Toby Mitchenall
The Switzerland-listed fund of funds is selling its stakes in seven private equity funds in order to free up cash for capital calls and further fund commitments.
Charlie Bott, chairman of Goldman’s European financial sponsors group, is regarded as the first private equity-dedicated banker. He is replaced by John Waldron, previously co-head of leveraged finance.
Having spent the last few years positioning itself as a rapidly maturing market, Spain may yet be thankful for its youth, writes Toby Mitchenall.
Permira partner Veronica Eng has said ‘any manager worth its salt’ is taking a hard look at its portfolio companies and carefully broaching new investments amid today’s unprecedented financial climate. Phoenix CFO Steve Darrington, meanwhile, expects unsettled investors to flock to smaller managers.
Banks and private equity firms can breathe a small sigh of relief at UBS’ settlement with Tank & Rast, writes Toby Mitchenall.
The mid-market buyout firm has agreed to a refinancing package – increasingly rare given credit dislocation – for sportswear brand Odlo on terms ‘very similar’ to the senior debt agreement put in place at the time of its original acquisition in 2006.
The buyout giant has said ‘a number of market conditions’ caused its investment portfolio to lose $1.2bn in value in the first half of 2008, while the firm’s compensation costs for an expanding stable of employees grew by 80 percent.
The London- and Paris-based secondaries shop has closed its latest fund and is looking forward to the ‘attractive opportunity’ for the secondaries market caused by credit market dislocation.
The global buyout group is in exclusive talks with credit checking giant Experian to buy its French electronic payments business, in a week in which the firm has already executed two Latin American deals and a Japanese fund close.
The listed private equity investor revealed its first write-down in seven years this morning. However, the group’s shares rose in early trading as investors reacted positively to the firm’s interim results statement.