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Crosslink Capital has closed its eighth venture capital fund, Crosslink Ventures VIII. The new fund, which includes support from both new and existing investors, was over-subscribed, and closed with USD275 million of capital commitments. Over more than twenty five years, the Crosslink partners have backed hundreds of emerging growth companies, including industry innovators, such as Coupa Software, ServiceMax, Bleacher Report, Casper, DataStax, Descartes Labs, Pandora, Postmates, Reltio and Molekule. The new fund enables Crosslink to continue to allocate intelligent capital behind ambitious entrepreneurs and collaborate with seed funds to identify, invest in and deliver a portfolio basket of winners.   “We
AP Ventures has launched as an independent venture capital fund to invest in applications for Platinum Group Metals (PGMs). Anglo American Platinum and South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation (PIC), as cornerstone investors, have each committed USD100 million to the fund. The newly created AP Ventures is the first fund of its kind investing in pioneering technologies and businesses harnessing the unique high performance characteristics of PGMs.   Anglo American Platinum is the world’s leading primary producer of PGMs and is expected to continue to provide AP Ventures with the benefit of industry expertise, market knowledge and access to international networks.
Equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs is incorporating automation into its offering with the launch of a new product, AutoInvest. Until now, investments on equity crowdfunding platforms have been entirely on a self-directed basis, with investors hand picking every campaign to invest in individually. With AutoInvest, investors select the amount they would like to invest per-campaign and the product then automatically invests based on criteria they have chosen.   Seedrs says AutoInvest opens up early-stage private equity to investors who have long been interested in the asset class, but not able to dedicate the time, allowing them to build a diverse portfolio
Thompson Street Capital Partners (TSCP), a private equity firm focused on investing in founder-led middle market businesses, has closed its fifth committed capital investment fund, Thompson Street Capital Partners V (TSCP V), at the hard cap with total commitments of USD1.15 billion. The fund was oversubscribed and exceeded the original USD850 million target.   Commitments to TSCP V came from a diverse and well-respected group of new and existing global investors comprised of leading corporate and foreign pension funds, endowments, foundations and family offices. Consistent with prior funds, the partners of TSCP have made significant personal capital commitments to TSCP
The industrial gases specialist Messer and CVC Capital Partners Fund VII (CVC) are to acquire the majority of Linde AG’s gases business in North America, and certain business activities in South America. With approximately 5,100 employees, the acquired North and South American companies generated 2017 revenues of USD1.7 billion (EUR1.4 billion) and EBITDA of just over USD360 million (EUR305 million). The purchase price of USD3.3 billion (EUR2.8 billion) will be subject to customary adjustments at closing. The transaction is subject to the completion of the planned merger of the two industrial gases firms, Praxair and Linde, and the approval by the
Allied Universal is to acquire US Security Associates (USSA) for approximately USD1.0 billion. Based in Roswell, Georgia, USSA is one of the leading providers of security and related services in the United States, employing more than 50,000 security professionals serving several thousand clients across a wide range of industries. USSA generated 2017 pro forma revenues and Adjusted EBITDA of c. USD1.5 billion and USD95 million, respectively. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2018, subject to customary regulatory approvals.   Allied Universal intends to fund the transaction with a combination of additional indebtedness and up to USD200
BlackRock’s results for the second quarter of 2018 reveal USD20 billion of total net inflows, positive across active, index and cash management. The figures represent an 11 per cent revenue growth year-over-year driven by base fees, performance fees and technology services revenue and the firm writes that the 16 per cent operating income growth year-over-year reflects operating margin expansion. There was 27 per cent diluted EPS growth (28 per cent as adjusted) driven in part by lower tax rate and USD300 million of quarterly share repurchases. Laurence D. Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock says: “BlackRock delivered strong financial results
Andrew Harding, Appleby
By Andrew Harding – Ahead of the World Cup The Economist ran an article entitled “What makes a country good at football?” The journal explored the various components of a successful national side, taking account of GDP, population size and the popularity of the game in each country. Wealth, size and popularity of the game were all found to be correlated with success, but these elements made up less than half the story. Centralised schemes to promote the game were found to significantly improve performance, and were much easier to establish in smaller countries such as Uruguay and Iceland. To
Fiona Le Poidevin, CISE
By Fiona Le Poidevin, TISE – There were 705 new listings on The International Stock Exchange (TISE) during 2017, which was an increase of 40 per cent on the previous year. In the first quarter of 2018, there was a 16.5 per cent rise year on year in new business, which took the total number of listed securities on the Exchange to 2,606 at the end of March 2018. These listings comprise a mix of equity and debt being issued by operating companies and nearly 400 securities issued by investment vehicles, including open and closed-ended funds and more than a
Andy Sloan, Guernsey Finance
By Dr Andy Sloan (pictured), Guernsey Finance – Guernsey has been identified as an ‘emerging global contender’ in green finance. In a climate currently led by the global commitments made at the United Nations COP 21 conference in 2015, Guernsey has identified green issues as a key strategic objective. The island is rapidly becoming the “go to” international finance centre for green finance. The introduction by the regulator, the Guernsey Financial Services Commission, of the world’s first regulated green fund product, the “Guernsey Green Fund” puts us at the forefront of green finance development. The objective of the GGF is

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12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am

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