The biggest selling point of the UK government’s new pension initiative seems to be that it will allow schemes to invest in UK infrastructure paying no more than 0.5% in management fees.
2 min read · 15 January 2013
As part of its strategy to reduce its US assets, the troubled commercial real estate finance unit of Germany’s Commerzbank is seeking bidders for a portfolio of 12 US loans. The move follows closely on the heels of a $300 million US loan portfolio sale to The Blackstone Group.
1 min read · 14 January 2013
Providence Equity Partners’ $291m sale of Archipelago Learning to Thoma Bravo represents its second sizeable exit during the past few months and a much needed realisation as the firm tries to attract commitments for its next fund, targeting $6bn.
2 min read · 14 January 2013
Russia is seeing an upturn in private equity activity, according to new figures from Ernst & Young, with deal value in 2011 double 2010 levels and deal volume also creeping upwards.
2 min read · 14 January 2013
‘Specialist fund of funds’ may sound like a contradiction in terms – but lurking in the shadows of the the global multi-manager platforms are a lesser known group of players executing niche strategies.
4 min read · 14 January 2013
What happens when you launch a private equity firm dedicated to investing in financial services at a time when asset valuations are so madly inflated you can’t find anything to buy? You adjust your strategy and build start-ups. But then what do you do when Lehman Brothers blows up and turns an already challenging predicament into something altogether more dangerous? Throw in the towel? In his first ever interview, AnaCap Financial Partners founder Joe Giannamore, a former internet entrepreneur and horse riding professional, explains to Philip Borel how and why his firm has managed to get through it all
10 min read · 14 January 2013
Private equity can’t afford to ignore the ongoing controversy around carried interest and taxation
4 min read · 14 January 2013
In volatile markets, currency hedging can make a big difference to returns – and also help on the fundraising trail, write Philip Bowkley and Andrew Brock
5 min read · 14 January 2013
Globalvia has started 2012 in crisis management mode, with two of its Spanish concessions threatening to end in disarray.
2 min read · 15 January 2013
The UK’s National Audit Office believes drawn-out procurement processes and minimum investor rates of return are not synchronised with projects’ risk profiles and may have inflated PFI equity returns over the years.
3 min read · 15 January 2013
