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.
Telegraph.co.uk – Coupland Cardiff’s chief operating officer Deborah Boyce said: “As we invest exclusively in Asia, this Directive will mean that we have no choice but to relocate outside of the EU should we wish to continue to operate.”
She was one of a host of figures from the private equity and hedge fund industry to attack the draft Directive in response to a call for evidence from a UK parliamentary committee.
Private equity group CVC said: “It is so poorly drafted that it creates a new category of risks and inefficiencies”.
Mecury News – September brought a sharp uptick in M&A activity, according to the 451 Group, a firm that analyzes the tech industry. The month began with the $2 billion “carve out” deal for Skype, in which eBay sold 65 percent of the company to a consortium led by the Menlo Park-based private equity group Silver Lake Partners, with participation by venture firms Andreessen Horowitz and Index Ventures.
Analyst Brenon Daly predicted that the September “acceleration” suggests that the climate is right for more deal-making in the months ahead.David W. Healey, co-chairman of M&A for law firm Fenwick & West, said the recent deals have largely advanced strategic interests of the companies involved, “which is healthy,” as opposed to deals based more on “financial engineering” involving private equity and hedge funds that characterized much of the M&A earlier this decade.
Reuters – The following corporate finance-related stories were reported by media on Friday:
* Fortress Investment Group, among the largest private equity and hedge fund firms, is looking to go on an acquisition drive, the Financial Times said, citing a memo passed to Fortress staff. [ID:nBNG147186]
* Spain’s Cosmen family and private equity group CVC have made a joint takeover approach for British bus and rail group National Express Group Plc, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing people close to the situation. [ID:nLN409582]
ShareCast – Private equity group BlueGem is to take a 40% stake in stockbroker Panmure Gordon in a move that will inject £17.3m of capital into the broker.Panmure Gordon has placed 72m new shares with BlueGem at 24p per share.
The acquisition of the stake represents BlueGem’s fourth investment and its first in the financial services sector. The company was formed in late 2006 by experienced investment bankers and fund managers to make investments in mid-market companies, predominantly in the UK and Italy.
The net proceeds from the placing will ‘significantly strengthen the company’s balance sheet’, the company said, giving it regulatory assets in excess of £40m, more than three times more than its required regulatory capital.
Financial Times – Blackstonemarked down the value of billions of dollars worth of debt it bought at a discount from Deutsche Bank to zero, demonstrating that the group bet too early on a recovery.
Blackstone bought the debt in April and marked down the value by the end of the year. The private equity group disclosed the markdown in a conference call on Tuesday with investors, who have grown concerned about the impact the global recession is having on the portfolio companies of private equity firms.
