Ask top buy-out advisers if they have considered tapping into sovereign wealth funds and many will explain that they have been ‘monitoring’ these bodies for years. But the current indications are that ‘monitoring’ is swiftly about to become code for ‘aggressively targeting’ as M&A advisers scramble to get in on the ground floor with clients who look unaffected by the credit squeeze. As such, it is little surprise that private equity leader Clifford Chance (CC) has set up an informal cross-practice covering the area while sector rival Ashurst is considering setting up a similar team.
Of course, sovereign wealth funds are nothing new – many were set up more than 20 years ago – but it is only now they have emerged as potentially crucial players on the international corporate stage, providing an obvious source of capital in an environment where the traditional financiers are so constricted.
