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  • April 5, 2011 |

    Energy and private equity sectors buck lacklustre market in 2011 Q1

    Given M&A trends clearly reflect what's happening in the global economy, Mergermarket's latest quarterly M&A data covering the first three months of the 2011 calendar year largely confirms the general feeling of uncertainty in the market currently. While there has been a visible increase in private equity mandates and big-ticket transactions such as AT&T and T-Mobile and BP/Rosneft, Mergermarket's data shows deal volumes are broadly down on both the equivalent quarter last year and Q4 2010 - leaving law firms' corporate practices facing another uninspiring year. Even those deal markets that have so far seemed to defy the impact of the recession, such as the Middle East and Africa and Asia, saw bid volumes down significantly. In Africa and the Middle East, volumes were down by 25% in Q1 2011 compared with the last quarter of 2010, and by 30% looking at Q1 last year, with 58 transactions worth $11.4bn (£7.1bn). Meanwhile, volumes fell by nearly 32% in the Asia-Pacific region between Q4 2010 and the beginning of 2011, and by 8.2% looking at January to March last year.

    1 minute read

  • April 5, 2011 |

    DLA Piper partner trio exit for rival US firms' City arms

    DLA Piper is set to see a trio of high-profile partner departures, with its global co-head of litigation, its EMEA head of corporate crime and investigations and its EMEA private equity head all leaving for rival US law firms. Joint global litigation chief Neil Gerrard and EMEA corporate crime head Jonathan Pickworth are both leaving to join Dechert in London, while EMEA private equity chief Will Rosen is to join the City arm of Ropes & Gray.

    1 minute read

  • April 4, 2011 |

    DLA Piper's EMEA private equity head joins Ropes & Gray's London base

    Ropes & Gray has added to its London private equity practice with the hire of DLA Piper's EMEA private equity chief Will Rosen. Rosen, who joined DLA from fellow US firm Weil Gotshal & Manges in 2008, advises private equity funds and corporate clients on M&A, venture capital investments and private equity transactions. He is expected to join Ropes in June.

    1 minute read

  • April 1, 2011 |

    Jones Day's London head and Euro private equity chief exit firm

    Jones Day's London managing partner Russell Carmedy and European head of private equity Michael Nouril are set to leave the firm. The pair handed in their notice earlier today (1 April). Corporate partner Carmedy has led Jones Day's UK practice since the firm merged with Gouldens in 2003, when Carmedy was co-managing partner of the UK firm. His practice focuses on cross-border M&A and leveraged private equity and he has advised on deals in sectors including natural resources, healthcare, and technology.

    1 minute read

  • March 31, 2011 |

    In depth: Private equity

    From boom to bust, the private equity industry is attempting to reinvent itself for a much-changed world. Alex Aldridge assesses its chances of navigating the challenges ahead, while Travers, Weil, Freshfields and SJB size up the key issues for buyout professionals...

    1 minute read

  • March 30, 2011 |

    A&O takes lead for General Electric on $3.2bn France energy acquisition

    Allen & Overy (A&O) has taken a lead role for General Electric on its energy division's purchase of a 90% stake in French energy company Converteam, reports The Am Law Daily. GE Energy will pay $3.2bn (£2bn) to acquire the stake from a group of controlling shareholders that includes Converteam management, Barclays Private Equity and LBO France.

    1 minute read

  • March 29, 2011 | International Edition

    Reaching out - can a globalising funds market help buyout houses regain their former vigour?

    Can a globalising investor market for private equity help the leading houses fulfil their funding needs? Charlotte Edmond reports

    1 minute read

  • March 29, 2011 |

    Swings of the pendulum - the buyout market continues to confound expectations

    We often hear that a particular position is or is not 'market'. Said with enough conviction it can sound true; but what is or is not market is usually only the result of a particular set of factors coming into play in any given transaction. The single factor that before, during and after the credit crunch has always determined where the balance of negotiating power sits between buyer and seller is how many parties want to buy a particular asset and how well the competitive position is played out.

    1 minute read

  • March 29, 2011 |

    Reaching out - can a globalising funds market help buyout houses regain their former vigour?

    Can a globalising investor market for private equity help the leading houses fulfil their funding needs? Charlotte Edmond reports

    1 minute read

  • March 29, 2011 |

    Back at the gate - the challenges ahead for private equity

    A few weeks ago news got out that Bain Capital, one of the world's leading private equity firms, was holding interviews for junior investment professionals a month earlier than usual. Bain's competitors, which include Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR) and The Blackstone Group, moved quickly, bringing forward their pre-scheduled cocktail party recruiting events. This was not a surprising development. Five years ago private equity houses often did their entry-level hiring in September. During the boom, such intakes kept drifting earlier into the year as rivals jostled to secure the best aspiring deal-doers.

    1 minute read