Private Equity breaks out the Picks and Shovels
With rising valuations driven by a bull market and competition from strategic buyers, private equity firms are increasingly rolling up their sleeves and digging into deals that will require a little more effort in order to achieve their target returns.
Private Equity Exits were down in 2011. PEGs are holding investments longer.
A recent study by Pitchbook and Grant Thornton has discovered that Private Equity groups are holding on to their investments for longer, 4.8 years is the median “hold” time as discussed in “Private Equity Exits Report: 2012 Annual Edition”.
Shareholder Agreements in Closely-Held Massachusetts Corporations
I received this brief summary from Elizabeth Burnett and Jehanne Bjornebye at Mintz Levin and found it interesting. Several questions about the rights of shareholders and their conflicting rights as fiduciaries are addressed in the recent Superior Court decision Merriam v. Demoulas Super Markets, Inc. It’s instructive.
Restricted Stock: A Simpler Solution for Mid-Sized Companies
There are at least five reasons why restricted stock grants remain appealing for a variety of companies, large, medium and small: (1) it’s real stock; (2) it creates a meaningful element of employee retention; (3) the income tax consequences are straightforward; (4) the grantees really do have skin in the game; and (5) an employer can add features that help preserve the control of the current owner(s).
Leveraged Loans for Take-Overs and LBOs are Back
Banks have again started to provide large bridge financings for deals, and in some case keep all of the lending business for themselves rather than spread the risk over a syndicate, an indication of just how competitive the world of corporate and commercial lending is becoming. Take for example the JPMorganChase $20 billion unsecured bridge loan to fund AT&T’s $39 billion purchase of T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom.
FCPA Liability in M&A
From Forbes: The DOJ’s and SEC’s more stringent enforcement of the FCPA has important implications for mergers and acquisitions. According to Rebekah Poston, an expert anti-corruption practitioner at the international law firm Squire Sanders & Dempsey, American companies who neglect to conduct thorough due diligence when acquiring foreign companies risk inheriting or creating FCPA violations. Acquiring a foreign company requires the performance of a number of affirmative duties on the part of the acquirer.
Venture Financing was up in 2010
Overall, Cooley’s data pointed to a year marked by slow but steady improvement in the financing environment. In 2010, deal volumes reached a level not seen in the last five years. Median pre-money valuations increased across all deal stages and saw a significant increase in “up rounds” versus flat/down rounds. Up rounds represented 60% of all financings in 2010, a level not seen since 2008. Additionally, the percentage of recapitalization transactions fell in 2010, though the number of tranched deals remained flat from prior years.
Companies Cling to Cash
From the Wall Street Journal – Rather than pouring their money into building plants or hiring workers, nonfinancial companies in the U.S. were sitting on $1.93 trillion in cash and other liquid assets at the end of September. Cash accounted for 7.4% of the companies’ total assets—the largest share since 1959.
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