The M&A market is continuing to roar. And with Q3 2010 M&A preliminary figures now out, the evidence is more than anecdotal: according to Thomson Reuters data, global dealmaking is up 21%, which constitutes the strongest quarter for M&A since Q3 2008. Indeed, Q3 2010 activity totalled US$599bn, the third consecutive quarter of growth, up… [Read more]

Private Equity (PE) funds are best known for their buyout activity, but the tables appear to have turned somewhat of late. Indeed at present, it is PE asset sales that are busy grabbing the headlines. In an unprecedented trend, buyout exits from portfolio companies have more than tripled y-o-y, helping PE asset sales to outstrip… [Read more]

The European private equity industry looks to be fighting a losing battle against regulators. The introduction of a new regulatory framework, that will most likely undermine the recovery in PE activity just as it has started to gather traction, is set to go to a vote in the European Parliament this week. While my colleagues… [Read more]

In 2009, companies around the world raised US$892bn in initial public offerings (IPOs), which was 41% higher than in 2008. Of that amount, a sizeable US$314bn was raised in Q4 2009, creating the impression that the year-end momentum would likely spill over into the new year. Indeed, a variety of banks and analysts produced bullish… [Read more]

There are two key aspects to President Obama’s banking reform: 1) It attempts to address the ‘too big to fail’ debate: Obama wants to place size limits on banks (although it is still unclear what these are). This should create a wave of divestments and carve-outs in the banking industry. 2) To break up the… [Read more]