Aurelia Butler

(Reuters) – Private equity firm General Atlantic has hired veteran technology dealmaker Jonathan Durham to expand in corporate buyouts, an area in which it has done little because of its focus on growth equity investments, two people familiar with the matter said.General Atlantic sees opportunities to acquire more technology companies after valuations in the sector plunged this year in the wake of market turmoil fueled by rising interest rates and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the sources said.The sources requested anonymity because the matter is confidential. General Atlantic declined to comment while Durham did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The New York-based firm has made 406 investments since its launch in 1980, yet it has acquired only 14 companies, according to data provider Crunchbase. General Atlantic will continue to deploy its capital primarily in growth equity investments and has no plans at this stage for a dedicated buyout fund, the sources said.Durham spent 17 years at technology private equity firm Silver Lake before leaving it earlier this year. There he worked on leveraged buyouts such as the $11.3 billion acquisition of financial software maker SunGuard, as well as growth equity investments, including financial technology startups Plaid Inc and Klarna Bank AB, according to his Linkedin profile.General Atlantic, which has about $79 billion of assets under management, is known for its investments in high-profile startups such as Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER) Inc, Airbnb Inc and ByteDance, the owner of short video app TikTok. Its current portfolio includes about 200 companies, according to its website.General Atlantic’s hiring of Durham is the latest among growth-equity investors seeking more buyout capabilities. Lead Edge Capital, based in New York and Santa Barbara, California, earlier this year hired Dan Lynn from Francisco Partners to boost its buyout strategy. More

LONDON (Reuters) – British foreign minister Liz Truss clashed over the future of the economy with former finance minister Rishi Sunak on Thursday as the two contenders to be Britain’s next prime minister debated the Bank of England’s warnings of a long recession. Truss is up against Sunak to win the votes of 200,000 members of the Conservative Party who will by Sept. 5 choose a replacement for Boris Johnson, who was forced to resign after a series of scandals.The Bank of England said on Thursday that Britain faces a protracted recession as energy price-driven inflation squeezes household budgets. Tackling that crisis in the economy will fall to Truss or Sunak in a month’s time.Truss, the frontrunner in the leadership contest, said the central bank’s prediction can be changed by cutting taxes. She said the government’s decision to raise the tax burden to the highest level since the 1950s was to blame for pushing the economy towards a recession. “We can change the outcome and we can make it more likely that the economy grows,” Truss said in a televised debate.”You simply can’t tax your way to growth. I’m afraid that the taxes we have at the moment, a 70-year high, are likely to lead to a recession.”As finance minister, Sunak implemented the tax increases to pay for government support offered during the COVID-19 pandemic and to help Britons subsidise soaring energy bills. That has drawn criticism from many activists in the historically low-tax party.Sunak said the projected surge in inflation reinforced his view that Truss would be reckless to increase borrowing and cut taxes now.”We in the Conservative Party need to get real and fast, because the lights on the economy are flashing red and the root cause is inflation,” he said.Sunak said Truss’s plan would lead to higher inflation and has instead pledged to cut taxes over time.”Now, I am worried that Liz Truss’s plans will make the situation worse,” he said. “If we just put fuel on the fire this inflation spiral, all of us, all of you, will end up with higher mortgage rates, savings and pensions that are eaten away and misery for millions. I don’t want that for you.” More

(Reuters) -Apollo Global Management Inc reported a 13% rise in second-quarter earnings on Thursday, as income from its annuities provider Athene more than compensated for a decline in asset sales amid a slowdown in dealmaking.Apollo recorded an adjusted net income of $566 million in the three months to June 30, up from $501.8 million a year ago. This missed the average analyst estimate of $655.5 million of adjusted net income, according to Refinitiv data. Apollo said its principal investing income – which encompasses revenue from its flagship private equity funds – fell 93% to $19.7 million during the quarter, down from $272.3 million a year earlier. This was because the funds could sell fewer assets profitably in a market downturn driven by rising interest rates and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. For its quarterly fund performance, Apollo said its private equity portfolio depreciated by 4.9%. Its corporate credit and structured credit funds fell 4.1% and 5.3%, respectively. Apollo’s result was in line with its peers – Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Inc, Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) Inc and KKR & Co (NYSE:KKR) Inc – which had all reported a pull back in the value of most of their funds amid the market downturn in the second quarter.Apollo’s earnings were supported by the income it generates from investing the capital of annuities provider Athene Holdings, which is now part of the private equity firm following a merger that was completed earlier in January. Spread-related earnings reached $442 million in the second quarter.Apollo said its fee-related earnings – comprised mostly of income from management and transaction fees – rose 7% to $341.1 million from $318.9 million a year earlier driven by inflows into its funds, increased premiums from Athene, and additional fees booked following the completion of its acquisition of the U.S. asset management business of Griffin Capital.Under generally accepted accounting principles, Apollo posted a massive paper net loss of $2.1 billion compared with a net income of $649 million a year earlier owing to the booking of the liabilities from policies underwritten by Athene.Apollo’s total assets under management reached $515 billion, up slightly from $513 billion three months earlier. It spent $40 billion on new investments, had $50 billion of unspent capital, and declared a dividend of 40 cents. More

Neither of the two rival bids currently fully met the government’s goals for the privatisation of the company, Economy Minister Daniele Franco told a news conference.Shipping group MSC and Germany’s Lufthansa are facing a rival bid made by a consortium comprising U.S. private equity fund Certares, Air France-KLM and Delta Air Lines Inc (NYSE:DAL).Lufthansa Chief Executive Carsten Spohr said earlier on Thursday that the German airline was the best partner for Ita but warned that the company’s patience in this instance was not endless. Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who will remain in a caretaker position until a new government is formed after next month’s election, told reporters he wants his administration to complete the sale procedure. More