EUROPE - Bear Stearns Private Equity seizes the moment

In an interview with unquote", Bear Stearns Private Equity director Greg Getschow explains that market upheaval can be good for business and how GPs will have to rediscover the essence of private equity. The last few weeks have been a challenging time for those associated with the Bear Stearns brand name. The collapse of two Bear Stearns hedge funds heavily exposed to sub-prime mortgage debt caused the share price to plummet, earnings forecasts were slashed and credit worthiness downgraded. From much of the reporting, one would have been forgiven for believing the end was nigh for one of the world’s giants of investment banking. However, away from this turmoil, its LSE listed fund-of-funds arm sensed an opportunity. As investor confidence wavered and its stock price fell, executives at Bear Stearns Private Equity Limited (BSPEL) exercised an option to buy-back shares. ‘We looked at the market, looked at our business and saw an under-valued stock,’ says Greg Getschow, senior managing director at BSPEL.