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Middle-market private equity firm Tailwind Capital has made an equity investment in AST, a pure-play Oracle Corporation consulting, implementation and managed services firm.
"AST is a trusted Platinum level member of the Oracle PartnerNetwork and is well positioned to support the growing demand for Oracle solutions that drive innovation and growth for AST’s customers," says Jim Hoch, partner at Tailwind Capital. "AST's proven track record of delivering large and complex Oracle- based solutions to public and private sector enterprises attests to the talent and commitment of AST’s consultants and executive management team.”
AST has made significant investments in becoming
- 09/02/2017
Proper fund governance has long been championed by leading offshore law firm Conyers Dill & Pearman, which for the last decade has encouraged its hedge fund clients to hold at least annual directors meetings. Initially this was met with some resistance according to Robert Briant (pictured), Partner and head of Conyers’ BVI office, who confirms that such resistance has softened over the last few years.
“Even though there is no requirement in the BVI for the directors to meet annually, they do meet and are happy to meet when we suggest it. So that is a positive change. Some funds
- 08/02/2017
- 08/02/2017
One of the reasons as to why the BVI introduced the Incubator and Approved Fund products in May 2015 was, partly, in response to the fact that fund launch numbers in the global hedge fund industry had started to steadily decline. Rising regulatory and compliance costs were hurting start-up managers and dissuading people from coming to market.
In that sense, the BVI was quite prescient and demonstrates the forward looking approach that its regulator, the BVI Financial Services Commission (the "Commission"), takes to ensure that the jurisdiction remains as accessible as possible to start-ups and emerging managers, as well as
- 08/02/2017
Circle Partners is an independent fund administrator with offices in the BVI, Cayman Islands, and across the EU, the Americas and Hong Kong.
"We've seen a lot of growth in new BVI fund vehicles over the last 12 months – both the Incubator Fund and the more popular Approved Fund," reflects Peter Jakubicka (pictured), Business Development Manager at Circle Partners. "These vehicles have been the main driver of business for us in the BVI and we've seen continued interest in the first few weeks of January this year; this is partly due to the fact that Cayman has not introduced
- 08/02/2017
"We see the funds industry as continuing to contribute to the overall offering of financial services. There remains good interest in the BVI product and we envisage that will continue," asserts Glenford Malone, Director, Investment Business Division, BVI Financial Services Commission, when asked to comment on the growth of the BVI's funds industry.
Like every fund jurisdiction, the estimated 40 per cent drop in new fund launches in the hedge fund industry last year negatively impacted the BVI. And as the costs of running a hedge fund business increase, some are choosing to call it a day and revert to
- 08/02/2017
Barings has acted as mandated lead arranger of a senior secured credit facility to support Battery Ventures' portfolio company Forterro.
Forterro is a group of European enterprise resource planning (ERP) software companies serving small- to medium-sized enterprises across a variety of sectors.
The company will use the credit facility to refinance existing debt and to fund the acquisition of BPSC, a Polish provider of ERP software solutions for manufacturing, wholesale and retail customers.
"Battery Ventures appreciates the contributions of Barings' European private finance team in supporting Forterro on these strategic growth initiatives," says Morad Elhafed, partner at Battery
- 08/02/2017
Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending is beginning to see a flight to quality as the growth rate of the industry slows and weaker platforms exit the market, according to direct lending specialist BondMason.
BondMason’s Market Report 2017, a summary of the latest trends in the P2P market, shows the UK direct lending market accounted for GBP3.2 billion of lending in 2016, up 39 per cent on 2015, but down from 91 per cent growth for the same time period between 2014 and 2015.
Stephen Findlay (pictured), CEO, BondMason, says: “The direct lending industry continues to grow at an impressive rate. What
- 08/02/2017
Avenir Capital, an Australian-based, global value manager, is Fidante Partner’s newest boutique investment management partner.
Nick Hamilton, general manager at Fidante Partners, says: “Avenir Capital is an exceptional investment manager. Avenir’s investment approach has been developed from its private equity heritage that we believe provides the foundation for long-term investment success. “By combining Avenir’s investment capability with our Australian and international distribution channels, we are confident that the fund will continue to prosper over the coming years.”
Formerly head of product and marketing, Hamilton was promoted to general manager of Fidante Partners Australia in September 2016. He has a nearly
- 08/02/2017
ZEAL Investments (ZI) has invested GBP1 million in the Free Postcode Lottery (FPL), a free to play online lottery platform funded by advertising.
The deal, which marks ZI’s first investment, is c coup for the seed funder, which only launched officially in November 2016 and has already announced a partnership with start-up accelerator MassChallenge.
ZI, part of the ZEAL Network SE group, was launched to help prospective lottery start-ups and entrepreneurs grow and disrupt the industry.
Founded in 2011, FPL has become the top free to play, ad-funded lottery in the UK. With over 300,000 current daily active
- 08/02/2017
One of Enstar Group’s wholly-owned subsidiaries has signed an agreement to reinsure RSA Insurance Group UK’s employers’ liability legacy business.
Enstar’s subsidiary will assume gross insurance reserves of approximately GBP957 million (approximately USD1.2 billion), relating to 2005 and prior year business, which primarily consists of UK employers’ liability reserves.
Net insurance reserves are approximately GBP834 million (approximately USD1.0 billion) and the reinsurance premium payable to Enstar’s subsidiary is GBP799 million. The transaction is subject to finalising and effecting certain security arrangements.
Following the initial reinsurance, which will transfer the economics of the portfolio up to the policy’s limits, the parties
- 08/02/2017
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