Suniti Chauhan

#Hargreaves_Lansdown Hargreaves Lansdown backed the £5.4 billion bid for the FTSE 100 fund manager today from a private equity consortium, a deal that will end its time as a listed company. The Bristol-based finance firm has been listed in London since 2007. It said today that the final offer valued its shares at 1140p in cash and would include a 30p per share dividend for the financial year which ended on 30 June. Compared to the Hargreaves Lansdown share price before the approach was first made in April, the price is at a premium of over 54%. The consortium is made up of CVC, Nordic Capital and ADIA. Hargreaves Lansdown is named after its founders – Peter Hargreaves and Stephen Lansdown – who set it up as an investment tip sheet. It now runs a state-of-the-art trading platform from which clients can run their own portfolios and pensions. https://lnkd.in/dKpizupy

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Great webinar with FT Live on the Global M&A Outlook in the EMEA Region. There is a feel of the optimism in EMEA’s M&A landscape, with private equity leading the charge and valuations on the rise. Geopolitical certaintly, growth agenda, and interest rates certainly will provide confidence in the market, therefore, the future is looking really good. #wheredealsaremade #privateequity #mergers

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The next instalment of “A Word in Private” is out. Watch our latest vodcast to hear from our panel on exit readiness: - Identify and evidence your equity story - Collection of data should prove the equity story beyond the last 12 months - Start early. Preparation is key to a successful exit. Use KPMG’s proprietary Exit Readiness tool 18-24 months pre-exit to make sure you’re ready. - Maintain business as usual. Create an effective process that gives management enough bandwidth to run the business and deliver on the deal by getting advisors involved early. Watch the latest instalment of A Word in Private, now! Chris Stott, Claire Elcock Matthew Linehan Naveen Sharma #KPMGdealadvisory; #privateequity; #exitreadiness #valuecreation #deals #data

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MPS is an incredibly powerful tool. Platform tech allows a dispersed team with complementary skill sets to collaborate in managing the assets of underlying clients efficiently and effectively. It fosters specialisation and it delivers the benefit of scale to the end investor. But there are creaking sounds as the market continues its spectacular growth. These need to be heard and attended to, as highlighted by NextWealth. There are some exciting initiatives in this direction from a variety of players, which should benefit the whole value chain. Where does this take the MPS market once we're over the hump? Look out for continued growth, mass customisation and continued scale benefits, with MPS displacing traditional custody arrangements across the whole wealth management industry. Bring it on! FNZ Group, Criterion, Financial Simplicity, Mabel Insights,

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Excellent role modelling

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There has been lots written about the impact of the budget, and some names are dominating the headlines. At the smaller end of the market where YFM Equity Partners invests we can already see Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders adapting to the new normal, and most positively where there will be opportunities to grow faster. One of the things we did not expect to see so quickly is a surge in Entrepreneurs looking to do some sort of ownership change transaction, The Business Magazine - South West & West Midlands / The Business Magazine - South East covers the 300% increase in enquiries below. These enquiries are Management Teams looking to buy the businesses they run from their owners, or owners looking to de-risk themselves with some cash out now and support from a Private Equity investor.

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TPG to scale GP-led strategy meaningfully says CEO Jon Winkelried. Winkelried discussed the growing interest in GP-leds among large clients in the firm’s earnings call for Q1 2024. TPG’s GP Solutions strategy is led by Co-Managing Partners Michael Woolhouse and Matt Jones. #Secondaries #Secondary #SecondaryMarket #AlternativeInvestments #PrivateMarkets #TPG https://lnkd.in/efa_68Vk

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The recent flurry of M&A activity driven by expected CGT changes got me thinking about deadlines. The rabbit hole got deep. Pricing dynamics: Negotiations are rarely symmetrical - what concessions are made by the party pushing a deadline? I wonder how many recent deals sacrificed value over 4% to deliver on time. Motivation and focus: The Yerkes-Dodson Law explains how deadlines heighten focus and performance but only up to a point. When a deadline is too tight, it can push people into distress, reducing cognitive performance. Done repeatedly it can lead to burnout. Procrastination: Parkinson’s Law suggests that work expands to fill the time available. Without tighter deadlines, people can be less efficient, whereas shorter, focused deadlines can drive productive bursts of work. I definitely feel this one! Creativity: Deadlines often lead to convergent thinking, narrowing ideas to get tasks done quickly. Less restrictive timelines can lead to divergent thinking and creativity. An interesting thought in M&A where a creative solutions under pressure are often needed. The Completion Effect: the sense of satisfaction and reward from meeting a deadline. Who in M&A hears this?! Anyway, speaking of deadlines; effective BADR rates are set to increase by 4% in both 2025 and 2026. Businesses with broader shareholder bases looking to sell may feel a disproportionate impacted. CP Deals are here to help. https://lnkd.in/eF6-Q9hA #cgt #deals #negotiation

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A very interesting but substantial opinion piece from Bloomberg on Starmer’s government and its apparently vindictive approach to policy and delight in paying off its union support. They are indulging their core support from deeply vested interests while not seeking improved productivity and modern work practices. This is bold when the landslide vote result obscures the meagre 34% share of vote. “A deeper reason is that needlessly antagonizing Middle England will do nothing to address the country’s underlying problem, its dismal growth rate. Labour’s central promise was to improve productivity. Yet it failed to use pay rises as a way of pushing through productivity improvements — and now risks setting off a competitive round of wage inflation. It was all quid and no quo. Giving productivity-free pay rises to strike-prone workers while claiming that there’s a financial crisis is not a good way of building sustainable support for your policies”.

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Thanks to Paul Clarke Financial News for running an article featuring Continuum Advisory Partners' vision and growth journey. Since our founding less than two years ago, we've grown to a team of close to 40, with ambitious plans to expand across London, Europe and the USA. Our focus remains clear: delivering independent, relationship-driven advice in the financial services sector, including insurance, wealth management, financial technology and professional services. We're taking a different approach from traditional boutiques. Our model, inspired by the classic merchant banks, emphasises long-term relationships and trust over transactional dealings. Sometimes the best advice is to not do a deal at all. As I say in the article, "We're going back to the future" with our culture centred on teamwork and trust. We're proud that 21 of our current team members have worked together for over a decade across multiple organisations. We're growing thoughtfully, focusing on individuals who share our values and vision for client service. We're excited about our future as we continue building our unique financial services mid-market advisory firm. #InvestmentBanking #FinancialServices #MandA #Growth #Leadership Find the link to the article in the first comment below.

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Great conversation yesterday at Preqin with Preqin's Cameron Joyce, CFA, CAIA, Blue Owl Capital's Cara Griffiths, Bain Capital's Tom Sargeant on the future of fundraising for private markets. Where will AUM come from going forward? What are the challenges that funds will face in fundraising? What strategies will be most popular going forward? It was fascinating to hear the perspectives of some of the industry's biggest platforms in Blue Owl Capital and Bain Capital from Cara and Tom, respectively, as to where fundraising is headed given their purview on the market and from Cameron on his data-driven insights from market research and plenty of numbers crunching on what it will take for private markets to grow to $30T AUM by 2030.

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Another week, another conference! We're delighted to sponsor a roundtable at the 7th Private Equity Europe Forum, where we'll explore strategies for reimagining value creation through operational optimisation. If you're attending the Forum, join Table 1 during the breakout session! David Page and I look forward to seeing you there! #PrivateEquity #InvestmentStrategies #ValueCreation #Growth #SPV #FundManagement #PrivateEquityEuropeForum

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#Aegon Aegon has strengthened its largest workplace pension default fund with enhanced ESG integration and private markets investment offerings. The 700,000 members currently invested in the £12bn universal balanced collection fund will benefit from improved returns, value for money and a wider range of investment opportunities as a result of the transformation, set to take place from Q3 this year. The fund, available to investors in Aegon’s ‘Retirement Choices’, ‘One Retirement’ and some other platform products, will offer a bespoke solution managed by three asset managers – with private market allocations housed within long-term asset fund (LTAF) structures (subject to regulatory approval). https://lnkd.in/d2RvqHmX

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DAILY DROP As the FT reports that the former UK MPC rate-setter Michael Saunders (now of Oxford Economics) has set out an argument that the Bank of England could cut rates faster than currently expected (still to a landing rate in the 3.25% to 3.5% range - Howard Marks of Oak Tree suggesting between 3% and 4% in the US post Fed cuts), so the British Chamber of Commerce senior economist warns that the rate of UK inflation will rise & stay above target until 2027, in fact rising back to closer to 3% by YE24 so reference rates will be cut less than currently forecast. Who's right? Well I'm more on the BCC side than I am on that of my once former colleague (Salomon Brothers all those years ago) but both paths ultimately lead to the same landing spot - rates higher/normal for longer & confirmation that the free money decade (15 years?) is well & truly over. As we inch towards the defining weeks of the US election campaign, the sideshows are fading & it's back to all about the economy isn't it? Biden/Harris look set to block Nippon Steel's proposed $14.1bn takeover of US Steel (US Steel stock down over 20% as a result), a move also backed by both The Donald & The Reps, as well as by the Pennsylvania (vital election swing state) based United Steelworkers union - a very rare case of unity on any issue in a very divided US. All eyes will be on The Donald later today (just as he likes it!) as he delivers a speech at the Economy Club of New York - will he stay on topic & force the dialogue back on to the economy, or continue to aim personal jibes (which aren't sticking!) at Harris as she continues to ride the wave of positive poll progress post the recent DNC? Interesting viewing/reading for sure. Markets softened on fears of slowing jobs & the risk of a harder than the softest of landings, oil down on fears of reduced demand as a result of that harder landing, Volvo rows back on its previous commitment to be an exclusively electric manufacturer by 2030, VW talks of painful cost-cutting to come as a result of weakening global demand amidst reports that Swiss luxury watchmakers are turning to government financial help programmes to help them weather a downturn in demand. Interesting times. "No-one is so brave that he is not disturbed by something unexpected." Julius Caesar

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A friend of mine sent me this article on the decline of the UK (public equity) market's size and ownership and it's implications (not great if the UK misses out on financing wealth creating life sciences companies created in the UK). Over 20 years ago we took a conscious decision to globalise client portfolios primarily due to the higher growth investment opportunities available overseas (in US markets in particular) where exposure to similar growth companies was not available in the UK. It was undoubtedly the right thing to do from an investment perspective but the lack of new growth listings in the UK feels a bit "chicken and egg". Whether it is due to lack of risk appetite or available capital, it could well hand a significant prize to overseas capital markets particularly in life sciences as highlighted in the article. The reasons are many and manifold, ranging from closed defined benefit pension schemes with underlying risk aversion to a consistently weak domestic currency (twin fiscal and capital account deficits) . Serious UK politicians would be giving this some proper thought but if the leaks/previews of the forthcoming budget are to be believed, the UK is headed in the other direction. My job is to seek the best global risk adjusted returns for our clients and to that end, a deeper pool of UK opportunities would be welcome but as the article highlights, it is more.of a diminishing pool under current trends. https://lnkd.in/eeKqZdxQ /0ur-biggest-problem-hiding-in-plain-sight

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An excellent course with INSEAD Executive Education to support professional development.

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Thinking of securing investment, an exit or MBO involving private equity? Tom Whittard, partner at Westbridge, gave three tips in an article in Corporate Financier magazine. We discuss them in this blog - https://lnkd.in/eWKEQ5dZ How we can help: We offer comprehensive support for management teams, going beyond just the deal to help them plan, complete the transaction with a good investor and provide ongoing advisory support to deliver growth plans. Get in touch with us. #investors #privateequity #corporatefinance

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Good commentary Paul Aversano  and applies to the UK/ European market as well. Alvarez & Marsal  Over the last 18 months, I’ve been involved with a couple of major deals that were driven by previous obligations made to the funds stakeholders and a few this year would have sold anyway but got lost along the way away with unrealistic expectations on multiples.  #privateequity #investos British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (BVCA) PitchBook https://lnkd.in/eKaWeggJ

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“The stars are aligning for the UK at the moment and this budget certainly hasn’t dimmed them.” Compared to the noise beforehand, this budget was much better than it could have been. As I said on Bloomberg earlier this week, perhaps some expectation management was in play. There were bits I was less keen on, such as the capital gains tax rises, but these were a lot smaller than the extent of the possible increases being talked about in the run-up to the event. The same goes for the decision to halve business property relief on AIM shares. We saw the market stabilise as the 50% relief was welcomed over it being scrapped altogether. Overall, the Chancellor has set out a sense of direction – a roadmap for the economy and her priorities - and growth prospects are brighter over the years to come. I’ve stated previously that the stars are aligning for the UK at the moment and this budget certainly hasn’t dimmed them. What I’d really like to see now is for the Government to press on with pension fund reform, build on the start that we’ve made and reverse the dramatic and relentless outflow of funds from the UK. We need to put a plug in the bottom of the bathtub and start refilling, so that our capital markets can make an even stronger contribution to the UK’s economic progress. https://lnkd.in/d6Wz47Ct #budget #ukmarkets #investment

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