As conventional exit options dry up, direct secondaries transactions are beginning to hit GPs’ radars. Will the economic slowdown bring them into the mainstream?
Tuesday, 13th May 2008
Vulture 2.0
Posted at 12:00am
The struggle to keep private equity honest continues. Following Goldman Sachs’ placing of restrictions on club deals in its handling of the sale of GE’s plastics division earlier this year, Australian conglomerate Coles Myers’ advisers Carnegie Wylie and Deutsche Bank have upped the ante with an even more rigid code of conduct for their forthcoming auction, in a bid to instill some competitive spirit. Following its rejection of an A$18.2bn (€11bn) offer from a sprawling Kohlberg Kravis Roberts-led consortium last year, Coles has placed a limit on the number of private equity firms it will allow to participate in an investment club. Read more
Posted at 12:00am
The final close of NanoDimension’s debut fund on €45m last month came five years after its launch and fell €30m below its hard cap. Read more
Posted at 12:00am
Big buyout firms may have a reputation for being aloof and secretive, but their venture capital colleagues are going out of their way to make friends. Read more
Posted at 12:00am
One reader mischievously asked the Vulture if Shriti Vadera was just an anagram, or perhaps a pseudonym for Sir Ronald Cohen?
Posted at 12:00am
Laurens Capital has launched a private equity arm called the Valens Funds, which the PR solemnly informs the Vulture is a Latin word meaning strong and durable. Read more
Posted at 12:00am
The first person to correctly translate all the Vulture’s mottos from Latin, as published in the 8 March edition, was Nicola Horton of Smith & Williamson Corporate Finance. Read more
Posted at 12:00am
While we had several witty responses to our caption competition showing Real Deals editor Ross Butler apparently ignoring a German unionist protestor – as printed in The Independent – none of them were publishable. Read more
Posted at 12:00am
The creation of investment house Darwin Private Equity this month is an interesting twist in the evolution of the industry. Read more
Posted at 12:00am
Life sciences investors are increasingly seeking less risky returns from the speciality pharma segment. The past few weeks have seen a number of European VCs putting large sums of money into building up European speciality pharma platforms. Read more
Posted at 12:00am
Placating riled union activists on your doorstep and pulling up your collar to avoid the accusatory lens of a paparrazo are relatively new phenomena for the average UK private equity professional – or trade magazine editor for that matter. But French investors have been running the picket line for years. Read more
LATEST ISSUE
Leader
The sins of the parent
It is not often that the UK chief of a mid-market private equity house ups and leaves in the midst of an ignominious deal collapse. So when European Capital co-founder Simon Henderson walked away from the firm he helped create last week, the news was greeted with shock.
Top Story
The direct approach
As conventional exit options dry up, direct secondaries transactions are beginning to hit GPs’ radars. Will the economic slowdown bring them into the mainstream?
Feature
An interview with Doug Miller
The outgoing EVPA chairman talks about private equity’s cynics, the evolution of venture philanthropy, and why investors should not hide their charitable activities.
Comment
Full stream ahead
European GPs are increasingly adopting the US’s deal-by-deal approach to waterfall distribution. But it’s not all smooth sailing, says Stephen Sims of Macfarlanes.
News Analysis
Wellington partners: ready for battle
Exceeding its fundraising target was the easy part. Now for the US-style returns.
