June 2011 Issue

On a recent trip to Washington DC, Graham Winfrey found GPs and LPs hungry to cash in on the rapid growth in emerging economies, but flagged various challenges.

Three of the private equity industry’s local heavyweights gathered in Warsaw last month to speak to Private Equity International about the region’s prospects. Stanislaw Knaflewski of Enterprise Investors, Zbigniew Rekusz of Mid Europa, and Petr Rojicek of Alpha Associates explained how the industry is helping to drive the local economy out of the downturn.

The difficulty of getting out of a private equity partnership should be seen as one of the asset class’s greatest advantages, writes David Snow.

Fund managers are increasingly scouring Latin America’s less crowded markets for deals – and limited partners

‘China? Schmina!’, says one leading fund of funds – and hangs back while others rush into the market.

Michael Huber is quietly guiding TMT-focused Quadrangle back from the brink of chaos. But raising a Fund III remains far from certain as the firm focuses on investor relations and portfolio management, finds Christopher Witkowsky.

KPS partner Raquel Palmer has good reason to lift a glass in celebration: profits from the firm’s portfolio company North American Breweries keep pouring in

The Carlyle Group’s Christopher Ullman discusses the four pillars of effective communications in an excerpt from PEI’s recently released book, The Investor Relations Manual

In just 18 months, a Silver Lake-led syndicate delivered an equity gain of more than $5bn on its investment in Skype – making it one of the private equity industry’s greatest success stories

Georges Sudarskis, former CIO of ADIA, and StepStone CEO Monte Brem, discuss issues including portfolio diversification, the danger of LPs going direct and the value of fund of funds.

The methodology used by Australian superfunds to tabulate private equity fees is one of several factors that may be souring investor appetite for the asset class.

Many otherwise tight-lipped US private equity firms have been compelled by the SEC to issue ‘brochures’ about their businesses. David Snow compares three ‘Form ADV Part 2’ disclosures to see how much is actually revealed

Asia’s fund of funds market has been quickly expanding. David Pierce, CEO of Asia Pacific-focused fund of funds Squadron and vice chairman of the Hong Kong Venture Capital & Private Equity Association, talks to PEI about the market’s changing dynamics

Latin America has yet to establish itself as an integral stop on the private equity fundraising trail. However both Blackstone and KKR have found creative ways to source capital from the region.

Russia’s private equity industry hasn’t managed to take off as rapidly as its BRIC counterparts, but the government plans to change that.

The social media revolution has venture capitalists (and investors) seeing green, but negative 10-year returns and fears of another bubble are casting a shadow. By Graham Winfrey