Spring 2018
Akash Pulluru
THE IMPACT OF TAX REFORM ON THE PE INDUSTRY

On December 19th, a Republican-controlled Congress narrowly passed a tax reform bill. This bill represents the most significant tax overhaul since 1986 and has profound implications for the private equity industry. Although this administration is often chastised for being overly friendly to private equity barons, the reality of this bill is far more complicated.

NUTANIX: BREAKING THE TREND OF IPO FAILURE

Just two years ago, 117 venture-backed companies had IPOs totaling $15 billion in offer amount. However, in the first two quarters of 2016, there have been just 18 IPOs totaling less than $1.5 billion. This trend is largely a symptom of CEOs’ eagerness to remain private as long as possible as a means of focusing on long term growth without short term scrutiny. Unfortunately for venture funds, when companies with large valuations avoid IPOs, exits via M&A become more difficult and it is harder to return capital to investors.

INSTAREM'S PAYMENT PLATFORM A GROWING PRESENCE IN ASIA

InstaReM, stemming from the words “instant remittance,” is a company that provides and manages a digital payment platform in Asia. Their system focuses on allowing its customers to send money from their account to another account in any country within Asia. CEO Prajit Nanu and COO Michael Bermingham founded InstaReM due to frustration with the experiences they faced with sending money abroad. Based in Singapore, InstaReM now has a twenty person team, locations in Sydney, Singapore, Mumbai, and New Jersey, and 17 bank partnerships.