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May 8 (Reuters) - PacWest Bancorp (PACW.O) shares pared early gains on Monday, dragging down other U.S. regional banking stocks, as the Los Angeles-based lender's decision to slash its quarterly dividend failed to stem worries about its financial stability. Other U.S. regional banks also retreated. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo 1 2The KBW Regional Banking index (.KRX) fell 2.82% after gaining nearly 4.7%. But hedge funds, which often engage in short selling, pushed back on Monday, saying in a letter to Gensler that a ban would be counterproductive. Yellen said it is in the SEC's purview to regulate short selling although there is a high bar for any controls if evidence of market manipulation was found.

May 8 (Reuters) - PacWest Bancorp (PACW.O) shares pared early gains on Monday, dragging down other U.S. regional banking stocks, as the Los Angeles-based lender's decision to slash its quarterly dividend failed to stem worries about its financial stability. "The dividend cut is not a good sign," said Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group. Other U.S. regional banks also retreated. The KBW Regional Banking index (.KRX) fell 1.5% after gaining nearly 4.7%. "I have a general fear that smaller banks are going to disappear, and we're going to end up with just a few large banks."

NEW YORK, May 8 (Reuters) - KKR & Co Inc (KKR.N) said on Monday its after-tax distributable earnings fell 26% year-on-year in the first quarter due to a sharp drop in asset sales from its private equity portfolio and lower transaction fees. KKR and other private equity firms cashed out on fewer investments during the quarter as inflation, higher interest rates, geopolitical tensions and financial market volatility weighed on dealmaking. After-tax distributable earnings, which represents the cash available for paying dividends to shareholders, fell to $719.3 million, down from $974 million posted a year. For its quarterly fund performance, KKR said its private equity portfolio gained 2%, infrastructure funds added 7%, leveraged credit funds grew 4%, while opportunistic real estate funds fell 3%. In comparison, the private equity funds of Blackstone and Carlyle appreciated by 2.8% and 1%, respectively.

It was the first earnings the Washington, D.C.-based firm reported after former Goldman Sachs Inc (GS.N) executive Harvey Schwartz was named CEO in February. That resulted in after tax distributable earnings per share of 63 cents, which underperformed the average analyst forecast of 69 cents, according to Refinitiv data. Last month, Blackstone Inc (BX.N), the world's largest private-equity firm, reported a 36% drop in first-quarter distributable earnings due to slower asset disposals, primarily in its real estate portfolio. Carlyle said its credit funds appreciated by 3%, while secondaries funds rose 5% and corporate private-equity funds gained 1%. Blackstone had said its corporate private-equity funds had appreciated by 2.8% while liquid credit funds gained 3%.

[1/2] The Nasdaq logo is displayed at the Nasdaq Market site in Times Square in New York City, U.S., December 3, 2021. So-called meme rallies are unusual share price gains, driven by social media sites patronized by individual traders. Magic Empire Global Ltd (MEGL.O), a provider of financial advisory and underwriting services, jumped 328% to $3.97 per share. It had closed at $0.93, shedding 7.2%, with a market capitalization of $18.8 million during regular market hours on Thursday. Both Top Financial and Magic Empire are currently two of the most watched stocks on Stocktwits, a website that is popular among retail investors.

NEW YORK, April 26 (Reuters) - Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc (CMG.N) soared to a record high on Wednesday after the burrito chain beat analysts' estimates for first-quarter profit and sales. Chipotle said its revenue rose 17% year-on-year to $2.4 billion, driven by higher restaurant sales, 41 new store openings, and increased demand from lower-income customers. Net income rose to $291.6 million, up 84% from the previous year, helped by lower avocado prices and lower delivery expenses. Chipotle's shares rose 14% to $2,030 in afternoon trading. More than a dozen Wall Street analysts hiked their price targets on the stock in reaction to the company's report.

Blackstone has been exercising its right to block investor withdrawals from BREIT since November last year after requests exceeded a preset 5% of the net asset value of the fund. BREIT fulfilled withdrawal requests of $666 million in March, representing only 15% of the $4.5 billion in total redemption requests for the month, the firm said in a letter to investors. Total redemption requests for March were 15% higher than the approximately $3.9 billion demanded by investors in February but 16% lower than the $5.3 billion Blackstone received in January. The level of withdrawal requests is expected to normalize over time as Blackstone works through its backlog, Blackstone President Jonathan Gray said during an analyst earnings call in January. Blackstone shares were down 3.7% to $84.6 per share, in line with the broader market, which was also trading lower.

☆ Apollo assures investors deposit flight won't spill over to Athene
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Chibuike Oguh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Reuters GraphicsIn a quarterly update to shareholders published on March 13, Apollo outlined how Athene's funding model is different than a bank's. In the wake of the banking crisis, however, Apollo has been fielding questions from analysts and investors about Athene's funding model. Following a meeting with Apollo executives, Hone wrote in a note last week that he does not anticipate a spike in withdrawals from Athene's annuity holders and that Athene's funding base was stable. Apollo said in its March 13 presentation to investors that it had seen inflows of $8.8 billion to Athene from the start of the year to March 10. Questions from investors and analysts to Apollo have focused on this subset of annuity policies that have a potentially higher flight risk.

The remainder was equity checks by the private equity firms. Typically, debt accounts for between 60% and 80% of the deal consideration, allowing the buyout firms to juice returns. REFINANCING RISKTo be sure, a handful of private equity firms have already been accustomed to this kind of refinancing risk. An upside to the shift toward equity financing, dealmakers say, is that the companies owned by the private equity firms have more cushion to absorb losses if their business deteriorates. Many of the leveraged buyouts that became bankruptcies in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis were the result of private equity firms saddling companies with debt to the hilt.

March 20 (Reuters) - U.S. scientific instruments maker Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc (TMO.N) and South Korea's Celltrion Inc (068270.KS) are among those competing to acquire the biopharma solutions business of medical device maker Baxter International Inc (BAX.N), according to people familiar with the matter. Baxter, which has a market value of $19 billion, had total debt of $16.6 billion as of the end of December. Private equity firms, including KKR & Co (KKR.N) and Carlyle Group (CG.O), have also expressed interest in the Baxter business, the sources said. Baxter said in January it was exploring alternatives for its biopharma solutions business and would also spin off its kidney care units. Baxter's biopharma solutions unit supports drugmakers in the formulation, development and commercialization of drugs typically given by infusion or injection, such as biologics and vaccines.

☆ Private equity firms lend less as demand cools
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Chibuike Oguh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The amount of loans disbursed by direct lenders so far in 2023 has not shown any pickup, the Refinitiv data shows. Also weighing on deal volumes is the cost of borrowing from private equity firms. This has dampened demand for loans from private equity firms. For their part, private equity firms have also become more risk-averse when it comes to lending, as the economic slowdown and sticky price inflation erode the credit worthiness of some borrowers. To be sure, major deals using private equity firms as lenders are still getting done as banks have continued their retrenchment from risky debt.

☆ Blackstone blocked investor withdrawals from $71 billion REIT in February
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Chibuike Oguh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, March 1 (Reuters) - Blackstone Inc (BX.N) said on Wednesday it had blocked investors from cashing out their investments at its $71 billion real estate income trust (BREIT), as the private equity firm continues to grapple with a flurry of redemption requests. BREIT said it fulfilled redemption requests of $1.4 billion in February, which represents only 35% of the approximately $3.9 billion in total withdrawal requests for the month, the firm said in a letter to investors. Total BREIT redemption requests had reached approximately $5.3 billion in January, which is 26% lower than the amount received in February, the firm said. Blackstone expects to continue dealing with investor redemptions because some BREIT investors are making larger withdrawal requests in anticipation of a reduction in its size, its President Jonathan Gray told an earnings call last month. Reporting by Chibuike Oguh in New York; Editing by Alexander SmithOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Stripe in advanced talks to raise $4 bln from investors - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Krystal Hu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Small toy figures are seen in front of Stripe logo in this illustration picture taken March 15, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoFeb 24 (Reuters) - Digital payments processor Stripe Inc is close to raising $4 billion in fresh capital at a valuation of about $55 billion, people familiar with the matter said. The funding is expected to be completed by the end of March, the sources said, cautioning that the target number could still fall short. Goldman Sachs has also been setting up special purpose investment vehicles to offer wealth management clients opportunities to invest in Stripe, one of the sources said. It processed about $14.4 billion in gross revenue in 2022, compared to about $11.7 billion in 2021, the sources cited above said.

☆ Global shares, U.S. Treasury yields fall; Fed minutes called 'outdated'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Chibuike Oguh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

U.S. Treasury yields retreated after surging to three-month highs. "The bond market has already priced in more rate hikes but the stock market hasn't repriced to reflect all of the movement in the rates," Mounah added. The U.S. dollar gained due to the unexpected strength of the American economy revealed in recent economic data, notwithstanding interest rate hikes by the Fed. Oil prices fell 2% on growing concerns over oil demand as the Fed aims to keep hiking rates to reduce surging consumer prices. Gold prices fell as the U.S. dollar gained.

☆ Exclusive: Blackstone set to raise as much as $10 billion for tactical opportunities
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Chibuike Oguh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Blackstone Inc (BX.N), the world's largest private equity firm, is set to raise as much as $10 billion for its tactical opportunities strategy, which gives it versatility to invest in a range of assets, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Blackstone has amassed about $5 billion for the Blackstone Tactical Opportunities Fund IV, which was initially aiming to raise only $4 billion, Reuters previously reported. Blackstone has raised three previous tactical opportunities funds that cumulatively collected about $16.4 billion from investors since the first of them was first launched in 2012. The $6.7 billion Blackstone Tactical Opportunities Fund II and the Tactical Opportunities Fund III, which raised $4.09 billion, had generated a net internal rate of return of 14.1% and 11.7%, respectively, as of June last year, according to the California Public Employees' Retirement System. Blackstone's tactical opportunities division has about $34 billion in assets under management.

☆ Global shares, U.S. Treasury yields fall after Fed minutes
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Chibuike Oguh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

U.S. Treasury yields retreated after surging to three-month highs. Benchmark 10-year yields made gains but were still lower at 3.9175% after the release of the minutes. The U.S. Treasury yield curve that measures the gap between yields on two- and 10-year Treasury notes , seen as an indicator of economic expectations, remained deeply inverted at minus 77.40 basis points. Oil prices fell 2% on growing concerns over oil demand as the Fed aims to keep hiking rates to reduce surging consumer prices. Gold prices fell as the U.S. dollar gained.

☆ Global shares, U.S. Treasury yields, fall ahead of Fed minutes
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Chibuike Oguh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, February 16, 2023. U.S. Treasury yields retreated after surging to three-month highs. The U.S. Treasury yield curve that measures the gap between yields on two- and 10-year Treasury notes , seen as an indicator of economic expectations, remained deeply inverted at minus 77.40 basis points. Oil prices fell 2% on growing concerns over oil demand as the Fed aims to keep hiking rates to reduce surging consumer prices. Reporting by Chibuike Oguh in New York; Editing by Chris Reese and Sharon SingletonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Blackstone's Ike leaves to start new investment firm
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Chibuike Oguh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Melvin Ike, a managing director in Blackstone Inc's (BX.N) tactical opportunities group, has resigned to start his own investment firm, the private equity firm told Reuters. Ike's resignation was announced during a meeting of Blackstone's tactical opportunities fund investors held last week in New York, the firm said in a statement on Tuesday. Ike's transactions for Blackstone's tactical opportunities unit include the sale of a majority stake in Wisconsin-based home improvement lender Aqua Finance for $1 billion to Apollo Global Management (APO.N) in 2021. He also led Blackstone's acquisition of a majority stake in collectibles authentication firm Certified Collectibles Group as well as the minority investments in digital marketing firm Recurrent Ventures and Cybersecurity firm Geocomply. Blackstone's tactical opportunities unit, which is run by David Blitzer, invests in assets that typically fall outside the scope of the firm's other funds, from timber and mines to oil tankers and satellites.

LONDON, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Buyout financier Ares Management Corp (ARES.N) has been offering funds to support a takeover of Manchester United (MANU.N), three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. It is the latest U.S. asset manager to seek a financing role in the battle for the English soccer club. It was unclear whether Ares has been looking to finance bids for Manchester United through that fund, which has already invested in Spain's Atletico de Madrid soccer club and Inter Miami CF, or another vehicle. Last Friday, Manchester United received indicative offers from bidders including chemicals firm INEOS, led by long-time fan Jim Ratcliffe, and Qatari Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani. INEOS wants to fund an offer without external financing, but could consider bringing in a minority equity partner, one source said.

☆ KKR-backed BMC Software confidentially files for U.S. IPO - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 17 (Reuters) - KKR-backed technology firm BMC Software has confidentially filed for an initial public offering in the United States, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters, offering an early sign of a thawing market after a virtual shutdown for most of last year. As BMC sets out to test the IPO waters, a listing could see the company valued at between $14 billion and $15 billion, depending on the scale of market recovery, the source added. In 2018, private equity giant KKR & Co (KKR.N) had acquired BMC for $8.5 billion, including debt. The U.S. IPO market has recently begun to show some signs of recovery as investor fears around a looming recession and further monetary policy tightening from the Federal Reserve ease. The news of BMC filing for an IPO confidentially was first reported by Bloomberg News.

☆ Private equity firm TPG's Q4 earnings drop 26% on lower asset sales
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Chibuike Oguh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Feb 15 (Reuters) - TPG Inc (TPG.O) said on Wednesday that its fourth-quarter distributable earnings fell 26% year-on-year as it cashed out fewer investments in its private equity, growth, impact and real estate portfolios. TPG said its net profit from asset sales fell to $95 million in the fourth quarter, down 62% from the $251 million posted a year ago. TPG said its private equity funds appreciated 2.2% in the fourth quarter, its growth funds and impact funds were flat and its real estate funds fell 1.5%. The private equity funds of Blackstone, Carlyle and Apollo appreciated by 3.8%, 1% and 5.4%, respectively, while KKR's private equity funds were flat. TPG ended the fourth quarter with $135 billion in assets under management.

☆ KKR reports 42% drop in earnings on lower asset sales
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Chibuike Oguh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Feb 7 (Reuters) - KKR & Co Inc (KKR.N) said on Tuesday its fourth-quarter after-tax distributable earnings dropped 42% year-on-year, driven by asset sale declines in its private equity portfolio and lower transaction fees in the capital markets division. KKR and other private equity firms struggled to sell assets for top dollar for much of the last year due to market volatility, rising inflation, recession worries and geopolitical tensions. Transaction fees from its capital markets business, which collects lucrative fees for arranging financing for KKR portfolio companies, declined by 55% to $144.4 million. During the quarter, KKR said its private equity portfolio was flat in value, while opportunistic real estate funds depreciated by 8%. By contrast, Blackstone Inc (BX.N) had reported that its opportunistic and core real estate funds depreciated by 2% and 1.5%, respectively, while its corporate private equity funds gained 3.8%.

☆ Carlyle in talks to buy health tech firm Cotiviti for $15 bln - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 7 (Reuters) - Carlyle Group Inc (CG.O) is in talks to buy private healthcare technology firm Cotiviti Inc from Veritas Capital for up to $15 billion, including debt, a person familiar with the matter said. The private equity firm is looking to partner with another investment firm to pull off the deal, and is also in talks with direct lenders to arrange $5.5 billion of debt financing, according to the person. If the arrangement goes through, that would be one of the largest ever direct loans, or non-bank buyout loans arranged in the private credit market, according to Bloomberg News, which first reported on the talks. Atlanta-based Cotiviti provides payment accuracy and analytics services to health insurers and other healthcare companies. Carlyle, Veritas and Cotiviti did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comments.

☆ Carlyle hires ex-Goldman executive Harvey Schwartz as next CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Feb 5 (Reuters) - Carlyle Group (CG.O) has hired Harvey Schwartz as its next chief executive officer, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday. Reporting by Chibuike Oguh and Lavanya Ahire in Bengaluru; editing by Diane CraftOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

On Tuesday, Western Digital CEO David Goeckeler said the partnership with Apollo and Elliott would help "facilitate the next stages of Western Digital's strategic review." The latest investment is a precursor to a potential merger between Silicon Valley-based Western Digital and Japan's Kioxia Holdings Corp, according to people familiar with the matter. The sources, who requested anonymity as these discussions are confidential, said the talks between Western Digital and Kioxia are still active. Western Digital and Kioxia jointly produce NAND chips, which are widely used in smartphones, TVs, data center servers and public announcement display panels. Qatalyst Partners, Lazard and J.P. Morgan are serving as Western Digital's financial advisers and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is serving as Western Digital's legal adviser.

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