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Private equity firm OpenGate Capital is acquiring fashion label Nicole Farhi from French Connection Group in a transaction expected to close within the next 90 days.
The deal is the third major equity investment by OpenGate in the past 12 months.
Under the terms of the agreement, the design house will continue to be based in London with offices and showrooms in Milan.
OpenGate Capital founder and chief executive Andrew Nikou will be named the chairman of Nicole Farhi.
“Nicole Farhi is an iconic designer and her elegant and sophisticated fashion sense has been a runway landmark since the brand’s
European venture capital firm DFJ Esprit has appointed Mikko Suonenlahti as a senior adviser, focusing on investments in B2B and B2C software, med-tech, Bio-IT and energy efficiency.
Suonenlahti (pictured) has over 25 years’ experience of global management in business building and spent 15 years as a venture capitalist in the US, Middle East and Finland.
He has been a board member of over 20 venture capital financed businesses, of which 15 have been realised, as a co-founder of SFK Finance and a partner with 3i USA.
His investments include IObox, a European case study of early stage investing, and Enfo
Dr Richard Reid (pictured), director of research at the International Centre for Financial Regulation in London, says the controversy surrounding the role of credit default swaps in allegedly aggravating Greece’s fiscal problems illustrate differences between countries in Europe and beyond on the priorities for financial sector reforms.
One of the persistent issues facing the implementation of international regulatory reform of financial services is the danger of regulatory arbitrage. Given the volume of global capital flows, the ease with which the financial sector can adapt, and, in some cases, the political will of some countries to either underpin or promote their
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has appointed four professionals within its USD13bn asset management platform, KKR Asset Management.
The new appointments focus these individuals by product lines to better capitalise on opportunities to source investments, manage and grow KAM’s portfolio.
"We continue to focus on leveraging the intellectual capital and unique origination capabilities of KKR’s entire network and capturing emerging investment opportunities where KKR can add substantive value. As a firm, we are very well positioned to invest across all parts of a company’s capital structure. Given the set of current and expected global opportunities, we are creating more focus and devoting
Stonegate Mortgage Corporation has received an equity investment from Second Curve Partners, an Indianapolis based private equity firm.
Stonegate has grown to over 100 employees since 2005 and is ranked as one of the largest mortgage lenders in the State of Indiana.
”We invest in companies that have a solid business model, strong management teams and the opportunity for exponential growth – Stonegate meets all three,” says Scott Mumphrey, principal with Second Curve Partners. “In fact, Stonegate has grown and been profitable during one of the most challenging economic periods in our history, particularly for the mortgage industry.”
“You hear
Recent indications of growth in the Channel Islands funds sector are rooted in alternative investments, bespoke closed-ended funds and confidence in the islands as reliable jurisdictions, say practitioners – and there are signs that further expansion is in prospect.
According to the Guernsey Financial Services Commission, the aggregate asset value of funds domiciled or serviced on the island increased by GBP2.7bn (1.5 per cent) during the final three months of last year, a second successive quarter of growth that took the total value of funds business in the island to GBP184.2bn at the end of December.
Although there was
Geoff Cook (pictured), chief executive of Jersey Finance, argues that international financial centres such as Jersey, which are well regulated and have demonstrated their co-operation in efforts to curb tax evasion, are not part of the problems that led to the global financial crisis, but are an important part of the solution.
The April 2009 G20 Summit in London was a seminal moment when the whole world focused on global financial stability, banking secrecy and tax havens. Almost a year on, these topics continue to feature in the news as the UK tentatively emerges from the longest recession since records
The aggregate total assets under management of all sovereign wealth funds currently stands at an estimated USD3.51trn, representing a nine per cent increase from one year ago when the figure stood at USD3.22trn, according to research by Preqin.
One of the largest increases in total assets came at Norway’s Government Pension Fund – Global, which reported returns in 2009 of over 25 per cent and now has over USD400bn in assets under management.
One of the largest decreases in total assets came at Russia’s Reserve Fund, which has more than halved in size over the past year, with total assets
The Shanghai-Pudong government has granted SinoLatin Capital the approval to raise and manage RMB-denominated private equity funds.
As of March 2010, SinoLatin Capital’s subsidiary in China will be a private equity investment management company.
SinoLatin Capital joins a very small group of foreign private equity firms to be granted the licence, including the Carlyle Group, the Blackstone Group and Apax Partners.
To date, SinoLatin Capital is the only Latin America-focused firm to have been approved to manage RMB-denominated private equity funds in China.
"We are deeply appreciative and proud to have been granted this license, which signals the Chinese government’s
Hirtle Callaghan, a US-based privately held investment firm, has named Jamie R. Johnson director of private equity.
Johnson brings more than two decades of private equity experience to his new position, including nine years managing investment portfolios for industrial families in Europe.
Johnson will oversee the firm’s private equity effort. Claire Kendrick will continue to lead the portfolio management process and Amy Schondra will lead operations for the unit.
“We are thrilled to have Jamie on board. Capturing the inefficiencies of the private equity market to enhance client returns has always been a priority at Hirtle Callaghan. We are adding
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