INTELLIGENCE

Platinum Equity CFO lands outside PE
Bill Foltz, the one-time CFO of Los Angeles-based Platinum Equity, now serves as CFO for Gorilla Nation, an online ad rep firm. Before this latest move, Foltz was a partner and managing principal at Sports Business Ventures, an early stage venture capital fund and advisory firm focusing on sports and sports-related investments. Prior to that, Bill was SVP/CFO of Roll International, where he oversaw a $1 billion portfolio of seven wholly owned companies in consumer products, service and wholesale products, food processing and beverages including such iconic consumer brands as Teleflora, PomWonderful Pomegranate Juice, and Fiji Water, whose acquisition he led. Foltz moved to Roll from Platinum, where he served on the firm's management committee and managed the company's initial private equity fundraising of $700 million in 2004.

?Bill's phenomenal track record in private equity and as a CFO at many large privately held companies fits perfectly into both our short and long term plans,? stated Aaron Broder, Gorilla Nation's CEO. ?With so many operating divisions and continued international expansion, we really needed someone senior with the experience to manage such growth.?

BVCA: PE brought fees of £5.4bn
The British Venture Capital Association (BVCA) announced that the UK private equity industry provided £5.4 billion ($10.7 billion) in fees to domestic bankers, lawyers, accountants and other advisers in 2007. The trade group noted that figure amounts to 12 percent of the UK financial services industry revenue for the year. London-based Arbor Square Associates conducted the research, and surveyed more than 250 BVCA members and associate members, including private equity and venture capital houses, secondary investors and financial and professional services firms for the study. Most of the fees, roughly £1.7bn went to corporate finance and accounting firms, with £1.24bn going to banks and £1.2bn going to legal advisors. According to group's report, £1 billion was spent on firms outside of London. The report also noted that the private equity industry directly employed approximately 9,300 professionals in the UK.

?In these uncertain economic times private equity has, more than ever, a critically important role to play in making the economy more productive and helping to stimulate economic growth,? Simon Walker, chief executive of the BVCA told The Daily Telegraph. ?We help raise skill levels and ensure that London remains a financial powerhouse. This report underlines the benefits that private equity brings and how important it is that the UK retains a competitive edge.?

Walker committee named
The British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association has appointed the monitoring group to oversee compliance with the Walker guidelines, a report issued last year suggesting new disclosure requirements for large portfolio companies. Alan Thomson, former group finance director of industrial company Smiths Group and Jeannie Drake, director general of the Communication Workers Union, have joined the committee chaired by Sir Mike Rake, the chairman of UK telecoms group BT. The three independents will be joined by industry representatives The Carlyle Group's Robert Easton and The Blackstone Group's David Blitzer, in a structure explicitly designed by the committee's architect Sir David Walker to have a majority of independents. The BVCA has also persuaded 23 firms to sign up the guidelines including vocal advocates of transparency such as European buyout firms Bridgepoint and Permira, as well as firms which have in the past chosen to be more private such as CVC Capital Partners, Charterhouse Capital Partners and Bain Capital.