REVENUE STRATEGY - BABCOCK & BROWN

1. Babcock & Brown Ltd., Australia's second-largest investment bank, is buying ports, property and energy assets around the world and may raise more than A$4.5 billion for as many as five new investment funds this year. It is currently bidding on development projects in Singapore, Germany and France.
2. Babcock pools assets into investment funds it manages for a fee.
3. It has raised 1.3 billion euros ($1.7 billion) for a closely held European infrastructure fund, and has capped the total amount it can raise at 2 billion euros. The firm is also working on several closely held funds and at least one publicly traded vehicle outside Australia.
4. Babcock Infrastructure, managed by Babcock & Brown, may appeal the ruling by a Montana regulator to block Babcock & Brown Infrastructure Group's $2.2 billion bid to acquire the South Dakota-based utility NorthWestern Corp.
5. It has increased fees linked to growth in assets and funds it manages.
6. The company may also start a number of investment funds in Australia.
7. It agreed to buy Gregory Greenfield & Associates Ltd. to double its stakes in U.S. shopping malls. The firm now owns or manages stakes in 22 malls worth more than A$1.7 billion in the U.S.
8. It has almost doubled the amount of money it can borrow from banks to A$2.35 billion to fund acquisitions.
9. Babcock and Singapore Power Ltd.'s sweetened offer for Alinta will transfer about A$5.9 billion of assets to publicly traded Babcock funds, and may also deliver management fees of A$27 million a year to the firm

Are entrepreneurs being displaced by financiers or are financiers becoming entrepreneurs?
For better or worse?

[Click here for full story at: BLOOMBERG.COM]