Jerry Sloan’s summer of ’66

By admin | Published: February 17, 2011

[This commentary was published in The Salt Lake Tribune on February 17, 2011.  It remembers the work ethic and fortitude of NBA hopeful Jerry Sloan in 1966, as seen through the eyes of a twelve year-old.]

Thousands of men across America have had to make peace with their demon. With a little better luck or a little more playing time or one less injury—they could have made it in the NBA. But in the competitive and unforgiving realm of professional sports, they either never got out of training camp or were cut after a season or two on the bench.

In the summer of 1966, I was a typical 12 year-old boy who loved basketball.  Like so many little Hoosiers, what I lacked in ability I made up for in hustle.  The most important weeks of my summer were spent at Read More »

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Maryland’s Gambling Governors

By admin | Published: December 27, 2010

Maryland’s Gambling Governors—lies, damned lies, and statistics

[Published in Baltimore Citybizlist.com on November 1, 2010.  See http://baltimore.citybizlist.com/1/2010/10/30/Maryland%E2%80%99s-Gambling-Governors%E2%80%94Lies-Damned-Lies-and-Statistics.aspx#]

By Douglas M. Schmidt

Years from today, if Marylanders are asked to cite Governor Martin O’Malley’s greatest achievement while in office, the first answer will be, “He was the governor who gave us slots.”

The Governor’s ego and self-image will surely bristle at this epitaph on his career, but the fact is that no single issue in memory in Maryland has engendered more lobbying money, public rallies, legislative hearings, arm twisting, bill printing, press reporting and hot air than slots gambling.  Slots is a mass from which there is no calculable escape velocity.  Long after Governor O’Malley retires, his legacy of slots and the gambling industry will remain with us. Read More »

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , , , | 1 Response

Where’s the rage?

By admin | Published: December 26, 2010

Another promising Baltimore youngster has lost his life to violence; what are we going to do about it?

[Published in The Baltimore Sun on July 20, 2010.  See www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-crowder-20100720,0,307036.story]

By Douglas M. Schmidt

5:17 PM EDT, July 20, 2010

John Crowder, playing for Our Lady of Mt. Carmel High School, was a special and feared presence on the basketball court. He was not demonstrative or overbearing — but there were moments when, at 6 feet, 8 inches, he could control a game, from rebounding to blocking shots to scoring. He was the single player who could beat your whole team, so you had to defend him with all that you had.

John had “the gift,” and he was one of the rare young people who had learned to harness it and play team basketball. John had support from teammates, coaches, teachers and parents of the dozens of players he played with at Mt. Carmel and on the elite teams of Baltimore. He was smart, friendly, big and sometimes goofy. He had a winning smile as well as a vulnerable side that made people want to care for him. But as he entered the turbulent times of his late teens, he lost too much of that innocent magic and turned toward the siren song of the streets of Baltimore.

In the early hours of July 5, John was found in a yard in northeast Baltimore, dying of a gunshot wound. Read More »

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Mid-Atlantic Deal Review December 2009

By admin | Published: March 1, 2010

December 2009 – Fourth Quarter 2009 Statistical Review

Mid-Atlantic Deal Review

Editor’s Note: The December edition consists only of a statistical review of 4th Quarter Mid-Atlantic capital markets activity with associated commentary.

Quick Stats from Chessiecap is the most comprehensive and thoroughly researched presentation of Mid-Atlantic transaction data available—Private Placements, M&A and Public Offerings.  Mid-Atlantic is defined as D.C., Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia.  Private placements include all private equity investment including venture capital, PIPEs, private investors and other forms of new investment.  The M&A data are the first to capture true regional activity.  80% of all M&A transactions are “undisclosed,” resulting in almost meaningless analysis.  Chessiecap reviews all reported regional transactions and uses its market knowledge to assign probable deal values and uncover secondary sources of deal values.  The data below does not capture debt transactions, recapitalizations, non-corporate real estate financings (project financing) or purchases by local companies of companies outside this region.

DEAL DATA: Q4 2009

Mixed results in December cannot undo an anemic Fourth Quarter. Private Placements fell off the table in December, while M&A deals saw a typical year-end spike as companies and bankers push to meet a target that makes accounting easier and bonuses flow.   The Public Offering data looks good for December, Read More »

Posted in Deal Data, Quick Stats | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Black & Decker III: Death by Poor Governance

By admin | Published: February 17, 2010

[This is the third commentary based on public filings concerning the proposed merger of The Stanley Works and Black & Decker Corporation as well as other publicly available information on the two companies.]

When I first learned of the sale of Black & Decker Corporation (NYSE: BDK) to The Stanley Works (NYSE:SWK) in November of 2009,  I was immediately suspicious and wondered how much money Black & Decker executives would be making by selling their own company.  For decades now, it has been a growing and, in my opinion, destructive trend in U.S. acquisitions for the buyer to offer large monetary incentives to management of the seller to “influence” a favorable outcome.  In an acquisition such as this one that totals over $8 billion of market capitalization for the combined companies, the payments to selling management, even when measured in tens of millions of dollars, can be a small fraction of the transaction value at stake.  Read More »

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Mid-Atlantic Deal Review November 2009

By admin | Published: November 30, 2009

November 2009

Mid-Atlantic Deal Review

from Chessiecap, Inc.

Editor’s Note: Running late for Nov reporting, but I think you will find the Deal and News Notes sections informative.  This is the 3rd Edition of the Mid-Atlantic Deal Review, a monthly review of transaction activity in the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia-West Virginia region. This edition is a Free Trial, which we hope will begin to add great value to your work and knowledge of the region.  Our goal is to measure actual transaction activity and get beneath the surface of deals, news and trends. Your online edition is found at www.midatlanticdealreview.com.

Stat Notes:

Quick Stats is the most comprehensive and thoroughly researched presentation of Mid-Atlantic transaction data available.  Mid-Atlantic is defined as D.C., Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia.  Private placements include all private equity investment including institutional equity, PIPEs, private investors and other forms of new investment.  The M&A data are the first to capture true regional activity.  Over 2/3 of all M&A transactions are “undisclosed,” resulting in almost meaningless totals.  Chessiecap reviews all reported regional transactions and uses its market knowledge and deal intelligence to assign probable deal values.  The data above does not capture debt transactions, recapitalizations, non-corporate real estate financings (project financing) or purchases by local companies of companies outside this region.  The primary filter is the addition or transfer of value into or within the region at the corporate level.

Posted in Quick Stats | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments closed

Deal Data November 2009

By admin | Published: November 30, 2009

No signs of a reviving deal economy in the November data. November was an unusual month where Maryland (paced by a large M&A deal) captured 87% of M&A volume and 71% of private placement volume (half of which was Biotech).  In general, in recent months, Maryland companies have been more in need of capital and are harvesting less value, while Virginia companies are harvesting more than they are attracting capital.  I think it is fair enough to say that the Biotech focus of Maryland versus the IT/Telecom concentration in Virginia coupled with the sorry state of overall investing explains this trend.  Biotechs have to have capital—you cannot walk away from a multi-year research and testing regimen.  But you can always trim back software development and sales.

Private Placements: After October was dominated by several gigantic placements, November came back down to earth to $135M of volume spread across a reduced number of deals.  Read More »

Posted in Deal Data | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Deal Notes November 2009

By admin | Published: November 30, 2009

BroadSoft, Inc. Takes a Pinch to Facilitate an Acquisition.  11/2/09 Private Placement.

This was the tiniest of rounds at $1.5M.  The SEC filing says that the money is used for acquisition purposes.  This news comes just weeks after the company announced plans to acquire Silicon Valley-based Packet Island, a maker of web-based software used to manage Internet phone and video networks.  The question that comes to mind when I read about BroadSoft is why is this Gaithersburg company still around?  Read More »

Posted in Deal Notes | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

(Untitled)

By admin | Published: November 30, 2009

The Motley Fool, Once Every Ten Years Whether You Need It or Not. 11/2/2009 Private Placement. Motley Fool, the multi-faceted financial services company from Alexandria, took a whopping $25M round from BIA Digital Partners and Patriot Capital.  This is the first capital taken since a $30M round in 2001 Read More »

Posted in Deal Notes | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

(Untitled)

By admin | Published: November 30, 2009

Zyngenia Attracts NEA. 11/4/2009 Private Placement.

Thomson recorded this investment at only $3M.  The press release clearly stated that it was the full $10M.  Either amount falls below the normal threshold for the mighty NEA.  More than likely, if this early stage investment Read More »

Posted in Deal Notes | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

(Untitled)

By admin | Published: November 30, 2009

Millennial Media adds NEA as a New Lead Investor. 11/16/2009 Private Placement.

In its 4th round of capital since 2006, Millennial Media of Baltimore brings in NEA as a new investor and lead alongside a stellar cast of Columbia, Bessemer and Charles River.  This $16M brings the mobile media provider up to Read More »

Posted in Deal Notes | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

(Untitled)

By admin | Published: November 30, 2009

Lighting Retrofit International Becomes 1st Investment for Arborview. 11/17/2009 Private Placement.

In an era when venture capital funds are disappearing both locally and nationally, it is worth noting that Arborview Capital of Chevy Chase made its first investment in November.  Read More »

Posted in Deal Notes | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

(Untitled)

By admin | Published: November 30, 2009

WellAWARE Systems Gets First Time Capital from Valhalla. 11/17/2009 Private Placement.

You have to like the way this one looks—traditional, retro venture investing from Gene Riechers at Valhalla.  WellAWARE of Charlottesville “provides a monitoring solution that gathers and reports behavioral and wellness information Read More »

Posted in Deal Notes | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

(Untitled)

By admin | Published: November 30, 2009

SunEdison LLC  Where Big-Time M&A Comes to Maryland.  11/23/2009 Sale of Company.

The reports on the big Wall Street bonuses that have so recently rubbed Joe Six-pack the wrong way are that the bonuses are going to the traders and not to the M&A professionals.  M&A has not begun to recover as our monthly statistics for the region show.  Which is why this modestly large sale of a Maryland solar energy projects company Read More »

Posted in Deal Notes | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

News Notes November 2009

By admin | Published: November 30, 2009

Global Defense Technology & Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:GTEC) Joins the Public Companies Ranks.

The public market segment for companies that do business with the U.S. Government has fared far better than the general market in the past decade—but it has a tenuous and fragile nature to it.  Leaving aside the Tier I contractors such as Lockheed Martin, there has been a group of legitimate middle market companies (about 7 or so, depending on who’s counting) that provide a lot of juice to the entire government market.  They depend on growth, Read More »

Posted in News Notes | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

  • The Black & Decker Commentaries

    For the complete, downloadable commentaries on the sale of Black & Decker to The Stanley Works, see the Commentaries tab above.

  • Comments to Chessiecap are Welcome

    Click on PRIVATE COMMENTS tab above.