MAGAZINE
September 2015 Issue
Financier Worldwide Magazine
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COVER STORY
It is no secret that many companies today run on the strength of their intellectual property (IP) assets. When managed properly, IP, including patents, trademarks, trade secrets and copyrights, can generate profits and...
FEATURES
US M&A revival poised to continue
Economic recovery in the US, as is in other developed nations, is slowly taking shape. Though it may be a little too slow for some, national GDP is expected to grow at an annual average of around 2.3 percent. There are likely...
Benchmarking in private equity
Benchmarking in the private equity arena, as anyone tasked with overseeing the process can tell you, is an extremely challenging endeavour. One reason for this is that private equity is a relatively new asset class involving...
Anxiety breeds amorality: regulating financial institutions
A common axiom has it that when placed into a high-pressure situation, human beings rarely perform to the best of their capabilities. True, in some circumstances, certain people – perhaps a top performing athlete or a business leader...
Australia: punching above its global infrastructure weight?
Whilst firmly ensconced in the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre during its November 2014 summit, the governments and central bank governors that make up the membership of the G20 took the decision to make...
The intersection of securities regulation and social media
Social media has had a transformative effect on many facets of everyday life. Communications channels such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube, to name just a few, have not only changed the way that humanity...
ROUNDTABLE
MODERATOR: James Patrick Shea, American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI). THE PANELLISTS: Jennifer Feldsher, Bracewell & Giuliani; Natasha MacParland, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP; Fernando Hernández, Marval, O’Farrell & Mairal; Van C. Durrer II, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates; and Richard H. Golubow, Winthrop Couchot PC.
The corporate bankruptcy landscape in the Americas over the past 12 months has been shaped by a maelstrom of restructuring activity, insolvencies, technical recession, currency devaluations, tentative markets, fluctuating...
SPECIAL REPORT
Despite coming off the back of a strong year for new fundraising and returns, as well as a record year for exits in 2014, the private equity industry now finds itself at something of a crossroads, facing myriad challenges which...
FORUM: Regulatory and compliance challenges for private equity funds
FW moderates a discussion on regulatory and compliance challenges for private equity funds between Michael B. Gray at Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP, Nathan Cahill at Minter Ellison, Salvador Ruiz Bachs at Allen & Overy LLP, and Jason Brown at Ropes & Gray LLP.
Increasing reporting and transparency demands for PE funds
Global Risk Management Advisors Private equity fund managers who have been in the business for a while most likely long for the days when the only external reporting they needed to do was to provide their limited partners with investor statements...
Valuation challenges in the private equity industry
FTI Consulting Private equity valuation has always presented a number of challenges. Such challenges typically arise out of opaque levels of information available in the market, such as finding suitable guideline companies, and...
Leveraging local currency to maximise returns
Frontier Markets Fund Managers Private equity, despite being global, is largely a hard currency dominated industry with the majority of funds being raised in US dollars, even those that are focused on shores far beyond those of the US. Consequently, the...
Institutional capital’s growing comfort with emerging market private equity
Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) As of this year, the 10-year average emerging market private equity returns are roughly comparable with developed market PE returns. To which developed market LPs can be quick to point out, ‘but you don’t get...
Africa’s regional integration and its importance for private equity
AfricInvest Over the past decade, the African continent has been experiencing an increase in inter-regional integration led by both trade and corporate expansion. In particular, many North African companies are now looking beyond...
PE exits in Africa – a market gaining momentum
Emerging Capital Partners Africa’s abundance of resources and potential for expansive economic growth continues to attract an ever-growing number of investors looking for significant returns on their investment. In the private equity space...
Q&A: Managing data privacy and cyber security risks for private equity funds
FW moderates a discussion on managing data privacy and cyber security risks for private equity funds between Mike Gillespie at Advent IM Ltd, Sharon R. Klein at Pepper Hamilton LLP, and Luke Scanlon at Pinsent Masons LLP.
DEALfront
mergers & acquisitions
Aetna and Humana agree $37bn merger
Managed health care company Aetna Inc announced in July that it had agreed to acquire Louisville, Kentucky-based for-profit health insurance company Humana Inc for around $37bn. Once completed, the deal will created...
Allergan Generics acquired by Teva in $40.5bn deal
In a transaction which creates a major transformative generics and speciality company, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd has signed a definitive agreement with Allergan plc to acquire Allergan Generics for $40.5bn...
private equity & venture capital
KKR closes $3.1bn infrastructure fund
Private equity giant KKR & Co LLP announced in July that it has raised $3.1bn through its Global Infrastructure Investors II fund. The fund closed at its hard cap, and contributions came from a diverse cross section of...
Ridgewood Energy closes third private equity fund at $1.9bn
The private upstream oil and gas investment company Ridgewood Energy Corporation has closed its latest private equity fund, Ridgewood Energy Oil & Gas Fund III, L.P. Ridgewood Energy’s Fund III is the Texas and New...
bankruptcy & corporate restructuring
F-Squared files for Chapter 11
Following the filing of its voluntary petition under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code, F-Squared Investments has signed an agreement to relinquish its operating assets to Broadmeadow Capital, a subsidiary...
Colt Holdings wins financing agreement
In June, storied gun manufacturer Colt Holding Company LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing a significant drop off in rifle sales. However, in early July the company won court approval for a new financing...
PROFESSIONALinsight
Banking & Finance
The challenge of innovation in financial services
PA Consulting Group Many financial services firms struggle with innovation. Weighed down by the ever increasing burdens of regulation and compliance, it is not surprising that 90 percent of senior leaders we surveyed admitted that they...
Could your business be affected by Forex mis-selling?
Colemans-ctts With the widely publicised cases of mis-selling in relation to interest rate swaps drawing to a close, attention has now turned to other forms of financial mis-selling by the banks. These primarily relate to the LIBOR rigging scandal...
Key elements of the 4th EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive
Noerr LLP On 26 June 2015, the 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (EU) No. 2015/849 (4th AMLD) entered into force. EU Member States have to implement the 4th AMLD by 26 June 2017 into national law. The 4th AMLD...
ECJ judgment affects Greek government bondholders
Mayer Brown LLP In a judgment handed down on 11 June 2015 the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has removed a significant hurdle for holders of Greek government bonds who seek legal protection before German civil courts against an...
Risk Management
Barbican Insurance Group There are few threats more prominent on the risk radar of senior executives today than cyber. High-profile cyber attacks and breaches have firmly established the threat in the corporate risk psyche, with the increasing frequency...
Effective cyber security to combat crime and protect data
Walker Wilcox Matousek LLP There is no shortage of headlines announcing the latest data breach affecting millions, whether it be the federal government (Office of Personnel Management), healthcare (UCLA Health and Anthem) or retail (Target...
Big Data: cyber risk apocalypse or big opportunity?
JLT Specialty How effectively companies predict exactly what customers want before they ask for it, or how digital marketers follow a consumer’s every move online with advertisements for that dress or jacket they’ve resisted...
Developing a compliance strategy to meet the proposed Data Protection Regulation
Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co. Sweeping data protection law changes are on the horizon in Europe by virtue of the proposed new Data Protection Regulation. The Regulation is not yet finalised but we now have the European Council’s, the...
European news portals may be held liable for abusive comments
Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP In the age of social media and the internet, the comments section of news articles is fertile ground for abusive and hateful comments, often from anonymous posters. Many news portals have struggled with how to...
SPOTlight
Proactive planning for post-merger integration in the US
Jenner & Block Far too many business combinations are not successful. There are various reasons for the failure of a transaction and, while hindsight is 20/20, a common reason is failing to plan for post-merger integration at the outset of the...
A new era for high value, complex financial markets disputes in the English courts
Bryan Cave LLP A significant proportion of cases that come before the English courts concern disputes relating to the financial markets. This is unsurprising; London is an important financial centre and home to the world’s largest business...
CONTRIBUTORS
Advent IM Ltd
AfricInvest
Allen & Overy LLP
American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI)
Barbican Insurance Group
Bracewell & Giuliani
Bryan Cave LLP
Colemans-ctts
Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP
Emerging Capital Partners
Frontier Markets Fund Managers
FTI Consulting
Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP
Global Risk Management Advisors
Jenner & Block
JLT Specialty
Marval, O’Farrell & Mairal
Mayer Brown LLP
Minter Ellison
Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP
Noerr LLP
Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC)
PA Consulting Group
Pepper Hamilton LLP
Pinsent Masons LLP
Ropes & Gray LLP
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates
Walker Wilcox Matousek LLP
Winthrop Couchot PC
Wragge Lawrence Graham & Co.