Yankees are estimated to be worth around $1.5 billion, but with hedge fund/private equity managers lining up to cash out their stakes with IPOs, it seems like it could go for even more -- perhaps a lot more.

Assuming The Boss's health is OK, that still raises the question: How much longer before he gets sick of losing?

Are the New York Yankees for sale? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 04 Aug 2007 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Bloomberg News reports that Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC, the hedge-fund company run by former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) equities trader Daniel Och, filed to raise $2 billion in an initial public offering. Och-Ziff managed $26.8 billion for 700 fund investors as of April 30. The $2 billion will be used to buy equity held by Och-Ziff owners, and its 18 partners will be required to reinvest the proceeds in funds managed by the firm for five years.

Och-Ziff appears to be a good performer, with industry standard fees. According to DealBook, it charges a management fee of 1.5% to 2.5% on its assets under management, and it takes 20% of the profits earned by its funds. Since its inception in 1994, Och-Ziff's flagship fund has generated annual returns of 17% after fees, better than the 11.6% return posted by the S&P 500 index during the same period.

This deal is more comparable to the Fortress Investment Group (NYSE: FIG) IPO in February than the Blackstone Group LLP (NYSE: BX) one last month. With $36 billion under management and a market capitalization of $9.5 billion, the market is valuing each of Fortress's dollars managed at 27 cents. This is much lower than the 41 cents per dollar of assets under management at Blackstone -- based on $78.7 billion managed and a market capitalization of $31.9 billion.

Applying the Fortress valuation, I'd say that Och-Ziff should have a market capitalization of $7.2 billion. We'll soon see.

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned in this post.

Valuing the Och-Ziff IPO originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 02 Jul 2007 14:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• The Wall Street Journal reported that Telefonica SA ADS of Spain (NYSE: TEF), in a $5.6B deal, has won a stake in Telecom Italia (NYSE: TI), but not control.
• According to the Wall Street Journal, Jones Apparel Group Inc (NYSE: JNY) CEO Peter Boneparth may sell Barney's, which it purchased in 2004 for $400M and today may be worth $800M.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE: MRO) is constructing a $3.2B addition to its biggest refinery in Louisiana for diesel fuel.
• The Wall Street Journal reported that Deutsche Boerse is in talks to make a $2.6B offer for International Securities Exchange Holdings Inc (NYSE: ISE).
• Senior Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C) executives are afraid the company could become a target of activist hedge funds seeking to break the company up, reported the Financial Times.
• According to the Financial Times, a number of companies involved in options backdating scandals, including McAfee Incorporated (NYSE: MFE) and Novell Inc (NASDAQ: NOVL), could be vulnerable to takeover by activist investors.

• The New York Times "Dealbook" reported that Porsche has bid $48.9B for Volkswagen AG (OTC: VLKAY), and the bid will run for four weeks starting today.
• The News Journal reported that AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) has received a subpoena from the Delaware Attorney General, which seeks documents about the company's contracts with Delaware hospitals.

Newspaper wrap-up 4-30-07: Porsche bids for Volkswagen originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 30 Apr 2007 09:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.