Xeon International to launch a comprehensive range of IT & BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) services
1-07-2010, Luxembourg Organic Growth Division
Xeon International is in the process to launch a comprehensive range of BPO & IT services as an extension of its current range of growth value creation services.
“With the current market turmoil, the demand for such services has increased significantly” says Yves Duponselle, CEO at Xeon international, “Non-core and low value creation activities are more and more outsourced to larger competence centers.”
Xeon International’s range of BPO services will be covering Back office services such as document and data entry processing as well as industry related research activities, billing and collections and much more, Outbound call services such as lead generation services, email follow-up,… and Inbound call services such as technical support, inquiry handling,…..
The IT services will offer offshore software development and maintenance programs for mobile and web technologies, ERP, CRM, DW and BI client requirements.
“We have been creating strong partnerships with leading players with a large experience in this domain. These partners are already working for leading brands such as Dell, IBM, ING, Tata Consulting, UBS, Monster, Motorola and many more, comments Yves Duponselle, which is our guarantee for an upper market service delivery.”
Xeon International aims to create long-term business value for its clients by offering a unique blend of result-oriented, risk sharing strategic value creation and implementation services. It operates within three functional areas: Project Financing - Mergers & Acquisitions - Growth Management.
Global M&A sees a stronger start to the year compared to Q1 2009 – deal value up 15%
2-06-2010, Luxembourg Inorganic Growth division
Global M&A for the year to date stands at US$ 477.7bn, up 15% from Q1 2009. However the start of the year is down 18% from Q1 2008 and 41% from Q1 2007. Q1 2010 is the second strongest quarter in the last five quarters, after Q4 2009.
Largest ever Q1 for Asia-Pacific
Propelled by the announcement of a number of mega-deals, Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) started the new decade with a boom in M&A activity. Q1 2010 was the largest Q1 for Asia-Pacific on merger market records with a total deal value of US$ 103.3bn, 126% higher than Q1 2009. Deal volume is up 24%.
Europe suffers slowest first quarter since 1998
In the slowest first quarter since 1998, Q1 2010 Europe saw the announce¬ment of 856 M&A deals with a total value of US$ 115.4bn – down 3% from Q1 2009 by value and volume.
However, European private equity buyout activity started on a stronger note with deal values up by 233% compared to Q1 2009, at US$ 15.2bn – account¬ing for 46% of the value of global buyouts so far this year.
US suffers 22% drop in value
US M&A for the year to date stands at US$ 154bn, down 22% from Q1 2009 and down 24% from the previous quarter. With a total of 692 announced deals, deal activity is up 21% compared to Q1 09 but still down 11% on the final three months of last year.
Global private equity buyouts are steady
Buyout activity increased by 10% compared to Q1 2009 with a value of US$ 33.1bn. The largest buyout this year is Bain Capital’s acquisition of the US based Styron division of Dow Chemical, valued at US$ 1.6bn, followed close¬ly by KKR backing the management in the US$ 1.5bn buyout of UK based Pets At Home. Europe makes up 46% of the value of global buyouts so far this year.
48% drop in insolvency deals
Announced insolvency deals globally have dropped 48% in value compared to Q1 2009 and 82% compared to the peak achieved in Q2 2009. Activity by value is the lowest since Q4 2008.
Top deals of the quarter
Global: Prudential’s US$ 35.5bn acquisition of American International Assurance Company in March (also Asia-Pacific’s largest deal of the quarter).
Europe: Novartis exercises option to acquire 52% stake in Alcon for US$ 26.3bn in January.
Americas: America Movil SA de CV’s US$ 19.4bn acquisition of Carso Global Telcom SAB de CV in January.
US: MetLife acquiring American Life Insurance Company from AIG for US$ 15.5bn.
Global Project Finance Volume up 49% to 72.1bn.
Asian project Finance up 161% to $34.9bn.
7-05-2010, Luxembourg Inorganic Growth division
Dealogic, the pre-eminent provider of Global Investment Banking analysis and systems released its Q1 2010 figures for Global Project Finance.
Global volume reached $ 72.1bn, an increase of 49% compared with $48.4bn in Q1 2009 although only 146 projects reached financial close, down 13% on 167 in Q1 2009.
A total of 16 projects of $1.0bn or over reached financial close in Q1 2010, compared to just seven in the comparable 2009 period. This included the $7.6bn Nord Steam Gas Pipeline Phase 1 project, the second largest Eastern European project financing on record to reach financial close.
Asia recorded one of the largest increases in project financing with volume up 161% to $34.9bn compared to Q1 2009. The region was boosted by the $12.8bn Taiwan High Speed Rail refinancing, the largest project financing globally in Q1 2010. Australasia also saw a significant rise in volume, reaching $3.4bn compared to just $837m in Q1 2010.
Western Europe project finance volume was up 42% to $16.9bn in Q1 2010 compared with 12.0bn in Q1 2009.
Middle East & Africa project volume fell 57% to $2.8bn in Q1 2010 while North American volume fell 46% to just $2.6bn. Latin American & Caribbean project finance was also down with volume dropping 67% to $3.6bn in Q1 2010.
The Infrastructure sector led the industry ranking in Q1 2010 with volume of $26.1bn accounting for 36% of total project finance volume. The Energy/Power sector followed with $ 25.1bn and a 35% share of market.
Project Finance loan volume reached $58.5bn in Q1 2010, up 61% from Q1 2009 while bond financing fell 68% to just $461m. Equity finance rose 25% to 13.1bn.
Bank of Taiwan led the mandated arranger ranking with £12.9bn, followed by State Bank of India with $ 3.7bn.
Venture Capital investments outside the US were down by 47% in 2009
11-04-2010, Luxembourg Inorganic Growth division
Xeon International looks back on a VC study performed by DOW Jones VentureSource
"Despite the recent downturn in the Venture Capital investment industry, we remain confident, looking at the results of the 4th quarter 2009 and first quarter 2010, that the market is showing signs of recovery” says Yves Duponselle CEO of Xeon International." Looking at the latest figures we can clearly observe that, signs are looking good for the future. The situation will not improve instantly but the improvement process has already begun."
Non-US Venture-Backed Companies Collected $8.2 Billion in 2009; Europe Sees Worst Year of Decade; Investments in China Drop 56%
In most markets outside the US, the fourth quarter of 2009 was the best quarter of the year for venture capital investment, but it did little to boost the year’s annual totals. In the fourth quarter, venture capitalists invested $2.5 billion in 396 deals in Europe, Canada, Israel, China and India, a 24% drop from the $3.3 billion invested in 472 deals during same period last year, according to new global data from Dow Jones VentureSource. Throughout 2009, investors put $8.2 billion to work in 1,391 deals outside the US, a 47% drop from the $15.5 billion invested in 1,932 deals in 2008.
In the US, venture investors put $6.3 billion to work in 743 deals in the most recent quarter, a slight up tick from the same period in 2008. Throughout 2009, venture capitalists invested $21.4 billion into 2,489 deals for U.S. companies, a 31% drop compared with 2008.
European Investment Sees Worst Year of Decade*
In 2009, venture capitalists invested $4.4 billion (€3.2 million) in 916 deals for European companies, down 41% from the $7.4 billion (€5.1 billion) put into 1,234 deals in 2008. According to Dow Jones VentureSource, 2009 was the worst year for venture investment into European companies since the firm began tracking the region in 2000. In the fourth quarter, venture investors put $1.3 billion (€911 million) into 252 deals, a 28% drop from the $1.8 billion (€1.2 billion) put into 321 deals during the same period last year.
“In Europe, venture capitalists opened their wallets a little wider in the fourth quarter," said Arno Castanet, research manager in Dow Jones VentureSource’s London office. “But with investors’ capital sources - fundraising and liquidity - still tight, entrepreneurs will continue to face intense competition for capital in 2010.”
“Our clients have difficulties to understand that we are really in a severe competition for capital in the market and that they should revise their effort and commitment policies if they want to get funded, mentions Yves Duponselle, CEO at Xeon international, “resulting from an unbalanced market situation between offer and demand ”.
Deals Sizes Shrink Worldwide
According to the data, the size of venture deals has decreased in all markets around the world since 2008. The median size of a venture capital deal in Europe dropped 24% from 2.9 million (€2 million) in 2008 to $2.2 million (€1.6 million) in 2009.
Mainland China had the highest median deal size of any region with $7 million in 2009, a 13% drop from the $8 million median in 2008.
India saw the most dramatic drop as the country ended 2009 with a $4 million median, down 44% from 2008. Canada’s median dial size fell almost one-third to $4.1 million and Israel’s median dropped almost 20% to $4.5 million.
The median round size in the U.S. was $4.7 million, down from $6 million seen in 2008.
A reduced “Deal Size” affects significantly the Project financing costs as most of capital searches require more investors to finance one project says Giancarlo d’Elia, CFO at Xeon International.
*All Europe investment figures based on weighted conversion rates of 1.459079 (2008) and 1.3851 (2009). All percentages were calculated using USD.
Xeon International aims at creating long-term business value for companies by offering a unique blend of result-oriented, risk sharing strategic value creation and implementation services. We operate within three functional areas: Project Financing - Mergers & Acquisitions - Growth Management. Our teams consist mainly of experienced managers with deep theoretical and practical knowledge of their areas of specialisation which ensures rapid comprehension of relevant strategic and operational issues and a solid implementation of solutions. We devise innovative and result-oriented ways to create business value for our clients.
Private equity: new opportunities, new dynamics?
03-02-2010, Luxembourg Inorganic Growth division
The Private Equity Industry looks to investment again in 2010.
Last year proved to be an extremely challenging year for the Private Equity Industry. The asset class experienced a severe drop in deal flow volume in 2009, accompanied by a significant downward adjustment in valuations for their portfolio companies.
Additionally the Industry had to face the lowest levels of new fundraising since 2004.
“The reverse of fortunes in the previously buoyant debt markets and the changing relationship between private equity and banks has been at the root of the many issues affecting the industry”, says Yves Duponselle, CEO at Xeon international. “Not only has financing for new deals been an issue, but financial management for existing investments has also presented a major worry.” “While Banks have been focusing on bolstering their balance sheets, they have been unwilling to accept write-downs or forgive breaches of loan covenants set during more prosperous times, making it extremely challenging to restructure financing for existing portfolio investments”, commented Yves Duponselle.
“The total value for new private equity backed deals taking place in 2009 was $77bn, a 61% reduction from 2008”
As a result of these challenging conditions, deal closing for private equity deals has fallen significantly.
Giancarlo d’Elia, CFO at Xeon International commented: “Adverse market conditions have also led to a reduction in the number of exits for private equity firms, a factor affecting the profitability of existing holdings, and a major contributor to the slow-down in the new fundraising market. With firms not being able to exit their portfolio companies at an acceptable level, many are now holding companies for longer periods than initially planned, leading to a significant drop in distributed capital for investors from exited investments in 2008 and 2009.”
The dynamic of the private equity market has changed, and as a result limited partners in funds have been far less keen to invest in new private equity vehicles. In 2009, private equity fundraising had its worst fundraising year since 2004, with only $246bn raised by 482 funds worldwide. This is 61% down on the $636bn raised in 2008, and 62% down on the record $646bn raised in 2007.
“The drop in fundraising can also be explained by the poor returns experienced by the industry since the onset of the financial crisis”, commented Giancarlo d’Elia. “Over a one-year period to June 2009 private equity returned –23%, with mega buyouts returning –31%. With deal-flow down, fundraising down, leveraged finance not available at the same rate as in the past, and the market for exits also suffering, the state of the asset class looks relatively bleak.” “However, while past performance is by no means an indication of future returns, if funds raised during the last period of economic downturn are examined, there is certainly evidence that funds raised during difficult periods can actually perform extremely well”, says Yves Duponselle.
“Nevertheless, we are seeing early signs of an improvement in fund performance, with the value of funds increasing between the first and second quarters of 2009 . The only metric still on a downward trend is fundraising, with the final quarter of 2009 setting a new low point” says Yves Duponselle. “ Our conversations with investors do show that although confidence is still a world away from the levels seen in 2007, there is reason to believe that the level of commitments will start to improve in 2010, with 51% of investors polled indicating that they would invest more capital in 2010 than 2009, and only 8% investing less.”
Xeon International aims to create long-term business value for its clients by offering a unique blend of result-oriented, risk sharing strategic value creation and implementation services. It operates within three functional areas: Project Financing - Mergers & Acquisitions - Growth Management.
Xeon International Germany to open office in Hannover
03-01-2010, Luxembourg
From the beginning of January 2010 Xeon International operates a fully owned subsidiary in Hannover, Germany
"Germany is a strategic market for Xeon International and it became vital to have a direct contact with our customer in what is today’s biggest European market" says Yves Duponselle CEO of Xeon International HQ.
"We see many opportunities to develop the current market", reported Charles Smethurst, Managing Director for Xeon International Germany. "Our services will concentrate in the beginning on Real Estate Project Financing and on Company Sales and Growth management" according Mr. Smethurst. So if companies need to access to equity or debt growth financing or if companies need to be sold, Xeon International will be the right partner, commented Mr. Smethurst.
"This is a new chapter in Xeon International’s history and we are very excited to be able to support our clients and our existing partners in their own language and on their own market" commented Yves Duponselle.
Xeon International aims to create long-term business value for companies by offering a unique blend of result-oriented, risk sharing strategic value creation and implementation services. We operate within three functional areas: Project Financing - Mergers & Acquisitions - Growth Management. Our teams consist mainly of experienced managers with deep theoretical and practical knowledge of their areas of specialisation which ensures rapid comprehension of relevant strategic and operational issues and a solid implementation of solutions. We devise innovative and result-oriented ways to create business value for our clients.
For more information: Xeon International Gmbh - Podbielskistrasse 30; 30163 Hannover Tel. +49 (0)511/3948444 Fax +49 (0)511/3948844
Real estate cash reserves kept at hand
22-09-2009, Luxembourg Inorganic Growth division
Despite the credit crunch there is capital out there
As a consequence of the credit crunch numerous real estate developers are struggling to find financing for existing or future projects. Typical sources have dried up with banks unwilling to lend at the same rates as before, leaving developers with great opportunities that cannot materialize, with partially completed projects and debts that require refinancing.
"Despite the fact that conditions are quite uneasy there is capital available. Developers need to be guided in the right direction to facilitate their entrance into financial vehicles which recognize the potential, have the means and are willing to commit to real estate projects" according to Giancarlo d’Elia, CFO.
Investment funds have also been going through a lot of difficulties to raise capital in the past year. Normally this would result in less funds to be invested but this is not the case. As a matter of fact the cash reserves are still staying on quite significant levels. The reason is that the investment criteria became more selective than ever and therefore less project have been finances.
Here comes the essential mission of Xeon International - to match the goals of the financial partner and the developer.
Xeon International publishes its M&A catalogue
11-06-2009, Luxembourg Inorganic Growth division
Xeon International presents its sales and acquisitions opportunities
Following the growing demand from investors to study our Investment Opportunities we have decided to make our M&A catalogue public. The document is not extensive of all projects in our pipeline as many opportunities are not placed in for confidentiality reasons. All presented projects have been screened and approved by our Inorganic Growth division and each project’s Executive Summary could be provided upon request.
Keep yourselves regularly posted about these opportunities by informing us about your investment strategy in terms of geographical and industry focus and target size. Email us!
EBIT boost by 24% through organic growth value creation
31-03-2009, Luxembourg, Organic Growth division
Xeon International's "Organic Growth" division has developed double digit growth of EBIT performance at client's side within 14 months of intervention
The aim was to enhance the EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Taxes) through a program of 2 major improvements: "Portfolio optimization" and "Adapted segmentation strategy in accordance with market requirements".
While growing companies always estimate that growth is simply mathematically obtained by adding more products, Xeon International challenged that assumption and increased client's sales with less products.
Many CEOs forget that the erosion of profits is very much caused by a poorly managed product portfolio. "It is again and again amazing to see how some products are literally eating the margins of other profitable products while no one is really paying attention to it. Managing portfolios of 4000 SKUs (Stock Keeping Units) and more is not a part time job!" stated Yves Duponselle, CEO of Xeon International. He added "It is always amazing to see how products evolve in a company, sometimes even exactly on the opposite of market requirements". This mistake is generally caused by organizational inefficiencies while many companies also identify market research as a brake to enhance "time to market". It is also generally wrongly assumed that the cost of launching a new product is much cheaper than the process of asking the future client whether the product has a compelling reason to buy.
Xeon International is a value creation company that runs International Sales & Marketing for its clients. The company offers a comprehensive range of "Organic Growth" services developed to increase sales on the short and long term.
Xeon International also acts as an outsourced partner for leading companies to open and activate distribution channels across major markets.
Project financing through innovation
03-02-2009, Luxembourg, Inorganic Growth division
Xeon International is emerging with an innovative fund raising concept after a recent in-house industry analysis
Fund raising and respectively project financing have been severely hit after the credit crunch. Today’s funding landscape has dramatically changed. Xeon International estimates that during 2009 about $160b will be raised on the European and US markets compared to nearly $400b in 2008. Re-thinking of Project Financing is very much needed.
The typical fund raising process is attractive when funds are abundant and when requirements are low. However, the traditional process is "lacking transparency" according to fund raising customers, "there are a lot of intermediaries", "recurrent Due-Diligence costs are a burden", "there is no budget control possible" are the recurrent comments.
"We create impact and visibility though our contact campaigns" said Yves Duponselle, CEO of Xeon International. He added that investors are only contacted if the fund raising project enters in their investment scope and if they have propensity to be interested. Xeon International is offering a global reach to investors across all continents.
Xeon International’s fund raising process could be described as fully transparent. There are regular updates on the parallel processes within the fund raising mission. The preparation of comprehensible metrics which reflect the interest of the market for the particular project is also a piece of innovation for the clients of Xeon International. Transparency is delivered by complete visibility of all communications with the potential investors.
Besides, when Xeon International leads the fund raising process there’s only one Due Diligence performed during the Business Plan preparation. Any further Due Diligence, when required, is covered by the Investor’s side.
Foreseen growth for mobile banking
04-12-2008, Luxembourg, Organic Growth division
Xeon International anticipates strong market demand of mobile banking
The globalization of the world economy is leading to higher mobility and the usage of mobile services is essential for many people. There is more than 100% penetration rate for the mobile phones in the developed countries and in 2008 it is estimated that there are about 40 million mobile banking services users, mainly in Europe and in the USA.
According to our research, by 2010 the number of Mobile banking services users will increase substantially. Mobile devices are becoming more powerful and easier to use and banks need to be innovative to compete for new clients and to retain their existing customers.
This is why Xeon International is anticipating the market demand and is introducing a mobile banking application which allows customers to access their accounts and operate transactions the way they have used to do it on their computers. The undeniable advantage of this innovation is the "anytime, anywhere" access to banking services. Today's customers want to organize banking transactions while on the move, irrespective of opening hours.
Financial service providers have so much reduced the value proposition of their services over the last years that consumers avoid to use non-digital touch points. This leads to an acceleration of mobile banking applications demand, comment analysts of Xeon International.
Monte Carlo Automobile appoints Xeon International
12-10-2008, Luxembourg, Inorganic Growth division
Monte Carlo Automobile appoints Xeon International for the development and implementation of its strategic outlines 2008-2012
MONACO, (BSW) - Xeon International, a European business value creation company established in Luxembourg in 2003, will assist the management team of Monte Carlo Automobile in the international development and implementation of Monte Carlo Automobile brand strategy.
Yves Duponselle, CEO of Xeon International comments: "Monte Carlo Automobile is naturally positioned in the so called "Goods of Passion" segment. This market niche is showing great growth potential and the demand for limited-edition products is soaring. In that context we will be deploying the Monte Carlo Automobile strategic plan in the coming years."
According to Giancarlo d'Elia, CFO of Xeon International, "Monte Carlo Automobile's business model is based on a maximum production capacity of a dozen cars per year and a very exclusive licencing concept of the brand. According to our most conservative estimations Monte Carlo Automobile should achieve turnover of not less than €15m over the next five years, generating extremely attractive double-digit EBITDA growth."