FRANKFURT – European private equity group Permira said at the weekend that the growing influence of hedge funds could spoil acquisitions planned by private equity firms in Germany.
“Legal protection for minority shareholders de facto works to the advantage of hedge funds,” said Permira’s German head Thomas Krenz in an interview.
Krenz said it was preferable for takeover targets to be acquired by private equity firms rather than by hedge funds as the latter were driven by short-term trading interests.
A few weeks ago, Australian bank Macquarie (MBL.AX: Quote, Profile , Research) and private equity firm BC Partners failed to take over German metering service firm Techem (TNHG.DE: Quote, Profile , Research) after several hedge funds raised their stakes in the firm and asked for a higher price.
