Evercore Partners Inc.  (EVR) Trade Now »     Rate EVR  -  Discuss EVR  -  Add to Watch List        

While there may not be any guarantees in life, it’s pretty much a given that the Friday before a long holiday weekend will be a busy one. So while you were off enjoying the weekend, Sonya and I were chained to our laptops digging through SEC filings. Cue the sympathetic music! And, perhaps more importantly, please consider a donation to support the site.

So instead of focusing on one pearl today, we thought a list might be more helpful to go through a brief list:

Filed under: Deals, Private equity

Roger Altman, who runs Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE: EVR), is a consummate dealmaker, with an amazing network of influential people -- he was formerly a U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary during the Clinton years. Even though the global economy is in turmoil, he sees lots of opportunity, especially in countries like China.

To this end, Evercore has put together a joint venture (JV) with Citic Securities called Citic Securities International Partners. It's certainly a big deal as Citic is the biggest securities firm in China.

Filed under: Analyst reports, Analyst upgrades and downgrades, Analyst initiations

• Axys Tech (NASDAQ: AXYS) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Morgan Joseph based on valuation.
  
• Elizabeth Arden (NASDAQ: RDEN) was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Wedbush on valuation and the success of the company's Viva La Juicy launch.

Filed under: Private equity

Like its peers, investors have been dour on Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE: EVR), which is a boutique investment bank. But this week, the firm got some nice support; Mizuho Corporate Bank, Ltd., has agreed to purchase $120 million in senior unsecured notes in Evercore. The deal also includes a warrant to purchase 5,454,545 shares at $22 a piece. In fact, Mizuho has agreed to commit $150 million to Evercore-affiliated funds.