Firms and Funds

HONG KONG (Reuters) – U.S. authorities engineered an $85 billion rescue of insurance giant American International Group Inc, staving off bankruptcy and bringing a measure of calm to shell-shocked global markets. The bailout, made amid a cataclysmic week for the financial sector, marks a reversal of Washington’s vow not to step in and calls for […]

AIG’s private equity businesses will likely top the list of divestiture candidates that posses “the least possible disruption to the overall economy.” Seems to me the businesses I described on Monday would be easier to extract and slide into another FoF or PE manager’s portfolio. It made sense pre-bail-out; now it seems beyond clear. Even […]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A company led by Hank Greenberg, a former chief executive of American International Group, may try to take over the insurer in a proxy fight or tender offer, according to a regulatory filing. Greenberg’s company, C.V. Starr, said in a filing on Tuesday that it continues to work with its adviser, […]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) does not want or need to buy a commercial bank, Chief Financial Officer David Viniar said on Tuesday, countering market speculation that Wall Street companies need the stability of a deposit-taking business to survive the current turmoil. Earlier this year there was rampant talk that Goldman […]

Invesco WL Ross has formed a joint venture with Huaneng Capital Services, a subsidiary of Chinese power company China Huaneng Group. The 50/50 partnership is designed to identify private equity investment opportunities in China’s power generation market.   PRESS RELEASE  Invesco WL Ross, which combines the strength of the private equity expertise of WL Ross […]

LONDON (Reuters) – Quarterly profits at top U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs slid 70 percent on Tuesday and shares in Britain’s HBOS plunged by about a third as financial sector carnage snowballed beyond insurer AIG. The cost of borrowing between banks surged as financing troubles piled up for U.S.-based American International Group and as markets […]

Neil McDaid has joined BDO Stoy Hayward to head up its new debt advisory offering which will sit in its corporate finance team. McDaid was formerly at Barclays where he was responsible for the bank’s UK mid-market corporate syndications group. The new appointment comes as demand from mid-market private equity firms for specialist debt advisory […]

Close Brothers has acquired the remaining 55% stake in Spanish affiliate Atlas Capital, from firm management. The business will be renamed Atlas Capital Close Brothers, and will continue to focus on Iberian M&A advisory services.   PRESS RELEASE Close Brothers, one of Europe’s leading independent corporate finance houses, has acquired the remaining 55% equity stake […]

LONDON (Reuters) – British bank Barclays is in talks with Lehman Brothers to buy its core U.S. broker-dealer business, including equity, fixed income, M&A advisory and other parts, people familiar with the matter said. A deal could save thousands of jobs and many of Lehman’s core investment bank operations, a day after the U.S. bank’s […]

TOKYO (Reuters) – Lehman Brothers Japan Inc, a Japanese unit of Lehman Brothers Holdings, will file for court protection from creditors in Tokyo, a source said on Tuesday. The U.S. investment bank filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States on Monday. (Reporting by Taiga Uranaka; Editing by Rodney Joyce)