The Fund Finance Association is postponing its European Symposium in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Originally scheduled for July 8, 2020, the conference is now scheduled to take place on October 22, 2020 at The Landmark in London. According to the FFA, the planning of the conference was well underway, with more than 600 registered participants and 11 confirmed sessions scheduled to take place over the course of the day.
The spread of COVID-19 and its impact on markets across the world present the largest test of private equity and fund finance in more than a decade, according to a report by Investec.
According to Private Equity Wire, this week Hamilton Lane entered into a $75 million credit facility with First Republic Bank for working capital and general corporate purposes.
A Law360 contributed article reports on some key considerations for maintaining availability of revolving credit facilities and the continued compliance by companies faced with the wide-ranging effects of COVID-19.
According to Buyouts, with the recent market downturn, funds are reportedly concerned about the risk that banks may suddenly call in the credit facilities.
In “Capital calls look set to increase as firms try to weather coronavirus crisis,” Private Equity News suggests that private equity managers are moving towards calling capital earlier and more frequently to pay down debt. The article also suggests that investors may prefer that the funds rely on credit lines to extend the time before a capital call is made.
Institutional Investor reports that LPs are gearing up to sell some of their private equity assets in preparation for the continuation of the coronavirus-triggered market rout.
Michael Newell, a leading fund formation partner, recently joined our firm in London. Mike’s arrival strengthens our growing transatlantic funds group, which includes fund formation partners supported by and supporting our market-leading U.S. and UK fund finance, regulatory and tax teams.
Here's a look at what we're reading outside the four corners of fund finance.
Like every industry, Fund Finance evolved extensively this week, and for the first time since the disruption commenced, included a fair bit of misinformation. Like we will every Friday, below is a comprehensive update of what we observed and what we forecast for the immediate future.