Private Equity Talks

Your favourite PE operations editorial team is back! This time, the trio tackles evergreen fund structures, off the back of The Drawdown’s latest cover feature on the challenges of setting up semi-liquid fund structures for traditionally closed-ended fund managers. The Drawdown speaks to Luc Maruenda of Eurazeo, who explains how to set up an evergreen structure. We discuss the complexities of managing liquidity expectations, potential investors to target, navigation fluctuations in the economy, and much more. The hows and whys of the strategy are uncovered, but the decision to launch an evergreen fund remains up to you.

What if you were to found a private equity firm that entirely outsourced the investment function and focused solely on operations? Impossible dream or the future direction of the market?The Drawdown speaks to Stephen Branagan of Pantheon Ventures, who argues that it might not be such a crazy concept as it first appears. With LP and regulatory demands ever increasing and tech stacks increasingly complex, a firm specialising in ops could have an advantage when marketing to investors. Stephen and The Drawdown team discuss the pros and cons of an operations-first approach and whether this dream could ever become reality.

The Drawdown is joined by Sarah Peasey, director of European ESG investing at Neuberger Berman, for a discussion on what ESG really means for each employee within the GP house. As sustainable regulation and technology continue to develop in tandem, more and more GPs are looking to define their internal ESG culture. We discuss how Neuberger Berman created a culture of ESG, from the training employees can access to the importance of an independent ESG advisory council, among other initiatives.

Real Deals is joined by Lukas Ingelheim and Dan Bender, co-founders at Code & Co, and Peter Waleczek, managing partner at Flex Capital, for a case study on how the GP and tech due diligence provider are working together. As technical due diligence evolves, Code & Co highlights exactly what its work entails and the red flags it looks out for, plus how it differs from IT due diligence, digital due diligence, or cyber due diligence.

The past two years have highlighted the importance of good liquidity management in private capital funds. The ability to quickly provide liquidity to portfolio companies and / or investors is an absolute necessity for private capital fund CFOs. Fast forward to today - CFOs also have to contend with a rising interest rate and high inflation environment. Against this backdrop, we caught up with Jeremy Slade of Hazeltree to find out: How are private fund CFOs evolving their approach to liquidity management?

Talya Misiri speaks with Michael Preston, partner at Cleary Gottlieb about the increased interest in sport by PE, one of the most successful PE-backed sports deals, how PE can manage reputational risks around these transactions and more.

Sam Fuller, managing director at Houlihan Lokey and Miles Otway, partner at Connection Capital, speak with Real Deals about the rise of trade buyers and how GPs are setting themselves up to win assets in competitive processes.

Michele Giddens, co-CEO at Bridges Fund Management and Sharon Johnson, COO of AgilityEco speak with Real Deals about the just transition and how it is being used in practice.

Real Deals is joined by Erik Osmundsen, partner at Verdane and Beth Houghton, partner & head of Impact Fund at Palatine, to discuss whether embedding an ESG strategy into portfolio companies can contribute to driving a higher price, and better returns, at point of exit.

Real Deals speaks to Susan Fadil and Bill Prew, (JTC), and James Newman, (Perform Due Diligence), on the importance of having corporate governance at the top of the business agenda.

Following on from the Tech Transformation Survey, in partnership with IQ-EQ, The Drawdown brought together a select group of PE and VC tech practitioners to discuss the findings and latest developments in private equity operating technology.  Joining the discussion are:  Mike Brogan of Hg Chase Paxton of NGP Energy Capital Management Stephen Lile of Oxbridge Capital Partners Petros Farah of Vickers Venture Partners Hugh Stacey of IQ-EQ.

Real Deals editor Talya Misiri speaks with Elliot Refson, head of funds at Jersey Finance, about substance rules and what funds need to consider.

Real Deals editor Talya Misiri speaks with Rutland Partners partner David Wardrop and HCC CEO Julian Aitken about how the carve-out of HCC was navigated and how value creation opportunities were identified and executed.

N4 Partners joins Real Deals to explore how mental wellbeing and human performance can be an important value creation driver in private equity

Alice Murray speaks to Treabhor Mac Eochaidh, Executive Director at MUFG Investor Services, Head of Debt Services, who takes us on a journey through space and time, beginning with the asset class’s early days following the retrenchment of the banks in response to the 2008 downturn. We explore the ways in which direct lending has developed across different regions: in the US, Europe and APAC. And we consider the market’s current condition; with the onset of advanced technologies, big data and continued demand from investors.

Is it the end of the “green-boom”? Real Deals is joined by Richard Burrett, chief sustainability officer at Earth Capital and Sharadiya Dasgupta, founding partner at Blue Dot Capital, to discuss ESG reporting during and post-pandemic and whether maintaining regulatory ESG activity is sustainable.

Lending activity has rebounded strongly following COVID disruption, with borrowers once again able to secure favourable pricing and attractive terms in a competitive market. In a recent roundtable hosted by Real Deals a panel of lenders and advisers discussed the drivers behind the recovery, how lenders are navigating competitive situations to find value and the outlook for debt markets over the next 12 to 18 months.

Real Deals editor Greg Gille is joined by David Wardrop, partner at Rutland Partners, to discuss how investors can break through to owner-managers and start building that relationship on the best possible footing. This encompasses a lot - from the industry’s public image and educating the business community at large pre-deal, to eventually building a direct relationship and that crucial phase in the first few months post-deal, where the step change for management teams can be daunting. David covers all this, and more, based on Rutland's experience working with owner-managers on transformational deals. Real Deals would like to thank Rutland Partners for sponsoring and contributing to this episode of the podcast.

Sam Marsh of Alpha FX interviews Steve Darrington, partner and CFO of Phoenix Equity Partners, to find out about the most important lessons he has learned.  Steve draws on a rich array of experiences from his corporate, private equity and poker lives. He details his approach to risk management, walking the line between optimism and realism, and thinking the unthinkable.

ESG factors have taken a central role in business decisions. Its influence extends to where investors are directing capital, how businesses interact with counterparties, and how consumers spend. In today's podcast, we sit down with Marie Fitzpatrick of JTC Group and Alison Hampton of Alma Verde Advisors to explore and present some ideas for how to manage this constantly evolving and increasingly important subject