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’[Something for the weekend] An irrelevant bargain for Branson
When you’re short of money, the odd £747m always comes in useful, but it doesn’t go far these days. It’s enough to finance the UK state spending machine for about nine hours. The government had spent more than the proceeds from the sale of Northern Rock before it could read the reaction to it in Friday’s papers.
3i and a top City rainmaker
Are we about to see some action at struggling private equity group 3i? Chairman Sir Adrian Montague must be hoping so.
Amid talk that several large shareholders are planning to abstain or vote against re-election of chief executive,
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Wednesday,
- 3i appoints Greenhill’s Simon Borrows as its new chief investment officer — statement and results.
- Sodexo sees Q3 sales growth slow, but retains targets — statement.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Thursday,
- Ireland puts maximum Anglo Irish bailout cost at €34.3bn — statement.
- Allied Irish Banks planned capital increase rises to €10.4bn — statement.
- Sir John Rose to leave Rolls-Royce in March 2011 — statement.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Monday,
- Unilever to acquire Alberto Culver for $3.7bn — statement.
- 3i to acquire Mizuho Investment Management for £18.3m — statement.
- Artemis Alpha Trust and Gartmore Growth Opportunities agree to merge assets — statement and statement.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Thursday,
- ING contests EC calculation of state aid it has received – statement.
- 3i Group realisations fall to £777m for the nine months to December versus £942m the year before – statement.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Thursday,
- Cisco to acquire Tandberg for $3bn — Bloomberg.
- Icap revenue expected to increase 6 per cent in second half — statement.
- 3i Infrastructure invested £32m between April 1 and Sept.
Not everything has rallied
European equity markets may be 40-50 per cent off their March lows, but what about private equity assets. Have they bounced? The answer from would appear to be no, judging by Monday’s news from 3i.
The listed private equity group has sold a portfolio of 29 stakes in European start-up companies for £130m to a consortium of investors made up Coller Capital,
3i to offload European assets
3i, the former powerhouse of Europe’s venture capital industry, has entered exclusive talks to sell a portfolio of 36 European venture capital investments to a consortium led by Coller Capital and HarbourVest Partners for about £100m.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Wednesday,
- John Meriwether shuts JWM hedge fund after losses — Bloomberg.
- 3i realisation proceeds down to £163m in Q2, appoints non-exec directors — statement, statement,
Saad on sale – again
This time the troubled Saudi investment group had sold 30m shares in 3i Infrastructure fund at 85p each.
Or has it?
Like Tuesday’s disposal of 16m shares in Berkeley Group, the sale has again been handled by Citigroup.
Weekend catch-up
In case you missed these stories:
- Hedge funds have their best month in years
Hedge funds posted their best monthly returns in nine years in April as they took advantage of rallying stock markets and opportunities in the energy and fixed income markets.
The City of London ATM
Predictable really. PLCs are taking advantage of the huge run-up in their stock prices from their March lows to tap shareholders for more cash.
On Friday morning, housebuilder Taylor Wimpey announced plans to raise £510m via a placing and open offer that will dilute existing shareholders by 33 per cent,
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Friday,
- RBS posts a Q1 pre-tax loss of £44m on impairment losses totalling £4.93bn — statement.
- 3i announces £700m rights issue, posts fiscal-year results – statement,
Taylor Wimpey, 3i make cash calls
Taylor Wimpey, the UK housebuilder, and 3i, the UK buyout group are on Friday expected to raise £1.25bn by issuing new shares. Both companies had to wrestle with investors to win support for the capital raisings,
3i’s investors attack £700m rights issue
Three of 3i’s top 20 investors have attacked the UK private equity company’s proposals to launch a rights issue of up to £700m, raising doubts that the group will pursue the plans. Members of 3i’s board were briefed last week about the plans of Michael Queen,
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Monday,
- Aviva worldwide sales up 5 per cent in quarter — statement.
- UBS names Alex Wilmot-Sitwell and Carsten Kengeter as co-CEOs for investment bank — statement.
3i in plans for rights issue
The board of 3i will meet on Monday to discuss plans for the UK’s oldest private equity group to raise £500m-£700m from a rights issue as Michael Queen, its new chief executive, steps up his debt-reduction efforts.
A Queen-sized deal at 3I
Michael Queen is wasting no time in addressing market concerns about debt levels at 3i, Europe’s largest listed private equity company.
Fresh from selling a £60m stake in its infrastructure fund, Mr Queen has now launched a bid for another 3i spin-off – its Quoted Private Equity fund.
Groups exit Gatwick bid
Two of the five consortia considering bids for Gatwick airport have abandoned the process six weeks before final binding offers are due to be submitted, posing a problem for majority owner Ferrovial of Spain.
Mark to myth, private equity leveraged returns edition
In recognition of the extreme volatility in the markets, the Group has undertaken a special exercise to value its largest investments at 31 December 2008… For those assets valued on an earnings basis at both 30 September 2008 and 31 December 2008,
Yea steps down as 3i chief
Philip Yea, chief executive of 3i, parted ways with Europe’s biggest listed private equity group on Wednesday after its shares fell by almost three-quarters in a year. The surprise move came as the only private equity group in the FTSE 100 said it had written down the value of its 50 biggest investments by 21%,
3i faces creditor coup at VNU
Britain’s oldest private equity group is facing a possible creditor takeover at VNU Business Media Europe, the Dutch group it bought at the peak of the buyout boom, reports The Times. 3i, which will present its interim management statement Wednesday,
Private equity eyes HBOS assets
HBOS has been informally approached by private equity groups about buying its housing subsidiaries, Keepmoat and Apollo, reports The Independent. The Scottish bank, due to merge with rival Lloyds TSB this week,
3i shares fall below 1994 IPO level
Shares in 3i, Europe’s biggest listed buy-out firm, tumbled Tuesday for the first time below the level at which it floated in 1994. The shares dropped nearly 13% to 243p, extending their decline to 25% this week amid investor concerns over a fall in the value of its investments and the level of group borrowings.
3i plans to cut 15% of workforce
3i, the UK’s biggest listed private equity group, will on Thursday announce plans to cut about 15% of its workforce in one of the starkest illustrations of how the industry is slashing costs to prepare for a sharp downturn in their industry.
3i suffers as turmoil cuts net asset value
The UK’s biggest listed private equity group, 3i, reported its first negative returns for five years on Thursday as a sharp rise in provisions for potential investment losses and a drop in valuations took their toll.
Lombard: The harsh facts of life for 3i
If 3i is the cautious public face of private equity, then the prospects for the more buccaneering end of the buy-out business cannot be good.
The listed British investment group took a fearful beating when the dotcom bubble deflated.
Snap news
The latest on Thursday,
- Man Group sees profits fall 24%; $6bn of redemptions – statement
- Old Mutual sees funds under management fall 9% to £254.4bn ytd – statement
- Henderson Group sees