Asia’s foothold in Europe, Turkey, is modernizing rapidly and due to its secular and Western nature, boasts a vigorous free-enterprise economy. Turkey is the 17th largest economy in the world and the 6th largest in Europe. Turkish M&A deal volumes increased by almost 33% in 2010 to 240 transactions and total deal value was up by an incredible 523% to $26 billion. 23% of all deals by volume and 59% by value were from the energy and power sector. This very sector has traditionally led deal flow in Turkey and comes as no surprise with the country being gifted in energy and mineral resources. I recently attended a seminar to discuss this topic and the future of its growth.

At the end of February, on a dreary and drizzly Monday morning, I travelled from London to Berlin. Among my fellow British Airways passengers was Bob Geldof. For those who don’t know him, Bob Geldof started his career in the late 1970s as the lead singer of the Irish rock band, The Boomtown Rats, best known for the hit ‘I don’t like Mondays’, and spearheaded the super-concert Live Aid and Live 8 concerts. Apparently, he was heading to Berlin for a special performance at the Asphalt Club.

La reprise de l’activité des fusions-acquisitions en France est officielle. Il suffit de penser à la prise de contrôle d’International Power par GDF Suez, à l’acquisition de Sperian par Honeywell ou à la tentative en cours du géant de la pharmacie Sanofi de s’emparer de Genzyme aux Etats-Unis pour en être convaincu.

J’ai assisté au Club Fusion et Acquisition français de mergermarket qui s’est déroulé le 8 novembre à l’hôtel Ritz à Paris. C’était l’occasion pour les acteurs des fusions-acquisitions et du capital investissement de faire le point sur la situation en France.

Today’s challenging business environment has brought the importance of delivering world-class investor servicing sharply into focus. Institutional investors expect to access their statements and capital calls online, anytime, from anywhere, placing additional pressure on the related management and delivery mechanisms used by private equity firms.

The recent conference, Private Equity Software and Service Provider Showcase organized by 4VCO at the Renaissance Chancery Court hotel in London, therefore provided an excellent opportunity for 150 private equity professionals to gather for a day of presentations, information sharing and networking to understand how technology helps funds to improve internal systems and operations.

In today’s working environment, companies are geographically dispersed in multiple locations, often separated from customers, colleagues and partners. To avoid the need to travel hundreds or even thousands of miles to meet in person, collaborative tools could be the answer. Companies are increasingly seeing the benefit of these technologies and with the introduction of methods such as VoIP, instant messaging and web conferencing, individuals can communicate in a virtual environment, creating increased productivity and improved business process workflow.

IntraLinks is well ahead of the game and has provided collaborative technology in the form of IntraLinks Exchanges for over a decade, enabling the secure exchange of critical information. We recently exhibited at Solutions Intranet et Travail Collaboratif, a conference focused on collaborative work solutions in Paris, to showcase our solutions and to meet with customers. To understand more about the impact collaboration tools have on the market, I attended a workshop called ‘Collaboration in business, real cure for the crisis’ presented by Patrick Schambel, Managing Director from Silverpeas.