Dave Keating

Carlyle, Blackstone, KKR and TPG are in preliminary talks on forming a trade group for buyout firms.

Norman Pearlstine, former Editor-in-Chief of Time Inc., will join the Washington, DC-based private equity firm as a senior advisor to the telecom & media team as it looks to expand its activities.

The Miami-based firm has sold Thermo Fluids, an Arizona-based company which converts used oil to usable fuel, to an investor group led by CIVC Partners.

The Westport, Connecticut-based firm has sold US Maintenance to Australia-based Transfield Services.

Though the number of venture IPOs is only slowly increasing, 41 venture-backed companies are waiting in registration with the SEC. Dave Keating reports.

The New York-based firm has combined two of its portfolio companies to create Vertellus Specialties.

Clayton Dubilier-led Rexel, the world’s largest distributor of electrical supplies, has acquired General Electric’s electrical supplies unit, GE Supply, for $725 million.

The two firms’ joint venture has sold one power plant in the Topaz Power Group for $1.14bn to a British buyer while acquiring the remaining shares of the other seven plants.

The new vehicle will be the world’s largest buyout fund, setting a new record as rival firms prepare close in on similar megafunds. Already, the new fund is 25 percent committed to deals.

KKR has reportedly emerged as the lead contender in the battle to buy the shoe store chain, possibly with Apollo Management.