Download PDF Introduction In 2005, Blackstone’s [NYSE: BX] private equity fund made a, for its size, relatively modest investment of £102m to acquire Merlin Entertainment, a theme parks company, from the private equity fund Hermes Equity Partners. This was the first step in its strategy of rolling up the attractions Read more…
Download PDF An Introduction to the Dairy Industry The dairy industry’s global value in 2022 was around $893 billion and is projected to grow $1243 billion by 2028 having witnessed strong growth in the past years with a strong likelihood for that momentum to continue. It is currently facing some Read more…
Download PDF Introduction The historic Brexit referendum of 2016, in which the UK voted to leave the European Union, initiated a complex web of political and economic forces that have reshaped the nation’s financial landscape. Nearly four years elapsed between the pivotal referendum in June 2016, where 51.89% of the Read more…
Download PDF Introduction The cybersecurity market has undergone major changes over the past decades. With the increased digitalization of companies, the importance of data has become critical. “Data is the new gold” wrote Sandro Shubladze (Forbes author) in March 2023, referring to the growing importance that data has in the Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Wm Morrisons, the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom, is pushing ahead with their plan to sell its fuel forecourts business to Motor Fuel Group (MFG), the largest independent forecourt operator in the UK, for up to £2.5bn. Both firms are controlled and owned by Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Now-casting methods are a class of forecasting models originally used in meteorology, and that later found useful applications in economics and finance. The first paper that generalizes the use of now-casting methods in economics is Giannone, Reichlin, and Small (2008). The idea of now-casting is that high-frequency Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Economic indicators are statistical data points and metrics that provide insights into the overall health and performance of an economy. These indicators help economists, policymakers, businesses, and investors assess and understand various aspects of economic activity. Economists and analysts use these indicators to monitor economic trends, assess Read more…
Download PDF US The week in US markets was marked by losses in all major indices apart from the Nasdaq and Russell 2000, up 0.06% and 0.48% respectively. The S&P closed the week down 0.74%, the Dow Jones was down 1.34%, the Russell 3000 Value and Growth were down 0.89% Read more…
Download PDF Introduction & Background In a time marked by significant shifts in infrastructure demand driven by the energy transition and the development of new technologies, project finance has emerged as a pivotal financing mechanism. Following the 2008 financial crisis, the stricter regulation on banks and their lending requirements has Read more…
Download PDF US US equities mainly lost this past week, with their most followed index closing this week almost 3% down (S&P500). Russell 2000 led the way down with a 3.82% decline week on week, closely followed by the tech heavy tracker (Nasdaq composite) which closed 3.62% down compared to Read more…
Download PDF Introduction 50 years ago, the financial industry changed forever with the introduction of the Black-Scholes model for options pricing. However, the story started much earlier with less sophisticated approaches and has evolved significantly over the last century, encompassing notable frameworks such as the binomial tree in discrete time, Read more…
Download PDF The Sovereign Wealth Fund’s first love – Sports, Media and Entertainment In October 2021, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) completed a £305m takeover of Newcastle United by acquiring an 80% stake from British retail tycoon Mike Ashley. According to research conducted by SPORT+MARKT, the Premier League, England’s Read more…
Download PDF Introduction February 26th 2007 marked one of the peaks of the pre-financial crisis exuberance: KKR [NYSE: KKR] and TPG [NASDAQ: TPG], together with a number of banks including Goldman Sachs [NYSE: GS] and Lehman Brothers, announced the acquisition of the Texas power company TXU for an astounding $44.3bn Read more…
Download PDF One of the biggest secular trends in central banking policy since its inception has been increased transparency through more regular and varied forms of communication. The hope is that by being transparent, market participants can price in the policy path more gradually, lowering the chances of wild bursts Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Investment in defence tech start-up companies has surged over the past years as geopolitical tensions across the globe keep escalating. US venture capital firms raised their investments in defence start-ups from less than $16bn in 2019 to $33bn in 2022. The first five months of 2023 alone Read more…