On hoops court, private equity trumps hedge funds

By Michael Flaherty

NEW YORK, March 16 (Reuters) - Private equity and hedge fund managers, who often jockey for influence in the dealmaking arena, have taken the battle to the basketball court.

There, at least, private equity emerged as the clear victor. A team of private equity investors defeated a hedge fund squad 30-17 in a 20-minute charity game on Thursday night.

The game featured a handful of three-pointers, a few slick lay ups, some sloppy passing and some big financial players from firms such as Avenue Capital, Eagle Rock Capital, Texas Pacific Group and Warburg Pincus.

"I thought we had great teamwork, but we didn't have enough time to gel on defense," said Jerome Williams, a former forward for the New York Knicks who coached the defeated hedge fund crew.

Their opponents, coached by former Knicks star John Starks, were good shooters but poor ball handlers, Williams said.

The game was part of a tournament organized by nonprofit Youth I.N.C. (www.youthinc-usa.org/) that raised more than $700,000 from Wall Street to help pay for basketball court time for high school teams in New York that don't have gyms.

Stephen Orr, the founder of Youth I.N.C. and a former Goldman Sachs banker, said the private equity vs. hedge fund match-up was chosen as the inaugural game in this year's tournament because it's a hot topic.

Private equity firms hauled in more than $660 billion in deals in 2006, while hedge funds have grown to 8,000 with more than $1.4 trillion in assets.

On Wall Street, private equity and hedge funds often encroach on each other's turf, with occasional clashes. On the basketball court Thursday night, they mainly kept things civil.

"I thought we were going to do well until I saw that they brought in some college players," said Marc Lasry, founder of Avenue Capital and captain of the hedge fund team.

His teammates included Craig Effron of Scoggin Capital Management, Nader Tavakoli of Eagle Rock Capital, and Brian Higgins of King Street Capital.

They appeared to be well conditioned, despite some graying hair and a few widening waist bands, but their defense was no match for the fast-break offense of their opponents.

The private equity team had speed in lefty Robert Berner from CVC Capital Partners and Rick Schnall from Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and college court experience in captain Ted Virtue of MidOcean Partners, and Ron Blaylock of GenNx360, who played for Georgetown University.

At one point, Rick Schifter of Texas Pacific Group bumped Lasry out of bounds. The whistle blew. Both men laughed.

At another, a pass soared over the players' heads and into the next court, former Knicks player Johnny Newman winced. "They look all right out there," he said. "But I think they should keep their day jobs."