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Nearly all retail chief financial officers (94 per cent) expect merger and acquisition (M&A) activity will increase or remain steady in 2013, according to a survey from BDO USA.
CFOs’ bullish forecasts follow USD324.6bn in global retail and consumer M&A activity in 2012, which was up 33 per cent over 2011 and the busiest year since 2007, according to Dealogic.
A majority of CFOs (68 per cent) expect the US markets to see a majority of deal volume, followed by the Asia-Pacific market (20 per cent) and Latin America market (seven per cent).
Retail CFOs also forecast robust IPO activity
Poorer-performing private equity firms are increasingly being squeezed out as investors look to partner with the best performers, according to the latest research from private equity placement agent Acanthus Advisers.
Acanthus’ European Mid-Market Fundraising Review 2013 shows that in the past two years, just three per cent of capital raised went to the lowest-tier GPs, as ranked by Acanthus’ proprietary Perception Analysis – down from 13 per cent raised by the same group between 2004 and 2012.
The flight to quality was emphasised further, with top-tier GPs attracting nearly half of all funds raised in 2011-12, up from just a
Advanced Capital, the European alternative investment specialist founded by financier Robert Tomei, has appointed Robert Berlé as the firm’s new chief executive officer.
Berlé has over 30 years’ investment and corporate banking experience alongside considerable experience in private equity gained at some of the leading names in the industry. For the past 15 years he has focused on mergers and acquisitions and private equity deals, managing transactions across Europe, the US and the Asia-Pacific region.
He has been managing director of Rothschild, Barclays de Zoete Wedd and Kidder Peabody and has held a senior banking position at JP Morgan.
Jeff Taylor (pictured), Head of European Equities at Invesco Perpetual, considers what happens next following an indecisive Italian election…
Italy’s election results are turning out far less clear cut than markets would have liked, with the Centre Left parties winning a clear majority in terms of seats in the Lower House of parliament but with no clear winner in the Senate.
The star of the election has been the anti-austerity, anti-establishment movement led by former comedian Beppe Grillo, which has picked up the votes of many angry, disgruntled Italians, to the detriment of the more traditional parties.
What happens next?
Abacus Group, a provider of hosted IT solutions for hedge funds and private equity funds, closed out 2012 with 100 per cent annual revenue growth.
In addition, the company has doubled its client base in the last 12 months, propelled by demand for its scalable, cost-effective AbacusFLEX private cloud solution.
Today’s market environment continues to impose new cost pressures and regulatory demands on asset managers, forcing top-tier, new and emerging hedge funds and private equity funds to identify new methods to better allocate IT resources and lower operating costs while still adding measurable value.
As a result, more and
NorthEdge Capital, the private equity firm focused on backing businesses based in the North of England, has completed its maiden deal after investing for a significant majority stake in FPE Global, a high-growth specialist engineering firm with an international customer base.
The deal is the first investment by Manchester and Leeds-based NorthEdge, which has GBP182m currently under management. The firm’s maiden fund achieved first close in summer 2012.
Stockport-based FPE Global develops bespoke materials-handling processing systems with proven applications in a range of high-growth end markets including sugar, cement, chemicals and energy from waste.
The business has developed a market-leading
Richard Bonnor-Moris (pictured), Head of Multi-Asset Solutions at Newscape Capital comments on the credit downgrade of the UK by Moody’s…
The credit downgrade of the UK by the Moody’s rating agency is unlikely to make a great deal of difference to investors. The downgrade itself was widely expected and with only Germany and Canada at triple A amongst the G7 the UK is now at the same level as the US and France.
If it is anything the downgrade is a reminder of the challenges the UK government faces going forward due to the combined effects of slow growth, low
Origo Partners has formed a new joint venture company with Serge Pun & Associates (Myanmar) Limited (SPA), one of Myanmar’s leading conglomerates, to identify investment opportunities across the natural resources and other sectors in Myanmar.
Following the start of liberalisation in Myanmar, the country has the potential to become a significant supplier of goods and raw materials to global markets, in particular China, and it is hoped that the joint venture will enable Origo to capture this opportunity.
The joint venture, SPA Origo Myanmar Holding, will be owned 50:50 by Origo and SPA, and will benefit from the combination
RLJ Equity Partners has appointed Jack Isaacs as director of business development to coordinate corporate initiatives and investor relations.
Isaacs has more than 20 years of experience in private equity and as an attorney and will report to managing partner Rufus H Rivers.
"Jack has a tremendous amount of experience on the West Coast and in the middle market," says Rivers. "I’m sure he will be successful in this new role which will allow us to more effectively source investment opportunities throughout the western US."
"RLJ Equity Partners has a solid reputation and proven track record in its leadership and
Ampersand Capital Partners, a healthcare-focused middle market private equity firm, has made three additions to its management team.
Eric Lev has joined Ampersand as a partner, bringing over 12 years of middle market healthcare investing experience. Lev was most recently at Water Street Healthcare Partners where he served on the investment team since Water Street’s formation in 2005.
While at Water Street, Lev played a key role in helping to build the firm’s practices in life sciences and diagnostics. Prior to Water Street, he worked at Beckman Coulter and at One Equity Partners.
Dana Niles has joined Ampersand as the
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