James Taylor

The recruitment of ex-public company CFO Gary Hughes takes Apax Partners’ portfolio support team to 11 people

For a short, improbable period before the last UK General Election, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg was the UK’s most popular politician.

Forthcoming research suggests 40% of European LPs plan to increase their private equity allocations next year, with many seeking new managers.

When The Blackstone Group’s Chad Pike – a US national who was previously co-head of the firm’s real estate arm and is now vice-chairman of Blackstone Europe – bought a family home in Edington, a tiny Wilshire village not far from Stonehenge, he probably thought he was acquiring a little slice of English country paradise (albeit largely for weekend use only).

Poor old Mitt. When your opponents are trying to characterise you as an out-of-touch asset-stripping plutocrat with no compassion for the struggles of working people, it’s probably not a good idea to add fuel to the fire by criticising your country’s widespread dependency culture while having dinner with other rich people in a mansion.

First Round has been inspired by the (somewhat unexpected) London Olympic euphoria as much as the next magazine intro section. But inspiration can only take you so far; viz., up to the point when someone tries to talk you into an act of athletic endeavour or endurance that goes way beyond the boundaries of common sense.

Once upon a time Rolling Stone used to be a music magazine. But these days it also dabbles a bit in business and finance, notably with its famous ‘vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity’ evisceration of Goldman Sachs in 2010.

CVC has brought in a heavy-hitting operational expert to replace Andrew Bristow as CEO at Autobar, as it gears up for a sale or a float of the UK vending machine company.

The Paris-headquartered firm has paid CHF 30 million for a minority stake in manufacturer Group Acrotec, as it looks to take advantage of rising demand for Swiss watches.

Amid all the hullabaloo over Facebook’s exorbitant valuation (which admittedly seems to getting less exorbitant by the hour, at time of writing), First Round would like you to spare a thought for the real victims of its remarkable success story: Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss.