Term Sheet — Monday, October 20

• Temp job: On Friday, President Obama named Ron Klain as the nation’s first (and hopefully last) Ebola czar. Most of the media coverage has focused on Klain's former White House experience as chief of staff to both Vice President Biden and Vice President Gore. But, since 2011, Klain has been working in the private sector as president of AOL co-founder Steve Case's holding company, which includes venture capital investment firm Revolution LLC, select investments in Hawaii (where Case went to the same high school as Obama) and the philanthropic Case Foundation. He also serves as Revolution’s general counsel.

Klain will be taking a leave of absence from Revolution, and Case tells us that Klain "has all the skills necessary to coordinate an inter-agency effort, as well as a temperament well-suited to dealing with a crisis."

• Recommended reading: Gretchen Morgenson wrote a big piece in the Sunday NY Times about private equity, essentially arguing against the industry’s endemic secrecy. A lot of stuff in there that Term Sheet readers already know, such as general disclosure issues and how LPs will cover the portion of those giant collusion case settlements that aren’t covered by insurance. Some stuff we didn’t know, including a KKR LPA clause that allows the general partner to “reduce or eliminate the duties, including fiduciary duties to the fund and the limited partners to which the general partner would otherwise be subject.” You can read the full piece here. And, if you do so, a few follow-on points:

• Morgenson writes of the collusion case that “municipal employees and retirees pay part of that settlement cost.” Well, not really. The pension’s assets will be reduced by that amount, but it’s not as if the settlement directly eats into retiree payments. If the system goes under or institutes payment reductions due to underfunding, then there is a causation, but the story incorrectly makes it seem like today’s retirees are out cash.
• It’s too bad Morgenson never notes that the much larger issue of LP legal payments relates to run-of-the-mill class-action lawsuits that now seem to be brought in every single take-private. Nor does she delve into the actual collusion case, where the underlying legal premise has always been questionable.
• Much of the story compares redacted versions of LPAs obtained via state FOIA requests to unredacted versions obtained by the NYT, with an emphasis on how overwrought the black-lining is. In general, my understanding is that these redactions are made by law firms trying to protect their own “proprietary” LPA docs, rather than the PE firm trying to pull one over on someone (not that the latter hasn’t also been known to happen).
• All of this leads back to a point I first made in May: Private equity should simplify and standardize LPA docs. Read my earlier argument by going here.

• More on alignment of interests: The percentage of limited partners in PE funds that believe their interests are aligned with GPs has increased since 2011, but taken a bit of a hit over the past year, according to new survey results from Preqin. In the most recent survey, 63% of respondents either “strong agree” or “agree” that LP/GP interests are properly aligned, compared to just 50% back in 2011. Last year, however, the figure was up at 67%. Got to think to overall bump is due to industry-wide movement on fee-sharing and other key terms, while perhaps the one-year decline is related to much-publicized SEC statements about hidden material weaknesses in LP agreements.

• #GetLiquid: I'm looking forward to seeing more than 750 of you tomorrow night, at our sold-out Liquidity Event in San Francisco. We are still working on getting TVs that will show the World Series (our venue isn't wired for cable), and will provide ticket-holders with an update via email later today. Also, we hope to pull some folks off the wait-list this afternoon. No promises but, in interested, add your name at at http://TermSheetSF.eventbrite.com.

Big thanks to our #GetLiquid sponsors: Andreessen Horowitz, Gunderson Dettmer, NEA, Preqin and TriplePoint Capital.

THE BIG DEAL

• Jynwel Capital, a Hong Kong-based private equity firm, is preparing to offer around $2.2 billion to purchase sneaker and athletic apparel company Reebok from Adidas AG, according to the WSJ. The bid also would include participation from a Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund. Read more.

VENTURE CAPITAL DEALS

• Bitnet Technologies, a San Francisco-based digital commerce platform designed to let enterprise-scale merchants accept Bitcoin, has raised $14.5 million in Series A funding. Highland Capital Partners led the round, and was joined by Japan’s Rakuten. www.bitnet.io

•  Recurly Inc., a San Francisco-based “pay-as-you-go subscription billing platform,” has raised $12 million in Series B funding. Devonshire Investors led the round, and was joined by Greycroft Partners and return backers Polaris Partners and e.ventures. www.recurly.com

•  ZipLine Medical, a Campbell, Calif.-based developer of noninvasive surgical skin closure devices, has raised $5.7 million in new Series C funding. China Materialia LLC led the round, and was joined by return backers RA Capital Management, Claremont Creek Ventures and XSeed Capital. www.ziplinemedical.com

•  Mailcloud, a London-based cloud platform for team communications and collaboration, has raised $2.8 million in seed funding. Octopus Investments led the round, and was joined by Bessemer Venture Partners, Seedcamp London, Kima Ventures and individual angels. www.mailcloud.com

•  Sequenta Inc., a South San Francisco-based developer of diagnostics based on immune cell receptor genes, has raised an undisclosed amount of equity funding from Celgene Corp. and “other strategic investors.” www.sequenta.com

PRIVATE EQUITY DEALS

• Anchorage Capital Group has reached out to Providence Equity Partners about a possible joint bid for struggling Australian television company Ten ­Network Holdings (ASX: TEN), according to a local press report. Read more.

• Blue Point Capital Partners has sold Callison Architecture, a Seattle- based professional architecture and design firm, to Arcadis (Amsterdam: ARCAD). No financial terms were disclosed. www.callison.com

• Carousel Capital has sponsored a recapitalization of Joe Hudson’s Collision Center, a Montgomery, Ala.-based provider of automotive collision repair services. No financial terms were disclosed. www.carouselcapital.com

•  Onyx Payments, a Dallas–based payment processor for hotels and travel distributors, has acquired Norway’s Net Trans Services and Spain’s Worldwide Payment Systems. No financial terms were disclosed. Onyx Payments is a portfolio company of H.I.G. Capital. www.onyxpayments.com

•  Vertical Bridge Holdings LLC, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based owner and manager of wireless communications infrastructure, has raised an undisclosed amount of private equity funding from The Edgewater Funds. www.verticalbridge.com

•  Warburg Pincus has agreed to invest around $200 million for a “significant minority stake” in Indian jewelry manufacturer and retailer Kalyan Jewellers, according to Reuters. Read more.

IPOs

•  Boot Barn Holdings Inc., an Irvine, Calif.-based western and work wear retailer owned by Freeman Spogli & Co., has set its IPO terms to 5 million shares being offered at between $14 and $16 per share. It would have an initial market cap of around $374 million, were it to price in the middle of its range. The company plans to trade on the NYSE under ticker symbol BOOT, with J.P. Morgan, Piper Jaffray and Jefferies serving as co-lead underwriters. Boot Barn reports $5.66 million in net income on $346 million in revenue for the fiscal year ending March 29, 2014. www.bootbarn.com

•  Ouro Fino Saude Animal Participacoes SA, a Brazilian maker of veterinary products, raised around $172 million in its Sao Paulo IPO. Company shareholders include BNDES. It was the first IPO in Brazil so far this year. Read more.

•  VeriSilicon Holdings, a Chinese silicon platform-as-a-service company, has filed for a $75 million IPO. It plans to trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol VERI, with Barclays, Jefferies and Stifel serving as lead underwriters. The company reports a $26 million net loss on $77 million in revenue for the first six months of 2014, compared to a $21 million net loss on $58 million in revenue for the year-earlier period. Shareholders include Austin Ventures (12.09% pre-IPO stake), Sierra Ventures (12.09%), VantagePoint Venture Partners (6.15%), Walden Riverwood Ventures (5.45%) and Pudong Science and Technology Investment (5.17%). www.verisilicon.com

•  Virgin Money is delaying a London IPO that had been expected to occur this month, due to “market conditions.” Read more.

•  Workiva LLC, an Ames, Iowa-based provider of cloud-based business reporting solutions, has filed for a $100 million IPO. It plans to trade on the NYSE under ticker symbol WK, with Morgan Stanley serving as lead underwriter. The company reports a $28 million net loss on $82.5 million in revenue for the first nine months of 2014, compared to a $22.5 million net loss on $61.6 million in revenue for the year-earlier period. Investors include Bluestem Capital. www.workiva.com

EXITS

• Golden Gate Capital is seeking a buyer for Interstate National Corp., an Atlanta-based provider of auto warranties, according to the WSJ. Read more.

• Francisco Partners has received multiple offers of around $400 million for Paris-based financial software company eFront, according to peHUB. Read more.

• Permira has agreed to sell Japanese agricultural chemical company Arysta LifeScience Ltd. to Platform Specialty Products Corp. (NYSE: PAH) for around $3.51 billion (including $2.91b in cash and a $600m preferred note). Arysta currently is in registration for a U.S. IPO. www.arystalifescience.com

OTHER DEALS

• Bolloré (Paris: BOL) has offered to acquire a majority stake in French advertising group Havas (Paris: HAV), via an all-share offer that has received support from the Havas board.  Bolloré already holds a 36% stake in Havas, and Yannick Bolloré (son of Bolloré founder Vincent) is chairman and CEO of Havas. Read more.

• Greene King (LSE: GNK) has increased its takeover offer for Spirit Pub Co. (LSE: SPRT), a British brewer and pub operator, to around £723 million. Read more.

• IBM (NYSE: IBM) has agreed to sell its money-losing chip unit to Globalfoundries, in a deal that will see IBM pay Globalfoundries around $1.5 billion in cash over the next three years. Read more.

• SHV Holdings, a Dutch conglomerate, has offered to acquire Dutch animal food supplier Nutreco (Amsterdam: NUO) for €2.7 billion in cash. Read more.

FIRMS & FUNDS

• The Blackstone Group is launching a luxury-jet financing fund that could finance upwards of $2.5 billion in >$30 million plane purchases. Read more.

The Florida State Board of Administration has sold LP stakes in eight European private equity funds to Partners Group, according to Pensions & Investments. Included were funds managed by The CXarlyle Group, 3i Group, KKR, BC Partners, PAI Partners, The Riverside Company and Charterhouse Capital Partners. Read more.

• Gulf Capital, an Abu Dhabi-based private equity firm, has closed its third fund with $750 million in capital commitments.

• NBK Capital, a private equity group focused on Turkey and other countries in the MENA region, has closed its second fund with $310 million in capital commitments. www.nbkcapital.com

MOVING IN, UP, ON & OUT

• Marc Andreessen, a co-founding partner of VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, is stepping down as a director with eBay, ahead of the company’s proposed split into two companies. He had been on the eBay board for six years. Read more.

• John Lane has agreed to become chief investment officer of Ohio State University's endowment, after having served as CIO of the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System. Lane’s deputy director at Ohio PERS, Richard Shafer, will take over as interim CIO. Read more.

•Michelle Paisley and Dennis Kwan have joined private equity advisory and placement agent MVision as Hong Kong-based managing directors. Paisley previously was with Macquarie Bank as a division director in Asian equities, while Kwan was a principal with Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Ltd. In related news, Hong Kong-based partner Niklas Amundsson has left MVision. No word yet on his future plans. www.mvision.com

• Ali Rahmatollahi has joined European private equity firm Palamon Capital Partners as an associate partner. He previously was with Morgan Stanley, most recently as an executive director of financial sponsors. Palamon also named Christian Beck -- former CEO of Banqsoft ASA, Sakhalin Petroleum and Small Shops Gruppen – to its advisory board. www.palamon.com

• Martin Sullivan, the former president and CEO of AIG, has joined Lightyear Capital as an operating partner. www.lycap.com

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