Frank Quattrone’s Qatalyst Group, which was launched last month to “provide high-end merger & acquisition and corporate finance advice to technology companies globally,” is advising Google on the Microsoft/Yahoo! merger & acquisition deal according to a report by Andrew Ross Sorkin and Michael J. de la Merced on the DealBook blog.
Hint: Click in map to explore connectionsStory continues below interactive map 
MAP HINTS: Click expands a name.
Control+Click centers map on a name.
Solid lines are current relations.
Dotted lines are former relations. For advanced tools choose
Tools > Options from the menu at top.
More help. Not seeing the maps? Please
go here to check for the latest version of
Java.
Frank Quattrone
According to the DealBook report, “Google has formally hired Mr. Quattrone’s new firm, the Qatalyst Group, people close to the company said. He has already been involved in a series of meetings and conference calls, these people said.”
The A.P has an interesting item on the Google/Microsoft/Yahoo! situation saying the Microsoft/Yahoo! deal “has become so tortured it may help Internet search and advertising leader Google Inc. grow stronger, undermining Microsoft’s main reason for pursing the deal in the first place.”
They quote Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Derek Brown on the subject:
“We find this to be a very advantageous situation for Google. The longer this gets dragged out, the better for Google. The more complicated a deal gets, the more difficult it becomes to satisfy all parties, and the more complicated the (post-deal) integration gets, the more it favors Google.
The article also highlights an “ironic twist. Google could benefit if Microsoft and News Corp. buy Yahoo because it already has a long-term contract to show ads on MySpace.”
The DealBook authors point out a press release announcing the formation of Quatalyst, Quattrone’s new venture. Quoted in it is Google CEO Eric Schmidt…
“The launch of Qatalyst is an important development for the technology industry. Frank and his team bring unparalleled industry knowledge, a unique 25-year market perspective and candid, insightful judgment that CEOs greatly value on important strategic initiatives. I look forward to working with him again and am very enthusiastic about Qatalyst’s prospects for success.”
Quattrone says the company was launched to “serve our clients as a catalyst for positive change by helping them navigate the forces affecting their industries, analyze the implications for them and their competitors, and develop and execute strategies to maximize long-term shareholder value.”
The press release touts Quattrone’s past experiences saying, “the teams he has led have advised global technology companies on more than 400 mergers and acquisitions with an aggregate transaction value over $500 billion, and on more than 350 financings that raised over $65 billion.”
There was no mention of Quatttrone’s past legal problems. In August of 2007 a federal judge ended Quattrone’s four year legal battle that had begun as an “investigation into whether banks rigged initial public offerings by demanding kickbacks for access to shares,” a report from Bloomberg said at the time.
On the Web
DealBook blog
PR Newswire
Bloomberg News (via NYT)
Associated Press
The first standing ovation during Elton John’s sold-out benefit performance at Radio City Music Hall on Wednesday night wasn’t for Sir Elton, but for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Just when the campaign of Hillary Clinton thought they had the Colombian free trade debacle behind it comes this - Bill Clinton supports the bilateral agreement being pushed through congress by the Bush administration, which Hillary Clinton opposes.
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell was relaxing around his house last weekend when the phone rang. On the other end of the line was a pollster from the Quinnipiac University poll looking to get his opinions about the upcoming April 22nd Democratic presidential primary between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Rendell, a supporter and fundraiser for Hillary Clinton, was one of 1,340 likely Democratic voters polled in the state from April 3rd to the 6th.
Jackie Speier is heading back to Washington, but this time it will be as a Congresswoman Speier and not as a congressional aide. Speier, a Democrat from Burlingame, was an aide to former Rep. Leo Ryan who was killed in Jonestown in 1978. She is a Jonestown survivor who was shot five times and left for dead during the massacre.
A new poll released today by Quinnipiac University shows Hillary Clinton’s lead slipping in Pennsylvania - even among women. Clinton leads Barack Obama by 50% to 44% among likely primary voters. Less than a week earlier, in an April 2nd poll by the university, Clinton was leading Obama by 50% to 41%.
Richard Fisher, president of the Fed’s Dallas bank, and Charles Plosser president of the Fed’s Philadelphia bank, both voted against the most recent cut in the Fed’s federal funds rate according to minutes of the March 18th Federal Open Market Committee meeting released on the Fed’s web site. The committee voted 8-2 to approve the rate cut.
Washington Mutual today announced a $7 billion bailout by an investment group led by TPG, the private equity firm. The group will seat two directors on WaMu’s board - David Bonderman, a co-founder of the equity firm, and Continental Airlines chairman & CEO Lawrence Kellner.
Bob Dylan, the 66 year-old folk singer who was booed offstage for playing his electric guitar at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, has won a special citation from the Pulitzer Board citing “his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power.”
Jackie Speier is favored to win the congressional seat held by her old boss, Leo Ryan who was killed in the Jonestown massacre in 1978. Speier, who herself was shot five times and left for dead in Jonestown, is a former California state Senator and Assemblywoman.
Washington Mutual may soon receive a much needed infusion of cash from a group of investors led by private equity firm TPG according to a story in today’s Wall Street Journal.
A high flier during the housing boom, Washington Mutual was eagerly making subprime loans to people who are now having trouble making good on those obligations.
Is Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice lobbying Sen. John McCain to be his running mate? If so, the Arizona senator and presumptive Republican nominee is playing it very coy.
The letter writing continues as Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang and chairman Roy Bostock respond in a “Dear Steve” letter to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in the latest saga of the Yahoo!/Microsoft negotiations.
