Amanda Palmer

MOSCOW PE Forum: Normally I wouldn’t give much air time to a presentation from a lawyer because they all tend to say the same thing. However, Squire, Sanders and Dempsey are sponsoring the cocktail reception and on a day as hot as this and when I’m craving a tipple – that deserves some respect. Surprisingly […]

If anyone knows a thing or two about investing in Russia, it is Michael Calvey, managing partner of Barings Vostok Capital. This group has been investing in Russia for the past 13 years and runs four funds worth US$1.3bn. And it has investments in over 48 Russian companies but it has never won an auction […]

I’m currently wired to a translation device at the bilingual Russian and CIS Private Equity and Venture Capital Forum, in the record-breaking heat wearing way too much jewellery as Russians tend to dress glamorously. But I must admit that it has only been the government speakers that have presented in Russian so far. Andrey Sharonov, […]

As the plane’s wheels touched the sticky tarmac of Domodedovo to the south of Moscow there was a slight panic onboard when it was announced that the local temperature was 100 degrees. We’d all just come from London and there was barely an unscarfed neck in sight. The local English language newspaper, The Moscow Times, […]

Private equity houses are planning to invest an estimated £25bn in Asia, but some have found it difficult to do major transactions in China and India. Both countries have proven resistant to advances from buyout funds, largely restricting their involvment to minority stakes in unimportant companies. As they look further afield for better deals, Australia […]

Europe’s listed companies are wising up to the tactics used by private equity managers and applying them to their own business to avoid buyouts. One idea that is being touted by investment bankers to their clients is that of a “multi-layered” or “multi-pronged” corporate financing structure. Bankers say that it is outdated to look at […]

Surprisingly, I managed to avoid the protesters last night at Claridge’s for the BVCA Chairman’s dinner in London. But my deputy editor was not so fortunate in Frankfurt at the Superreturn conference where delegates faced around 300 protestors with leaflets that read: “Texas Pacific Group is behind the aggression on female workers and employees of […]

This morning I awoke to the perma-grey of London with the quality of hangover that can only truly be achieved when your Cockney neighbor pops by, you offer her a glass of wine and three and a half bottles and a cheese board later you find yourself dancing around your living room to Missy Elliot […]

The Copenhagen-based, Icelandic investment house FL Group now owns 5.98% of the share capital of AMR Corporation, the parent company of American, American Eagle and The AmericanConnection airlines. The group has been building its stake for a considerable period and its total investment now exceeds US$400m, making it the third largest investor in the airline. […]

When the U.S. Department of Justice began its inquiry into club deals earlier this year, a spokesman for the UK Financial Services Authority told me that it was planning “no investigation into private equity deals in the UK.” Now, less than two months later, officials from the FSA are interviewing people involved in four key takeover bids to try […]