MAGAZINE
November 2021 Issue
Financier Worldwide Magazine
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COVER STORY
Searching for the exit: private equity divestment strategies
As the last critical step of the private equity (PE) investment process, the exit determines the success of a portfolio company investment and the final return to investors. Following a pandemic-induced slowdown in the first half of last year, PE exit activity rebounded in 2021…
FEATURES
Boom time: riding the seventh great ‘M&A wave’
Despite widespread COVID-19-induced economic uncertainty, 2021 has seen a major uptick in global merger activity, with some even characterising the proliferation as the seventh great ‘M&A wave’. Certainly, the increase in deal activity has been considerable. According to…
Virtual preference: bankruptcy wants to stay remote
The bankruptcy and restructuring industry has, of course, not been immune to the widespread changes brough on by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Public health concerns necessitated the migration of bankruptcy and restructuring practitioners to remote working…
Complex and disconnected: global standards in financial compliance
The size and scope of the regulations governing the financial services (FS) industry are vast and growing – a global smorgasbord of rules, laws, legislation, statutes, directives, orders, edicts, dictums, decrees, mandates, acts and diktats that seem to replenish on a regular basis…
Fighting fraud: AML and CFT in the EU
Although a longstanding priority across the European Union (EU), efforts to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing have met with limited success to date, due largely to an inconsistent regulatory environment between member states. This lack of coordination, in turn…
AI-generated invention – implications for IP
The invention, management and protection of intellectual property (IP) is a critical issue for many companies. But while ‘invention’ has long been confined to human employees, this has begun to change in recent years with the growth of artificial intelligence (AI). The more AI simulates…
ROUNDTABLE
THE PANELLISTS: Tapan Debnath at ABB, Nick Robinson at Ankura, Robert Sikellis at Novartis, Sarah Foley at Patterson Companies, Inc., Fran Marwood at PwC UK, and John Hartley at Shoosmiths.
Corporate fraud is a significant ongoing challenge for many companies, with instances of bribery, corruption and money laundering rising exponentially. Moreover, the rapid development of technology has caused cyber-related corporate fraud to evolve, allowing malicious actors…
SPECIAL REPORT
Q&A: Taxation of cross-border mergers and acquisitions
FW discusses the taxation of cross-border mergers and acquisitions with Brian K. Pinto, Siobhan L. Godley and Lindsay Wietfeld at Deloitte.
NERA Economic Consulting The period from 1990 to 2015 will likely be considered the golden era of globalisation. During this period, many multinational enterprises (MNEs) moved toward a strategy of centralising their global operating and transfer pricing models. Robust global growth (supported by sound…
Global tax reform: the OECD’s two-pillar approach
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP 2021 has already been a big year for international tax, with discussions about tax matters top of the agenda at both the G7 and G20. In July, a pivotal moment was reached with over 130 jurisdictions reaching agreement on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s…
The impact of BEPS 2.0 on financing the NextGenerationEU debt issue and on EU tax reforms
Ashurst An international corporate tax reform called the base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project 2.0 is currently underway at the G20 level in order to address the challenges of the digital economy. The project comprises ‘Pillar 1’ and ‘Pillar 2’. The existing international tax rules no longer…
Moving IP inbound or outbound: uncertainties still abound
Mayer Brown Businesses commonly develop some form of intangible property (IP). IP could be legally registered – like patents, copyrights or trademarks – or not registered and somewhat amorphous in nature, such as manufacturing know-how, marketing intangibles, workforce-in-place, goodwill…
Australia’s proposed patent box regime
Ashurst In the federal budget announcement on 11 May 2021, the Australian government revealed its intention to introduce a patent box regime for corporate income associated with patented inventions in the medical and biotech sectors (and potentially the cleantech sector) with…
Taxation of trusts and foundations in Mauritius
Mazars The financial services sector represents a key component of the Mauritian economy. It comprises major local and international players in banking, insurance, capital markets, fund administration and law. It offers a wide range of products and services to local and international…
Aligning Uzbekistan transfer pricing regulations with international best practice
PwC Starting from 2016, after the assumption of power by the new president, Uzbekistan entered a period of drastic economic reforms. One of the main reasons for the reforms, including an overhaul of the tax system, is to create an environment for normal operation of effective…
TALKINGpoint
ESG considerations in M&A transactions
FW discusses ESG considerations in M&A transactions with George Casey, Doreen Lilienfeld and Paul Strecker at Shearman & Sterling LLP.
DEALfront
mergers & acquisitions
Baxter to buy Hillrom for $10.5bn
Baxter International has agreed to acquire global medical technology company Hillrom for $156 per share in cash for a total equity value of approximately $10.5bn and a total enterprise value of approximately $12.4bn, including the assumption of debt. The purchase price…
Pfizer to buy Trillium for $2.3bn
In a $2.3bn deal designed to accelerate the development of innovative therapies for the treatment of cancer, US multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company Pfizer Inc. is to acquire clinical stage immuno-oncology company Trillium Therapeutics Inc. Under the terms…
private equity & venture capital
Advent International sells DI to TopBuild in $1bn deal
In a $1bn deal which gives it direct entry into the billion-dollar mechanical insulation market, insulation installation services provider TopBuild Corp. is to acquire North American insulation distributor Distribution International Inc. (DI) from global private equity investor…
KKR agrees $3.7bn Spark Infra deal
Australian firm Spark Infrastructure has agreed to be acquired by a consortium of KKR, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (OTPP) and Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) for around $3.71bn. The deal, which is subject to the approval of the Australian…
bankruptcy & corporate restructuring
Sequential Brands files for Chapter 11 protection
Sequential Brands Group, Inc and a number of its wholly-owned subsidiaries have commenced voluntary Chapter 11 proceedings in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Sequential, which owns Jessica Simpson, Joe’s Jeans, And1, Avia and other brands…
GTT Communications enters bankruptcy
In a move designed to reduce its debt by approximately $2.8bn and bolster liquidity, global cloud networking provider GTT Communications, Inc. has entered into a restructuring support agreement (RSA) with key stakeholders, as well as filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection…
SPOTlight
The role of insolvency professionals in saving jobs and businesses as the pandemic wanes
Opus Business Advisory Group Ever since the pandemic struck early in 2020, there have been doom-laden predictions of record numbers of business failures and restructurings. Governments around the world have committed unprecedented amounts of public money to preventing enterprises going under…
Sale toggles in Chapter 11 plan processes
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP The culmination of any successful restructuring under Chapter 11, large or small, is generally realised through confirmation of a Chapter 11 reorganisation plan or the closing of a sale under section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code. However, the paths to exit are not necessarily binary…
Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP As economies around the world continue to emerge from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, we are at the beginning of a significant wave in corporate venture capital (CVC) investment. Data from CB Insights for H1 2021 shows a 133 percent surge in CVC deals, with some 2099 deals…
New in the world of SPACs: arks, sharks and SPARCs
Proskauer Rose LLP Special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) have been one of the success stories of recent years. They have attracted huge volumes of investment as professional and retail parties invest through an initial public offering (IPO) in a ‘cash shell’ company with a mandate to find a suitable…
Horizons & Co. United Arab Emirates (UAE) Federal Law 4 of 2020 has been introduced to bring in various changes to the movable security regime in the UAE and has repealed and replaced UAE Federal Law 20 of 2016. As per the provisions of the new law, the old law remained in effect until…
Fit for 55: the EC’s legislative package to reduce emissions
K&L Gates On 14 July 2021, the European Commission (EC) released its ‘Fit for 55‘ legislative package, which consists of a set of interconnected legislative proposals aimed at bringing the European Union’s (EU’s) climate and energy framework in line with the goal of reducing net greenhouse…
United States creates new sanctions regime over humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP On 17 September 2021, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions in response to the ongoing humanitarian and human rights crisis in Ethiopia, particularly in the Tigray region of the country. The new sanctions programme provides…
CONTRIBUTORS
ABB
Ankura
Ashurst
Deloitte
Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Horizons & Co.
K&L Gates
Mayer Brown
Mazars
NERA Economic Consulting
Novartis
Opus Business Advisory Group
Patterson Companies, Inc.
Proskauer Rose LLP
PwC
PwC UK
Shearman & Sterling LLP
Shoosmiths