One consequence of the credit crisis shutting off the debt financing LBOs used to make acquisitions is that private-equity executives increasingly find themselves feuding over power, money, and strategy. Bloomberg provides details of the ouster of Dominique Megret, former CEO of PAI Partners, France's biggest private-equity firm.

Lionel Zinsou and others partners delivered an ultimatum to Megret: they wanted more say in running the firm or they would resign from the investment committee.

While eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) said earlier this year that it was planning to spin off Skype in an initial public offering in 2010, it is now being reported that eBay is looking for a buyer willing to pay $2 billion or more for the internet telephone service provider.

Those interested in a buyout may include Andreesen Horowitz and Index Ventures, which were early investors in Skype before its eBay acquisition in 2005. A group of well-known venture capital and large private equity firms are pooling resources to join the bid, according to a source close to the deal.

While eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) said earlier this year that it was planning to spin off Skype in an initial public offering in 2010, it is now being reported that eBay is looking for a buyer willing to pay $2 billion or more for the internet telephone service provider.

Those interested in a buyout may include Andreesen Horowitz and Index Ventures, which were early investors in Skype before its eBay acquisition in 2005. A group of well-known venture capital and large private equity firms are pooling resources to join the bid, according to a source close to the deal.

Vibe Media Group, publisher of hip-hop magazine Vibe, shut down in June, as the poor economy led to declining advertising revenue. Vibe has since been acquired for an undisclosed price by InterMedia Partners, a private equity firm.

InterMedia said it plans to resume publication of Vibe in November as a quarterly magazine. The operations of Vibe are to be integrated with those of Uptown, another urban lifestyle magazine InterMedia owns. Publishing veteran Jermaine Hall has been named as the new editor-in-chief of Vibe, and the new business will be known as the Vibe Lifestyle Network.

In the wake of last week's public offering of Dollar General, more IPOs are expected to be coming down the pipeline as private equity firms seek a monetary return on investments made during the boom years. Speculation is that Toys "R" Us and Dunkin' Donuts could be next.

Toys "R" Us Inc. is owned by Bain Capital, KKR, and Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO). The world's leading dedicated toy and baby products retailer was a public company from 1978 until its acquisition by the private equity consortium in July 2005 for $6.6 billion. It has more than 1,500 stores in 33 countries, and its businesses include Babies "R" Us, eToys.com, and FAO Schwarz, the latter two acquired earlier this year. Main competitors include privately owned KB Toys, as well as big-box retailers Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT).

In the wake of last week's public offering of Dollar General, more IPOs are expected to be coming down the pipeline as private equity firms seek a monetary return on investments made during the boom years. Speculation is that Toys "R" Us and Dunkin' Donuts could be next.

Toys "R" Us Inc. is owned by Bain Capital, KKR, and Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO). The world's leading dedicated toy and baby products retailer was a public company from 1978 until its acquisition by the private equity consortium in July 2005 for $6.6 billion. It has more than 1,500 stores in 33 countries, and its businesses include Babies "R" Us, eToys.com, and FAO Schwarz, the latter two acquired earlier this year. Main competitors include privately owned KB Toys, as well as big-box retailers Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT).

A survey of U.S. private equity executives and professionals conducted by advisory firms RSM Bentley Jennison and RSM McGladrey concluded that slashing jobs was the most common approach to cost-cutting among private equity firms.

Nine out of ten respondents said they have cut jobs at their portfolio companies in an attempt to rein in costs during the economic downturn.

According to the Wall Street Journal, China's government recently has pushed development of its local private-equity industry so that Chinese investors can get in on the country's private-equity deals. To that end, Chinese officials have tried to lure foreign money managers to raise funds from local investors.

Hong Kong-based First Eastern Investment Group, which plans to raise six billion yuan through a new wholly owned Shanghai subsidiary, and Asian brokerage CLSA Ltd., which plans to raise a 10 billion yuan fund through a joint-venture with state holding company Shanghai Guosheng Co., are just the latest to establish local-currency private-equity funds in Shanghai.

On Thursday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) is expected to propose new guidelines for private-equity investors seeking to buy failed banks. Those guidelines are intended to ensure that these largely unregulated firms don't take too many risks with troubled banks or buy and flip them.

The new rules come as private-equity firms have grown increasingly active in the banking sector. FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said she's comfortable with the private-equity deals the agency has struck for failed banks such as IndyMac and BankUnited, but that a more structured process needs to be put in place.

Activist investor Carl Icahn is reportedly interested in taking another run at Delphi Corp. after a federal judge ordered the bankrupt auto parts supplier to open the sale of its assets to potential bidders, in addition to the previous offer from private-equity firm Platinum Equity.

Icahn's auto-parts company, Federal-Mogul Corp. (NASDAQ: FDML), had held discussions with Delphi, but the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry, which was set up by the Obama administration to oversee the restructuring of the U.S. auto industry, preferred the Platinum Equity deal.

Last week was a busy one for San Francisco-based private equity firm Golden Gate Capital. It not only reached an agreement to acquire the assets of the J. Jill Group Inc. from Talbots Inc. (NYSE: TLB), but also reached a deal in the sale of SoftBrands Inc., a Minneapolis-based software producer.

Jill Acquisition LLC, an affiliate of Golden Gate, agreed to purchase the womenswear retailer for approximately $75 million. The deal includes assets and liabilities, including a distribution center in New Hampshire, and intellectual property and inventory. Jill Acquisition assumes the leases of 204 J. Jill stores, with the remaining 75 expected to be closed by Talbots. Talbots' board unanimously approved the deal, and the transaction is expected to be completed in the second quarter.

In what could be the most watched private equity deal of the year, a consortium of buyout firms led by billionaire investor Wilbur L. Ross has set its sights on BankUnited Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: BKUNA), says the Wall Street Journal (subscription required). The consortium includes Carlyle Group and Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX).

Earlier this year, federal regulators declared that the Florida-based lender was "critically undercapitalized" and demanded that it find a buyer or raise new capital. While regulators have traditionally favored other lenders in sales of banks, if Ross's group is successful, it would not only be one of the largest acquisitions in the financial-services sector made by private equity, but could also signal a shift in the government's attitude toward private-equity buyers of banks.

In order to end the two-year-old inquiry by New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo into its pension business, the Carlyle Group has agreed to pay $20 million and make broad changes to its practices. Carlyle, one of the world's largest private equity firms, will no longer use intermediaries, known as placement agents, to secure investment business from public pension funds, and it will curb its campaign contributions to elected officials who oversee pension funds.

"This is a revolutionary agreement," Cuomo said Thursday. "I believe it totally changes the way people operate: It ends pay-to-play, it bans the selling of access, it puts the political power brokers out of business."

The operator of the Tropicana Casino and Resort, which was featured in the films Viva Las Vegas and Diamonds Are Forever, filed for bankruptcy protection in May 2008. Canadian private equity firm Onex Corp. (TSX: OCX) has succeeded in taking over the Las Vegas icon.

Onex's main buyout fund has cobbled together a stake in the casino's senior debt that will make it the largest shareholder when a restructured Tropicana emerges from bankruptcy protection.

Though Onex will gain control of a prime location in one of the hottest spots in the city and one of the busiest pedestrian intersections in the world, it comes at a time when the fortunes of sin city are suffering due to economic conditions.

Room rates have plunged and passenger traffic into the city's airport is down 14% in the first three months of the year. But Onex founder and CEO Gerry Schwartz believes that gambling is a growth industry, and that investing in Las Vegas is a long-term value because the city has historically weathered downturns better than expected.

While mega-deals made possible by cheap credit and lots of leverage may be a thing of the past, a biannual survey of M&A activity by the Association for Public Growth (ACG) and Thomson Reuters shows that dealmaking is expected to pick up, and even thrive in certain sectors, in the second half of 2009, according to BusinessWeek. An ACG spokesperson described dealmakers as "cautiously optimistic."

The recession has put company prices in the bargain basement -- buyout targets are suddenly affordable. Those buyers with cash in hand are expected to begin scooping up bargains. Private equity firms are eyeing bankruptcy courts, on the lookout for distressed and busted companies, such as Polaroid and Stila Cosmetics, were snapped up recently.