MAGAZINE
May 2015 Issue
Financier Worldwide Magazine
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COVER STORY
PE challenges and opportunities in 2015
Like many other facets of the financial services industry, the private equity (PE) asset class has endured a turbulent and difficult period since the onset of the financial crisis. Critics of the industry were quick to colour the PE space as a den of iniquity...
FEATURES
Creative dealmaking trends in the biopharmaceutical sector
The global biopharmaceutical sector was worth an estimated £145bn in 2014 and is growing exponentially. This eye-watering figure, compiled by BioPlan Associates, provides compelling evidence of a sector generating considerable value...
Rise of the sovereign wealth funds
Though they are by no means a new phenomenon, sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) have become increasingly prevalent since the turn of the century. Over the last decade and a half, SWFs have multiplied greatly, thanks in no small part to the...
European online alternative finance: on the cusp of the mainstream?
Alternative finance – a term which broadly describes the range of loan options available to consumers and business owners outside those offered through banks and capital markets – can be accessed via numerous channels including...
The financial industry and the UK election
When the UK goes to the polls for the 2015 general election this month, the potential for future financial and economic instability is huge. Understandably, any major governmental election is likely to have a significant impact on the financial industry and the...
Antitrust regulation is a serious and ever evolving consideration for companies. In the European Union over the last 12 months, there has been a number of important developments which reflect the region’s strengthening antitrust resolve...
ROUNDTABLE
Data protection & privacy laws
MODERATOR: Sam Pfeifle, IAPP. THE PANELLISTS: Erik Luysterborg, Deloitte; Michael Bruemmer, Experian; Dr Jochen Lehmann, GÖRG; Bret Cohen, Hogan Lovells US LLP; Claudio Lo Cicero, Maersk Oil; Daniel Farris, Polsinelli; Dr Elisa Costante, SecurityMatters.
In today’s rapidly evolving global business environment, it is more important than ever for organisations to have recourse to tools that can help them effectively manage and safeguard the personal information they store, handle and transfer...
SPECIAL REPORT
The board is a company’s governing body – its ultimate decision-making authority. The board is responsible for determining strategic objectives, monitoring company policies, appointing senior management, and accounting for company activities...
FORUM: Preparing for and tackling shareholder activism
FW moderates a discussion on preparing for and tackling shareholder activism between Ethan A. Klingsberg at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, Chris Young at Credit Suisse, Arthur Crozier at Innisfree M&A Incorporated, and Michael Schwartz at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP.
Unleashing valuable new perspectives in the boardroom
Deloitte LLP It is not uncommon for the topic of diversity to enter into boardroom and management discussions these days, and that is good news. Yet, there remains a gap between talking about diversity in its many facets and embedding diversity into...
Black Diamond Associates Any business plan emphasises an understanding of strengths, limitations, opportunities and threats. A vision and mission are standard fare. And any strategic planning process that is worth its salt includes identifying the foundational core values. But even...
Boards to the rescue – preventing dysfunctional teams at the top
Hay Group A number of top executives at globally renowned firms have lost their jobs in the past year. These sudden and often unexpected departures highlight a growing need in the boardroom, namely that of boards of directors taking a closer look at the executive...
Brahams Dutt Badrick French LLP A company’s senior personnel are invariably one of its most important resources – and certainly one of its most costly. Yet all too often, companies fail to properly address the necessary issues on negotiating the entrance of its most senior personnel...
Barbarians at the gate: responding to unsolicited indicative takeover offers
Minter Ellison Reaffirming that unsolicited takeover approaches are an integral part of the Australian M&A landscape, a recent report has identified that around half of the transactions valued over A$1bn in the first six months of 2014 were announced without approval...
Fieldfisher The threat of a cyber attack is more immediate now than ever. This past year alone has seen high profile attacks on numerous organisations, ranging from blue chip companies to government departments, often with devastating consequences such as...
Coping with the increasing risks of directors’ & officers’ personal liability
Reed Smith Richards Butler Directors and officers need to be alive to the risk of personal liability and must take active steps to manage those risks. In Hong Kong, such personal risks have greatly increased in recent years, as D&Os have been made subject to new regulatory obligations...
How an effective audit committee can keep you out of the headlines
McGladrey LLP The complexity of business transactions, globalisation and continuous changes in technology mean that today’s companies must invest more than ever in compliance activities. Even as companies boost their compliance investments, corporate...
FW moderates a discussion on board composition between Sarah K. Stewart at Boyden, Deborah DeHaas at Deloitte LLP, Steven R. Walker at the National Association of Corporate Directors, and Margaret Pederson at Women Corporate Directors.
DEALfront
mergers & acquisitions
NXP and Freescale announce $40bn merger
NXP Semiconductors and Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. have announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement which will see NXP merge with Freescale in a transaction with a combined enterprise value of just over $40bn...
Fortum sells Swedish electricity business for $6.9bn
Finnish energy company Fortum Oyj has agreed to sell its Swedish electricity distribution business (Fortum Distribution AB) to a consortium comprised of Swedish national pension funds Första AP-Fonden and Tredje AP-Fonden, Swedish mutual insurance and...
private equity & venture capital
GE Capital to sell consumer lending unit to PE consortium for $6.3bn
GE Capital has agreed to sell its Australia and New Zealand consumer lending business to a private equity consortium consisting of global alternative investment firm Värde Partners, leading global investment firm KKR, and Deutsche Bank in a deal...
Leonard Green & Partners and TPG to acquire Life Time Fitness in $4bn deal
Life Time Fitness, Inc. and Leonard Green & Partners and TPG have announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which affiliates of Leonard Green & Partners and TPG will acquire Life Time in a transaction valued at more...
bankruptcy & corporate restructuring
Bankrupt toll road operator sold to IFM investors for $5.7bn
IFM Investors, on behalf of IFM Global Infrastructure Fund, has entered into a definitive purchase and sale agreement to acquire ITR Concession Company LLC (ITRCC) for $5.725bn. ITRCC is party to a voluntary bankruptcy proceeding under...
Quicksilver Resources files for Chapter 11
Quicksilver Resources Inc. has announced that it, and its US subsidiaries, have each filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 11 of the United States Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware...
SPOTlight
Return of the earn out in the technology, media & communications industries
Kennedy van der Laan In mid-March, the acquisition of Talpa Media by ITV plc went live. One of the remarkable aspects of this transaction is the fact that it includes an earn-out arrangement. And not a straightforward earn-out, but a package pursuant to which founder John de Mol...
Private equity companies – do you have the right leaders to deliver above market returns?
Kensington International, Inc. Gone are the days when above-market investment returns can be achieved through financial engineering alone. Clearly, the financial expertise of a private equity partner can fuel the next-stage growth of a company, but today’s investors are keenly...
The economy needs more insolvencies
Moore Stephens LLP The difference between what the public think a profession does and what its qualified experts actually do varies from one profession to another. Lawyers, doctors, soldiers, police and their work are the subject of much film and television drama, no doubt...
Getting out of the bank’s shadow – alternative financing sources for the European SME sector
Remaco Advisory Services The emergence of direct lending instruments and private debt placements provides an alternative to bank borrowing for companies without access to the capital markets and is set to bring major changes to the European refinancing system...
CONTRIBUTORS
Black Diamond Associates
Boyden
Brahams Dutt Badrick French LLP
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
Credit Suisse
Deloitte
Experian
Fieldfisher
GÖRG
Hay Group
Hogan Lovells US LLP
IAPP
Innisfree M&A Incorporated
Kennedy van der Laan
Kensington International, Inc.
Maersk Oil
McGladrey LLP
Minter Ellison
Moore Stephens LLP
National Association of Corporate Directors
Polsinelli
Reed Smith Richards Butler
Remaco Advisory
SecurityMatters
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
Women Corporate Directors