September 2009 Issue

Blackstone’s Dr. Alan Muney on the firm’s new health care programme

Welcome to the new digital, printer-friendly monthly edition of Private Equity Manager, called the Private Equity Manager Monthly.

The next era for the private equity industry will see leading firms focusing on enhanced client services and shoring up investments and their investor base, rather than pursuing new mega-deals, says Jack Klinck, executive vice president and global head for State Street Alternative Investment Solutions.

Susan Saidens, a principal at SMS Valuation and Forensic Services, examines a hypothetical middle-market private equity group to determine how accounts receivable fair value should be determined.

Private equity firms will face lower barriers to investment in banks, after the US banking regulator voted to modify some of the more controversial aspects of its regulations for private equity owners.

Recent UK tax increases and the threat of additional EU regulatory burdens are causing more UK-based fund managers to ponder moving to more hospitable jurisdictions.

The scarcity of lines of credit has hit the operations of small firms especially hard, and those without strong existing ties with banks will likely have to survive without credit sources until 2011.

A recent 'key-man clause', triggered by the unusual departure of two senior executives at France’s PAI Partners, may not spell the end of its fund, but it gives great negotiating power to the firm's LPs.

While some GPs argue that the several forms of 'deal fees' are needed to support the operations of the firm, many LPs are pushing for 100% of these fees to go toward offsetting management fees.

LPs now want proof that their fund managers have back offices that are up to institutional snuff, writes David Snow

The 'European-style' waterfall is gaining traction in North America, but US general partners need not fear this trend.

There are so many ways to mess up the complex task of fund administration. Here are four big ones.

PEM speaks with Simon Thomas and David Billings of law firm Akin Gump about how a new EU directive may affect offshore strategies used by private equity firms.

New regulations proposed by the White House could force a significant number of 'foreign advisers' to register with the SEC, depending on their assets and number of clients in the US.

Leaders within the more mature mutual-fund market often come from marketing backgrounds.

Why aren’t more private equity firms consolidating healthcare purchasing across their portfolio companies?

English bankruptcy courts have historically taken a conservative approach to valuing distressed companies. Yesterday’s pre-pack deal for Carlyle’s struggling IMO Car Wash shows that tradition isn’t changing anytime soon.

Entertainment expenses have always been tricky to account for - should the fund or the firm pay them? But the likelihood of more stringent regulation is causing firms to take another look at accounting for this nebulously defined activity.

Layoffs across private equity has meant been a boon for those firms fortunate enough to be in hiring mode. In addition, existing contracts with service providers are being renegotiated.

There are roughly four ways for GPs to 'top up' the capital in an existing fund, but each method comes with some harsh concessions

Limited partners may seek changes to existing partnership terms when GPs come calling about the next fund, say advisors to both LPs and GPs.

TPG is the first private equity firm to merge its portfolio companies into Blackstone’s new healthcare purchasing consortium, Equity Healthcare. The programme is projected to save up to $50 million this year by combining the purchasing power of the many portfolio companies.

European regulators are now seeking to water down proposed rules that effectively would make it more difficult for EU limited partners to invest with non-EU fund managers, say legal experts.