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Law firm Howard Kennedy has advised Edge Performance VCT on its offer for subscription of up to 10,000,000 G shares at an issue price of GBP1.00 each with an over-allotment facility of up to, in aggregate, a further 20,000,000 G shares.
Edge is the first specialist VCT to target the entertainment sector and allows investors access to the sector whilst minimising the risks often associated with it.
Now in its fifth year, Edge has raised over GBP77m and is managed by Edge Investment Management, an entertainment fund manager.
Corporate partners Dov Katz and Keith Lassman led the latest transaction and
After nearly two years of subdued private equity activity, signs of movement can be detected. “Projects that have been in the pipeline for 12 months or more are now close to launching and fundraising,” says Kate Anderson (pictured), Associate at Voisin, the Jersey law firm.
While the industry waits for conventional fund launches to return, there is plenty of work for service providers in other areas. For a start, there has been a resurgence in commercial property transactions. “Funds investing in the UK property markets are buying in quite specific geographical areas: within the M25 belt, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leeds and
By Phil Davis – Even the most cautious private equity professionals are starting to believe that the industry is poised to bounce back amid a number of indicators that dealmaking and fund launches are on the rise. According to Mergermarket, the value of global buyout deals totalled USD62.9bn in from July to September, the highest quarterly total since the second quarter of 2008, before the financial crisis struck in earnest.
In fact, private equity groups have seen year-on-year deal value increase for four consecutive quarters, and old hands such as Michael Queen, the chief executive of 3i, believe that dealmaking
By Simon Gray – Jersey-based service providers to the private equity sector and the broader alternative fund industry mostly describe themselves as ‘cautiously optimistic’ as they look forward to a long-awaited rebound in fundraising that may come early next year and a reduction in the number of new projects that fall by the wayside or are slow to crystallise because of caution among potential investors.
With the deadlock over the European Union’s controversial Directive on Alternative Investment Fund Managers apparently broken and the most potentially damaging aspects of the legislation for non-EU jurisdictions seemingly removed or mitigated, industry members believe
By Heather MacCallum (pictured) and Robert Kirkby – Over the last couple of years, there have been dramatic changes to the landscape we all operate within and the forthcoming years look like just as changeable. With such uncertainty on the horizon, how is it possible to determine operational strategy and deal with those thorny issues: Where should I domicile the fund? What are the new opportunities?
The European Union is on the brink of introducing the revolutionary Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (‘AIFMD’). The US Securities and Exchange Commission and the International Organisation of Securities Commissions are continuing to amend
Fund formations are few and far between at the moment, but it is still possible to launch niche strategies such as clean energy, high-tech and infrastructure.
These types of funds require specific expertise to set up, says Jane Pearce (pictured), a partner at the Ogier Group, which provides advice on all aspects of Jersey, BVI, Cayman, and Guernsey law and includes Ogier Fiduciary Services, which specialises in the provision of full administration services for private equity, real estate, infrastructure and mezzanine funds.
Pearce says, “It involves the same legal housing as many other funds, but VC-type funds contain very different
Jersey has been a significant fund services jurisdiction since the 1960s, but the ground is shifting now more than at any time over the intervening decades.
Not only is the global private equity industry a wounded beast in the aftermath of the financial crisis, but Jersey – already called upon to defend its reputation to an international audience time and again – has faced uncertainty about its future attractiveness to European managers and investors as European Union leaders and legislators wrangle over the eventual form of the proposed Alternative Investment Fund Managers directive (see page 9).
Jersey is widely regarded
With USD Libor at historical lows, Libor floors have become the norm with 95 per cent of loans including floors with ranges of 1.25 per cent to 3.00 per cent, according to Debtwire’s leveraged loan report.
During the first half of 2010 Debtwire North America covered 133 leverage loans issued by 112 companies.
Debtwire Europe covered 46 new loans issued by 20 companies totalling just under EUR11.3bn, 18 per cent ahead of the volume in the first half of 2009.
LBO-driven issuance kicked off in the second quarter, totalling EUR4.9bn associated with 39 deals.
Nevertheless, secondary buy-outs and refinancing came
Fiduciary and business services firm ATC has opened an office in Shanghai, China.
All the necessary regulatory and licensing approvals have been received from the Chinese authorities.
ATC has previously serviced China-based clients via itsr Hong Kong office.
Following the opening in Shanghai, ATC will have 19 offices in 17 countries across Europe, the Caribbean and the Asia Pacific region.
The new office will be multi-disciplinary, supporting corporate and institutional clients on both inbound and outbound transactions.
“The continued success and growth of our Asia practice, and the huge significance of China in the world economy, have made on-the-ground capabilities
Nearly half of respondents believe that the number of private equity houses will fall significantly over the next two years, according to a survey of 102 senior executives at 67 small/mid-market private equity houses by Smith & Williamson, the accountancy and financial services firm.
However, almost three-quarters of those surveyed are confident about the outlook for their own fund for the next year, suggesting that their concern is for others in the community.
Additionally, two-thirds of respondents believe more private equity-backed businesses will breach banking covenants in the year ahead even though the availability of debt finance has improved somewhat
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