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Private equity placement agent BerchWood Partners has made two new hires and three promotions.
Russell A Breuer has joined the firm as a vice president. He brings 12 years of experience in institutional fundraising, private placements, and strategy consulting.
Brian E Infante is joining as an analyst and has two years of experience in financial analysis and reporting. Both will be based at the firm’s New York office.
“We welcome the addition of Russell and Brian to our team,” says Dave Berchenbriter, managing partner of BerchWood Partners. “Their expertise and experience will help us further enhance our platform
Concerns about the economic situation are generating uncertainty in corporate M&A departments and among leading investment bankers and M&A advisors, according to a survey by CMS Hasche Sigle.
The survey indicates that the funding environment for M&A deals has seldom been better: for the second time in a row, company managers awarded a new top mark for access to acquisition financing; investment bankers and M&A advisors see the financing environment as very supportive not just for strategic buyers, but also for private equity investors.
In the latter case, their assessment surpasses the existing record. As a result, hardly any
Private equity house LDC’s portfolio company, Fever-Tree, a supplier of premium carbonated mixers for spirits, has commenced dealings on AIM following the successful pricing of the company’s IPO.
Fever-Tree’s GBP154.4 million listing on London’s AIM market has resulted in 60.4 per cent of the company being publicly traded and will raise gross proceeds of approximately GBP93.3 million.
LDC, which took a stake in Fever-Tree in March 2013, will retain a 10.4 per cent holding following the IPO, with Directors and senior management of Fever-Tree retaining approximately 25.2 per cent of the issued share capital.
Since its launch in
Private equity investor Auda International has appointed Lucian Wu as a managing director, based in the firm’s Hong Kong office.
“Lucian Wu is an exceptionally experienced private equity investor,” says Ernest Boles, Auda’s chief executive officer. “We are fortunate to have been able to bring him onto our team to help us grow Auda’s private equity investment practice in Asia.”
“I am delighted to join Auda, which has demonstrated outstanding investment acumen across a quarter century,” says Wu. “I am impressed by Auda’s commitment to grow its private market investment activities in Asia and excited to join the firm’s
Asia Pacific has always been a key market for global alternative fund managers but as the latest research published by Preqin shows, institutional investors in the region are becoming an increasingly important source of capital allocation; both to hedge funds and private equity.
Hedge Fund Investor Trends
This is good news for local domestic managers and global players with an eye on diversifying their investor base and tapping in to new sources of capital. Based on 494 institutional investor profiles the Preqin October Spotlight report found that Australia (32 per cent) and Japan (24 per cent) are key markets with
The partners of 123Venture have launched Lendix, a crowdfunding platform dedicated to SMEs which lets institutional and private investors can lend directly to businesses at rates based on the quality of the borrower.
Lend has raised EUR7 million in a funding round led by Partech Ventures, Weber Investissements and 123Venture’s management team, including founder Olivier Goy who is chairman of this new business.
123Venture is a French private equity asset management firm dedicated to retail investors with more than 60,000 private clients and EUR1.2bn of assets under management.
“Our driver for Lendix is similar to the one we
Lending Works, the only peer-to-peer lender to have insurance protecting lenders’ money against borrower defaults and fraud, is rolling out an extended insurance to safeguard savings against a greater range of risks affecting borrowers’ ability to repay loans.
These include all the major reasons for default such as accidents, illness, death and loss of employment.
With the enhanced Lending Works Shield in place, even in the event of another major market downturn, where loan repayments may be harder to collect and arrears can rise, Lending Works’ insurance cover will safeguard savers’ funds.
In research conducted in partnership with
SS&C Technologies has made key executive promotions to further extend its focus and capabilities in both its private equity software and fund administration services businesses.
Renee Mooney, senior vice president and nine year SS&C veteran, has been named to lead SS&C GlobeOp’s private equity fund administration business supported by Christine Egbert, Aparna Parmeswaran, Phil Ratner and Chris Madpak.
Darren Berkowicz, managing director, will expand his responsibilities to include SS&C’s New York-based fund services operations reporting to Mooney, and will manage the TNR Solution software business supported by Seth Blech. Berkowicz will continue to manage SS&C’s industry leading alternative accounting
Since the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) came into full effect, MPMF Fund Management (Ireland) Limited is continuing to gain momentum.
MPMF has on-boarded a number of well-known alternative investment funds (AIFs) and anticipates continued significant interest in the services offered.
AIFMD is the European Union (EU) directive that came into force on 22 July 2013, with a transitional compliance date of 22 July 2014. The directive regulates EU and non-EU fund managers that market AIFs to investors domiciled, or with a registered office, in the EU.
MPMF, a Central Bank of Ireland authorised alternative investment fund
The sector and credit outlooks for US business development companies (BDCs) are negative for 2015, according to Fitch Ratings' 2015 BDC Outlook report.
Competitive underwriting conditions, unsustainable asset quality metrics, and a notable shift in risk appetite, for some issuers, are among the factors that will pressure certain BDC ratings over the next year, according to Fitch.
Middle market underwriting conditions remain fiercely competitive, reflected by tighter yield spreads, higher leverage, and weaker covenant packages. These competitive dynamics make it more difficult for lenders to find attractive deals, resulting in a steady decline in portfolio yields and heightened pressure
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