The record SPAC IPO activity from 2020 has continued into 2021, and this white-hot market continues to set records. So far this year, 311 SPACs have raised over $100 billion in gross proceeds, surpassing 2020’s electrifying performance with 248 SPACs that raised over $83 billion in gross proceeds – a far cry from 2019 when 59 SPACs raised about $13.6 billion in gross proceeds. This week, members of Women in Fund Finance (WFF) were invited to attend a virtual event hosted by C200 titled “Unpacking the SPAC: Everything You Need to Know But Are Afraid to Ask.” This powerhouse panel featured WFF Co-Chair Dee Dee Sklar, who wears many hats, including as a board member of SPAC Kernel Group Holdings.
New to fund finance or know someone who is? Here’s a guide to primers we’ve previously published in Fund Finance Friday.
Cadwalader advised Investec on a €1bn secured note programme backed by subscription credit facilities with one of the UK’s largest insurers. The transaction, one of the first in this new product area for the London market, will enable the insurer to take advantage of an opportunity to participate in an attractive investment-grade rating product in a current environment of low yields from high-quality credit, rated A and better.
Shiraz Allidina of Citco Capital Solutions Inc. provides some guidance for fund finance lenders when evaluating the constellation of service providers − attorneys, auditors and fund administrators − retained by a fund or its manager, as part of due diligence procedures to safeguard against unknown risks. Read the article here.
In its latest article updating the fund finance community on recruitment trends, Brickfield Recruitment talks to Simon Raftopoulos at Appleby in the Cayman Islands about potential changes to national law that will impact how non-Cayman legal associates will be able to practice there.
Investec Bank is looking to hire a full-time Solicitor and a mid-level Solicitor as maternity cover to join the UK Legal Team, primarily supporting the Fund Solutions team at Investec Bank.
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Stifel Venture and Fund Banking recently appointed Charlie Smith as a Managing Director and Head of Fund Banking for the Western U.S. Stifel’s Fund Banking group assists sponsors across all asset classes with financing such as subscription finance, management company lending, and GP capital commitment finance. |
With a surge in asset-based lending to private equity funds since the start of the pandemic and a historic run of IPO fundraising, it is not surprising that we are increasingly seeing post-IPO shares being pledged as collateral in support of asset-based loans. While private equity funds often invest in companies with the goal of later taking those companies public, the occurrence of the initial public offering doesn’t necessarily lead to the immediate divestment of a fund’s investment in that company.
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I was so happy to see Conyers Dill & Pearman announce this week that Michael O’Connor has been elevated to Partner. I’m always happy to see fund finance professionals get promoted; for too long, it felt like those of us in fund finance were a little underappreciated compared to professionals in more long-standing and higher profile sectors like leveraged finance. But that is clearly changing: LinkedIn has been overflowing with fund finance promotion announcements over the last year, which is awesome. But Michael’s elevation, from my vantage point, is a little different. |
Private Debt Investor provided a May 2021 Talking Points report with Ryan Crowell and Yuriy Shterk of Allvue Systems. The conversation highlights that the strong performance and increased demand for Fund Finance products during the pandemic is continuing as the pandemic subsides.