Wednesday 25 April 2012, St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London NW1. Reserve your place today legalweekconference@incisivemedia.com
Draft conference programme
Legal Week Private Equity Forum 2012
Venue: St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London NW1
This programme is subject to change
08.30 Registration
09.00 Opening remarks from the conference chairperson
Peter Cornell, partner, Metric Capital Partners (former managing partner, Clifford Chance and former managing director, stakeholder relationships, Terra Firma)
09.10 Panel discussion: fundraising 2012
Despite the best of intentions many houses are finding fundraising to be an especially tricky venture at present. Investors continue to gain confidence in arguing on fees, governance and transparency issues and regulatory reform continues to impact on capital raising. Hear from our panel in this interactive session focusing on how best to push forward and raise funds during continually tough market conditions.
Joe Blum, general counsel, Global Infrastructure Partners
Gavin Farrell, partner, Mourant Ozannes
Jason Glover, partner, Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett
Penny Walker, general counsel, Campbell Lutyens
10.15 Plenary address: facing the ‘maturity wall'
With reports showing that £507bn of maturing debt will need to be refinanced by private equity houses over the next five years there are obvious challenges to overcome in ensuring the sustainability of previous investments. What pitfalls should private equity lawyers be aware of in facing this wall and which tools have best proven their worth in the past?
10.45 Morning coffee
11.15 'Break out' workshops: corporate counsel considerations
A: Operating as a ‘bridge'
Operating as an in-house lawyer in today's business climate necessitates a heightened level of commerciality and business acumen. Where external legal advice is sought, such direction can potentially take an overly technical, non-commercial form. Join this ‘break-out' session to discuss how best to operate as a ‘bridge' between external counsel and your business through the proper translation and alignment of advice to best suit the unique structure and functionality of your organisation.
Christine Chen, legal director, Cinven
Judith O'Shea, general counsel, Novusmodus
Ian Stoodley, deputy general counsel, Intel Capital
B: Head of compliance by default?
Now forced to operate in an increasingly regulation-heavy market, do you feel you have become more of a compliance function than cutting edge legal adviser? If so, join this discussion to share best practice tips with your fellow corporate counsel as to how best to operate under increasing time and workload pressures whilst not necessarily being able to recruit fresh manpower.
Dan Kjerulf, head of legal, Danske Private Equity
Annie Rainsford, general counsel and compliance officer, Cognetas
C: Making the jump: from lawyer to ‘principal'
Led by moderators on both sides of the ‘jump', this session delves into how best to make the transition from legal advisor to deal maker. What skills from the former role have best complimented functioning in the latter? Is there even that much of a distinction between a legal counsel and ‘principal' in today's modern PE house?
12.35 Plenary interview: the debt dilemma
Banks are no longer providing debt at anywhere near the levels used to power the ‘mega buy-outs' of the mid-noughties. So where are houses finding the right debt to finance leveraged deals and what should firms be aware of when sourcing new, and potentially more risky, ways of sustaining deal-flow?
John Sinik, managing partner, Metric Capital
13.00 Lunch
14.00 Regulation roundtables
A: Europe - AIFMD, Basel III
James Bermingham, director and group general counsel, Aztec Group
Ben Robins, partner, Mourant Ozannes
Sue Woodman, general counsel, Equistone Partners Europe
B: US - SEC: post registration teething problems, Dodd-Frank, FATCA
Edina Cavalli, director, Barclays Capital
John Heard, general counsel, Abingworth
C: Global anti-corruption - FCPA, Bribery Act
Rachel Denoon, compliance director - private equity and principle investments, Barclays Capital
Alison Hampton, general counsel and compliance officer, HgCapital
Chris Martin, EMEA counsel, Intel Capital
15.10 Plenary address: investing responsibly
Against the backdrop of increasing LP demands for more ethical investment, the growth of bodies such as ‘Principles for Responsible Investment' (PRI) and regulatory focus, socially responsible investment is back on the agenda. So where do you fit in as a private equity lawyer in guiding your firm with regard to such investments and do market trends identify these as worthwhile and financially rewarding?
Claire Wilkinson, general counsel, Mvision
15.35 Afternoon coffee
16.00 Plenary address: Private Equity in Asia
Both the realised and potential growth for PE investments in Asia have been well publicised. Although not yet reaching the lofty heights of 2007, deal flow and exits are on the increase throughout China and India. Even IPOs appear to still be viable and popular in some circumstances. This session delivers an overview of the state of PE in Asia today as well as discussion around emerging opportunities such as Greentech in China and the Microfinance resurgence in India. Further, this session will focus on the legal specifics of operating under Asian regulatory regimes and how various domestic fund vehicles offered across Asia can best be deployed to seek a more tax-friendly situation.
16.30 Panel discussion: investment review 2012
Bringing together a collection of private equity leaders we hear what they think will be the winning investments for 2012. Will the secondaries market continue to remain stable? Are distressed investments going to increase? Will heavily leveraged buy-outs become a realistic prospect again anytime soon? In the context of continuing market uncertainty, our expert panel seeks to answer such questions.
Mark Florman, chief executive, BVCA
Jon Moulton, founder and managing director, Better Capital
17.30 Closing remarks
17.40 Conference close
HOW TO BOOK
To reserve your place at the Legal Week Private Equity Forum 2012, click here to book online. Alternatively call Steve Hands on +44 (0)20 7004 7460 or email legalweekconference@incisivemedia.com