Download PDF Introduction Today, private equity funds are facing a major challenge. General partners can no longer rely on multiple expansion and leverage to boost fund returns. As interest rates are being hiked to combat surging inflation, debt is harder to assume, and valuations are coming down across the board. Read more…
Download PDF Introduction On October 1, 2022, RWE [XETRA: RWE], a German power generation company that ranks third in the EU for the quantity of renewable energy it produces, announced its plan to purchase Consolidated Edison’s [NYSE: ED] green energy division. As a result of the current US administration’s Inflation Read more…
Download PDF Introduction On October 17th 2022 Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the world’s oldest bank, started its seventh capital raise in 14 years raising concerns among its shareholders. The bank encountered difficulties to secure large-scale commitments from investors with the Italian Treasury contributing 64% to the capital increase Read more…
Download PDF US Major US indices performed well this week despite intra-week turmoil, particularly in the Nasdaq 100 and Nasdaq Composite. Russell 2000 showed the largest increase, topping last week’s close by 6.0%, with the Russell 3000 Value performing better (+5.1% WoW change) than the Russell 2000 Growth (3.2% WoW Read more…
Download PDF Introduction: Fixed Income Markets Performance High inflation and rising interest rates have governed the credit markets in 2022. Year-to-date, high yield bonds are down approximately 16% and investment grade bonds are down approximately 23%. The 2022 macroeconomic environment has wiped away the strong recovery seen by the credit Read more…
Download PDF Introduction In 2022, the number of IPOs has plummeted to lows comparable to post-financial crisis levels after the highs of 2021 with individual deal values falling due to lower valuations. In September, the number of US IPOs was a mere 20% of the ones in the same period Read more…
Download PDF Introduction The Kroger Company [KR : NYSE], one of the largest supermarket chains in the United States, has announced the acquisition of grocery store Albertsons [ACI : NYSE] in an attempt to expand its market share with hopes of reaching nearly 5000 stores across 48 states. The deal, Read more…
Download PDF Introduction The term “Liability Driven Investment”, also known as LDI, covers investment policies with the goal of covering current and future liabilities of the investor. As such, it is not a benchmark-driven investment strategy since it does not need to outperform any benchmark, but rather only needs to Read more…
Download PDF Introduction The current macroeconomic landscape is shaped by high inflation, increasing interest rates, and growing risk aversion. The diverging realities nations are facing due to the Russia-Ukraine war, the ensuing energy crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, the looming global recession, and more, are putting policymakers’ decisions in the limelight. Read more…
Download PDF Introduction On September 22th Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC announced it would acquire a majority stake in the Mediterranean luxury resorts operator Sani/Ikos Group. The transaction, which values the group at €2.3bn, is expected to close in the fourth quarter, subject to customary regulatory approval. This is the Read more…
Download PDF Introduction On September 27th, 2022, the US-based, private equity firm Energy Capital Partners announced the end of the buyout negotiation of the British waste-management company Biffa Plc for £1.3bn (ca. €1.5bn). The deal is valued at 410 pence per share, or 28 per cent more than the FTSE Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Ernst & Young is leading the biggest shake-up of the audition industry since the collapse of Artur Anderson two decades ago. Towards the end of 2021, EY started discussing a possible split of its advisory business from the auditing operations. The goal of this transaction is to Read more…
Download PDF USA On Monday, the ISM Manufacturing PMI for September came in below expectations at a level of 50.9 against the consensus estimate of 52.2. This also marked the lowest level since May 2020. This reading supported stocks and bonds at the beginning of the week as markets interpreted Read more…
Download PDF Introduction Inflation is back. After more than 10 years with inflation rates at around 1-2% in most developed economies, governments and central banks are now being confronted with significantly higher inflation rates. This increasing rate of cost of living has prompted a majority of the central banks worldwide, Read more…
Download PDF USA The S&P 500 touched the lowest levels since December 2020 this week, reaching an 8% loss MoM. The 10-year Treasury yield reached a 12-year-high, approaching 4%. On Thursday, the S&P 500 closed at -2.1%, due to the fear of additional rate hikes, driven by higher-than-expected employment data. Read more…