October 2004 Issue

Investment consultants offering advice only on private equity say their clients are better served than those of gatekeepers that have ventured into money management. David Snow presents the case for both sides

Private equity firms are making bets on digital entertainment distribution. Some have already been richly rewarded

The New York City comptroller's office plans to staff up and allocate billions of dollars to private equity

A fee-averse pension fund learns a hard lesson about turnaround investing

An article published earlier this year in Swedish business magazine Afförs Vörlden, which zeroed in on the country's most successful private equity players, has cast the spotlight on a Nordic taboo: significant personal wealth. Unsurprisingly, it has caused a stir

Swiss private equity firm Leman Capital sheds French clothing and accessories purveyor

Paul Capital taps an executive recruiter to expand its secondary-deal sourcing capabilities

Gemini's new $200m Israeli venture fund proved popular with Europeans

Some company owners are desperate for a liquidity event, but is anyone this desperate? We received an email from a Santa Monica, California outfit with this message: “We specialize in assisting emerging companies in “Going Public” … I wish I could covey to you, all the many benefits of going public in a brief letter. […]

PEI enjoys chewing the fat with London's private equity headhunters: they always have some interesting, and occasionally indiscrete, thoughts to share. In a recent exchange of views, it became clear that the appointment of industry veterans to the general partner ranks is widely acknowledged to be a good thing. But we discovered that there are […]

The allure of Europe is clear, and canny US investors are keen to take advantage

THE BIDDER THAT WASN'T 2004-10-02 Staff Writer When London's Sunday Times put Permira in the frame as a possible £5 billion bidder for the J Sainsbury supermarket chain, it was only the size of the deal that might have taken a few people by surprise. Even for Permira, this would

GAGEN GETS THE BLUES 2004-10-02 Staff Writer The former head of 3i's private equity activities in the US will not be idle for long, according to a report in London's Evening Standard newspaper. Although Martin Gagen has been linked with a new role in the academic world, his short-term ambitions appear to inv

RICHER THAN MICK 2004-10-02 Staff Writer If one is going to appear in the The Daily Mirror, a newspaper not famous for its discretion or subtlety, one might as well be on this list – “Britain's Top 100 Self-Made Millionaires.” Toping the list is fashion tycoon Philip Green with £

SWEAT EQUITY 2004-10-02 Staff Writer It's been a good few weeks for Jonathan Nelson. His firm, Rhode Island-based communications specialist Providence Equity Partners, rounded up $4.25 billion for Fund V, he clinched a deal with Sony to acquire Hollywood studio MGM (see degrees of separation), and he got a b

IMPETUS SPEAKS UP 2004-10-02 Staff Writer Venture philanthropy has long been a forceful movement in the US and Canada, but in Europe, the practice of using VC style investment techniques to help charitable organizations maximize their effectiveness remains in its infancy. Impetus Trust

BLACKSTONE AND CLYDE 2004-10-02 Staff Writer Stephen Schwarzman really knows how to bring disparate groups together. Since May, the Blackstone co-founder has been chairman of the Washington DC-based John F. Kennedy Center, a performing arts institution. This coming December, the Kenned

BUYOUT KING, QUEEN 2004-10-02 Staff Writer The degrees of separation between David Bonderman, the multi-talented founder of Texas Pacific Group, and Queen Latifah, the multi-talented recording artist, movie actress and television personality: the two are linked through a recent Hollywood studio buyout backed

COME ON ENGLAND! 2004-10-02 Staff Writer Are US general partners bigger athletic supporters than their UK counterparts? The financials behind two competing 2012 Olympic bids would indicate as much. Both New York and London are vying to be the host cities for the Summer Olympics eight years from now. While fi

HOOP DREAMS 2004-10-02 Staff Writer Try as they may, private equity guys cannot resist the allure of sports team ownership. The latest GPs to get sports fever are Jim Davidson, a partner at tech buyout biggie Silver Lake Partners, and Fred Harman, apartner at Oak Investment Partners. Davidson and Harman have

Editor's letter 2004-10-02 Staff Writer Few would dispute that investment consultants can offer a vital advisory service to those seeking insights into how to commit to private equity in an optimal way. From suggesting an asset allocation model, through selecting specific funds and carrying out due diligence

Nigel Dawn spent the past three years managing UBS' private equity fund investment portfolio. In 2003, his team achieved an influential $1.3 billion structured secondary joint venture with HarbourVest Partners, a deal that involved the transfer of over 50 UBS partnership investments to the Boston-based fund of funds giant. Now Dawn, who is based in Stamford, Connecticut, is applying his secondary know-how to working with external clients. He is leading UBS' push into the secondary advisory business, an area that so far has been the domain of small and independent specialists. It is the first time that an investment bank is looking to leverage private equity expertise, combined with a global footprint, in this fledgling market.

If Europe is to close the technology gap on the US, its venture capitalists must become bolder – and a functioning stock market for growing hi-tech companies needs to emerge argues Robert Abbanat

Norway is the least celebrated of the Nordic region's private equity markets. But a spate of recently launched fundraising projects has challenged assumptions, finds Andy Thomson

In September, the first of our two-part roundtable on the state of the global venture market saw six highly regarded European venture capitalists gather in London (part II will be in Menlo Park next month). Drawing on their life sciences, technology, early and later stage investment experience, we wanted these experts to tell us how they saw the world in 2004. The result was some forthright views on strategy shift, LP appetite and attitude, the problems with public markets and why America isn't necessarily the Promised Land. Colm Gilmore sat in

As one of the largest and longest-standing advisors on private equity investing, Hamilton Lane has captured a treasure trove of information on the asset class. The firm's leadership has ambitious plans to help private equity shed its protective cloak of uniqueness and be compared alongside the rest of the investment world. David Snow went behind the scenes at the Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania group to learn more

Investment consultants offering advice only on private equity say their clients are better served than those of gatekeepers that have ventured into money management. David Snow presents the case for both sides

Having spent over three decades in the industry, Sir Robert Smith is a big name in UK private equity. Now retired (well, kind of), a recent non-executive appointment to the board of directors of 3i Plc means the veteran dealmaker is about to return to the action. Here he talks to Philip Borel about where British private equity came from and where it is going

Cisco launches new investment operations in the transforming subcontinent

A VC newcomer has plans to outperform its parent's core real estate business

Advanced rounds of financing now indicate growth, not life-support

You are the proprietor of a private equity fund portfolio, and what you really want to know is this: how does your performance stack up against your peers? Christophe Rouvinez explains how investors can benchmark against the asset class

Distressed investors are hungrily eyeing the many second-lien loans taken out by US private equity sponsors. Deal Mechanic presents the vulture view

Western private equity houses hoping to make a quick buck out of China had better think again, according to an established investor in the country.

A US-Asia venture firm eyes controversial assets in Taiwan

Japan still has a reputation for seeing private equity as at best a necessary evil – but recent developments indicate perceptions may be changing

Yet another senior executive steps down at Pacific Corporate Group