Carlyle leak

GROUP THINK: So who leaked the news about the pending Apple-Beats deal to the Financial Times? There's been speculation aplenty, but of all the stakeholders the most logical would seem to be the Carlyle Group. The thinking is that Carlyle, which invested $500m into the company seven months ago (for equity widely estimated at around 50%) and stands to pocket more than $1 billion in the deal, has pushed the pact into the press to ensure it goes through. Carlyle's shares happened to jump 4% when the rumor went wide. Note also that at least one major paper placed its ongoing coverage in the hands of the correspondent specializing in capital investment (and thus more likely to have a relationship with Carlyle), rather than an expert in the entertainment business. Just sayin'. (5/13a)