Fetch.ai launches Mainnet v2.0
Fetch.ai, a Cambridge-based artificial intelligence lab building an open-access decentralised machine learning network for smart infrastructure, has launched v2.0 of its Mainnet with 30 validators, including Outlier Ventures, Forbole, and InfStones The v2.0 of Fetch.ai Mainnet is the next step towards building an AI-powered blockchain that allows businesses and individuals to deploy Autonomous Economic Agents […]
BlackRock Breaks Ranks With Wall Street in Performing Race Audit
BlackRock Inc. is breaking ranks with peers on Wall Street by doing a deep dive into its business to see how it may contribute to racial inequities in the financial system. The world’s largest money manager plans to undergo an independent racial audit of its operations, following a request from a shareholder. Companies including Airbnb […]
DC Advisory appoints new US leadership
DC Advisory, Daiwa Securities’ global corporate finance business, has appointed new US leadership to accelerate its ambitious growth strategy to become a top tier mid-market M&A advisor, globally The move comes after the formation of DC Advisory US in 2019, following Daiwa Securities’ acquisition of boutique investment banks Signal Hill and Sagent Advisors. The new […]
GCP appoints Investment Director
Growth Capital Partners (GCP), a leading partnership-focused investor, has appointed Emily Henderson as Investment Director. Henderson joins GCP from RJD Partners, a UK lower mid-market private equity fund. She has over 10 years of transactions experience, including five and a half years at RJD where she was an Investment Director responsible for origination, deal execution, […]
Sidley adds two private equity partners in New York
Sidley Austin has appointed Anthony Norris and Christopher Rile as partners in the firm’s global M&A and Private Equity practice in New York. They join from Ropes & Gray LLP, where they have been longtime partners in the firm’s private equity transaction group. Norris and Rile represent leading private equity sponsors on mergers and acquisitions, […]
Value of PE-backed TikTok maker ByteDance approaches US$400 billion for new investors
The valuation of ByteDance is approaching US$400 billion for private-equity investors, as the Chinese owner of short video-sharing app TikTok cements its leading position among global tech unicorns. The new valuation of nearly US$400 billion, if confirmed, almost triples ByteDance’s US$140 billion valuation after its series C fundraising in March 2020, according to data from […]
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink sees 18% pay rise
BlackRock Chairman and CEO Laurence D. Fink’s total compensation rose to $29.85 million in 2020, an 18.2% increase from $25.25 million in the prior year, according to the company’s proxy statement filed Thursday with the SEC. The largest portion of Mr. Fink’s 2020 compensation — $14.9 million — was from a long-term incentive award, followed […]
PE groups raise more than $20bn from loan investors to fund dividends
Private equity groups including Ares and Golden Gate Capital have raised more than $20bn in the US leveraged loan market through the companies they own to award themselves a bumper payday. Dividend deals in the loan market have reached a total of $21.7bn, according to data from LevFin Insights, a unit of rating agency Fitch […]
Apex enhances Loan Agency offering
Apex Group Ltd (Apex) has expanded Loan Agency services both in support of existing loan administration capabilities and in support of private equity and leveraged finance client needs. In 2020, the business made a number of senior hires including the appointment of Paul Wilden from TMF Group as Global Head of Capital Markets to lead […]
Private equity’s taste for tech sparks spending spree
Private equity firms are setting records as they place bets on technological revolutions in sectors ranging from finance to health care Firms have spent $80 billion acquiring companies in the global technology sector this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s an all-time high for a quarter and already up 141 percent on this […]
