Posted - 23 May 2012 05:00 GMT Meet Texas Teachers’ new head of private equity Rich Hall, who was recently named private equity head at the pension system, said the asset class is essential to the fund generating the returns it needs to meet its obligations. Rich Hall, the Teachers' Retirement System of Texas' new head of private equity, believes the facts tell the whole story about the benefits of private equity -- regardless of the negativity surrounding the asset class stemming from attacks on US presidential candidate Mitt Romney's past career as head of Bain Capital. During a recent interview with Private Equity International, Hall cited statistics that illustrated private equity’s benefits to the system: “We know that over the last 12 years our ... Continue reading →

SAP Agrees to Buy Ariba By Kenneth Wong - 2012-05-22T18:59:55Z SAP AG (SAP), the largest business- management software maker, agreed to buy Ariba Inc. (ARBA) to add a cloud-computing applications maker in a transaction valued at about $4.3 billion. SAP offerd $45 a share for Ariba, whose board of directors has unanimously approved the deal, Walldorf, German-based SAP said in a statement today. The transaction will probably be completed in the third quarter subject to approval by Ariba shareholders and regulators, it said. Ariba, based in Sunnyvale, California, is the leader in cloud-based collaborative commerce applications and the second- largest cloud vendor by revenue, SAP said. As the battle for on- demand software intensifies, SAP has stepped up the pace of acquisitions. It bought SuccessFactors ... Continue reading →

Obama Says Romney’s Record at Bain Should Be in Election Debate By Hans Nichols and Margaret Talev - 2012-05-21T20:52:37Z President Barack Obama said Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s touting of his business experience means his record as a private equity executive is fair game for campaign criticism. Obama said governing requires a different set of skills and priorities than running a business. If a candidate argues that his credentials are a track record of making money for investors, “then you’re missing what this job is about.” Obama was responding to a question about criticism of advertising being run by his campaign that highlights the closing of a steel plant that was bought by Bain Capital LLC, the private equity firm Romney co-founded. “My view of ... Continue reading →