New players, old conflicts
The surge in private debt arms of Private Equity Firms does not come without conflicts of interests.
Private debt is the flavour of the day in the US, and, increasingly, also in Europe. The definition of private debt is not always clear but it mostly refers to bespoke non-bank loans that are privately originated. 

EU Commission cuts Italy’s growth forecast to 0.2% raising new concerns over Europe’s third largest economy - February 15, 2019
 Just a day after its most successful bond sale, Italy has seen its growth forecast drastically reduced by the European Commission. Brussels is now pointing at a 2019 growth estimate of just 0.2 percent, the lowest out of all the European Economies. 

Angola: chronicle of a devaluation - December 18, 2018
Angola has the fastest-growing economy in Africa and one of the fastest-growing in the world with an average GDP growth of 20% between 2005 and 2007. Given the importance in its economy, any change in oil price can have a huge impact on Angola’s economy. This is exactly what happened when in 2014 the price of oil collapsed. 

The Future of the Renault-Nissan Alliance - December 12, 2018
​Carlos Ghosn, the mastermind behind the Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi alliance, was arrested on 19th of November. The sudden fall of such a monumental figure will undoubtedly produce reverberations across the chess board. 

Agribusiness: Africa's new gold? - December 10, 2018
It is considered to be one of Africa’s most rapidly emerging industries, valued at over $300 billion. With the United Nations expecting the business to triple its market value to over one trillion USD by 2030, agribusiness has often been referred to as ‘Africa’s new gold’. 

Spot the expansion: Spotify’s launch into the Middle East and North Africa - December 7, 2018
Earlier this month, Spotify announced that it would expand its services to the Middle East and North Africa in the fourth quarter. Being the world’s leading music streaming service, Spotify has now penetrated thirteen new markets across the MENA region, with its regional headquarters based in Dubai. 

Vivendi, quite the balancing act - December 2, 2018
Vivendi is French media conglomerate, active in all kinds of media, such as; music, film, gaming and telecommunications. Originally founded as a water company in 1853, Vivendi has strayed far away from its origins. 

Will the German car industry decline affect ECB policies? - November 29, 2018
Car industry is one of the most important sectors of the German economy, which in turn accounts for one third of the entire eurozone aggregate output. Quarterly reports of firms in the sector for the third quarter of 2018 have shown a significant decline in profitability.

Garofalo Health Care goes public - November 22, 2018​
Friday, November 9th 2018, an historical moment for the Italian financial industry occurred: the first Italian healthcare IPO. GHC is the protagonist of this groundbreaking event. 

Greek Banks and NPLs - November 19, 2018
It is a fact that NPLs are the most discussed issue in the Greek market among its investors. These loans are a bomb in the very premises of the whole Greek financial system that can possibly trigger a domino effect of unimaginable impact. 

A turning point for the German automobile industry - November 17, 2018
Tesla and its enfant terrible Elon Musk have brought massive disruption to the car industry by introducing its line of electric vehicles (EVs) that might mark the ultimate advent of vehicles powered purely by electricity to ordinary consumers. 

The Independence of Italian High Fashion - November 15, 2018
With the announcement of the acquisition of Versace by Michael Kors, comes an end to the independence of one of the most famous Italian fashion houses. Looking at the Italian fashion landscape, Versace is definitely not the first of its kind to be acquired by an international corporation. 

Italian Banks at Risk - November 12, 2018
A shudder political framework inaugurated an arduous period for Italian banks which are strained by the increasing spread of Italian 10-year debt over equivalent German bonds that is around 300 basis points. 

Middle East and Oil: why so correlated? - November 9, 2018
The importance of oil is given by the fact that it is vital to many industries and is of importance to the maintenance of industrialized civilization itself. Thus is a critical concern to many nations.

​A deep dive into the history of Volkswagen's heavy-truck division Traton and how it would benefit from a potential IPO - November 6, 2018
​Recently, German automotive giant Volkswagen announced that it is set to take its heavy-truck division called Traton public by the end of this year.​

The struggles of European low-cost carriers - November 6, 2018
The European airline industry has seen a surge of bankruptcies in recent times. Three low-cost carriers, including Danish Primera Air, Cypriot based Cobalt Air and SkyWork Airlines filed for bankruptcy over the course of the last month alone. 

The Aston Martin IPO: a race against current market uncertainty - November 4, 2018
On Wednesday, October 3rd 2018, Aston Martin went public, at a share price of £19 in its initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange. Though there was an initial rise to £19.15, shares actually reversed on the London debut, falling as low as £17.75 on the first day of dealing.​

Italy: Foreign PE funds land of conquest - October 30, 2018
What sounds weird about a deal in which the Italian company Recordati gets acquired by CVC? Or about HIG Capital investing in the Italian real estate? If you cannot spot anything odd, follow my excursus on the Italian private equity industry.

Risk of Default on Foreign Debt in Zambia - October 27, 2018
Last month, Xi Jinping, China’s president, announced that China would offer $60 billion in new funding to Africa. These funds will be used to finance public infrastructures in the target countries, in order to foster economic development; however, they come with some warnings, first of which is China’s interest in using such loans to control resources and political systems, in view of its global ambitions.

​SPACs in the Italian market: what should we expect next? - October 23, 2018
​SPACs as investment vehicles will not be enough to solve the chronic Italian scarcity of IPOs in regulated markets, as the reasons of this phenomenon are profoundly intrinsic to the way capitalism has evolved in our  country.

Norwegian Air:  Is the Most Shorted Airplane Stock Undervalued?  - May 26, 2018
On Friday May 4, Norwegian’s shares fell 10.5% to NOK269 after news of the lack of agreement with IAG. Norwegian Air board has unanimously rejected the two offers from International Airlines Group, the parent company of British Airways, arguing that both bids undervalued the low-cost carrier. ​

The greatest sell-off ever. Saudi Arabia reform program - May 18, 2018
“All success stories start with a vision, and successful visions are based on strong pillars.” 
This is one of the introductory sentences pronounced by Mohammed bin Salman two years ago at the presentation of Vision 2030, the ambitious plan aiming to radically revolutionise Saudi Arabia’s....

---

Sainsbury’s and Asda close to £15bn merger - May 12, 2018
A new, multibillion deal might fundamentally change Britain’s supermarket business. Again.

---

Transforming the German Energy industry: the E.On and RWE mega-deal - May 9, 2018
On March the 10th, the energy supplier E.On announced it had agreed to acquire a 76.8% stake in Innogy from the rival electric utilities group RWE...

---

A look behind the Sterling weakness - May 8, 2018
The post-referendum period meant a record high for the Sterling, which gained ground reaching almost the pre-Brexit levels. This currency reaction was mainly due to the market becoming optimistic about how leaving the European Union was actually going to be achieved in an economically efficient manner and to a positive national economic outlook.

---

The decline of Valtur - May 3, 2018
The origins of Valtur are placed in 1964, in Rome, when Raimondo Cavalieri, director of the investment company ITALCONSULT decided to found an empire taking advantage of the beauties offered by north and south of Italy.

---

Space4 Announced the Business Combination with Guala Closures - May 2, 2018
Space4 announced as its target company Guala Closures, a market leader in the production of aluminum and “non-refillable” closures.

---

ION Investment Group to acquire Fidessa after a £1.5bln bid - April 29, 2018
Fidessa discarded Temenos’ offer for acquisition in favor of Ion Investment’s proposition, which amounts to £1.5bn. 

---

Volatility: a Brief History of Markets - April 28, 2018
Do you remember February 5, the day in which volatility spiked and the now-well-known XIV ETN collapsed after losing 94 per cent of its value?

---

Private Equity activity in Greece - April 22, 2018
Since the default of 2012, the Greek stock market has not been a safe haven for corporations and this is the reason for the nearly non-existing number of IPO’s and a great number of Private Equity deals regarding Greek companies as well as companies going private.

---

Saudi Aramco's secret accounting data unveiled - April 21, 2018
One of the most important secret of the Business world was unveiled on April 13th, with Saudi Aramco that has released detailed accounting information for the first semester of 2017 to the international news agency Bloomberg.

---

Sky, how it is becoming a new world leader - April 17, 2018
Only a few hours before the Easter week­end began, Sky and Mediaset announced a resounding deal that is going to change multimedia offer balances in Italy.

The Euribor uncertainty - April 13, 2018
The EURIBOR -Euro Interbank Offer Rate- and the LIBOR -London Interbank Offered Rate- are two benchmark rates for short-term transactions, which mirror the cost of unsecured borrowing and include a premium accounting for the creditworthiness of the borrowing institution.

EU Digital Tax - April 4, 2018
The European commission proposed their plan to levy a tax on tech companies not where their headquarters are, but based on the location of their users.

Sanofi to acquire Ablynx for €3.9 billion - March 27, 2018
The French pharmaceutical company Sanofi has agreed to buy the Belgian biotech company Ablynx for 3.9 billion  euro, beating Novo Nordisk and realizing its second big deal of the year after having purchased Bioverativ.

Greece: the 2018 bailout program - March 24, 2018
It is a fact that Greek economic crisis has been in the centre of discussions on an international level for a long time...

The 2018 Private Equity Outlook - March 1, 2018
The Private Equity industry has been booming during the past year and, after the first months of 2018, it showed that I will not slow down its growth. Buyout volumes were up 27 per cent year on year in 2017, according to Thomson Reuters, and are expected to accelerate this year, propelled by a record $1.1tn of cash.

L&G Acquires Canvas and Enters the ETFs Market - December 20, 2017
On November 14th, Legal & General Investment (Holdings) Limited (LGIM) acquired Canvas, the European exchange-traded fund platform owned by ETF Securities. The UK’s biggest asset manager has now had a “Vanguard moment” and, after 24 years of sitting on the sidelines, it is finally “coming to the ETF party”.

 How the new Euribor may help families with variable rate mortgages - December 18, 2017
 The new way of calculating the Euribor will restrain the fluctuation of interest rates and reduce the risks of       variable rate mortgages.

SPACs invasion and the advantages of "backdoor" listing - March 5, 2018
Special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) are in the list of those financial innovations that are hardly new, but that are now back, stronger than ever, and Italy knows it very well.

Catalan Referendum: the effects on the market - November 8, 2017
The unconstitutional vote of October the 1st has created an instability on the markets and on YTM (yield to maturity) of Spanish bonds. However, the effects predicted before the vote were worse and we can’t be sure about future development.

Lotus-Geely: Will the Chinese automaker dominate the car industry? - November 7, 2017
​Lotus is the last bet for the Chinese automaker. Geely has acquired the 51% stake from the Malaysian company Proton, which bought Lotus in 1996. 

PIR – boom: the dramatic surge of the croesus of the Italian financial market - October 31, 2017
The theme of investing in the “real economy” is a very timely one. The Italian government has addressed this issue by introducing the so-called “PIR”, Piani Individuali di Risparmio (Individual investment Plans), by means of the law No 232 of December 2016.

Bidding war for Abertis fires up European M&A dealmaking - October 27, 2017
​It is October 19 news that Hochtief, the German subsidiary construction group of ACS, Spain-based construction and engineering giant, has made a counteroffer to the €16.3 billion takeover bid for Abertis, launched by Atlantia earlier this year.

From rivals to allies: should European politics learn from European businesses? - October 21, 2017
French multinational rail company Alstom - the maker of TGV trains - and German industrial giant Siemens have agreed to join forces and create a “European champion in mobility”. A memorandum of understanding for the merger of Siemens’ Mobility business, including its Rail Traction Drives business, with Alstom was signed on the 26th of September. 

Barclays sells its African branch to cope with capital requirements - May 29, 2017
Early this month Barclays has sold 12.2% of Barclays Africa, about one fifth of its holding. The British company is trying to exit the African business after more than 100 years of presence in the continent. The divestiture is part of Jes Staley’s plan to overhaul the UK based bank by boosting its Tier I capital. The sale price was 126 Rand per share valuing the stake at $879 millions

The rise of Investment Banking Boutiques - May 26, 2017
Boutiques have made more progress in stealing business from investment banks in Europe than in the United States. If we take 2015 as an example, they accounted for 27.5% or $2 billion of total completed M&A deals fees. 

Will Alitalia file for bankruptcy again? - May 21, 2017
Troubled Italian airline Alitalia has been in a long-running battle against bankruptcy and has been through multiple bailouts and restructurings, but never managed to compete with the booming low-cost carriers in Europe.

Credit Suisse’s $4bn share issue: the tip of a much wider strategic plan - May 18, 2017
Over its centenary history, Credit Suisse has become one of the biggest universal banks worldwide, operating in about 50 countries with more than 47,000 employees. Credit Suisse Group AG’s shares are listed on the Swiss Exchange (SIX), with a market capitalization of about 31.975 billion Swiss francs. 

Where to invest, Supercars or electric cars? - May 15, 2017
Ferrari is the world's most powerful car brand according to Brand Finance. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1939, the company built its first car one year later while the company's inception took place in 1947, when the first Ferrari-badged car was completed.

May calls for June election - May 13, 2017
“There will be no early general election” proclaimed Theresa May’s official spokesman less than a month ago. A broken promise hardly seems to constitute a good beginning for an electoral campaign, yet the Conservative party is looking forward to a landslide: opinion polls are showing a 20% advantage over Labour. 

What’s next for FCA - May 9, 2017
These day and age, several companies find themselves in need of making major decisions regarding their business in the light of the Black Swans of 2016. For FCA the biggest challenge in the near future is for sure provided by Sergio Marchionne stepping back from its CEO and Chairman role in 2018. 

Regulation Uber Alles - May 8, 2017
On Thursday, April 6, 2017, Uber has been banned in Italy by a judge after local taxi groups brought a lawsuit against the famous car-booking service. The case in Italy was filed in December 2016 by taxi associations which claimed that Uber’s service constituted unfair competition to their operations.

Le Pen – Macron, The day of reckoning - May 4, 2017
The formal winners of the first round of French presidential poll (23 Apr 2017) have been Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen.
The fact that the two candidates do not belong to the two main political parties (Parti Socialiste-Les Rèpublicains) represents a historical event.

Should we fear the rise of the robots? Gives and takes of the technological evolution - Apr 29, 2017
Since the industrial revolution, the advent of human-replacing automated machinery has been worrying and challenging people of all times and places. One of the most evident consequences of this happening has been the struggle of people who saw their job taken away and replaced by machinery and, what’s worse, few and nearly irrelevant social and economic advantages in return. 

Is Europe back on its feet? - Apr,15 2017
Last year we have seen outflows driven by worries over political risk and Italian banks posing a systemic risk to the Eurozone financial system, leading to investors pulling roughly $100bn from the asset class. However, now we are experiencing a shift which has been driven by hopes of a synchronised global economic expansion accelerating.

Brexit begins - Apr 11, 2017
A hard beginning. On March 29 the European Council received the letter from Prime Minister Theresa May which stated the UK’s intention to leave the European Union, officially triggering Article 50. But what exactly does it mean?

PSA makes the first move to become a top player in the auto industry - Apr 6, 2017
PSA has unveiled on March 6th the deal with which it will buy Opel and Vauxhall from General Motors with a €2.2bn payment in cash and convertible stocks. The agreement is considered to be a “win win” one where GM will get rid of its loss-making European branch and PSA will gain in terms of economies of scale and cost savings. 

About Saudi Aramco's IPO - Apr 1, 2017
Saudi Arabian Oil Company, commonly known as Saudi Aramco, is a Saudi Arabian national petroleum and natural gas company based in Dhahran. Over the past 80 years it has become a world leader in hydrocarbons exploration, production, refining, distribution and marketing. 

Straight out of the liquidity trap: an overview of ECB’s upcoming monetary policy - Mar 24, 2017
Given the financial turmoil occurred in 2008, the ECB decided to step in cutting interest rates. Over the following years, the main refinancing operations rate reached 0%, the marginal lending facility rate 0.25% and the interest rate on deposit facility -0.4%. 

Deutsche Bank: Staying Alive - Mar 20, 2017
​€10.2bn in 2010, €3bn in 2013 and €8.5bn in 2014: three times since the great financial crisis, Deutsche Bank has turned to its shareholders for cash. ​

HSBC navigates turbulence - Mar 14, 2017
Disappointment spreads among investors as HSBC fails to meet analysts’ expectations causing the lender’s shares to shrink on the 28th of February.

Who’s Nex(i)t? Netherland’s getaway from the EU - Mar 12, 2017
In recent years the Netherlands have expanded their economy as much as to become one of the most strong and profitable in the European Union. ​

Norway oil fund to undertake structural changes to face new challenges - Mar 7, 2017
Established in 1990 as the Petroleum Fund of Norway, the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global, generally known as “The Oil Fund", has been created to preserve and invest Norway’s oil revenues for the generations to come.

Deleveraging Europe - Feb 25, 2017
European Central Bank had made clear that it was going to step up measures to incentivize banks to resolve the non-performing loans (NPLs) issue.

Will Brexit negatively influence one of its most thriving fields: Science and Research? - Feb 21, 2017
UK leaving the EU implies a lot of damaging consequences for Science and Research & Development in the UK, and prevents the numerous benefits that membership brought to healthcare and the national economy.​

Essilor and Luxottica agree on €50 billion merger - Feb 16, 2017
On the 16th of January 2017, Essilor, the world leading manufacturer of lenses, and Luxottica, the largest consumer eyewear group, agreed on one of the largest ever European cross-border transactions.