Latest News
John Redwood, chairman of Evercore Pan-Asset’s investment committee, looks at what the coming year could hold for the UK economy…
There has been plenty to worry about in recent months in the UK. Many investors and commentators have told us how much damage a Eurozone collapse could do the fragile UK recovery. Even a prolonged period of Eurozone weakness as they struggle to keep the currency together damages export markets.
The government’s Autumn Statement revealed as we predicted a major downwards revision to its deficit reduction plan, with slower growth in revenues and two extra years to get the deficit
Correlation Ventures has closed its initial USD165 million venture capital fund, 10 per cent above the USD150 million target. The firm leverages its analytics to offer entrepreneurs and lead investors co-investment decisions within two weeks. Limited partners include leading endowments, foundations, pensions, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals, including over 30 venture capital peers who invested personally.
Correlation Ventures, with offices in San Diego and Palo Alto, California, is creating a portfolio of over 50 US private companies and has a broad mandate to invest in all stages and industry sectors, including information technology, life sciences, and clean-tech. Launched in late
Lawyers from Walker Morris have acted for Barratts Trading Limited on its acquisition of the majority of the Barratts and Priceless shoe chains from administrators.
The acquisition follows the appointment of administrators, Deloitte LLP, to the Barratts Priceless group of companies on 8 December 2011.
Barratts Trading Limited has acquired 89 Barratts and Priceless stores, together with the ecommerce business of Barratts Priceless Limited, from the administrators, Deloitte LLP. The new business will trade under the Barratts name. As a result of this deal, 1,184 jobs will be saved across UK, the Republic of Ireland and at the Bradford Head
A greater focus from regulators and investors has led to an increased number of hedge fund and private equity managers actively considering strategic moves to more favourable domiciles, according to a new report from Clear Path Analysis. Emerging regions are particularly appealing to investors and as such managers are now looking at the business potential of setting up a presence overseas.
Regulation has been a key driver for this trend following the 2008 Madoff scandal and a general shift towards greater transparency across global financial markets. 2011 has been no exception with laws being tightened and new proposals such as
FedBid, Inc, which operates the FedBid online marketplace at www.FedBid.com, has secured the first investment made by the Revolution Growth fund, which was launched in December 2011 by Steve Case, Ted Leonsis and Donn Davis. Revolution Growth is now the largest investor in FedBid.
Leonsis has been named Chairman of the Board of FedBid, effective today, working closely with FedBid CEO, Ali Saadat, to accelerate FedBid’s growth and reach. FedBid and Revolution Growth also announced that General George Casey, the former Chief of Staff of the US Army, and Mark Walsh, co-founder and CEO of GeniusRocket and former CEO of
Funds managed by Blackstone are forming a partnership with PQ Energy to acquire or to develop power generation facilities throughout Europe. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, PQ Energy is led by a seasoned management and technical team. The team has extensive power project development and operating experience as well as a strong track record of identifying and investing in power generation assets and creating significant long-term value.
Blackstone’s funds have partnered with PQ Energy to provide necessary investment capital to the European power sector at a critical time when traditional sources of power supply have fundamentally changed due to the addition
Current valuations in China provide a great entry point for investors, says Andreas Roemer, head of emerging markets, DWS Investments…
China’s investment potential looks set to remain strong in 2012, benefiting from the same forces that drove asset markets in the US and Europe in the 1990s and 2000s. Excluding the deflation threat caused by the European debt crisis and based on the latest purchase managers’ index (PMI) data, China’s economy seems to have found its feet. Global consumer spending has received a boost since its significant decline and the Chinese government is making positive monetary and fiscal decisions to
AXA Private Equity, is predicting an increase in the role of unitranche financing for companies seeking to finance growth as the European economic turbulence continues. By blending the entire debt financing piece into one single tranche – combining the senior and subordinated debt – companies have greater access to the necessary resources to finance their investment projects, providing them with a viable alternative to traditional bank financing.
AXA Private Equity’s mezzanine team is a market leader in Europe in unitranche financing having invested around EUR400m in Unither Pharmaceuticals, FDS Group, and Biomnis in 2011. This equates to more than 70%
Pamplona Capital Management, a London based private equity and investment management firm, has appointed Brian K Ratzan as partner and head of US private equity. Ratzan will lead the expansion of the firm’s private equity practice to the United States.
Ratzan, a longtime private equity investor, joins Pamplona Capital Management after 13 years with Vestar Capital where he most recently served as Managing Director. In charge of Vestar’s Consumer Group, Ratzan led the firm’s investment in many branded companies and successfully worked with their management teams to develop these businesses into category leaders. Such investments included Del Monte Food, Sun
At the end of December, HarbourVest Global Private Equity (HVPE) recorded its highest Net Asset Value level for four years, with NAV reaching USD937.7 million, or USD11.34 per share, a 3.0% (USD0.33) increase from 30 November (USD11.01) and a 10.7% increase for the eleven months to 31 December 2011.
December’s NAV increase resulted primarily from an approximate USD0.36 per share valuation uplift plus a USD0.04 per share increase related to the valuation of Absolute. As of 31 December 2011, HVPE is valuing the Absolute portfolio at USD25.19 per share (including dividends received since closing), a 36% increase over the purchase price of USD18.50
Special Reports
Featured
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
