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.<\/p>\n
“Legal protection for minority shareholders de facto works to the advantage of hedge funds,” said Permira’s German head Thomas Krenz in an interview.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
A few weeks ago, Australian bank Macquarie (MBL.AX: Quote<\/a>, Profile<\/a> , Research<\/a>) and private equity firm BC Partners failed to take over German metering service firm Techem (TNHG.DE: Quote<\/a>, Profile<\/a> , Research<\/a>) after several hedge funds raised their stakes in the firm and asked for a higher price.<\/p>\n