For over 20 years, Real Deals have been the independent voice of European private equity providing essential market intelligence, deal information, and insight to Europe's leading GPs, their advisers, & LPs. The Drawdown provides vital insight and analysis for operational professionals in private equity and venture capital. Our mission is to empower & celebrate operational professionals who ensure funds are managed in a robust and compliant manner, lead on in-house technology strategies, reg ...
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The latest episode of Top of the Ops, The Drawdown’s podcast in which the editorial team discusses a recent cover feature, is all about diversity and inclusion. In the corresponding article - Ecosystemic Change - we investigate the commonly accepted narrative that LPs are the main drivers behind DEI initiatives in private equity and what GPs can do…
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The Drawdown trio tickles your eardrums once more, with our monthly podcast accompanying our latest cover feature. This time, we talk about gen AI trends. But with some substance - trust us. The cover story, entitled Strength Tr -AI- ning, examines how technological innovation is linked with operational resilience. It focuses on the emerging use of…
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Top of the ops: Be young, be foolish, be PE?
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The Drawdown team is back again, this month discussing talent attraction and retention in private equity. Following on from a recent cover story on PE’s relative attractiveness as a career destination, we speak to Kerry Heaton, chief people officer at Hg, about how her firm is adapting its offer to younger generations. We assess how central the pro…
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The latest from your favourite PE operations editorial team! In this episode, we’re talking fund finance and credit rating agencies off the back of The Drawdown’s latest cover feature. The issue gave shape and form to the ominous third party which has recently sneaked up on the fund finance marketplace. In conversation with Gopal Narsimhamurthy, ma…
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In this podcast, Real Deals is joined by British Patient Capital’s Christine Hockley to discuss the importance of patient capital, what VCs must do to appeal to LPs and how GPs can build a value proposition that aligns with their investors’ interests.
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In this exclusive podcast, Real Deals reporter Xhulio Ismalaj is joined by Richard Burrett, chief sustainability officer at early-stage cleantech investor Earth Capital, where he also holds a board director position. During the discussion, he covers the breadth of competing reporting requirements, the volume of activity it creates for GPs, the impo…
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Top of the ops: Is the grass evergreener?
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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 evergr…
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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 dema…
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The Drawdown is joined by a panel of tokenisation experts to discuss how the technology can be used in private markets. Jack Chong is an entrepreneur in residence at White Star Capital, based in New York. Prior to that, he spent time developing a bond issuance asset tokenisation company for sustainable finance. His current business endeavour aims t…
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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 cre…
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Tech and product due diligence: a deep dive
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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 h…
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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…
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Changing approaches to liquidity management
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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 environm…
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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 thin…
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What has corporate governance got to do with it?
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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.
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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 …
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Real Deals editor Talya Misiri speaks with Elliot Refson, head of funds at Jersey Finance, about substance rules and what funds need to consider.
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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.
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N4 Partners joins Real Deals to explore how mental wellbeing and human performance can be an important value creation driver in private equity
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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 di…
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The “green-boom”: the reality of ESG post-pandemic
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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.
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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…
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Real Deals looks at the broader implications of the converging private capital market.
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Creating value through innovation and green initiatives
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In a recent podcast, Real Deals spoke to Rutland Partners investment director Jason Birt and Woodall Nicholson CTO John Randerson on creating value through innovation and green energy initiatives at the portfolio company.
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Real Deals’ roundtable explored private debt's emergent role in a post-pandemic market. Here are some of the key themes that were discussed. Market growth Debt funds vs banks ESG
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Real Deals is joined by Eve Ellis, partner at Ropes and Gray, and Dani Williams, senior principal consultant and ESG advisory team member at ACA Group, to discuss the challenges GPs and LPs are facing with the new SFDR regulation, how investors have reacted and what to expect from Level 2 in 2022.
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Kirkland & Ellis Nordic Capital Aztec Group FSN Capital Campbell Lutyens A group of experts discussing the impact of Covid-19 on current fundraising, remote fund launches, fund structuring and set up, investor onboarding in the current climate and the difference between pre and post-pandemic fundraising.…
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Due Diligence Roundtable: Integrated assessments
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In a recent roundtable hosted by Real Deals, a group of due diligence professionals and fund managers discussed the evolution of DD in the last year and how DD assessments have a vital role to play in value creation. Armstrong CG Consultancy Confidas People JTC Group onefourzero Group RPS Group WA Communications…
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Do GPs need to specialise to stand out or can firms can still succeed in the current market as generalist investors?
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Do we even need standardisation? (Part 2 of 2)
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Mike Dickey, head of product development MUFG Investor Services and Hamish Mair, managing director and head of the private equity team, BMO Global Asset Management (EMEA), examine the impact of initiatives such as the ILPA template on reporting, the ways in which information is disseminated, new technologies and what total standardisation would mea…
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Real Deals speaks to Matthew Finnie, Chief Technology Officer of Drax on the increasing appetite for portfolio company management diligence
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Do we even need standardisation? (Part 1 of 2)
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Mike Dickey, head of product development MUFG Investor Services and Hamish Mair, managing director and head of the private equity team, BMO Global Asset Management (EMEA), discuss the challenges of moving away from Excel and PDFs; the proliferation of side-letters and their impact on reporting and transparency, and ways in which technological solut…
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Private equity dealmakers have adjusted to lockdown restrictions and continued to close transactions at pace. Lenders have responded in kind and demonstrated an ongoing willingness to structure and execute financing to meet the requirements of their clients. Annual ABL Roundtable hosted by Real Deals, lenders, and advisers discuss how the ABL offer…
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Secondaries are here to stay in 2021. While the exit market remains comparatively slow to exit levels pre-Covid, it is expected that secondaries will remain a preferred option for GPs and LPs alike. The secondary market bounced back fairly quickly after the first lockdown last year, with GP-led situations being particularly popular. This year, GP-l…
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In a recent Real Deals roundtable, a panel of experts discussed how Brexit has and will affect the private equity industry, with a focus on deals, portfolio company management, investor queries and more. See more at realdeals.eu.com
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Rebooted: Private equity and the great Covid reset
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Real Deals speaks to IPEM CEO Antoine Colson and O2B Films founder Olivier de Bannes on IPEM's upcoming documentary that focuses on the Covid-19 pandemic and our industry’s response to it.
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Navigating uncertainty: ABL through the pandemic
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A panel of senior ABL lenders, advisers, and GPs discuss how ABL providers are positioning their offerings in post-Covid M&A processes and how ABLs and their clients have steered through an uncertain and volatile market.
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Bridging the gap – from Venture Capital to Private Equity buyout
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Support for fast-growth companies throughout the cycle Tackling the finance gap with companies from breakeven to £1m EBITDA Getting to grips with ARR-style funding Cross-origination for PE houses looking for new deals
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In today’s programme we are going to have an in-depth discussion on the trend of sector specialisation. Sector specialism has become a decisive differentiator for managers when executing deals and LPs appear to be pivoting towards sector specialists in greater numbers. But why is this? Do sector specialists deliver superior returns? How do LPs allo…
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The current environment is nothing new for special situations investors and their advisors; but the macro-economic crisis has given special situations investors a lot to consider. In a recent roundtable, a group of experts discussed the current deal environment, CVAs, corporate carve-outs, and how government support slowdowns will impact the specia…
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InCloudCounsel's Pospisil on the future (Part 3 of 3)
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Alice Murray talks to Troy Pospisil, founder and CEO of InCloudCounsel about the future - specifically how the regulatory landscape for private capital funds is evolving, how investor demands are changing and how InCloudCounsel’s offerings aim to support these developments.
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The evolution of due diligence, the shift in manager focus on DD pre-deal in a post-COVID era and what will be the new normal DD agenda.
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InCloudCounsel's Pospisil on document abstraction (Part 2 of 3)
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Alice Murray talks to Troy Pospisil, founder and CEO of InCloudCounsel about what it is, how it works and how it supports private equity legal teams, as well as the wider organization.
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InCloudCounsel's Pospisil on private equity roots (Part 1 of 3)
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Alice Murray talks to Troy Pospisil, founder and CEO of InCloudCounsel about the company's origins: what drove him to set up the firm and how it has developed over the past seven years.
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In today’s third instalment of the series, we are going to take an in-depth look at the evolution of the European LP base and what this means for managers. The European investor base has evolved from local pockets of LPs supporting domestic managers into a diverse mix of investors with different objectives, priorities, and manager selection criteri…
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At the start of the Covid-19 crisis, governments announced a wave of loans to assist businesses through economic uncertainty. Now, as the pandemic has progressed and the support schemes have become more sophisticated, what are the longer-term ramifications for these businesses and the wider economy?
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