Weisel’s big score

How do you spell relief? If you’re Thom Weisel, try T-E-L-L-I-U-M.

How do you spell relief? If you’re Thom Weisel, try T-E-L-L-I-U-M. Last month the financier’s eponymous merchant bank broke through the technology drought when Tellium, an optical-networking concern, finally went public after a five-month delay. It’s the first company in Weisel’s $1 billion private equity portfolio to be cashed out. Weisel Partners, which owned 8 percent of Tellium, and co-lead manager Morgan Stanley split a $9.5 million underwriting fee - the usual 7 percent, but chump change compared with the San Francisco bank’s paper gain of $160 million, based on Tellium’s late-May price of $22 per share (up from its $15 IPO price). Not a bad payday for a firm with just $150 million in capital. There’s one catch: Weisel Partners can’t turn the paper gains into real profits until a six-month lockup period expires in November. But Weisel is ecstatic. “It sure is great to have one get out of the gate, even though we have a holding period to deal with,” he says. “This is a very important first step for us.”

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