Carlyle Group prices low IPO

The Carlyle Group's IPO underwhelms.

FORTUNE -- Private equity firm The Carlyle Group priced its IPO this evening at $22 per unit, which was lower than its proposed $23 to $25 per unit range.

It means that the firm raised around $671 million, and has an initial market capitalization of nearly $6.7 billion.

Carlyle will begin trading tomorrow on the NASDAQ under ticker symbol CG, while J.P. Morgan, Citigroup and Credit Suisse Securities served MORE

M&A

Allot Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq: ALLT) has agreed to acquire Ortiva Wireless, a La Jolla, Calif.-based provider of mobile video optimization solutions. No financial terms were disclosed. Ortiva Wireless has raised over $11 million in VC funding, from firms like Intel Capital, Comcast Interactive Capital, Artiman Ventures and Mission Ventures. www.ortivawireless.com

Ascena Retail Group Inc. (Nasdaq: ASNA) has agreed to acquire Charming Shoppes Inc. (Nasdaq: CHRS), a retailer of women's plus-size apparel under the Lane Bryant brand, for MORE

Private equity deals

Bushnell Outdoor Products, a portfolio company of MidOcean Partners, has acquired hunting products maker Primos Inc. from Svoboda Capital Partners. No financial terms were disclosed. Harris Williams & Co. managed the process. www.bushnell.com

Dispatch Commodity Trucking, a portfolio company of Balmoral Funds, has acquired the aggregates-hauling assets of Valley Aggregate Transport Inc., a liquidating ESOP-owned company in Yuba City, California. No financial terms were disclosed. www.balmoralfunds.com

RHV Capital has acquired Continental Fire & Safety Services, a Rockville, Md.-based provider of fire, safety MORE

Venture capital deals

AVITO.ru, a Russian online classifieds website, has raised $75 million in new VC funding. Baring Vostok and Accel Partners were joined by return backers Kinnevik and Northzone. www.avito.ru

Violin Memory, a Mountain View, Calif.-based flash storage company, has raised $30 million in new Series D funding led by GE Asset Management. This is an extension to a previously-raised $50 million round at a valuation north of $800 million, from SAP Ventures, Highland MORE

Republicans and Ayn Rand, a love-hate affair

House budget chairman Paul Ryan once credited the philosopher Ayn Rand for guiding him to public service. Now he's realizing she can be as much a curse as a blessing.

By Gary Weiss

FORTUNE -- Paul Ryan is trying very hard to put daylight between himself and Ayn Rand, the right's leading advocate of selfishness, greed and laissez-faire capitalism. It's not working, but it's illuminating to explore why he's making such MORE

Note to CEOs: Most mergers don't pay

A NBER study finds that most corporate deals turn out badly.

FORTUNE -- Beware of Wall Streeters bearing mergers and acquisition advice. That's the takeaway of a new study, and investors should take note as well.

The study by professors at the University of California, Berkeley, concludes that acquisitions, while nearly always initially cheered by investors, end up hurting a company, and in particular its share price, in the end. Winning by MORE

United Technologies' $1 billion employee college plan

Looking for a corporate feel-good story? UTC's Employee Scholar Program just hit a major milestone.

FORTUNE -- Sometimes big companies do good things for their employees during bad times. And keep on doing it, quietly, without making a fuss. That's the thought that crossed my mind when I heard that United Technologies Corp., a hard-nosed industrial conglomerate that makes things like aircraft engines and elevators and helicopters and is No. 48 MORE