IPEM 2023: Wind warning
From the ‘wage war’ coming to impact PE, to questions swirling around performance for late-2010s vintages – Greg Gille rounds up key insights from the latest IPEM conference, held in Cannes earlier this year.
Fund in Focus: ACP eyes €300m for Fund V
Real Deals sits down with ACP partner Christian Stix to discuss the progress of the Central Europe-focused firm's fifth fundraise.
Star-backed Hawksford bags ACT
Hawksford Group, a portfolio company of Star Capital, has acquired Act Management Services (ACT), a corporate services and financial management business.
Real Deals Mid-Market: the hot takes
From returns expectations to ESG overload and dealflow FOMO – the team gathers key insights from the Real Deals Mid-Market conference.
Average mid-market multiple now below 10x – study
The Argos Index settled on 9.9x Ebitda in Q4 2022, marking the first time average entry multiples for mid-market assets have dipped below 10x since Q2 2020.
Accession Capital Partners launches Fund V
Central Europe-focused Accession Capital Partners has launched its fifth fund, having already secured about €150m of commitments.
Bain ups ante in Caverion bidding war
The Bain Capital-led consortium vying for Finnish construction technology company Caverion has made an improved offer for the business.
LGT’s Vercoutere: ‘a few clouds’ accumulating for recent PE vintages
Ivan Vercoutere, managing partner at LGT Capital Partners, told IPEM delegates that a number of challenges are threatening returns for PE investments made in the past five years.
‘Wage war’ is coming to impact PE, says Allianz chief economist
"People are going to want a bigger slice of the cake – and you guys have been taking a big part of the cake so far," Ludovic Subran told delegates at the IPEM conference in Cannes.
Agathos promotes three
John Butterworth has been promoted to senior investment manager, with Mark Conway and Tom Street promoted to investment manager.
Look at transforming rather than just acquiring, says Investcorp’s Ben-Gacem
Hazem Ben-Gacem, co-CEO at Investcorp, remains confident about prospects for PE in 2023, with the current environment giving the industry extra incentive to “find new ways to transform companies and really unlock value”.
Average prices to remain high this year, says Alantra’s Andy Currie
The Alantra managing partner shares his expectations for M&A in the coming weeks, from good PE deal flow in the first quarter to pricing remaining high in a bifurcated market.
Foresight holds first close for Scotland Fund on more than £60m
The first close, held on more than £60m, was supported by cornerstone commitments from Strathclyde Pension Fund and British Business Investments.
Rutland’s Southgate promoted to investment director
Special situations investor Rutland Partners has promoted Will Southgate from investment manager to investment director.
Carlyle to buy majority stake in Groupe Lacour
Carlyle has entered exclusive negotiations to acquire a majority stake in Groupe Lacour, a French software provider for the automotive after-sales value chain.
Accession Capital Partners in partial exit from Spearhead
Accession Capital Partners has realised an early partial exit of its investment in data-driven agribusiness Spearhead, with JTZE Group acquiring the business’s Czech and Slovak operations.