Simon Franklin, Managing Partner of Dequity Partners was honoured to have been asked by the RegTech Association of Australia to judge their awards for Best Pitch from a plethora of regulatory technology companies eager to gain exposure and potentially investment. This is something he […]

Shaking Up Insolvency I was reading with great interest, the article entitled “Investors win in insolvency shake-up” in the AFR on 3 June 2011. The article discusses the Federal Government’s proposals to change the way liquidators, administrators and insolvency firms are appointed, terminated and how their […]

Confused Between Debt & Equity? We have recently been approached to comment on the costs, benefits and risks of taking on additional debt or equity. Before going on to examine the specific questions we were asked, we need to quickly examine the difference between debt and […]

Why Does It Matter? Investors are often infuriated with entrepreneurs that don't understand what they have and where what they have fits in.  Entrepreneurs are often infuriated that investors don't like startups which isn't exactly true. If you want to attract investment then you'd better […]

Will High Profile Cases Prevent Future Insider Trading? I was interviewed last week regarding the stories of Sri Lankan-born Raj Rajaratnam, head of the Galleon Group in the US or young Sydney equities dealer John Hartman, both found guilty of insider trading. The journalist wanted […]

How Can Investors Protect Their Investments From Majority Shareholders? I was reading an interesting article entitled “Shell shocks market with Woodside selldown” in the Australian Financial Review on 9 November 2010. This article reminded me of questions I frequently get asked by investors considering investing […]

What is an unfair deal? There was an interesting article in the Australian Financial Review on Friday 29 October 2010 entitled RHD backs “unfair” PeopleBank bid” (see AFR Article).  The article is about the board of a recruitment company backing a takeover offer despite an […]

Consider Your Options Carefully Choosing to go public or remain private is a decision not to be made lightly. I was reading an article in the Australian Financial Review on Friday 15 October 2010 entitled “Shareholders can’t run public companies”. It goes on to discuss what […]

Do You Understand Investing through Convertible Notes? In the Australian Financial Review Smart Money section on October 9 - 10 2010 there is an article entitled "Limited choice for retail bonds" (see AFR article). This article discusses the problems with raising debt through the ASX, the […]

Is Backdoor Listing for You? Many business owners are thinking of exiting their businesses in the next few years as the baby boomer generation reaches retirement age.  They wish to realise the value of the equity in their business. The question many of them ask is […]