Mary Jo White got a friendly reception during testimony before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, moving closer to becoming the next leader of the Securities and Exchange Commission. But even her supporters on Capitol Hill highlighted the significant challenges that would await her in that role, DealBook’s Ben Protess writes.
Striking a confident tone, Ms. White pledged to tackle enforcement actions and unfinished regulation, though she offered little detail. “She did, however, signal a flexible approach to reforming money market funds, an approach that could draw scrutiny from investor advocates and liberal lawmakers.†While the agency’s former leader, Mary L. Schapiro, had been tasked with restoring legitimacy to the S.E.C., now “lawmakers say that Ms. White must elevate the agenda to take on topics outside herpredecessor’s regime. Ms. White, for example, vowed to examine the growing world of high-frequency trading, an issue that continues to confound the agency.â€
Lawmakers also pressed Ms. White to explain how she would navigate potential conflicts of interest. Ms. White, who represented financial clients after her tenure as a federal prosecutor, said her work for Wall Street “does not change me as a person. It doesn’t mean I embrace the policy thoughts of any of my clients.†Going forward, she said, “The American public will be my client, and I will work as zealously as is possible on behalf of them.â€
TWINKIES BRAND LIVES TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY  | Hostess Brands struck a $410 million deal to sell a collection of snacks â€" Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Ho Hos, Sno Balls and Dolly Madison Zingers â€" to Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Company, two firms with experience in corp! orate turnarounds. “The sale will mean that Twinkies, born more than 83 years ago in an Illinois industrial kitchen, will live on, having survived wars, recessions and the South Beach and Dukan diets,†DealBook’s Michael J. de la Merced and Peter Lattman write. C. Dean Metropoulos, leader of the firm that bears his name, is expected to become chief executive of the snack business.
“We saw a real opportunity to revitalize these brands, just with some T.L.C.,†Daren Metropoulos, one of Mr. Metropoulos’s sons and an executive at the family firm, told DealBook. That effort may include marketing efforts that resemble those for Pabst Blue Ribbon, which Metropoulos & Company owns. Social media may play a role, and comedians like Zach Galifianakis may be brought on as spokesmen. The deal includes five Hostess factories, and the new company will probably feature the Hostess name.
The ield of potential buyers once seemed crowded, but by the deadline on Monday, the only qualified offer came from Apollo and Metropoulos. “It’s not that we lacked interest,†Gregory F. Rayburn, the Hostess chief executive, said in an interview. “Other bidders felt that they could not top the price.â€
WHEN SPINOFFS ARE A DUMPING GROUND  | “A spinoff is a product of Wall Street math that says one plus one can equal three. Yet as shareholders of Time Warner may be about to find out, it can also be all about subtraction, as a company ditches an unwanted business, in this case, magazines,†Steven M. Davidoff writes in the Deal Professor column.
As deals by General Motors and Ford Motor show, it can be tempting to attach liabilities to the company being spun off. “This i! s often m! anagement’s best opportunity to burnish its own company at another’s expense. It’s hard to resist.†Mr. Davidoff continues: “The reason a spinoff is a preferred way to get rid of businesses a company no longer wants is that shareholders have no choice in the matter. The decision is simply made by the board.â€
ON THE AGENDA Â |Â Gary Gensler, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, speaks at the Futures Industry Association conference in Boca Raton, Fla., at 8 a.m. A House Financial Services subcommittee conducts a hearing about mortgage insurance at 10 a.m. Data on retail sales in February is out at 8:30 a.m. Hot Topic, which recently agreed o sell itself to Sycamore Partners, reports earnings after the market closes. Martha Stewart is on CNBC at 2 p.m.
CARLYLE LOWERS BARRIER TO ENTRY  | The Carlyle Group is lowering the bar for investors to participate in its private equity buyouts. Trying to reach a broader base of customers, Carlyle is preparing a new fund with a minimum investment of $50,000, compared with minimums of between $5 million and $20 million previously, The Wall Street Journal reports. (The opportunity will be available to “accredited†investors.) The move comes after other private equity giants have begun offering products for individual investors, but “in moving down-market to attract new funds, Carlyle and other firms could face questions from some institutional and ultrarich clients drawn! to such ! firms partly for their exclusivity,†The Journal writes.
British Chain Asda Said to Consider Bidding for HMV  | “Asda, Britain’s second-largest supermarket group, is considering a rescue bid for entertainment retailer HMV,†and is “understood to have held talks with Deloitte, the administrators to HMV, about a deal,†according to The Telegraph. TELEGRAPH
National Financial Partners Said to Weigh a Sale  | National Financial Partners, “the New York-based wealth managemet company headed by Sandy Weill’s daughter Jessica Bibliowicz, is exploring a potential sale, according to three people familiar with the matter,†Reuters reports. REUTERS
MetroPCS Urges Shareholders to Back Merger With T-Mobile  | MetroPCS urged shareholders on Tuesday to approve its merger with T-Mobile USA, in the face of opposition from two major hedge funds. DealBook »
Fiat and Chrysler Continue to Discuss a Merger  |Â
REUTERS !
Goldman to Increase Disclosure on Illiquid Assets  | The Securities and Exchange Commission had “pressured†Goldman Sachs to disclose more information about how it valued illiquid assets, Reuters writes. REUTERS
Credit Suisse Plans to Cut 94 Jobs in New York  |Â
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Wells Fargo Chief Gets $1 Million in Restricted Stock
WALL STREET JOURNAL
John Byrne, Insurance Legend, Dies at 80  | The New York Times writes: “John J. Byrne, who became an insurance industry legend by saving Geico from the brink of bankruptcy in the 1970s and averting widespread financial damage, died on Thursday at his home in Etna, N.H. He was 80. The cause was cancer, his family said.â€
“Mr. Byrne’s stature only grew in 1985, when he took Fireman’s Fund public in what was then the biggest initial stock offering in history. Warren E. Buffett, who made some of his billions investing in Geico at the time Mr. Byrne was hired to reverse its downward spiral, called Mr. Byrne ‘the Babe Ruth of insurance.’†NEW YORK TIMES
TPG Said to Plan Fund for Real Estate  | The private equity firm TPG Capital is planning its first real estate fund, expecting to start raising money in the second half of this year, with a goal of at least $1 billion, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing unidentified people familiar with the firm’s plans. WALL STREET JOURNAL
A Real Estate Fund for K.K.R.  | The buyout firm K.K.R. “is preparing to market ts first fund dedicated to real estate investments with an initial $500 million committed to the pool, according to two people with knowledge of the matter,†Bloomberg News reports. BLOOMBERG NEWS
Former FrontPoint Manager Said to Plan New Fund  | Thomas Monaco, formerly a manager at FrontPoint Partners, “is seeking to start a hedge fund focused on Asian financial stocks, said four people with knowledge of the matter,†Bloomberg News reports. BLOOMBERG NEWS
Formula One May Revive I.P.O. This Year  | “Last year I thought that the markets were not ready, but now it is getting more likely that there is an opportunity,†Bernie Ecclestone of Formula One said, according to Reuters. REUTERS
Silver Spring Raise $81 Million in I.P.O. Â |Â Silver Spring Networks, which makes equipment for smart electricity grids, priced its offering at the middle of an expected range, Bloomberg News reports. BLOOMBERG NEWS
Sexual Discrimination Is Again an Issue in Silicon Valley  | “Three female employees have sued CMEA Capital, a venture capital firm based in San Francisco, claiming sexual harassment and retaliation,†the Bits blog writes. NEW YORK TIMES BITS
India the Target of Technology Trade Group  | The Financial Times reports: “A lobby group representing U.S. technology companies is set to attack India for its domestic procurement policies at a Congressional hearing on Wednesday, in a sign of growing concern among multinationals about market access in the South Asian nation.†FINANCIAL TIMES
Google Acknowledges Breach of Privacy  | In agreeing to settle a case over its Street View mapping project, Google admitted to state officials that it had violated people’s privacy as it gathered personal information from unsuspecting omputer users, The New York Times reports. NEW YORK TIMES
Greenberg Forges Ahead With Lawsuit Over A.I.G. Bailout  | The American International Group’s former chief executive, Maurice R. Greenberg, is moving ahead with a lawsuit against the federal government over its $182 billion rescue of the insurer â€" even without the backing of the company itself. DealBook »
Putin Names Loyalist to Lead Russian Central Bank  | The New York Times reports: “Asserting further personal control over the Russian economy, President Vla! dimir V. ! Putin nominated on Tuesday a close political ally, who is now serving as his chief economic adviser, to become the new chief of the Russian central bank.†NEW YORK TIMES
Former Prosecutor Starts Litigation Finance Firm  | Andrew Stolper, a former federal prosecutor, is working with a former F.B.I. agent to start a firm specializing in litigation finance, Reuters reports. REUTERS
One Possible Hitch to an Autonomy Investigation  | The Serious Fraud Office of Britan cautioned that it first needed to make sure that its use of an Autonomy product did not pose a conflict of interest for an investigation into its sale to Hewlett-Packard. DealBook »
Intrade Sheds Light on How Gray Markets Can Go Dark  | While Intrade’s predictive record was good, it did not foresee the rising controversy over under-regulated speculation, Robert Cyran of Reuters Breakingviews writes. REUTERS BREAKINGVIEWS
