Straight from the horse's mouth - 2009: The year in quotes

14 December 2009

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On deals ...

"Our trust is currently 49% cash - at one time that might have been labelled inefficient and some shareholders might have exerted pressure on us to invest or return the capital, but in the current market, it's a good position to be in" Ian Armitage, HgCapital, on the viability of listed vehicles

(18 May 2009, page 15)

"Management teams are definitely asking more questions. They are spending more time with us asking about structures. For example, they want to know what it means for them if they're 10% below budget, or ahead. They want more figures so they feel comfortable with the deal" Mick McDonagh, private equity specialist partner at KPMG

(13 July 2009, page 17)

"I suspect that some LPs are now saying that they will only invest in a new fund out of cash realised from the GP's existing fund, increasing the pressure on GPs to exit their portfolio companies" David Bayliss, partner at Norton Rose

(30 November 2009, page 16)

"I'd look very carefully at someone looking to sell at the moment. There has to be a good reason, otherwise I would advise them to hang on - as much as it pains me"

Peter Hemington, partner at BDO Stoy Hayward

(1 June 2009, page 10)

"Q2 2009 marked the highest level of all-equity deals unquote" has ever recorded" unquote"

(24 August 2009, page 19)

ON BANKING ...

"Few, if any, UK banks will have come close to hitting their lending budget targets at the half-year point due to deal volumes being so low. With the year-end approaching, sponsors should therefore find bankers more receptive than ever to put some debt to work into sensibly structured deals" anonymous banker

(24 August 2009, page 19)

"Banks are coming down hard and taking advantage of what are sometimes purely technical breaches to demand new equity or charge sharply increased fees for covenant resets. This can do serious damage to the health of a portfolio company" Nathan Williams, BVCA

(7 September 2009, page 10)

"Until now, government stimulation has been propping up banks' liquidity and, as a result, not a large number of restructuring deals have been happening. But I think we're heading to a crunch point in 2010 when stimuli will stop and we'll see sales of bad debts by the banks" Adam Levin, Dechert

(2 November 2009, page 13)

ON LP/GP RELATIONS ...

"In terms of leverage on new fund terms ... well the ball is finally in the LPs' court, although I strongly believe it should have always been there in the first place"

Lorenzo Lorenzotti, managing director ACG Private Equity

(3 August 2009, page 16)

"When LPs invested with GPs and committed their capital to 10-year plus, they expected profits. Now almost all GPs have lost between 25-50% of LPs' capital" unquote" news story, "GPs are thieves"

(19 October 2009, page 7)

"We do not want to see buyout GPs falling in love with their investments. Especially for those early realisations in a fund, we would rather see an exit at a reasonable multiple to get capital back to investors than hold out for eight-plus years in the hope of the big win, as you never know what is around the corner"

Lynsey Register, investment manager, Hermes Private Equity

(16 November 2009, page 19)

"If we were simply in the asset gathering business, distressed credit and secondaries are quite hot right now - everyday we get calls asking if we are raising a new secondaries fund"

George Anson, managing director of HarbourVest Europe

(13 July 2009, page 13)

"Where LPs had favourite fund managers, they don't anymore. It's open, with five to eight meetings with prospective investments now the norm" Mounir Guen, CEO of MVision (21 September 2009, page 17)

"I was surprised by the LP reaction. It was not that gloomy and I was mildly encouraged by that. LPs seem to want to back the lower mid-market"

Simon Turner, Inflexion Private Equity, on raising a £75m co-investment fund

(21 September 2009, page 17)

"Now is the time to stay in the private equity market. As a result of the distress and lack of liquidity, the opportunities are unbelievable. In the end, it's quite simple: in this environment you can take advantage of lower entry multiples, forced sellers and sometimes irrational behaviour"

Sergio Jovele, vice president, Partners Group

(2 November 2009, page 17)

ON VENTURE ...

"European and UK VCs are now delivering some large returns to their investors such as Bebo, mySQL, Core Valve and Q Cells - all £500m+ exits"

Manish Madhvani, partner and co-founder of GP Bullhound

(19 October 2009, page 16)

"This fund won't make one bit of difference. We're talking about peanuts. Foresight is raising a solar fund equivalent to the total amount of capital the government plans to raise for its inaugural fund. The vehicle is also bound to be constrained"

Bernard Fairman, managing partner of Foresight Group, speaking on the UK Innovation Investment Fund

(19 October 2009, page 14)

"The proposals aren't helpful or necessary for the venture capital industry. They are out of alignment and should be targeted elsewhere. If we've learnt anything over the last year, it is that regulation has failed spectacularly with regard to some incredibly large financial institutions. It is ironic and unfortunate that the knee jerk reaction to all this includes targeting areas which have never actually been the problem"

Calum Paterson, Scottish Equity Partners, on the AIFM directive

(19 October 2009, page 16).