Blog Post
Let the good times roll
Expectations are positive for the new decade and with due reason, given the year we’ve left behind. Things can only improve; at the very least partially.
Looking ahead
Will the poor economic outlook for 2010 mar any recovery in private equity? Or will this year - as many hope - prove a spectacular vintage?
Looking ahead
Will the poor economic outlook for 2010 mar any recovery in private equity? Or will this year - as many hope - prove a spectacular vintage?
A mixed Christmas
2009 has ended as a bit of a mixed bag for French private equity. On the one hand, this month has seen a couple of restructurings, with Duke Street Capital having its share in Navimo reduced to 30% after BNP Paribas took control, and both CVC and the...
New beginnings
2010 is expected to be a better year than 2009, although the next 12-18 months will remain challenging. Even a couple of sizeable deals at year end - such as Apax's £975m acquisition of logistics firm Marken or EQT's EUR2.3bn acquisition of German publisher...
After the storm
The run-up to year-end was decidedly slow in Southern Europe; the contents of this journal are testament to that. Fortunately, sentiment largely agrees that next year should be better
The year of two halves
At the beginning of last year, the feeling was uniformly that 2009 would be the year of portfolio management. This has, to a large extent, proven true. Most buyout firms were busy preserving value and steering their portfolio through the crisis - a crisis...
Starting from scratch? If only..
A new year should imply a fresh start. And so it might be, with a number of industry professionals polled by unquote" (pages 18-19) indicating that fresh capital and willing vendors would be the order of the day for 2010. That said, the sins of yesteryear...
End of a (short-lived) era?
The end of the year sees a real shift in sentiment from the LP community. Their focus on cash conservation sparked fear in GPs with mature funds, worried they'd be forced onto a bumpy fundraising trail. On the other hand, funds that were 20-40% invested...
All's well that ends well
What a year 2009 has been. This time last year the market entered (what we hope was) the most frightening period of most private equity professionals' careers. LPs began threatening to default on capital calls, as others sent letters to GPs asking they...
Postponed casualties
At the beginning of this year, The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) issued the headline grabbing statistic that 20-40% of buyout firms would go bust. Everyone was talking about it at first. But as the year draws to a close, the predicted industry shake-out...
Up-tick ... tick ... tick
The tides seem to be turning. European private equity activity is on the up and the DACH region has seen the largest recovery, giving some credibility to economists' claims that Germany is positioned well for a running start from the bottom (see cover)....
Corporate carvery
The year is nearly over, much to the relief of many. But as 2009 draws to a close, there is some good news: it will end on a higher note than it started. Indeed, according to data from the Q3 unquote" Private Equity Barometer, produced in association...
Ten years young
This edition of Southern Europe unquote" marks a decade of private equity coverage in the region. A lot has happened in that time: 10 years ago, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts closed its first European buyout fund on $2.8bn. This year it raised an annex fund...
The perfect venture
As the autumn leaves fall and the winter months draw in, LPs have a reason to smile. Following on from last month's EUR2.6bn exit of Orangina by private equity behemoths Lion Capital and Blackstone, this month gives us another impressive exit - this time...
AP6's strategy shift makes sense
A case study in diversification gone too far?
About face
At the time of going to press, the FTSE 100 had reached its highest point since early September 2008. Surpassing the 5,200 mark, it would seem it was the rally many had been hoping for, and indeed counting on: in the last few weeks, BC Partners became...
Un-FEESable expectations?
Whatever the state of the market, there will be qualms over fees paid to GPs. When the markets were tough in the early naughties and Europe's buyout market was gaining traction, a few brave big guns started raising ever bigger funds, meaning their fees...
Double-dipping
The number of private equity exits in 2008 virtually fell of a cliff compared with 2007, according to a study by advisory firm Ernst & Young. The figures come as no surprise, yet the questions looms whether or not the industry is prepared for the implications...
Glorious fizz
The rentree is off to an exceptional start with Blackstone and Lion Capital recording the largest exit (of the few) in France so far this year after they agreed on the sale of Orangina Schweppes Group to Suntory for EUR2.57bn. Both private equity houses...
Tough time
Over the last month, the media have been aghast at the pace of bank collapses. Foul winds have blown in from the US and reached Europe, hitting the largest countries spectacularly. This time the crisis collided with Benelux head-on as failed insurer and...
What the future holds
The worst of the storm may be behind us, with investors regaining their appetite as IPO markets slowly start opening up. Indeed, Madrid-based travel agency Amadeus, backed by Cinven and BC Partners, has hired Rothschild to advise on its planned flotation...
Investing in recovery
Germany has officially emerged from the recession and economists continue to correct their predictions upwards. The green shoots theory gains traction, with the staunchest optimists seeing Germany as well-positioned to recover - and even outpace the rest...
Covenants: need or greed?
Covenants have long formed a part of the funding documentation for any leveraged buyout. The heady days saw them loosen up a bit, with a handful of Europe's largest deals even being structured with none at all (in the US this number was much higher)