Hedgeweek Comment: Hedge fund places faith in God

Wed, 14 May 2008, 06:05

PrivateEquitywire

The credit crunch, which is still in full flow, has left many seasoned investors praying for a miracle. One of these investors, however, has decided to put money directly into the source of miracles - God.

Baring Private Equity Asia raises USD1.5bn for region's largest growth equity fund

Wed, 14 May 2008, 06:00

PrivateEquitywire

Baring Private Equity Asia has announced the closing of the Baring Asia Private Equity Fund IV with commitments of USD1.51bn making it the largest regional growth equity fund ever raised for Asia and bringing the firm's assets to USD2.5bn.

Clear Channel parties agree USD17.9bn deal

Wed, 14 May 2008, 05:01

Reuters

The dispute over financing the leveraged buyout of US radio operator Clear Channel Communications Inc ended late Tuesday as the parties reached agreement to settle the litigation and struck a new deal at a lower price of USD17.9 billion. It brings to an end court battles between the private equity buyers, Clear Channel, and the banks which agreed to finance the deal when lending was more lucrative. It also resuscitates a deal that has been in jeopardy for months.

RBS shuts out private equity firms from insurance units auction

Wed, 14 May 2008, 05:01

AFX News/Thomson Financial

Royal Bank of Scotland Plc. has not opened its GBP7bn auction of insurance units, which includes Direct Line and Churchill, to private equity firms due to fears about their ability to access credit, according to a report in the Financial Times. Private equity groups such as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Blackstone and Apax Partners can not submit bids, after bankers sent sales memorandum to a group of eight trade bidders Tuesday, due to the continuing difficulty in financing leveraged buy-outs, according to people familiar with the situation.

Cambodia draws interest of Jim Rogers, private equity

Wed, 14 May 2008, 02:25

Bloomberg

Private-equity investors are venturing into Cambodia, as the nation that three decades ago abolished money under the Khmer Rouge seeks more than $6 billion to rebuild itself. Leopard Capital and Cambodia Investment & Development Fund are among those planning to put more than USD450 million in the second-poorest of 10 Southeast Asian nations. Cambodia Investment is getting advice from Jim Rogers, who predicted the start of the commodities boom in 1999, and Marc Faber, who forecast Asian assets would decline before the regional financial crisis in 1997.

Capita Financial Group appoints administration director in Guernsey

Wed, 14 May 2008, 00:10

PrivateEquitywire

Capita Financial Group, which recently established a dedicated office in Guernsey, has appointed Julian Lane as administration director, responsible for operations and administration on the island.

GSC Group to acquire Complete Energy for USD1.3bn

Tue, 13 May 2008, 22:08

Alt Assets

GSC Acquisition Company, a special purpose acquisition company managed by alternative asset manager GSC Group, has agreed to acquire independent US power producer Complete Energy Holdings in a deal that values the company at USD1.3bn. Complete Energy owns and operates two natural gas-fired combined cycle power generation facilities: the 1,022-megawatt La Paloma generating facility, located near Bakersfield, California, and the 837-megawatt Batesville generating facility, located in Northern Mississippi. The deal values the La Paloma plant at USD900m and the Batesville plant at USD400m.

Fewer but larger venture capital deals in Europe in first quarter

Tue, 13 May 2008, 21:01

Alt Assets

Venture capitalists in Europe invested EUR1.14bn across just 180 deals in the first quarter of 2008. This marks the lowest overall deal total on record, according to the quarterly European Venture Capital Report released by Dow Jones VentureSource.

Private equity paints "help wanted" sign

Tue, 13 May 2008, 20:57

CFO Magazine

Despite the recent steep decline in private-equity deals, the job market for CFOs at portfolio companies promises to brighten later this year. A possible easing of the credit crunch could provide more funding for private-equity acquisitions, resulting in top-management shake-ups at many newly acquired companies. At the same time, the tough economic environment could prompt private-equity firms to replace finance executives at portfolio companies that fail to perform as expected.

Hedge fund investors have 20/20 hindsight

Tue, 13 May 2008, 20:04

Asian Investor

Deutsche Bank's exhaustive 2008 Alternative Investment survey would have electrified us if its predictions had been published a year ago. As it is, hedge fund investors aren't showing great foresight for the coming year.

Morgan Creek unveils credit fund of funds

Tue, 13 May 2008, 18:35

FinAlternatives

Morgan Creek Capital Management, the USD10.4 billion fund of funds shop, has launched a distressed offering to exploit opportunities in the credit markets. The Chapel Hill, NC-based firm last month launched the Dislocation Fund, a USD36 million vehicle that will invest in hedge and private equity funds, and is looking to raise some USD500 million, according to a source familiar with the firm's business development efforts.

Greenhill to start fund placement group

Tue, 13 May 2008, 16:36

Deal Book/New York Times

As the vestiges of the last private equity boom appear to be wrapped up, Greenhill & Company seems to be betting on a resurgence of the buyout industry. The boutique investment bank said Tuesday that it plans to form a fund placement advisory group, which will help private equity raise capital from investors around the world. Greenhill has hired several members of the private fund marketing team at Lehman Brothers to start the practice.

Three new private equity partners join McGuireWoods' Chicago office

Tue, 13 May 2008, 14:50

PrivateEquitywire

US law firm McGuireWoods is expanding its private equity practice with the addition in its Chicago office of three new partners, Geoffrey C. Cockrell, Mark A. Kromkowski and Michael P. Lusk, recruited from local law firm Wildman Harrold.

Africa enjoying private equity funds boom, says OECD

Tue, 13 May 2008, 13:40

Reuters

Private equity funds in Africa are soaring, the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) said on Tuesday, describing the development as the "African investment story to watch". As part of its 2008 African Economic Outlook, the OECD said funds raised for private equity in sub-Saharan Africa almost trebled in 2006 -- the last year for which it gave complete figures -- to USD2.3 billion.

Dow Jones launches new private equity database

Tue, 13 May 2008, 13:15

Yahoo/PRNewswire

Dow Jones Financial Information Services, the leading provider of specialized data, news and events for the financial, corporate and emerging markets, has announced the launch of Private Equity Source (http://privateequity.dowjones.com), a new database tracking all buyout and growth transactions in the United States and Europe, as well as the investment firms and companies involved. Private Equity Source is designed to helps private equity firms, hedge funds, investment banks and service providers augment their market intelligence on key investment sectors, deal partners and potential deals with a continuous flow of accurate, comprehensive, up-to-date insight on today's buyout industry.

Pearlstine leaves Carlyle to join Bloomberg LP

Tue, 13 May 2008, 11:50

Financial News/New York Times

Norman Pearlstine on Monday declared that he is leaving Carlyle after less than two years in the buyout business to join take a position at Bloomberg LP, the privately held financial media group. When he declared his move to Carlyle in the summer of 2006, Pearlstine was expected to help the firm find media deals. He was one of a number of media executives to jump into the buyout world, including Richard J. Bressler, the former chief financial officer of Viacom, who signed up with Thomas H Lee Partners, the equity firm in Boston. Pearlstine joins Bloomberg LP as chief content officer, a newly created job whose duties include, i

Baring Asia raises USD1.52bn private equity fund

Tue, 13 May 2008, 11:09

Reuters

Baring Private Equity Asia has raised nearly $1.52 billion for a fund targeting mid-sized growth companies in the region, showing investor appetite for Asia remains strong despite a slowing global economy. Baring said on Tuesday that the new vehicle, which it described as the largest regional growth equity fund ever raised for Asia, would be particularly keen to invest in companies in the alternative energy, media, financial services, consumer and industrial sectors.

Terra Firma set to cut more EMI jobs

Tue, 13 May 2008, 11:08

Reuters

Terra Firma, the private equity owner of EMI, plans to cut more jobs at the music company, a source familiar with the situation said on Tuesday. EMI had around 5,200 employees when it was taken over by the Guy Hands-led group and this is likely to fall to around 2,700 by the end of the restructuring process. Redundancies are likely to include about 500 contractors. Most of the other redundancies are likely to be compulsory, the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said.

Research and MArkets adds 2008 PE real estate FoFs review

Tue, 13 May 2008, 11:06

Trading Markets

Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c91514) has announced the addition of "2008 Private Equity Real Estate Fund of Funds Review" to their offering. Private equity real estate fund of funds vehicles have grown substantially in recent years, and there are now 46 active manager'3s worldwide managing over 80 vehicles between them. These managers now form an important sector of the industry, and are set to be an increasingly important source of capital for managers of real estate funds in years to come. With market conditions more complex and competitive than ever, gaining a good understanding of this growing industry is vital for all professionals operating in or investing in private equity real estate.

Informa shares jump as private equity circles

Sun, 13 Apr 2008, 20:57

The Times

Shares of Informa, the international information, publishing and events business behind titles such as Lloyd's List, jumped 10 per cent in a falling market today after The Times disclosed this morning that private equity groups were circling the group. Carlyle and Apax are among those considering a bid for the group, which has a market capitalisation of GBP1.64 billion. No approaches are understood to have been made, but the shares in the world's largest publicly owned conference organiser rose from 389.75p to 430.5p.

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