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Colony Capital and Eurazeo have welcomed the decision of Accor’s board of directors to approve the plan to separate the group’s two businesses, hotels and prepaid services, into two independent listed entities.
Each entity will have its own strategy and benefit from the resources necessary for its own development.
Eurazeo and Colony Capital have said they will provide lasting support for the two companies.
They have decided, provided that the separation of the two Accor businesses is completed, to extend the provisions of the May 2008 shareholders’ agreement between them to the shares of the two companies until 4 May
Partners Group, a Switzerland-based global alternative asset manager, has made two senior management promotions as well as some organisational changes.
The firm has promoted the following two members of the management team from senior vice presidents to managing directors: Roland Käslin, head finance, and Denis O’Malley, head Guernsey.
Partners Group has made some changes in the organisational structure of the firm, which will take effect as of 1 January 2010.
Following the successful development of the private real estate business to become a global asset management practice, it has become an independent department reporting directly to the executive board.
The
Maven Capital Partners, joint manager of the Capital for Enterprise Fund, has made a GBP2m investment in Monumental Games, a provider of massively multiplayer online games.
The GBP75 million Capital for Enterprise Fund is a government initiative launched earlier this year to help small and medium size enterprises in the UK gain access to the financial support required to bridge the funding gap caused by the credit crisis.
The investment in Monumental is one of the first investments to be made by the fund and will support Monumental’s growth and development plans to become a leading worldwide provider of MMO
Characterised by election fever, 2010 will see changes to the flow of funds, an increase in the use of Ucits wrappers by hedge funds and an opportunity for growth with defined contribution pensions, according to Tom Brown, European head of investment management at KPMG.
Brown says there is a risk of some substantial falls in asset prices in some markets this year.
Since the trough of March 2009, there have been huge price rises, often 50 per cent or more. As the government takes its foot off the gas in terms of support, Brown says prices may take a tumble.
Edhec-Risk Institute has launched a risk and investment management programme after a survey found that further education was needed to close the gap between real-word practice and research.
The Executive MSc in Risk and Investment Management will provide experienced practitioners with a 17-month part-time programme.
It builds on the results of an Edhec-Risk Institute survey of 229 financial institutions, which found that investment professionals were aware of research advances but that only a minority of institutions actually used advanced techniques and more often than not in ways inconsistent with sound risk and investment management.
The survey identified major inefficiencies in
Four Seasons Group, an air conditioning building services group, has acquired JCW for an undisclosed sum.
JCW is a heating, ventilation and air conditioning business operating in the UK from the South West across to Cambridgeshire.
Barclays Ventures made an initial investment in Four Seasons Group in May 2007 and has supported it with a further equity injection to fund the acquisition.
The acquisition of JCW adds a further GBP12m of revenue resulting in combined proforma revenue for the group in excess of GBP25m. This places Four Seasons Group as one of the largest air conditioning led building services groups
HarbourVest Global Private Equity, a closed-end investment company listed on Euronext Amsterdam, saw a 6.2 per cent increase in its net asset value in November.
The estimated NAV at 30 November 2009 is USD696.9m or USD8.40 per share, compared with USD7.91 per share at 31 October 2009.
The previous month saw a 0.1 per cent growth in NAV.
HarbourVest says the upswing is on the back on strong Q3 valuations of portfolio companies. HarbourVest is also seeing continued IPO and M&A activity.
Matrix Private Equity Partners has funded the GBP12m management buyout of CB Imports, a UK importer and distributor of artificial flowers and floral sundries.
This is the fourth transaction that Matrix has completed since the summer, following the MBO of Westway Cooling and the realisations of Tottel Publishing and Pasta King.
The CB Imports group of businesses was founded in 1990. Operating from a national distribution centre in Leeds, the company is an importer and distributor of artificial flowers, floral sundries, glassware, giftware, basket ware and Christmas decorations.
The company also operates a division of wholesale cash and carry
SEI is collaborating with long-standing partner RiskMetrics Group to provide its clients with independent risk management and reporting services that will integrate directly into the company’s flexible Manager Dashboard tool.
The new offering enhances SEI’s risk management solution and further addresses investment managers’ needs for greater transparency and detailed risk reporting amid growing investor demands and regulatory complexity.
As a result of the affiliation, SEI’s investment manager clients will be able to join RiskMetrics’ HedgePlatform Community, a network of hedge fund managers, fund of hedge fund managers and institutional investors.
As members of the HedgePlatform Community, SEI’s clients will
Benson Elliot Capital Management, a private equity real estate firm, has completed a EUR6m office-to-hotel conversion programme at the Deutsch-Japanisches Center in Düsseldorf.
The project transformed 5,000 square metres of office space into 85 executive hotel rooms and 650 square metres of convention space that can accommodate up to 1,000 delegates at the city’s 5-star Nikko Hotel.
With a total of 386 rooms the Nikko Hotel is now the largest downtown hotel in Düsseldorf.
Benson Elliot acquired a controlling interest in the Deutsch-Japanisches Center, which houses the Nikko Hotel, on behalf of Benson Elliot Real Estate Partners II in
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