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A small, last minute cash call…
Three Alphavillans are running around Canary Wharf in East London this evening in support of the British Heart Foundation.
Left to right: Lisa Pollack, David Keohane and Masa Serdarevic
Click here to make it worth their while.
So public-spirited, that Mr Kingsnorth
It takes time, money and commitment to take on the dogs of the investment company sector. Colin Kingsnorth has all three, which is perhaps why he’s picked fights with its two biggest canines. On the one hand, here is 3i,
Terra Firma seeks €1bn from sovereign wealth fund
Terra Firma Capital Partners has dropped plans to start fundraising this spring and is seeking instead to collect about €1bn from a single sovereign wealth fund to keep doing deals, the FT reports, citing people familiar with its plans. The group,
Schwarzmann paid $213.5m in 2011
Blackstone co-founder Stephen Schwarzman got about $213.5m in salary, share of profits and cash distributions from his holdings in the world’s largest private equity firm in 2011, up 33 percent from the previous year,
Gordon Gekko tells Wall St greed is not good
Michael Douglas is playing a new and unlikely role as spokesman for the US Federal Bureau of Investigation in its war against corruption on Wall Street, the FT reports. The Hollywood actor – famous for his line “greed is good” in the 1987 film Wall Street – is sending a new message in a public service announcement,
KKR chiefs take home $94m each
Henry Kravis and George Roberts each took home a pay-out of around $94m last year from KKR, the private equity group they helped to found, the latest sign of the riches available to industry executives at a sensitive time in the US presidential election,
Further further reading
For the commute home,
- Mario Draghi does not know baseball. (Plus other #DraghiQuotes)
- This looks like a very very selective history of financial innovation…
- Reuters blogger snobs on Nigerian finance minister
- ”…the primary economic threat from high oil prices may well be the reaction from central bankers”
Obama and Romney unveil rival tax plans
President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, his most likely Republican rival in this year’s election, battled for the mantle of tax reformer as they released competing visions for comprehensive reform, the FT reports.
Vista makes rival £1.2bn bid for Misys
A US private equity group has made a rival £1.2bn offer for Misys, the banking software company which this month agreed a merger deal with Switzerland’s Temenos, says the FT, citing people close to the deal.
[AV meets Naked Capitalism] Regulations… and optimism
For this, our final post covering FT Alphaville’s meeting with Yves Smith of Naked Capitalism, we asked her about the regulations that have arisen from the ashes of the financial crisis. Not wanting to leave the series on a depressing note,
Paulson calls for Hartford split
John Paulson, the billionaire investor, has taken public his efforts to get The Hartford Financial Services Group to split into two companies, says the FT. The Hartford, like other insurers, has been under pressure in its life insurance business as interest rates hover near zero, making it difficult to generate the income to cover pay-outs on products like annuities.
Oil rush for private equity
The shale gas and fracking boom in America’s oil industry is attracting ever more private equity money, with funds signing three times the value of energy deals in 2011 compared to 2010, the WSJ reports.
SEC scrutinising private equity
The SEC has begun a broad examination of the private equity industry, says NYT DealBook, citing two people with direct knowledge of the matter. The regulator’s enforcement unit sent a letter late last year to several private equity funds as part of what it called an “informal inquiry” into the industry,
Buy-out group eyes Ducati disposal
Ducati is set to change hands this year after its private equity owner said it aimed to make three times its initial investment by selling or listing the producer of top-end Italian motorcycles. Investindustrial,
Junk bond market revives LBOs
The big leveraged buy-out groups of the credit boom have gained renewed access to funds as the junk bond market has rallied and buyers have flocked to the highest-yielding assets, says the FT. Energy Future Holdings,
Caesars IPO prices casino chain at $1.13bn
Caesars Entertainment, the casino chain carrying more than $22bn in debt, completed an initial public offering that gives the company a market value of $1.13bn, Bloomberg reports. Las Vegas-based Caesars,
Carlyle to focus on Turkey and Saudi Arabia
Carlyle Group has installed a leadership pairing at its Middle East and north African arm as the private equity group reframes its investment strategy, focusing on the region’s main growth markets in Turkey and the Gulf,
US public pension funds move into private equity
Large US public pension plans are pouring more money into private equity funds, the WSJ reports. Big public employee pensions had about $220bn invested in private equity in September, or 11 per cent of their assets,
Blackstone raises $6bn for new property fund
Blackstone Group has secured more than $6bn in pledged capital for a new property fund, largely comprised of distressed assets, the FT reports, citing a person familiar with the matter. The New York-based private equity group has been one of the world’s most aggressive buyers of commercial property,
AMR hopefuls seek British Airways support
Some potential suitors for American Airlines are looking for support, or perhaps an investment, from British Airways, the WSJ says, citing people familiar with the matter. Private-equity firm TPG Capital,
Private equity fees called into question
Private equity has proved better at enriching its own managers than producing investment profits for US pension funds over the past decade, according to a study prepared for the FT by academics at Yale and Maastricht University. From 2001 to 2010,
Further reading
Elsewhere on Thursday,
- Einhorn vs the eurozone foghorns.
- Try as he might, Felix Salmon will never be Davos Deville. OK?
- Horrible pawnbroking story du jour.
- Why the Asian growth miracle might go way way back.
Romney tax fight puts pressure on private equity
Mitt Romney has said that his income tax rate is ”probably closer to 15 percent than anything,” a rate below that of most Americans and suggesting that much of the Republican presidential nomination candidate’s income comes from capital gains,
Yang quits Yahoo
Jerry Yang, co-founder of Yahoo, has resigned from its board of directors, opening the way to a deal to sell the company’s lucrative stake in China’s Alibaba or to find private equity investment, Reuters reports.
Cinven to buy CPA Global for £950m
UK buy-out group Cinven has agreed to purchase CPA Global, one of the world’s largest patent management groups for £950m, the FT reports, citing people close to the deal. ICG, which provides companies with debt and equity funding, asked advisers HSBC and DC Advisory Partners to start the sales process for CPA Global in December,
France Télécom in talks to sell Orange Austria stake
France Télécom is in advanced talks to sell its 35 per cent stake in Orange Austria to Hutchison Whampoa, the WSJ reports, citing people familiar with the matter who said the deal could be finalised in the coming weeks,
Further reading
Elsewhere on Monday,
- Bank of America has a “Chief Image Officer.”
- Why the Fed’s real error was in 2008, not 2006.
- S&P’s downgrades — the “convergence play” dies, again.
- Was S&P downgrading the euro itself?
- Bankers vs private equity:
Vultures circle GHG as restructuring looms
Distressed debt investors are circling General Healthcare Group, the FT says, in expectation that the UK’s largest private hospital operator by revenue will be forced to restructure its heavily indebted financial set-up.
Rivals said to be looking at American Airlines bid
Potential buyers are circling American Airlines, weighing bids for its parent company that could place the carrier in the hands of a rival or a private-equity firm, says the WSJ, citing people familiar with the matter. Delta Air Lines, US Airways and TPG Capital separately are reportedly studying bids for AMR,