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William Davies, Head of European Equities, Threadneedle, examines the prospects for Europe against a backdrop of austerity packages.
The difficulties facing peripheral European economies are well-documented, with austerity packages in markets such as Greece, Spain and the UK likely to subdue activity over the medium term as taxes rise and job security falls. However, the global economy is recovering and emerging markets in particular are continuing to deliver robust levels of growth. This provides a good backdrop for global demand in a number of industries.
Much has been made of the weakness of the euro, and it is certainly true
Julian Hickman (pictured), partner, Longbow Capital, a venture investor firm supporting British healthcare, well-being and life science innovation, comments on EIS and VCT in the UK’s June Budget.
We are disappointed by the bland statement regarding EIS and VCT in the Budget, which amounts to little more than procedural clarification over EU harmonisation proposals already announced earlier this year. They have published an impact assessment of the changes but these play no real favours for the industry – the rules were already in the pipeline. Of more impact would have been to broaden the type of businesses that can benefit
Slow growth, heavy discounting and more fickle shoppers in recession-weary developed markets mean retailers should be increasingly focused on international expansion, according to the ninth annual Global Retail Development Index study from management consulting firm A.T. Kearney.
“Retail executives have learned again that core markets like the US and Europe are not the powerful engines of growth they would like,” says Hana Ben-Shabat, A.T. Kearney partner and co-leader of the study. “Reliance on developing countries for future growth is no longer a ‘nice-to-have,’ but a necessity. Establishing operations in a portfolio of countries both small and large offers the best
The World Gold Council, a market development organisation for the gold industry, and Augmentum Capital, a growth capital fund backed by RIT Capital Partners, have invested in BullionVault, an online gold investment platform.
The World Gold Council and Augmentum have completed a GBP12.5m funding round in the company in exchange for an equity interest.
As equal parties in the transaction, both Tim Levene, partner at Augmentum, and Marcus Grubb, managing director of investment at the World Gold Council, will join the board at BullionVault.
BullionVault, which is based in West London and began operations in 2005, provides investors with an
Hudson Securities has expanded its international capabilities to complement and support the growth of its cross-border investment banking group.
Frank J. Drazka, who joined Hudson Securities last month as head of investment banking, leads the firm’s six-member cross-border investment banking group, which focuses on raising capital in the US market for Chinese and other non-domestic corporate clients.
The firm’s activities in Asia and in particular China are spearheaded by Dick Price, a managing director with more than seven years of experience serving Chinese companies. Price joined Hudson Securities in March 2009.
Hudson Securities offers a range of investment banking services
An affiliate of Castle Harlan Partners V has completed the acquisition of IDQ, a provider of Do-it-Yourself branded automotive aftermarket products for servicing and repairing automotive air conditioners.
The total transaction is valued at approximately USD160m before working capital adjustments.
Castle Harlan says the company will continue to operate under the IDQ name. IDQ products, such as air conditioning recharge and retrofit kits, premium refrigerant blends, specialty chemicals, straight refrigerants, and a wide range of complementary DIY and professional-use items, include brand names such as Arctic Freeze, Sub Zero and Super Seal Stop Leak.
IDQ was sold by Arsenal Capital
Hermes Fund Managers, an asset manager offering investment solutions for institutional clients, has selected client communications specialists Equipos to deliver its enterprise-wide client reporting infrastructure.
Hermes will use Equipos Coric to automate the production of client reports and streamline client communications.
The Coric suite enables end-to-end management of the client reporting process while providing dashboard control and workflow automation. Coric puts control of the reporting process into the hands of the client servicing team, enabling rapid response to ever-changing client reporting requirements.
Philip Keeler, executive director – operations and IT at Hermes Fund Managers, says: "When looking for a comprehensive
Arsenal Capital Partners, a New York-based private equity firm, has completed the sale of portfolio company IDQ to Castle Harlan for approximately USD170m.
The sale of IDQ, which is expected to return in excess of 8x invested capital, follows Arsenal’s April 2010 sale of Genovique Specialties which returned to investors 12x invested capital.
IDQ is a provider of air conditioning maintenance and repair solutions for the Do-It-Yourself automotive aftermarket in North America. It sells its products to consumers through a blue-chip customer base representing approximately 25,000 retail stores. These include national chains such as AutoZone, Advance Auto Parts, Wal-Mart, O’Reilly,
Ares Capital, a middle market capital provider, and Veronis Suhler Stevenson, a private equity and mezzanine investor, have entered into an agreement to collaborate in bringing debt capital to small and middle-market companies in the information, education, media and marketing services industries.
Veronis Suhler Stevenson and Ares Capital will team up to source and provide flexible senior debt financing to companies in select industries with USD5m to USD35m of Ebitda.
Veronis Suhler Stevenson has brought on Bill Archer, former chief credit officer of Bankers Trust and chief debt underwriter for Goldman Sachs, as partner VSS Debt Capital to head up
Law firm Dechert has hired Thomas P. Vartanian, David L. Ansell and Robert H. Ledig as partners in the Washington, D.C. office.
All three were previously partners at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, where Vartanian served as chair of the financial institutions transaction group.
Vartanian, Ansell, and Ledig have worked together for more than 25 years counselling commercial and investment banks, holding companies, housing-oriented government-sponsored enterprises, broker-dealers, private equity investors, hedge funds, credit unions, technology companies, state governmental entities, and financial trade associations.
“We are pleased to welcome such a dynamic team to the firm,” says Dechert
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