The struggles of the big boys in private equity have been well chronicled: Blackstone Group's (NYSE: BX) declining stock price, the Linens n' Things bankruptcy, and so on.

But NexCen Brands (NASDAQ: NEXC), a smaller, less diversified buyout shop, is also in trouble, according to The New York Times. The firm's portfolio companies include Bill Blass, Athlete's Foot and ice cream chain MaggieMoo's. With other brands including Pretzel Time and Great American Cookies, the fast-growing company had planned to make millions in the franchising business. But in recent months NexCen has fired its CFO, delayed the filing of its 10-Q, disclosed that there is "substantial doubt" about its ability to continue as a going concern, and announced that investors should no longer rely upon its 2007 financials.

Basically, NexCen is looking like yet another failed conglomerate, at least for now. Rather than buying, improving, and selling businesses like many private equity firms, NexCen had hoped to acquire various franchise brands and run them under a larger umbrella, taking advantage of synergies and opportunities for integration. Yes, that's the dreaded S-word. I wonder how many billions of dollars in shareholder value have been destroyed by promises of synergy.

With the company badly in need of cash, it's currently looking to sell some or all of its brands. But in this market, that might not be so easy. Athlete's Foot and Pretzel Time sure didn't create a lot of value for NexCen shareholders.

More bad news for Blackstone:

• Both GAAP and "economic net losses" in the latest financial results from Blackstone

• Lawsuits filed against Blackstone on behalf of shareholders

MOST NOTEWORTHY: HealthSpring (HS), CoPart (CPRT), Multi Fineline Electronix (MFLX) and Global Traffic Network (GNET) were today's noteworthy initiations:

• HealthSpring (NYSE: HS) was initiated with a Neutral rating and $20 target at Banc of America, as the firm doesn't expect earnings growth to recover until 2009.

• Rochdale Research started CoPark (NASDAQ: CPRT) with a Buy and $36 target yesterday. The firm said CoPark is in an excellent competitive position and expects growth to re-accelerate as the company integrates and expands its non-U.S. platform.

• Needham reinstated shares of Multi Fineline Electronix (NASDAQ: MFLX) with a Buy rating and $13 target, as the firm believes the current valuation overly discounts the company's opportunities with Sony-Ericsson (SNE/ERIC), Apple (AAPL), and the likelihood of stability at Motorola (MOT).

• Oppenheimer initiated shares of Global Traffic Network (NASDAQ: GNET) with a Buy rating and $9.50 target as the firm believes the company's expansion into new territories such as Canada and the UK should enable double-digit revenue and cash flow growth for the long term.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

• Goldman Sachs reinstated shares of Qiagen (NASDAQ: QGEN) with a Neutral rating.

• Raymond James initiated shares of Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) with an Outperform rating and $275 target.

• NexCen Brands (NASDAQ: NEXC) was started at Lazard with a Buy rating.

• BMO Capital initiated shares of INVESTools (NASDAQ: SWIM) with an Outperform rating.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).

What do athletic shoes, high fashion and luxury ice cream have in common? According to NexCen Brands Inc. (NASDAQ:NEXC), the need for proper brand management and the potential to build the brand value.

Over the past year, this brand management firm has bought retail chain The Athlete's Foot (one of the worst store names ever, IMHO) as well as the high-fashion line Bill Blass. It also purchased UCC Capital Corp. for its experience in monetizing intellectual property and crafting deals.

The company states it intends to focus on three sectors: Retail franchising, branded products, and quick service restaurants. In its first foray into the restaurant end, it has now added two high-end ice cream vendors, MaggieMoo's and Marble Slab.

The Houston-based Marble Slab has over 500 locations open or in development. MaggieMoo's adds another 200 outlets. By comparison, Cold Stone Creamery has about 1,200 stores, while Dairy Queen Inc., owned by Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A), offers 5,600 outlets.

Both of the newly-acquired companies have vigorous franchising programs that seem to fit well into NexCen's strategic plan. What I don't see are much in the way of cross marketing opportunities. One rarely mixes tennis shoes with a Bill Blass suit, much less risk staining said suit with drips from a double-fudge ice cream cone.