Deals
The value of global private equity deals targeting Africa has more than doubled (137 per cent) in the first half of 2014 compared to the same period last year, according to research by global law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
Global PE funds competed 15 deals collectively worth USD1.5bn in the period between 1 January and 30 June 2014, up from 10 deals totalling USD621m in the first half of 2013.
As a proportion of total African PE spend (83 per cent in 2014 H1) and deal volume (44 per cent in the same period), global PE firms are now
Blackstone’s board of directors has approved a plan to spin off its financial and strategic advisory services, restructuring and reorganisation advisory services and its Park Hill fund placement businesses.
The businesses will be combined with PJT Partners, an independent financial advisory firm founded by Paul J Taubman (pictured). The parties expect the transaction to close in 2015.
The new entity will be an independent, publicly traded company, which will be led by Taubman as chairman and chief executive officer. Prior to founding PJT Partners, Taubman spent 30 years at Morgan Stanley where he served as co-president of the institutional
Eos and Greenstone Equity Partners have joined forces in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region to meet rising investor demand for global investment opportunities in alternative assets.
Greenstone Equity Partners, a Dubai-based fund placement firm, will bring an Eos sponsored credit fund to the region's sovereign wealth funds, institutional investors and family offices.
Partnering with Eos, Greenstone Equity Partners is able to address its clients' demand for liquid alternative assets.
Eos is collaborating with Greenstone Equity Partners to expand its brand within the region and to develop new relationships with GCC-based investors.
"Greenstone is a leader in
Cushman & Wakefield and Spire Ventures have formed a strategic partnership with Pi Labs, Europe’s first property-focused technology accelerator company.
Founded by Faisal Butt (founder and CEO of Spire Ventures) and Umesh Kumar (former Techstars and Oxygen Associate) Pi Labs was created to assist start-ups focused on property and technology innovation.
The programme will accelerate the growth of these companies by providing them with access to investment, mentoring and business space.
From October 2014, property start-ups will be able to apply to join the Pi Labs accelerator programme which will be located within ‘Second Home’, a new 20,000
A total of USD59bn has been invested in 5,272 venture capital deals globally in 2014 so far, compared to USD37bn invested in 5,940 deals over the same period in 2013, an increase of 60 per cent, according to Preqin.
While activity for the third quarter is below that of Q2 2014, the amount of capital invested is 45 per cent higher than during the same quarter in 2013.
A total of 1,664 financings took place in Q3 2014 valued at an aggregate USD19bn. This represents an eight per cent drop in the number of deals compared to the previous
Law firm White & Case has advised private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe on the EUR820 million sale of Dutch-based full service payment service provider GlobalCollect to Ingenico.
GlobalCollect employs around 500 people and helps clients accept payments from more than 170 countries in more than 150 currencies, using in excess of 150 local payment methods including all major credit cards, debit cards and alternative payment methods.
London-based White & Case partner Ross Allardice, who led the team which advised GlobalCollect, says: “We were very pleased to advise and support GlobalCollect and its shareholders on this important
Zolfo Cooper has overseen the sale of 43 Strada restaurants to Strada Trading Limited, a subsidiary of SCP Sugar Limited, an entity within Sun Capital Partners, co-founded by industry expert Hugh Osmond.
The sale forms a major part of the restructuring of the Tragus Group, which previously owned Strada.
Zolfo Cooper was appointed earlier this year to assist Tragus to undertake a financial and operational restructuring of its business.
As well as acquiring the sites, Strada Trading Limited will also employ all associated restaurant and head office staff. Paul Hemming, partner, head of corporate finance in Zolfo
Delta Partners Corporate Finance has acted as sole strategic and financial advisor on transactions worth more than USD1 billion during the course of 2014, helping telecom operators on the execution of their digital strategy.
These transactions resulted in collaborations between the telecom operators and Rocket Internet, one of the largest internet groups outside the US and China. Rocket Internet has launched more than 100 businesses in over 40 countries to date ranging from e-retailing and online marketplaces to e-payments and finance technology.
The partnerships with the telecom operators will open up many new e-commerce business opportunities in emerging markets.
Mid-market advisory firm Clearwater International completed 13 deals in two months over the summer, worth a combined value of GBP410m.
Five of the transactions have been led out of the UK.
The deals include advising on the sale of Burnt Tree, one of the UK's largest providers of commercial vehicle rental, to Enterprise Rent-A-Car; and the sale of out-of-home digital advertising firm Signature Outdoor to LDC-backed Ocean Outdoor.
The UK arm has also advised gym chain Gymbox on its GBP10m investment from Business Growth Fund.
The Danish part of Clearwater International has also enjoyed a busy period
The combined value of offshore deals in the second quarter of 2014 jumped 23 per cent over the previous one, making it one of the highest value quarters of the past decade, according to a report by Appleby.
Given that the first half of the year is frequently quieter than the second half, this is encouraging news for the remainder of 2014, says Appleby.
The latest edition of Offshore-i, an Appleby report that provides data and insight on merger and acquisition activity in the major offshore financial centres, focuses on transactions announced during the second quarter of 2014, a period
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