Latest News
On the 10-year anniversary of the Lehman Brothers collapse, Jens Hagendorff, Professor of Finance at the University of Edinburgh Business School, explains why low levels of bank capital mean the financial system is still vulnerable…
The Lehman bankruptcy almost sent the global financial system into meltdown and 10 years on, it remains vulnerable. Increasing bond spreads in Italy, jitters in emerging markets, and the low market valuations of European banks show today’s investors are nervous.
Equity capital is the most effective absorber of bank losses. Since the Lehman collapse and the crisis that followed, many banks have increased their equity
Mayer Brown’s Private Equity team has advised Francisco Partners on the acquisition of ByBox, an international software and supply chain management company, for a purchase price of approximately GBP221 million.
ByBox provides smart-locker technology and field service solutions that improve the efficiency of supply chains across a range of sectors. Headquartered in Oxford, UK, the company employs over 500 employees with a presence in over 20 countries worldwide.
Francisco Partners is a leading global private equity firm that specialises in investments in technology and technology-enabled businesses. Since its launch over 18 years ago, Francisco Partners has raised over
Singapore-based SME financing platform Validus Capital (Validus) has surpassed over USD120 million in funding for local SMEs and businesses through its platform.
The company has financed more than 1,600 loans to date, each of which was approved almost instantly (under 24 hours). The average amount funded per request is USD70,000, with a high degree of diversification across various industry classes.
Much of the company’s growth is in tandem with Singapore SMEs’ increased need for growth capital, with a financing gap of around USD20 billion. Established in 2015, Validus offers access to financing from accredited individual and institutional lenders.
Pengana Capital Group Limited is working on plans for an ASX listed investment trust that will invest in global private equity next year.
It is proposed that the Trust will provide investors with exposure to a diversified portfolio of private equity investments, including funds, secondaries, directs, co-investments and other opportunistic strategies. This would be Australia’s first global private equity listed investment trust.
PCG is working with Grosvenor Capital Management (GCM), who would be responsible for selecting the investments for the Trust and constructing the portfolio. GCM is a global alternative asset manager based in Chicago and, together with its
SteelEye, a compliance technology and data analytics firm, has been selected as one of twenty companies in Tech Nation’s first inaugural Fintech Programme, part of HM Treasury’s fintech strategy to support the development of fast-growing tech companies.
The five-month programme supports the growth of the top twenty most promising early-stage fintech companies across a wide range of regions in the UK. Through the programme, SteelEye will gain exclusive access to some of the most successful and inspiring entrepreneurs and field experts in the fintech space, who will be available to advise on many aspects of managing a high-growth business, including
Arma Partners has acted as exclusive financial advisor to Evaneos SA in securing a USD80 million growth financing for the company.
The transaction – which represents one of the largest private fundraisings in France in recent years – will see Partech Partners, Level Equity Management and Quadrille Capital join Evaneos’s existing investor base of BpiFrance, Serena Capital and XAnge.
Evaneos is the world’s leading internet marketplace for complex, tailor-made, long-haul vacations. Evaneos’s platform connects global travellers with carefully-selected local agents to enable customised, authentic, in-destination travel experiences. To date, the company has served over 300,000 travellers. Evaneos plans to utilise
Ashmore Group has acquired a majority stake in Avenida Capital, a Latin America-based private equity real estate investment firm with USD300 million of assets under management.
The acquisition aligns with Ashmore’s strategy to expand its alternative investment product offering in key emerging markets, and further strengthens its footprint in Latin America. Under the continued leadership of founding partners David Smilow and Michael Teich, AshmoreAvenida, as it will be known, will continue to invest in real estate opportunities in primary cities, with steady growth rates and unmet demand in the region.
Christoph Hofmann, global head of distribution for Ashmore, says:
Silicon Line, a specialist in developing and providing innovative ultra-low-power optical link technology for consumer electronics as well as commercial and industrial markets, has raised EUR8.2 million (USD9.5 million) in a Series B financing round led by Capital-E.
Additional investors in the Series B round include LRM, Munich Venture Partners and Unixtar. The financing will be used to ramp-up production of the company’s optical modules – tiny circuit boards inside cable connectors; upgrades to the company’s module factory located in Hasselt, Belgium; the hiring of additional design engineers; and opening of local customer support offices in Asia.
Capital-E, LRM and
The size of the alternative investment industry will grow by USD2.5 trillion in the next three years, according to new research from international asset manager Fidante Partners.
The research is the first study not only to aggregate the diverse asset classes that fall under the ‘alternatives’ umbrella, charting their course over the past two decades, but also to project asset growth over the coming three years.
The research’s base case scenario assumes about half of this growth in private equity investments, with growth in infrastructure assets also accelerating. Hedge funds have remained the most popular alternative investment by AUM
Ara Partners Group, an alternative asset manager focused on the industrial, chemicals & materials and energy sectors, has expanded its senior investment team to include three experienced executives: Cory Steffek as Managing Director, Grant Haddix as Operating Partner and James Wang as Principal.
They join Managing Partners Charles Cherington and Troy Thacker to comprise Ara Partners’ senior leadership.
“We are pleased to bring together this group of talented investors representing a diverse array of sector experience and technical skill,” says Charles Cherington. “Cory, Grant and James will play crucial roles in overseeing our four current direct investments, and pursuing
Special Reports
Featured
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
