News & Analysis

Avoiding accounting and auditing delays, hence higher costs, for newly acquired portfolio companies can be acheived in four steps.

With private equity firms bigger and more complex than ever before, sophisticated chief financial officers are in high demand. No one knows this better than Clarke Murphy, the head of global private equity searches at executive recruiter Russell Reynolds. Murphy, based in New York, tolddavid snowrecently that while investor relations professionals are probably at peak demand currently, private equity firms are on the hunt for CFOs and finance professionals who can bring a diverse mix of skills to the table. Excerpts from our conversation with Murphy are below.

GPs are increasingly adopting or considering adopting fair value guidelines, as FASB drives fair value implementation and auditors pay more attention to GPs and LPs, finds a new survey by the Tuck Center for Private Equity and Entrepreneurship.

Much of the European private equity industry has embraced the concept of valuing portfolio companies according to fair value principles. But the goal of global harmonization cannot yet be claimed.

GPs in the US who have so far escaped full compliance with FAS 157 are now feeling heat from LPs, and from a looming ‘footnote’ rule on fair value accounting.

Blame the IRS Code's Section 409A for a trend that is seeing executive compensation at private equity portfolio companies fall under the fair value umbrella.

Greenwich, Connecticut based growth equity powerhouse General Atlantic has not one, but two general counsels. Meet David Rosenstein and Chris Lanning.

LEGAL MOTION 2008-07-01 Staff Writer <b>Allen & Overy sets up Abu Dhabi office</b><br />Law firm Allen & Overy has announced the opening of an office in Abu Dhabi, its third in the Gulf region after Dubai, also in the UAE, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The office will be staffed by Ibra

Washington, DC-based Emerging Capital Partners recently closed the largest private equity fund raised for investments in Africa at $523 million. The firm attributes its success to its diversification strategy, and reforms in the continent.

Resolving valuation disputes with auditors requires that GPs document their assumptions, backing them with outside expertise and historical metrics.