By Myles Neligan LONDON (Reuters UK) - Insurer Friends Provident FP said it had dropped efforts to sell financial advisory unit Pantheon Financial after failing to achieve a good enough price for the business. "Despite a number of positive expressions of interest, Friends Provident believes...
By Simon Challis and Clara Ferreira-Marques LONDON (Reuters UK) - Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners CVC is in the "leading position" in talks to buy high-end insurer Lombard, a unit of Friends Provident FP, sources close to the matter said on Friday. U.S. private equity...
By Megan Davies and Jessica Hall NEW YORK/PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Spats over the last remaining leveraged takeovers forged during the private equity boom have mostly been resolved, but Wall Street banks, buyout firms and the companies they target have been left more than...
When private equity firms invest in publicly held companies, they often negotiate special governance arrangements, including as to composition of the board of directors and it has become common practice among them. Sometimes the private equity firm will get the right to nominate one or more directors, and often there...
Sallie Mae, the largest U.S. student-loan company, is talking with private equity firms about a potential leveraged buyout. A LBO would be unusual for a financial company because it would require it to take on more debt, which can cut into the profit margins of a lender like Sallie...
Facing high valuations, growing competition and mounting pressure from limited partners, private equity firms are seeking nontraditional strategies to achieve more predictable returns. For some, this has meant shifting exit preferences away from the initial public offering market, with an eye toward partnerships with strategic investors. For others, it has...
Given the dismal reception of debt-laden, private-equity-backed initial public offerings in recent weeks and the absence of any high-yield dividend recaps since April 1, 2005, logical observers might wonder whether private equity firms now face a sea change in their ability to finance, and exit, leveraged buyouts. Will picky investors...
This article focuses on the alignment of partner compensation with the objectives of a firm. It identifies a trend towards institution building in private equity firms. Leading private equity firms are interested in organizational performance as well as deal performance. Without discounting the vital importance of investment returns, some firm...
This article focuses on succession and the challenges of leadership transition in private equity firm. Firms that plan in advance will be well-positioned when leadership transitions occur. Succession cannot be thought of as a one-off event, but should be recognized as a recurring process that must be planned. This planning...
A recent US lawsuit has ruled that a private equity firm cannot appoint directors to the boards of two competing portfolio companies even if those directors are different individuals. In this article, Debra Pearlstein and Jae Kim of Weil, Gotshal & Manges advice private equity firms on how to avoid...
The global private equity industry over the last two years has been characterized by a lack of exit opportunities open to private equity firms. Canadian investment banking firms have been aggressively marketing the "Canadian Income Trust" structure to private equity firms as an alternative exit strategy for their US-based portfolio...
This article highlights issues related to private equity. US private equity firms may be permitted certain freedoms with regard transparency and accountability but they will still be required to comply with key information sharing procedures designed to block the flow of illegal, and specifically terrorist, capital. And despite any allowances...
Today’s business environment is similar in ways to the early 1990s when private equity firms rose up to restructure mountains of bad debt and went on to cash out in the ensuing bull market. But while opportunities are out there, it is harder to make deals work than it was...
This paper gives us a brief insight of survey in order to develop a better understanding of the investment criteria used by middle-market private equity firms, get an overview of their portfolio composition, assess the impact of the current market malaise on their investing activity, and gather their perspectives...
Throughout the 1990s, the world's leading Private Equity firms consistently generated mouth-watering returns for their investors. The article depicts that the leading Private Equity companies systematically create a "performance culture" in the businesses they own. Management and employees come to work each day determined to do everything they can to...
Huge pay gains seen in the private equity industry in 2000 are unlikely to be seen again this 2001 or 2002, according to William M Mercer's 2001 Private Equity Firms Compensation Survey. Big gains in base pay and carried interest boosted pay in the private equity industry last year but...
Britain's biggest restaurant group was accused yesterday of increasing its profits by using tips from customers at two of its high street "pizza and pasta" chains to top up the earnings of waiting staff to ensure they are paid the minimum wage. Gondola Group, the private equity-controlled...
Merrex Gold Inc. ("Merrex" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: MXI) announces that the private placement announced June 12, 2008 is withdrawn due to adverse market conditions for equity financings, especially for junior resource companies such as Merrex. Alternate financing sources are being investigated. "Notwithstanding the significant results achieved to date...
BOSTON, July 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Riverside Partners, a Boston based private equity firm focusing on healthcare and technology businesses, is pleased to announce that The J-Pac and Doyen Medipharm Group ("JPDM" or the "Company"), a leader in contract manufacturing and packaging machinery for the medical device and pharmaceutical industries,...
DUBLIN, Ireland -- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/cc4883/banco_santander_s) has announced the addition of the "Banco Santander S.A. - IT Sales Opportunities - 2008" report to their offering. Banco Santander S.A. is a financial group that offers a range of financial products. At the primary level, the Banks operating units...
