February 2004 Issue

If only deals like this could be duplicated. Last December, after a seven-year stewardship, New York buyout firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice agreed to sell Kinko's, a copy center chain, to FedEx for $2.4 billion (€1.9 billion), realising a roughly $1 billion profit. Clayton Dubilier principal George Tamke oversaw the transformation of Kinko's. Like all his firm's operating partners, Tamke was not new to the CEO role, having previously co-run Emerson Electric. But Kinko's presented a number of unique challenges for Tamke, including a disparate corporate culture and competition from home printers. Here Tamke explains how his choices as head of Kinko's were anything but blackand-white.

Fund European Strategic Partners II Firm Standard Life (Private Equity) Amount Raised €1.09 billion Fund Type Fund of funds Amount Targeted €1 billion Status Final close Investors Not disclosed Geographical Focus Europe Advisors SJ Berwin and Debevoise & Plimpton (L) Sectoral Focus Buyout funds, secondary transactions and co-investments Fund Carlyle Europe Real Estate Partners Firm […]

A small but growing community of venture capitalists in North America and Europe are working to see hydrogen fuel cell technology emerge as the leading energy alternative. Among the boosters of this ‘clean’ form of energy are, curiously, big oil, big auto, and George W. Bush. Simon Sheppard reports.

Europe's private equity market is marked by only a small community of energy specialists.

Now is a good time to be thinking about energy, and not just because of the cold temperatures in many parts of the world at present. Industry insiders are seeing a surge of opportunities to acquire good energy assets at attractive valuations. In particular, the US power plant and utility sector is a focus of attention. Simon Sheppard reports.

Austrian institutions have not yet embraced private equity in sufficient numbers to satisfy the local houses struggling to raise funds, but there are signs things may be changing, writes Andy Thomson.

There appears no room for dispute that Austria is one of Western Europe's least developed private equity markets. But as markets develop in neighbouring countries, Austrian investors are seeing new opportunities. Andy Thomson paid a visit to Vienna.

What's the outlook for the US debt market in 2004? The answer depends on whether you ask a senior, mezzanine, or high yield debt provider. Alex J. Stockham reports up and down the financial structure about what these leveraged finance professionals are seeing and how they're feeling.

When PEI sat down with five seasoned leveraged finance professionals in London recently, it became clear that although business is good, they were keen to tread carefully in today's market. There also seemed to be a growing sense that the dynamic between sponsor and finance provider has changed – to the sponsors' advantage. We talked to them about the issues behind this shift and heard why getting it right matters all the more today.

The leveraged finance community in Europe have plenty to be working on: the deal pipeline is filling up and the private equity firms have the appetite to acquire sizeable assets. But the problem is that a host of financiers have noticed this. Whether a senior or more subordinated debt or mezzanine provider: wherever you tread you are going to find several of your peers ahead and behind you. Is it time to start talking about a leverage finance overhang, ask David Hawkins and Philip Borel.

Many industry observers are impressed with the globe-spanning private equity operation that Jeff Walker has built at JP Morgan Partners. But some also ask: ‘What's a nice firm like this doing in a big investment bank?’ David Snow gets the answer.

How long does it take for a portfolio of private equity fund investments to pay back investors' capital? Barry Griffiths looked at the data. Here's what he found.

In the late 1990s, the bottom dropped out of the European high yield market, not least because of problems in the cable sector. Now high yield is coming back, and its appetite for cable is recovering as well.

The 2004 North American Private Equity COOs and CFOs Forum Staff 2004-02-01 Writer Although few will claim that private equity has yet become institutionalised as an asset class, many more will agree that private equity is growing up fast. This does not simply refer to the capital now available

Difference Staff 2004-02-01 Writer It's hard to think of another private equity phenomenon that attracts as much bad press ? as well as limited partner criticism ? as secondary buyouts. How many times have you come across commentary claiming that general partners engaged in the practice were ?p