Give private equity a chance says CBI
CBI says private equity has to do more to communicate with the public
Communicate better or risk being labelled as robbers and plunderers forever.
This is the warning that the CBI has sounded to the private equity industry,
which has faced heated criticism from Unions and politicians over the past few
weeks.
Richard Lambert, the director-general of the CBI, said the industry needed to
let the public know that it had created more jobs than listed companies,
the Times
reports.
‘They should be leading the discussion about appropriate disclosure
structures, not leaving it to others to explain their real value to business and
the economy more generally,’ said Lambert.
The firms have been labelled as asset-strippers after
Permira
bought out the AA and
promptly sacked 3,400 workers. Pressure has also been mounting to reform tax
structures on interest relief which benefit private equity firms greatly.
Despite this pressure, the FT reports that UK has been ranked as the
best location in Europe for venture capital deals. Research by Library House
showed that €1,784bn (£1.19bn) was invested in the UK in 2006.
The nearest competitor was France where €875m was invested. Spain was third
with €491m.
Further reading:
Unions launch campaign for interest relief reform
Tax
relief measures ‘will make UK less attractive’
Tax advisers dismiss US-style interest relief