The last couple of years have seen a steady trickle of banks and insurers selling private equity assets and other non-core units as regulators globally toughen capital requirements.
In the US, the Volcker Rule, a part of the financial regulatory overhaul law that limits proprietary trading, or investments by banks using their own capital, has been forcing banks to sell part or all of their private equity portfolios.
In Europe, banks are selling their private equity assets to boost their balance sheets to prepare for the Basel III reform package which will impose capital constraints on investments. The new rules will come into force on January 1, 2013, with full implementation by 2019.
Today, we’ll take a look at some of the US and European institutions who have been offloading their private equity assets and what prices they have been getting. It also includes a couple that are on the sales block waiting to make their announcement. There are also a few among the bunch that, since being spun out, have commenced efforts–with varying degrees of success–to raise new funds. How successful these PE shops will be independently in some cases remains to be seen…