Welcome to this special Private Equity edition of Regulator
With over 500 key players in the Private Equity industry congregating in the Gold Coast recently at the 18th annual Australian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCAL) conference, we felt it was timely to devote an issue to the latest developments in the PE market.
GP, LPs, bankers, lawyers, accountants and other advisers came together over two days to discuss the industry's burning issues, including tax, regulatory changes, fundraising challenges and reputation.
The conference followed AVCAL's recent introduction of its Code of Private Equity Governance (Governance Code), which signalled an important step towards reinforcing best practice behaviour and enhancing industry standards through increased transparency. In his article, Mike Barker examines the key principles of the new Governance Code.
Australia's four leading domestic banks, led by Westpac, have also been active with the recent launch of a set of base intercreditor principles for the Australian leveraged finance market in an attempt to develop a starting position for intercreditor negotiations. I explore in further detail the key features of the principles (which Mallesons assisted in drafting) in my article.
On the tax front, there is continuing uncertainty for foreign private equity firms with the Australian Tax Office’s ongoing pursuit of TPG as a result of its Myer IPO exit last year. In his article, Scott Heezen highlights key considerations for investors and outlines various approaches which have the potential to provide Australian tax certainty for offshore Private Equity investors.
Another theme of the conference was the need for the industry to continue to publicise and educate the broader public about the benefits which private equity brings to the economy. Lee Horan canvasses these aspects in his article.
Finally, Mark McFarlane discusses the key regulatory issues that offshore private equity firms interested in accessing capital in the Australian market should consider.
We hope you find this edition of Regulator focused on Private equity interesting and useful. As always, we welcome your suggestions and feedback.
Best regards
Yuen-Yee Cho