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In Q1 2012, UK M&A activity saw 229 deals totalling GBP16bn, a 33% decrease compared to Q1 2011 (GBP23.9bn) but up 9.6% compared to Q4 2011 (GBP14.6bn), according to MergerMarket. The UK made up 9.6% of all European M&A by value this quarter, the lowest Q1 since Q1 2004 (8.4%).
Only six large-cap deals (GBP500m+) were announced this quarter. The largest transaction of the quarter was the GBP3.2bn acquisition of the UK based broadcast software provider NDS Group by Cisco Systems, from News Corp and Permira.
With GBP4.8bn-worth of deals totalling 22 transactions, Technology was the most active sector in
Global limited partners (LPs) continue to expect their commitments to emerging markets private equity (EM PE) to increase, reflecting investor optimism about these markets’ ability to outperform developed markets, according to the latest EMPEA Global Limited Partners Survey.
Three-quarters (75%) of LPs expect their commitments to emerging markets to increase over the next two years. By contrast, only 26% of LPs anticipate they will expand their investments in developed markets over the same time period.
72% of LPs expect 2011-vintage EM PE funds to deliver net returns of at least 16%, compared with only 26% of LPs believing the same
John Redwood, chairman of Evercore Pan-Asset’s Investment Committee on efforts by the UK and Spanish governments to rebalance their respective economies…
This week saw the Spanish authorities seek to cut a further EUR10 billion from their public sector budgets, in an attempt to stave off further rises in their 10 year and other borrowing rates. The ECB rode to their rescue by saying it would consider buying more Spanish government debt, once the government had pledged more austerity. The problem remains intense in Spain, with 23% unemployment, no ability to devalue its own currency to try to price itself back
Private equity firm Stirling Square Capital Partners has acquired SAR AS, a leading provider of total waste management solutions for the Norwegian offshore oil & gas industry, from AR Incoronato AS and Westco AS.
The acquisition, for an undisclosed sum, is the sixth from Stirling Square’s second fund, its second in the oil & gas sector and its first in Norway.
SAR services the oil & gas industry through the handling and treatment of oil contaminated drill waste, hazardous and industrial waste from offshore oil installations and tank cleaning through its nine bases strategically located along the Norwegian coastline.
At the end of March, HarbourVest Private Equity’s (HVPE) estimated Net Asset Value per share is USD11.45, a USD0.02 per share increase from 29 February 2012 (USD11.43), its fourth consecutive monthly increase.
This modest adjustment reflects positive public markets and foreign currency movement during March, as well as adjustments to the estimated valuations as 31 December 2011 valuations are received from the underlying investments.
At 31 March 2012, HVPE is valuing the Absolute portfolio at USD25.19 per share (including dividends received since closing), which is unchanged from 29 February and a 36% increase over the purchase price of
With the economy and the market showing ongoing signs of improvement, business optimism among investment managers is extremely high according to a poll by SEI (NASDAQ: SEIC).
The poll, conducted at a recent event for the company’s investment manager clients, shows that a majority of participants (78 per cent) are optimistic about their firms’ business prospects over the next three years, while nearly all of those polled (86 per cent) believe investor confidence levels are higher today than in the aftermath of the financial crisis. There are a number of reasons behind the optimism, but brand strength (32 per cent,
Pan-European private equity real estate investment manager Tristan Capital Partners has appointed Nik Haigh as a Director of Client Relations, where he will be specifically responsible for expanding the firm’s relationships with investors in the US and Canadian markets.
Haigh re-joins Tristan, having previously served with the Asset Management team of Tristan’s predecessor, Curzon Global Partners, from 2004 to 2009. Over the past three years Haigh led the European division for a major international not-for-profit, spearheading institutional and individual fundraising where he developed effective relationships with corporate, government, foundation, and high net worth partners. Haigh will be an integral part
Private equity firm HIG Capital has appointed Carl Harring as a Managing Director in its London office.
Harring joins HIG from HgCapital, where he led a number of small and medium-sized European LBOs. Before that, he spent nine years at Apax Partners in London, where he invested in a number of highly successful transactions across Europe.
Harring says: “I am very excited to join HIG The firm is a leader in its field and has a unique business model focused on providing deep operational and strategic resources, and a very flexible capital base which enables it to invest both
President Obama on 5 April, 2012 signed into law the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act), which seeks to eliminate certain restrictions on capital formation and to encourage economic growth in the United States by “improving access to the public capital markets for emerging growth companies,” a new category of issuers created by the Act.
As law firm Dechert points out, the JOBS Act also includes provisions that significantly ease the restrictions on general solicitation and general advertising for all issuers making private offerings of securities in accordance with Rule 506 of Regulation D and Rule 144A under the
BaltCap, a leading venture investor in the Baltics, has signed a EUR1 million investment in Clusterpoint, an ultra-fast database management system with built-in Internet-style search functionality.
The company is an enterprise software start-up created by Latvian programmers and backed by seed investors from the UK and the Baltics.
Clusterpoint has built a highly scalable database platform designed for cloud computing infrastructure. Clusterpoint’s database software provides superior performance on modest hardware so that it delivers greater energy-efficiency in data centres. The company has paying customers and revenue and will use BaltCap’s investment to expand internationally, including hiring senior management in
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