The complicated legal fight over the implosion of the private equity buyout of Huntsman (NYSE: HUN) has been settled. The firm was able to get $632 million in cash and $1.1 billion in financing from Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) and Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB).

Basically, Huntsman claimed that these financial firms failed to uphold their responsibilities in backing the takeover from Hexion Specialty Chemicals, which was struck in July 2007 at $28 per share. Now, Huntsman is trading at $5.92, primarily because of the plunge in the global chemicals sector.

I received an interesting email alert this morning from The Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) regarding the addition of a new Board of Directors member. The addition is Richard H. Jenrette.

Board member additions are usually not stock events or at least not actionable events, but Mr. Jenrette is founder of DLJ, or Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette ("DLJ"). That firm was founded in 1959.

DLJ wasn't exactly an institution that went without problems through the years, but it was built essentially from scratch to a multi-billion dollar behemoth in the financial sector with operations in trading, brokerage, investment banking, advisory, clearing, and more. Ultimately it was acquired by Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS), and its discount brokerage operations were acquired by E*TRADE Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC).

Mr. Jenrette is also also a former Chairman of the Securities Industry Association and has served as a director or trustee of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Advanced Micro Devices Inc., the American Stock Exchange, The Rockefeller Foundation, The Duke Endowment, the University of North Carolina, New York University and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Some scandals wreck public figures on Wall Street, while others act as mere speed bumps. It looks like the latter is true for Frank Quattrone, one of the most influential investment bankers in the 1990's who was also the head of the Credits Suisse (NYSE: CS) technology banking group.

Frank Quattrone has just announced that he and some former colleagues are launching a new financial services venture called Qatalyst Group. Qatalyst will be a technology-focused merchant banking boutique headquartered in San Francisco, CA.

Qatalyst Partners, its investment banking business, will provide high-end merger & acquisition and corporate finance advice to technology companies. Its investing business, Qatalyst Capital Partners, will make selective principal investments, typically alongside leading venture capital and private equity firms.

Qatalyst Partners notes in its release that it will provide "high quality, independent advice to the senior management teams and boards of the technology industry's established and emerging leaders on strategic matters crucial to their growth and success."

Qatalyst will combine a broad network of relationships with deep sector knowledge and seasoned M&A expertise. In addition to merger & acquisition advice, Qatalyst Partners will also advise companies on capital structure and capital raising alternatives, and will selectively raise private capital for clients.

While it will not engage in public securities research, sales, trading or brokerage, Qatalyst Partners may participate as advisor or underwriter in clients' public offerings.

It looks like Wall Street just got a new technology boutique that will be involved in venture capital, private equity, and bringing companies public.

The government of Qatar has begun investing in Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) and the country's prime minister says that Middle East country is prepared to put up to $15 billion into U.S. and European banks.

For the Swiss the deal may have some benefit. A report on Bloomberg states, "Credit Suisse in March 2006 became the first European bank to get a license for the Qatar Financial Centre, a self-regulated business park designed to attract lenders to the Gulf state as part of a plan to diversify the economy away from oil and gas."

The statement from the Qatar government raises two questions, one which has been causing political friction for some time. Congress and some officials in the Bush administration have wondered in public whether it is good for foreign sovereign funds to own very large pieces of the largest U.S. banks. The fear is that these entities could push their financial and political agendas through their equity stakes. The comments by the government are absurd. Troubled banks can either take sovereign money or face the threat of going under. No one in the Congress has suggested that the U.S. government put money into these banks, so where else will the capital to save these firms come from?

Read the entire story at 24/7 Wall St.

Funds backed by Qatar may take a $3 billion stake in Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS), another step toward sovereign funds owning a piece of almost every large financial institution in the US and Europe. Due to losses related to subprime financial instruments, it is a good thing that the entities have money to invest.

According to The Sunday Telegraph, "powerful funds backed by the Qatari government are considering assembling a significant stake in Credit Suisse, one of Europe's largest banks."

Continued at 24/7 Wall St.

When it comes to mergers & acquisitions, Richard Heckmann is a seasoned pro. His most recent deal was the sale of K2 to Jarden Corp. (NYSE: JAH).

But, once a deal junkie, always a deal junkie. So Heckmann has formed Heckmann Corporation, which has filed for a blank-check offering. That is, he will raise money on the public markets and then try to find some deals. What deals? That's up to Heckmann.

Based on the current filing, it looks like he'll have about $500 million to work with. And I'm sure he will put it to good use.

It was back in 1990 that Heckmann founded US Filter. He struck a number of M&A deals and grew the company from $17 million to $5 billion in revenues by 1999. He then sold US Filter for $8.2 billion to Vivendi S.A.

The lead underwriter on the IPO is Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS). You can find the prospectus at the SEC website.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

The Blackstone Group submitted an update to its IPO filing yesterday. As usual, there is quite a bit of verbiage, but there are definitely some interesting developments.

For one thing, the firm has put together a sterling board of directors.

First, there is William Parrett. He is a senior partner at Deloitte & Touche USA and will be critical in helping Blackstone deal with auditing and financial matters.

Next, there is Lord Nathaniel Charles Jacob Rothschild (yes, that's quite a name). He is the founder of RIT Capital Partners and a veteran of money management.

And, finally, there is the Right Honorable Brian Mulroney. From 1984 to 1993, he served as the 18th Prime Minister of Canada. He is now a senior partner at Ogilvy Renault.

So what's the director compensation? There will be an annual cash retainer of $100,000 and an equity grant of 10,000 deferred restricted common units.

The Blackstone IPO should hit the markets soon. The price range for the offering is $29-$31 and the proposed ticker symbol is BX. The underwriters include Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), Merrill Lynch & Co. (NYSE: MER), Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS), Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LEH), and Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB).

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Turnover is always a part of life in the high-stakes investment banking world. So it should be no surprise that private equity is starting to poach from i-bankers.

The latest mega switcher is Leonhard Fischer. He was a top executive in Europe for Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) who helped the company streamline its operations.

How big was he? Well, it looked like he might have been in line to be CS's CEO.

Now Fischer will be the co-CEO of RHJ International. The firm is listed on the Euronext and makes controlling investments in a variety of operating businesses (especially in the auto parts sector). Its main holder is Ripplewood Holdings LLC, which is a large private equity firm.

It's a big win for RHJI. After all, the firm has only 500 million euros in cash.

Then again, with Fischer's impressive resume, he should have no problem getting much more money for RHJI.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.