Welcome to the July 2010 edition of Pilot’s Log

As July comes to a close, and (most of) Europe seems to be shutting down for business, we thought Pilot's Log would set you up nicely for the summer break...

Private equity deal flow has continued to pick up, though it still lags behind where many of us thought it would be entering the second half of the year. Reasons for this include prices still being higher than almost everyone's comfort zones, the continued stinginess of the debt markets and drawn out issues within the banks' workout groups.

That being said, the deals that are getting done all look fairly solid, involve talented management teams, and reflect private equity's renewed focus on good companies in good sectors (as opposed to leveragable situations with short holds).

Given that PILOTpartners is a pan-European firm, we are well positioned to see trends both here in the UK and across Europe. Whereas much of our business several years ago was dominated by UK headquartered companies, now the (slim) majority are based on the continent. Driving this current reality is fewer players who are comfortable closing deals in Europe, lower valuations, more synergistic plays (i.e. tack-ons), and the belief that Europe is well ahead of the UK in recovering from the recession. As with the peak year of 2007, time will tell if today's deals are good value, or still too highly priced because of excess unspent funds.

To reflect where we see the market right now, in this issue of Pilot's Log we have compiled what we believe are very relevant pieces:

Pierre van den Broek, the owner and President of NIM Europe, gives us a very concise look into the private equity marketplace in France, and the continued need for the impact of top notch management.

Nigel Atkinson and David Wilton, partners with BTG Mesirow Financial Consulting sit down with PILOT's James Wheeler and share their views on supporting the private equity sector and offer a prediction of the major issues facing private equity houses and their funds over the next 6 to 12 months.

Paul Siegenthaler, a valued specialist business integration and transformation interim executive, is kind enough to sit down with me and share his approach to successful cross-border M&A transactions.

Gavin George, European Managing Director of GA Asset Advisors Ltd, sets the scene for management and investors of retail assets as consumer indicators give warning signals for the autumn and winter seasons.

Michael Gebauer
Partner – private equity practice

E. m.gebauer@pilotpartners.eu
T. +44 (0)783 423 5458