Dave Keating

The troubled media company owned by Willis Stein & Partners has disclosed in its latest quarterly report that it is considering a possible sale.

The firm is reportedly set to hire Ralph Reynolds from Deutsche Bank to lead a new hedge fund trading stocks and bonds.

The Bessemer Holdings-affiliated New York-based firm has held a first and final closing of its second fund and made the vehicle’s first investment in an industrial maintenance services company.

The music retailer has changed top management for the third time in four years, and the new CEO says his main goal will be to sell the company.

The publicly-traded buyout and mezzanine fund has acquired the flight simulation and training center of the former Pan Am Airways for $58m.

The platform company formed in a joint venture of the two Boston firms has sold two CBS affiliates for a total of $101 million.

Carlyle, a US private equity firm, has acquired Wesco Aircraft Hardware Group, a California-based distributor of aerospace hardware.

Michael Gross, a founder and former senior partner of Apollo Management, has joined hedge fund Magnetar Capital as a senior partner, signaling Magnetar’s intention to focus on private equity investing.

A source close to the matter said the firm has been looking at HCA for a few weeks, but is unlikely to submit a competing offer.

The second quarter of 2006 saw VC investment hit a five-year high with a surge of interest in healthcare deals. But there is still fear that if the IPO market doesn’t improve, investors could see a repeat of 2000. Dave Keating reports.