Banff Private Equity

Lest I actually slow down for a minute, after buzzing around work this morning, I made it out to Banff for an afternoon of private equity sponsored company presentations at the KERN annual general meeting. It's a tangled web this life - we work for KERN and their portfolio companies regularly as part of our FirstEnergy business, they're a good client and we work hard to earn their business. We help their companies raise money from time to time, or pursue liquidity or other transformational events. On other companies of mutual interest we compete vigorously, or simply have differing views or disagreements. KERN also in return manage the third largest chunk of my portfolio, so material to me... but I'm a drop in their bucket. I ride bikes with at least a few of them, but know the whole team in varying degrees of socially, professionally and personally. I sit next to one of their founding partners at work every day, and we employ the other founding partner's daughter in our research group. Aside from all this there's that chick I like named Tori that's in the middle too...

One of their investee companies (and by such logic, one that I'm invested in), who was also at FirstEnergy's New York conference last week, couldn't make it today, so I have his room at the Banff Springs. I would have booked my own, but I didn't know how things would work out on the whole "last minute" routine and even if I'd make it. Of course it makes perfect sense that the room coincidence happened, because he's also a FirstEnergy client, and last fall we helped structure a deal between KERN and this individual's company, and further, Tori and I were having a cocktail with him at our conference exactly 7 days ago in a trendy Manhattan spot. Funny how that all goes around... and that's before I even mention that I'll invest in the company that's the restarting team from the company who merged into this company last fall, subscription agreement in next week. Clear as mud, right?

It all actually makes perfect sense and fits together just fine. I just hope it doesn't snow too much, as I drove the M Coupe... which is sinful on the highway - the speeds it can go are sinful, or the speed limit is sinfully underutilizing its capability.