Hawksford, an independent trust company which is backed by UK mid-market private equity firm Dunedin, has appointed Maxine Rawlins, a partner at Ernst & Young, to the position of chief executive from 2014 when the incumbent chief executive, Peter Murley, retires. A partner at Ernst & Young in Jersey, Rawlins currently leads the Channel Islands Tax Practice and is Head of EMEIA Asset Management Tax.

More M&A of deals under $500 mln are being considered this year by executives, an Ernst & Young survey says.

Ernst & Young has completed its acquisition of Semphonic, a digital measurement and data analytics consulting firm. The merchant bank Clearsight Advisors served as the exclusive strategic and financial advisor to Semphonic, the firm announced today. PRESS RELEASE: Clearsight Advisors, Inc. (“Clearsight”) is pleased to announce the successful completion of a strategic transaction in the [...]

Apax Partners has completed the previously announced acquisition of Cole Haan, a designer and retailer of premium footwear and related accessories, from NIKE. Jefferies & Company acted as financial advisor and provided financing to Apax. Kirkland & Ellis LLP provided legal advice and Ernst & Young provided accounting and tax advice.

M&A tech was particularly sluggish in 2012, with just 300 computer-related deals completed in the year, compared to more than 350 in 2011.

Private equity firms are planning to increase investment in Asia over the next year as they look to tap into potential growth, a survey from Ernst & Young reveals, writes Reuters.

The owners of the AA have hired accountants Ernst & Young to begin work on valuing the 107-year-old motoring services company, writes Reuters. The process could see the AA eventually sold or floated on the stock market for as much as 5 billion pounds ($8.1 billion), writes Reuters. Acromas is backed by Charterhouse, CVC and Permira and was formed in 2007 through a 6.1 billion pound merger of AA and Saga.

France is challenging the UK as the leader in European buyouts, with 129 deals worth €14 billion last year, says a new report.

Break out the champagne and caviar! Good times are right around the corner, says Ernst & Young, whose Transaction Advisory Services group just published a very rosy 2012 M&A outlook. Certainly, the division has its fingers crossed. It’s quick to acknowledge that 2011 won’t go in the history books as the most memorable year for [...]

Ernst & Young has just released its fifth annual study of how PE investors create value, based on 233 of the largest exits in North America over the last five years. The idea, of course: to better understand the best practices of the industry’s leaders. The study is a little squishy – you won’t find [...]