Each business day HedgeCo.Net keeps you informed with the top hedge fund industry news, opinion and insight from around the globe. From the latest hedge fund launches, to the impact of regulation, competition, and investor activism - we track the topics and people that make a difference to you.
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Hedge fund investor Thomas H. Lee may downsize or shut the door to two of his funds after posting losses of about 40 percent this year, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The funds, which together manage about $1.5 billion, suffered losses that were multiplied by Lee’s heavy use of leverage, according to the sources who estimated he sustained losses of as much as $3.2 billion.
The funds were actually set up as funds-of funds, meaning Lee distributed investor’s money to approximately 110 other funds. When investors moved to withdraw cash from the hedge fund, it sparked a wave of redemption requests from the original funds, creating a domino effect of losses.
Funds that Lee invested in include SAC Capital Advisors and D.E. Shaw Group, according to the report.
Lee’s private equity firm was launched in 1974 and has grown to be one of the largest in the country. Lee now heads up his hedge fund business, Thomas H. Lee Capital Management LLC and his new private equity firm, Lee Equity Partners. Lee currently manages about $2.7 billion in capital.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – At a time when many hedge funds are experiencing their worst year to date, private equity firm The Carlyle Group is launching a new fund with around $14 billion in capital.
According to a report by Reuters, the Washington D.C. – based company launched the U.S. buyout fund in the spring of 2007, and has a target goal of $15 billion.
The current economic conditions make it extremely difficult to raise capital, as fear and unfavorable market conditions prompt investors to rush for withdraws from many large hedge funds. According to the Chicago-based Hedge Fund Research, hedge funds are down about 15.5 percent on the year.
The Carlyle Group is one of the country’s largest private equity firms, with almost $90 billion under management. They recently decided to shut down its Asia leveraged finance group “in light of the current global turmoil and the serious dislocation of the credit capital markets.”
The new fund will be added to Carlyle’s already vast portfolio of investment vehicles. According to the company website, Carlyle manages 55 different funds specializing in buyout, growth capital, real estate and leveraged finance.
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Private-equity firm CVC Asia Pacific, who owns 75 percent of PBL Media, is trying to prevent the company from defaulting on its $4.3 billion in debt, according to the Asian Wall Street Journal.
PBL Media, the owner of massive Australian magazine group ACP and Australia’s Channel Nine, could be placed under the control of its bankers if they default on the debt; something CVC is frantically trying to stop.
According to an article in The Australian, PBL’s debt is distributed among almost 40 creditors, including many hedge funds and global banks. CVC is trying to formulate a rescue package that would include raising $325 million from its banks, $250 million of which would go directly to paying PBL Media’s debt.
The Asian Wall Street Journal also reported that several of the large banks might also be on board to stop the default "which could result in their having to take a charge against earnings for the bad loans.” These banks include UBS, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Calyon, ABN AMRO and several other Australian banks.
However, some of the hedge funds who are invested in PBL aren’t too thrilled about CVC’s rescue plan, which entails creditors granting PBL a “covenant holiday” of 18 months. The Journal stated that “because hedge funds are required to mark their investments to market every day, the funds have little to gain from the CVC plan.”
Julie Scuderi Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net Email: julie@hedgeco.net
New York Times Blogs – Duff Capital Advisors has recently laid off dozens of its employees and is holding off on its plans to raise as much as $1.5 billion just eight months after the hedge fund firm began business, according to people briefed on the actions.
The Greenwich, Conn.-based firm was started in March by Philip N. Duff, a former chief financial officer of Morgan Stanley, with $500 million of capital from the New York private equity firm Lindsay Goldberg. At the time, Duff Capital said then that it was in discussions with several financial institutions to provide seed money for its investment strategies, beginning in the past spring.
While the firm is still in discussions with clients and some potential investors, it has failed to find any new capital so far.
Norwalk Advocate – Crisis can create opportunity, and for the smart hedge fund operator, the downturn gripping the global investment community is a chance to build a respected reputation in the industry.
While the financial crisis has been unprecedented, so will be the opportunities for firms that have superior compliance and risk management capabilities, said Walter Zebrowski, chairman of the Regulatory Compliance Association, which co-hosted the Hedge Fund Leadership Thought Summit this week at the Stamford Marriott.
"What it’s going to take is your leadership to act as the brake pedal when people want to take risks," he said, adding that the government plans on putting regulations on the hedge fund industry. "What does this mean for us? Everyone’s going to have to step up their game in terms of risk management."
Zebrowski is also chief investment officer for Hedgemony Partners, a Manhattan-based global private equity firm.
Wall Street Journal – Some high-profile Bain Capital credit-investment funds are choking on losses of as much as 50%, said people familiar with the matter, the latest revelation in a day of shake-ups across the hedge-fund business.
The private-equity firm’s credit affiliate, Sankaty Advisors LLC, has lost between 40% and 50% across two funds that bought up highly secured corporate loans, these people said. The two vehicles had roughly $4 billion in assets just a few weeks ago, and used a relatively low amount of borrowed money to fund their investments.
Steep losses have also hit London hedge fund Centaurus Capital LP, which Wednesday offered its investors a chance to cut their fees. And, at Tudor Investment Corp., one of the oldest and best-regarded hedge funds, fund manager James Pallotta finalized a plan to run his own firm separate from longtime colleague Paul Tudor Jones.
Here Is The City – Bloomberg reports that CEOs at Wall Street’s top five securities house earned a staggering $3bn between them from 2003 and 2007, during the time when the subprime and toxic securities timebomb was ticking away in the background. Goldman Sachs CEOs were paid the most in this period ($859m), followed by Bear Stearns ($609m).
And talking of Wall Street finest, former Merrill Lynch CEO Stan O’Neal (who bagged $172m in pay between 2003 – 2007), is said to be thinking of making a comeback. According to The Financial Times, O’Neal is considering joining Vision Capital Advisors, a small hedge fund and private equity firm.
Bloomberg also reports that JPMorgan Chase has acquired Washington Mutual’s branch network for $1.9bn, as the thrift was seized in what has been described as the largest bank failure in US history. JPMorgan will not acquire any of WaMu’s liabilities. CEO Jamie Dimon said: ‘This is a fabulous franchise. We think we got this at a price that protects us’.
Business Day – Private equity firm Actis says equity funds have embraced investing in Africa because many governments have instituted market reforms which are creating opportunities for brave investors willing to take a long-term view on Africa.
“There is increased private equity interest in the continent, illustrated by numerous new (private equity) funds being raised for Africa," Peter Schmid, head of Actis Africa, said yesterday.
His firm recently led a consortium to acquire Alstom South Africa, a big electrical engineering, manufacturing, distribution and contracting business, for R5,16 bn.
Analysts say the lure of emerging markets in countries such as Russia, China and India, and now Africa, has grown stronger after the bruising credit crunch in the US and Europe.
Reuters – Private equity firm Blackstone Group LP’s chief operating officer said on Tuesday that the limit on bank financing for leveraged buyouts was about $5 billion.
But COO Tony James said there were multiple opportunities to invest despite the market turmoil and the limit on financing, adding the company has had a very active 12 months, investing $8.7 billion in 27 deals since the credit meltdown.
"People say you can’t do leveraged buyouts," said James. "That’s not correct. We are getting bank financing for LBOs (leveraged buyouts), but we’re not getting bank financing for deals over about $5 billion in size."
He said the current volatile market conditions were ideal times for Blackstone to invest.
"One could be forgiven for thinking this is a hostile environment for Blackstone," said James, speaking at a Lehman Brothers conference that was webcast. "I don’t agree at all. I think it’s a fantastic environment. Turmoil, discontinuity in the market and scarce capital are absolutely ideal forces for our businesses."
Blackstone has taken part in some of the largest leveraged buyouts ever, such as the $23 billion purchase of Equity Office Properties Trust, but has also done numerous smaller buyouts.
Reuters – HSBC Holdings on Thursday denied a South Korean media report saying it had agreed with U.S. private equity firm Lone Star to set a new deadline for a $6.3 billion deal for control of Korea Exchange Bank.
"We have not created a deadline," HSBC spokesman David Hall said.
"Our original position stands, in that either side has the option to walk away, but we made it clear we are interested in continuing this deal."
Online news outlet EDaily, citing financial industry sources, reported that the two sides had agreed to maintain the deal, which was supposed to be wrapped up by July 31, until the end of September.
Lone Star’s PR agency in Seoul said there had been no announcement on an extension to the deal, declining to comment further. A KEB spokesman said he was not aware of any developments.
New York Times – The Blackstone Group may be best known as an immense private equity firm, but the firm’s earnings report on Wednesday made it clear that Blackstone has been buoyed by its hedge fund operations.
Blackstone reported $165.6 million in profit for its second quarter, excluding costs tied to its initial public offering last June. That represented a nearly 75 percent drop from the same period last year, a consequence of the troubles still plaguing the credit markets. On the basis of generally accepted accounting principles, the firm reported a pretax loss of $185.5 million.
Yet Blackstone’s results, which amount to 15 cents a unit, still beat the average analyst estimate of 8 cents a unit, according to Bloomberg News.
Other publicly traded alternative-asset managers also reported quarterly earnings on Wednesday. Och-Ziff Capital Management, a big hedge fund, said it earned $93.3 million, while GLG Partners, a large hedge fund based in London, reported profits of $44.2 million. Both figures exclude costs related to the firms’ public offerings.
West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – Fulcrum Group, a leading global administrator for hedge funds and the alternative asset management industry, backed by global private equity firm, 3i, and Butterfield Fund Services (BFS), a top-twenty provider of administration services for investment and pension funds and part of The Bank of N. T. Butterfield & Son Limited (Butterfield), today announced, subject to regulatory and governmental approvals, an agreement to merge the two businesses to create Butterfield Fulcrum Group (BFG).
Headquartered in Bermuda, BFG will have approximately 400 employees in 10 locations across 9 countries. The firm will have close to $100 billion in assets under administration from nearly 1,000 hedge funds, fund of funds, private equity and institutional investment management clients. BFG is expected to rank amongst the top 10 independent alternative asset fund administration companies in the world.
Butterfield will retain a substantial equity stake and 3i, an existing shareholder in Fulcrum Group, will own a majority interest in Butterfield Fulcrum Group.
“This is an enormous win-win for both companies that will leverage sales and operational capabilities of Fulcrum Group, and the tremendous customer relationships and global reputation of Butterfield Bank Group.” said Akshaya Bhargava, Chief Executive Officer of Fulcrum Group. He added, “Our vision is to create the best fund administration company in the world.”
Alan Thompson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Butterfield, echoed Mr. Bhargava’s sentiments, saying “We believe that the merger of these two highly successful businesses will result in significant business growth, more services for fund administration customers and career opportunities for employees. In BFG, Butterfield and Fulcrum are creating a company that will have a powerful presence in fund administration globally.”
Mr. Bhargava will become the Chief Executive Officer of BFG and Jill Considine, current Chairman of the Fulcrum Group, will be the Chairman of the BFG Board. Mr. Thompson and Graham Brooks, Executive Vice President, International at Butterfield will also join the BFG Board, along with other representatives from Fulcrum and 3i.
“This merger brings together two highly complementary fund administrators to offer a full-service platform of significant scale that has a business model and operational structure to achieve industry leadership,” said Ms. Considine. “BFG will be able to leverage the market reputation of one of the world’s premier banks, a very efficient operating platform and a highly talented and motivated management team.”
Both companies share common corporate values and bring significant strengths to BFG, in addition to sharing a highly customer centric and a high touch personalised service approach. BFG’s global operations model and use of many industry best practices is expected to significantly enhance the company’s ability to meet increasingly complex demands from its customers.
Commenting on the synergies to be realised through the formation of BFG, Mr. Brooks said, “In Fulcrum’s management team, we have found a like-minded group of fund administration professionals who share our focus on customer service and a desire to be among the top global providers of services to alternative investment strategies. We are excited about the growth prospects of BFG.”
Representatives of both Fulcrum and Butterfield noted that ensuring seamless delivery of client services during the integration is a top priority for BFG. “Clients will continue to receive the same high levels of service and from the same relationship centres while the two companies are being integrated,” said Mr. Bhargava. “We expect integration to be completely seamless from a client point of view.”
Whitney Bower, 3i Partner, added of the merger "We are proud to have been a part of Fulcrum’s growth and believe that Butterfield Fulcrum Group will be a major force in the global fund administration industry. Our industry knowledge and strong global network have enabled us to support Fulcrum’s international expansion, particularly in Europe and India, and we very much look forward to accelerating this growth through the partnership which this merger of Fulcrum and Butterfield brings. The merger of Fulcrum and Butterfield is also a testimony of 3i’s partnership style focused on driving growth."
Merrill Lynch acted as a third-party adviser to Fulcrum Group on the agreement, while UBS Investment Bank advised Butterfield.
