Reuters - Private equity firm PAI asks investors to increase 3 bln-euro fund

Private equity firm PAI asks investors to increase 3 bln-euro fund - source

Jan 20 (Reuters) - European private equity fund PAI is asking investors to increase the amount it is allowed to raise for its 3 billion-euro Fund VI after receiving strong demand, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

The French-based owner of R&R Ice Cream is asking investors to raise the planned amount of the fund, or hard cap, to 3.2 billion euros. The firm plans to make an announcement in the first quarter of the year, less than two years since it launched its fundraising, the source said.

Fund VI had its first close of 1.4 billion euros in January 2014, and has made six investments.

It is PAI's first fundraising since a 2009 boardroom struggle pushed out top management in favour of Lionel Zinsou, the former Rothschild banker who now heads the buyout firm.

Previous investors in the firm's Fund V have increased their commitments in Fund VI by an average of almost 30 percent, the source added.

The buyout house's Fund V has so far made an average of 2.5 times its investments from the exits of Nuance and Atos. The firm also sold United Biscuits to Yildiz Holding, Turkey's largest food group, in November last year for a money multiple of 3.7 times.

Private equity firms generally target a return of 2-3 times their money.

Buyout funds raised a total of $176.2 billion in 2014, according to data firm Preqin. Private equity activity has rebounded since the financial crisis, with $332 billion in buyout deals announced last year, the highest since 2007.

(BFW) ISS A/S, Keysight, TWX Are New Longs, Einhorn’s Greenlight Says

BFW 01/20 18:19 *ISS A/S NEW LONG POSITION BY GREENLIGHT: LETTER
ISS A/S, Keysight, TWX Are New Longs, Einhorn’s Greenlight Says
2015-01-20 18:23:21.859 GMT


By Arie Shapira
(Bloomberg) -- ISS A/S, Keysight Technologies, Time Warner
are new long positions, Einhorn’s Greenlight says in letter.
* Cliffs Natural short position closed out
* Cigna long position closed out

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Link to Company News:{KEYS US <Equity> CN <GO>}
Link to Company News:{TWX US <Equity> CN <GO>}
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To contact the reporter on this story:
Arie Shapira in New York at +1-212-617-1488 or
ashapira3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Joanna Ossinger at +1-212-617-7789 or
jossinger@bloomberg.net

MS : The QE Chartbook: The QEquation: ECB + BoJ = Fed?

The QE Chartbook: The QEquation: ECB + BoJ = Fed?

Can near-zero interest rates and balance sheet expansion from the ECB and BoJ offset policy rate hikes and a flat balance sheet from the Fed? Periods of changing expectations will have an impact on global interest rates. As expectations of further easing from the ECB and the BoJ materialised in 2H14, the future path of short-term rates and hence long-term rates shifted down globally. But can such an offset to the Fed be sustained? In order to find out who sets the global interest rate, we examine three questions:
• What does the stock of assets and liabilities tell us? What do cross-border lending and international reserves stocks tell us about the relative role of USD, EUR and JPY assets?
• Why do we observe a persistent dominance of one currency over another? Is there a friction that incentivises against switching costlessly between USD, EUR and JPY funding? Can a ‘dollar zone’ be such a friction?
• Could the flow overturn the stock effect? If EUR and JPY funding flows dominate, then they will become the marginal lenders and could dominate the stock effect. 
A simple flow of funding metric gives us some insights here.
In the chartbook section, Sung Woen Kang provides a follow-up to The QE Chartbook: The End of the Beginning, October 15, 2012, with charts on: i) G3 central bank balance sheets, stock and flow of funding by currency and international reserves compositions; ii) A timeline of G3 central bank actions; iii) How ‘active’ and ‘passive’ QE strategies are reflected in the composition of central bank assets and liabilities; and iv) a refresher on how QE works.
A global economy battling lowflation, and particularly an EM world that has accrued substantial USD as well as domestic liabilities with heavy foreign ownership, await the denouement with palpable tension. Out-of-sync EM economies (see The Global Macro Analyst: EM – Out of Sync? February 12, 2014) will likely remain ill-equipped to deal with global interest rate dynamics if the US economy and the Fed are the ones setting them. An ECB and BoJ offset would provide welcome relief.

>>> Morgan Stanley Cuts 2015 Media Outlook to Cautious - Firm notes that Media h

Morgan Stanley Cuts 2015 Media Outlook to Cautious 
- Firm notes that Media has outperformed the market over the last two and five years
- Firm believes the next phase in the evolution of these generally well-run, high margin businesses will be a challenging period of falling returns
- Firm adds eroding subscriber base and FX headwinds to firm's already diminished ad outlook, leading it to cut estimates across the sector and lowering price targets accordingly

>>> US Gapping down

Gapping down
In reaction to disappointing earnings/guidance: SAP -4.9%, RF -4.1%, EDU -3.7%, MS -2.4%, UN -1.2%, JNJ -1.2%

M&A news: EXPR -12.7% (Co and Sycamore Partners announce termination of discussions)

Select Brazil related names showing weakness: CPL -8%, SBS -4.6%, GOL -4.0%, ITUB -3.4%, GGB -2.2%, VALE -0.6%

Other news: CEL -13.7% (announces filing of supplemental shelf offering report In Israel), APA -2.3% (announces Retirement Of Chairman, President And CEO, G. Steven Farris; John J. Christmann, IV, COO North America, To Succeed Farris As President And CEO), GGB -2.2% (also announced share buyback program), BCE -1.1% (reports results of Series AE and AF Preferred Share conversions), IQNT -0.8% (announces departure of CEO), RIO -0.7% (releases Q4 production results), BHP -0.7% (in symp with RIO)

Analyst comments: AREX -8.2% (downgraded to Reduce from Neutral at Sun Trust Rbsn Humphrey), MHR -8.2% (downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Sun Trust Rbsn Humphrey), YNDX -2.9% (downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman), GDP -2% (downgraded to Hold from Buy at KLR Group), CTCM -1.9% (downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Goldman), HK -1.7% (downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Sun Trust Rbsn Humphrey ), CGG -1.6% (downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at JP Morgan), ABB -1.1% (downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup ), INTC -0.7% (downgraded to Mkt Underperform from Mkt Perform at JMP Securities)

NY Post : Why take a taxi to the airport when you can take a helicopter?

New York’s chopper wars are about to begin.
A new helicopter service aims to make it affordable for the masses — not just the ultra rich — to forgo a taxi and hop a flight to the airport.
Starting Wednesday, Gotham Air will offer flights starting at just $99 from Manhattan to JFK and Newark Liberty airports.
Last year, Blade launched as the “Uber of helicopters.” Clients use a mobile phone app to order choppers to take them to their private jets or a weekend jaunt in the Hamptons. While Blade has added convenience, the price of a seat — around $500 — still qualifies as a luxury.
“It’s our belief that people who want to charter helicopters to take them to private airports already know how to do this,” Gotham Air CEO Tim Hayes said. “We want to give as many people as possible the chance to experience a helicopter flight.”
Gotham’s going rates are higher than the initial $99. After the introductory flight, prices will range from $199 to $219, depending on the time of day and the airport, Hayes said, adding that the choppers will depart from three Gotham Air terminals in Manhattan.
The service will also expand to other public and private airports and helipads, and increase from a few flights a day to every hour on the hour, he said.
“I had been a helicopter passenger for many years, but this is my first helicopter venture,” said Hayes, who is also an award-winning music, concert and TV producer.
The idea took flight after Hayes chartered a helicopter to get his pal, Duff McKagan of Guns ‘N Roses fame, to the airport on time. He was stunned to get a $2,000 bill for a six-minute ride.
“I felt that there should be a better way,” Hayes said. “Chopper rides shouldn’t be reserved for the super elite. That was sort of the ‘aha’ moment.”
While Gotham Air is geared to the “general public,” the flights are first class.
“It’s like a Mercedes S class,” Hayes said.
Gotham Air has leased 10 “state of the art” Bell 407 helicopters from Helicopter Flight Service.
John Kjekstad, who co-founded HFS in 1985, is also a co-founder of Gotham Air.
Gotham Air describes the Bell 407 choppers as the “sports car of helicopters” with speeds of up to 160 miles per hour.
The flights come with “in-flight” food from Chef Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery and Hermes leather seats, among other travel perks.
Gotham Air is not a direct air carrier. All helicopter rides are operated by HFS, according to Hayes, who was also executive producer of the 2014 Amnesty International Concert at the Barclays Center and helped get political activists Pussy Riot into the US and onstage for the concert.

>>> US Gapping up

Gapping up
In reaction to strong earnings/guidance: SWHC +10%, RAI +4.4%, MTG +3%, NTLS +2.8%, MOS +2.7%, DAL +2.5%, HAL +1.9%, JAH +1.9%, BHI +1.7%, ATI +1.4%

M&A news: MCRL +3.8% (to review strategic alternatives), GG +2.6% (announced an agreement to acquire, through a friendly plan of arrangement all the outstanding shares of Probe Mines for ~C$526 mln), BBRY +1.7% (cont M&A spec), TWTR +1.1% (to acquire ZipDial)

Select EU financial related names showing strength: BCS +5.1%, RBS +4.5%, DB +3.1%, ING +3%, SAN +1.9%

Select metals/mining stocks trading higher: AU +5.7%, AUY +4.5%, IAG +4.2%, CDE +3.7%, ABX +3.4%, GOLD +3.2%, EGO +2.8%, GDX +2.7%, NEM +2%, AEM +1.8%, GFI +0.9%, SLW +0.8%, .

Other news: CYTR +11.7% (announces FDA's removal of partial clinical hold for Aldoxorubicin; clinical trials permitting immediate enrollment of new patients), CPXX +9.4% (receives FDA fast track designation for CPX-351 for the treatment of elderly patients with Secondary Acute Myeloid Leukemia), SIGA +7.6% (announces it has filed a notice of appeal from the judgment of the Delaware Court of Chancery awarding PharmAthene (PIP) expectation damages), PHG +5.5% (reports of KKR / CVC bid for lighting unit), TAHO +4.2% (production at high end of 2014 expectations), REXX +3.4% (provides update on core operations), ALU +3.1% (positive Barrons mention), PAAS +2.5% (reports production of a record 26.1 million Silver ounces and 161,500 Gold ounces in 2014), MTW +1.8% (Carl Icahn disclosed 7.81% stake in 13D, up from 7.77% disclosed on 12/29), DRAD +1.7% (discloses the effective resignation of CFO Nancy Reinhard on January 19, 2014; company still searching for replacement), TASR +1.7% (announces the purchase of 1500 AXON flex and body cameras by the Cleveland Police Department), DDC +1.5% (reports Diavik Diamond Mine Fourth Calendar Quarter Production +5% YoY), PSEC +1.2% (announces increase in revolving credit facility commitments to $885 mln), FEYE +0.9% (achieves certification within UK Cyber essentials scheme)

Analyst comments: EHTH +3.8% (upgraded to Hold from Sell at Stifel), TMUS +3.6% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman), BBVA +3.5% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup), MU +2% (upgraded to Positive from Neutral at Susquehanna), STRZA +1.8% (upgraded to Overweight from Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley), CAJ +1.3% (upgraded to Hold from Sell at Deutsche Bank), BAC +1.3% (added to Conviction Buy list at Goldman), TIF +1.2% (upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo), MO +1.1% (upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo)

>>> US Early premarket gappers

Early premarket gappers
Gapping up: AU +7.1%, TTM +6.1%, PHG +5.5%, FRO +5.1%, BCS +4.9%, AUY +4.7%, RBS +4.4%, IAG +4.2%, ABX +3.8%, CDE +3.7%, GOLD +3.6%, BBRY +3.5%, ALU +3.4%, PAAS +3.4%, DB +3.4%, EGO +3.2%, GFI +3%, MGM +2.8%, GDX +2.7%, DAL +2.6%, HAL +2.5%, HAL +2.5%, JAH +2.5%, GG +2.4%, NEM +2.2%, AEM +2.1%, ING +2.1%, SAN +1.9%,SLW +1.8%, BHI +1.7%, MOS +1.1%

Gapping down: FXCM -86.9%, CEL -14.9%, MHR -6%, CPL -5%, SAP -5%, SBS -4.3%, ITUB -3.9%, YNDX -2.9%, GGB -2.8%, MS -2.8%, ABB -2.4%, EDU -2.3%, UN -1.7%, RIO -1.3%, VALE -1%, BHP -1%, MT -0.7%