DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

NEW YORK, May 16 (Reuters) - Ed Wehle, a senior Barclays Plc (BARC.L) technology banker, has resigned to join U.S. rival Citigroup Inc (C.N) in New York, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters, adding to an exodus of top investment bankers from the London-based bank. An investment banking veteran of nearly three decades, Wehle will join Citigroup as its global head of technology services, Mark Keene, Citigroup's global head of technology investment banking, wrote in the memo to employees on Tuesday. "Technology services complements Citi’s unparalleled global client position, and Ed will work closely with partners in Asia, EMEA and Latin America," said Philip Drury, global head of technology & communications banking, capital markets & advisory at Citi. He was previously head of global technology services banking at Barclays, which he had joined in 2018 from Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE). Reuters reported on Monday that at least seven top Barclays technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) bankers have resigned to join UBS Group AG (UBSG.S) in the U.S. in the last few days.

The hedge funds said they can share ideas, but cannot reveal their trading positions for regulatory reasons. Reddy said he preferred senior unsecured bank debt, that allowed bondholders payment ahead of some other creditors in the event of an insolvency. Taking bearish positions on banks that lend to smaller and medium sized firms could prove opportunistic if the economy weakens, he added. Trend-wise the Japanese yen should continue to weaken," said Chua, noting that central banks in Asia have slowed or paused rate hikes. Insurers, which holds commercial mortgage-backed securities and property, will likely feel pressures on CRE, he said.

NEW YORK, April 19 (Reuters) - Cybersecurity firm Forcepoint is exploring a sale of its government security unit for more than $2 billion, five people familiar with the matter said. Forcepoint is looking to offload the unit as part of its strategy to focus on growing its commercial business, which caters to large corporations, the sources added. Austin, Texas-based Forcepoint develops and creates computer security software, data protection, and firewall solutions. Last year, Forcepoint won an $89 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to provide software solutions that would help monitor user activity. Forcepoint also counts the likes of International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N), CVS Health Corp (CVS.N), Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O) as customers.

NEW YORK, April 11 (Reuters) - Private equity firm KKR & Co Inc (KKR.N) has agreed to buy a significant stake in FGS Global in a deal that values the financial communications group at about $1.4 billion. As part of the deal, KKR will buy up a 30% stake from senior employees at FGS Global and its largest investors, including London-based advertising giant WPP Plc (WPP.L). WPP, which was founded by Martin Sorrell, will retain a majority stake in FGS Global. Existing investor Golden Gate Capital is selling its entire stake to KKR, which is investing in FGS Global through its $8-billion European Fund VI. FGS Global currently employs more than 1,200 people across 27 offices globally.

NEW YORK, April 11 (Reuters) - Bain Capital Tech Opportunities, the tech-focused investment arm of Bain Capital, has agreed to buy a stake in iManage, the enterprise software firm said on Tuesday. The terms of the deal, including the purchase price and size of the stake, were not disclosed. Founded in 1995, Chicago, Illinois-based iManage provides document management software and tools primarily to law firms, accounting firms, and companies in the financial services industry. In 2003, iManage merged with rival content management firm Interwoven. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for software tools built by companies such as iManage has boomed as companies have accelerated the shift to remote working and increased spending on content management software.

April 4 (Reuters) - Private equity firm TPG Inc (TPG.O) said on Tuesday it has agreed to buy a majority stake in Elite, a vendor of business management software for law firms, from information provider Thomson Reuters Corp (TRI.TO) at a valuation of $500 million. Thomson Reuters will keep a minority stake and board representation in Elite and continue to support it with its legal information products, the companies said. Paul Fischer, president of Thomson Reuters' legal professionals division, said that Elite will continue to share many of Thomson Reuters' clients as a standalone company. Elite offers software that helps law firms run their finance and accounting operations, including billing, invoicing and payments. TPG partner Tim Millikin said that the data and automation that Elite offers are in demand among legal professionals.

☆ How big hedge funds would trade sticky inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Nell Mackenzie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

LONDON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Hedge funds, pinning little hope on central banks' attempts to cool inflation, are spotting ways to profit from climbing interest rates. Five prominent hedge funds shared five ideas using five different asset classes to profit from inflation so pugnacious it might force the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates higher for longer. Lancaster favours a trade selling long-term borrowing costs against shorter-term ones, on the view that the spread between them will decline. "Concern now for markets is that reacceleration of the economy will lead to higher terminal rates," said Lancaster. Buying U.S. long-dated natural gas futures for these reasons and also, he added, "in an inflationary cost/wage environment looks compelling."

☆ End of easy-cash era is going to hurt
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

LONDON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - The end of the easy-cash era is over and its impact yet to be felt on world markets, hopeful that the pain of aggressive rate hikes and high inflation has passed. Reuters Graphics3/ GOING PRIVATEPrivate debt markets have ballooned since the financial crisis to $1.4 trillion from $250 billion in 2010. Reuters Graphics Reuters Graphics4/CRYPTO WINTERRising borrowing costs roiled crypto markets in 2022. Reuters Graphics5/FOR SALEReal estate markets, first responders to rate hikes, started cracking last year and 2023 will be tough with U.S. house prices expected to drop 12%. How the sector services its debt is in focus and officials warn European banks risk significant profit hits from sliding house prices.

A majority of the 10 global asset and hedge fund managers surveyed by Reuters said commodities are undervalued and should thrive as global inflation stays elevated in 2023. Preqin said just 915 hedge funds were launched in 2022, the lowest in 10 years. "It's the perfect environment for macro hedge funds: central bank policy divergence, interest rate differentials, geopolitical tension, bottlenecks and each country on its own. Macro hedge funds led the industry performance through November, according to financial data firm HFR, up roughly 8%. Lyons is keen to allot more to macro hedge funds and also thinks there are good opportunities in corporate credit.

SHANGHAI/HONG KONG, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Investors caught off-guard by China's dramatic COVID policy pivot are betting on both greed and fear as the economy starts to gradually reopen, snapping up shares in businesses from travel agencies and casinos to funeral companies. Providers of death care services, including Hong Kong-listed Fu Shou Yuan International Group (1448.HK), China's biggest cemetery operator and funeral service provider, have also drawn investors. The positioning for both the bright and dark side of China's COVID pivot reflects growing concerns from investors surprised by the rapid policy change, especially as COVID vaccination rates among the elderly remain relatively low. "But we still think that the way China can flatten the curve of new COVID cases without doubling down on tightening looks quite challenging." Morgan Stanley Chief China economist Robin Xing said China's economy may remain sluggish for another quarter or two, but growth will pick up after Spring.

Search resuls for: "GLG"

10 mentions found