Toby Mitchenall
The UK turnaround specialist has bought a 71% stake in Vasanta Group, which has had its £200m debt burden slashed by 75%.
The listed private equity firm has brought new investment to a standstill and made significant inroads into its debt pile.
Simon Walker has called for private equity to be exempted from the EU directive on alternative investment fund managers, an appeal some have described as ‘wishful thinking’ and ‘unfortunate’.
The roofing business – now owned by Apollo, TowerBrook and York Capital – has rid itself of more than €1bn in debt.
In a ‘sign of the times’ PEI’s second annual Private Equity Leader award has gone to Jeremy Coller, whose firm manages one of the largest pools of capital in the secondaries market.
The European buyout house is the latest financial sponsor to enter negotiations with lenders. Elsewhere, lenders to roofing company Monier are trying to seize control of the business from private equity firm PAI.
The London-listed private equity investor has filled its top management positions from within as it separates the management teams of its two business divisions.
The listed firm will raise around £700m via a discounted rights issue. The proceeds will let the group pace its disposal of its existing portfolio investments and pay down debt.
The Euronext-listed vehicle funded $77m-worth of debt purchases last year and saw a growing number of annex funds being raised. The firm also saw its NAV drop by 28% and said earlier this week it will cease making new commitments.
A proposed European directive differentiates between private equity and hedge funds, but has sparked concern among the European mid-market that managers and portfolio companies will be burdened with ‘costly and unwarranted’ reporting standards.