Law firm Clayton Utz has poached Ashurst's banking and financial services partner Graeme Tucker.

Sources said Tucker is expected to reprise his relationship with former colleague Timothy Sackar in the restructuring and insolvency practice and the corporate division for private equity and fund work. 

Tucker, who spent 10 years at Ashurst, started at his new shop this week. 

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Crescent Capital Partners' investors can expect another cheque in the mail, after the firm agreed a deal for its garage door maker and distributor Steel-line. 

Crescent will sell Steel-line to Japanese trade player Bunka Shutter, which was advised by Baker McKenzie, with the buyer expected to seek to grow the business in Australia. 

While it's unlikely to go down as one of Crescent's best returning investments, the sale does come at an important time for the firm. 

The Sydney buyout manager is seeking to liquidate some of its investments and return money to investors, so it can go back to them to secure a fundraising in coming months. Steel-line's sale comes only two months after it sold surveillance business GroundProbe to Orica for $205 million in December.

Steel-line, a manufacturer, distributor and installer of residential garage and commercial doors, is one of the older assets in Crescent's portfolio having lurked in the Sydney private equity fund manager's stable since 2007. 

The company was pitched to potential buyers via Deloitte Corporate Finance, and was spruiked as a door seller with a national footprint of branches and manufacturing sites, with about $15 million to $20 million in annual earnings. 

Crescent's investors expect to see Michael Alscher and his team out raising money in coming months. The firm last raised in 2015, when it secured $675 million. Investors reckon another divestment or two - particularly a big deal - would go a long way towards helping the raising. 

Perhaps the most likely candidate is ClearView and whether Japan's Sony Life opts to buy the remainder of Crescent's holding. The situation needs to be resolved before the end of April. 

Sony's initially acquired a 14.9 per cent stake in a two-tiered transaction with Crescent and its partners. It included a call option over Sony's stake if the company did not lob a bid for ClearView within 18 months.

Elsewhere, Credit Suisse has hired Macquarie's head of ESG equity research Phineas Glover. 

It's understood Glover signed with the Swiss bank this week and is expected to start in the firm's Sydney office in coming months. 

Glover moves into the role vacated by Sandra McCullagh, who left Credit Suisse after 10-years with the bank last November. 

Credit Suisse also promoted Gretel Janu to lead its healthcare sector equities research coverage, after former sector lead Saul Hadassin moved to UBS. 

Credit Suisse's local equities research team was voted No.1 in the past two annual Peter Lee surveys. 

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Myer Holdings is teetering and now Australian fashion may be about to lose another of its first families. 

Street Talk can reveal some of the country's most enduring women's fashion names could be put up for sale in the coming months, as Rich Lister Naomi Milgrom sounds out buyer interest for her Sussan, Sportsgirl and Suzanne Grae chain. 

It is understood investment bank Citigroup is helping Milgrom with her review of the business, and deliberations remain at an early stage. 

Deloitte Corporate Finance has put together a vendor due diligence pack as part of the deal.

While sources cautioned a formal sale process was not yet under way, a deal would bring to an end the deep connection between Milgrom's family and the world of women's fashion. 

Her grandmother, Faye Gandel, set up shop in Melbourne in 1939 and Milgrom bought the company from her billionaire father Marc Besen in 2003. She has built the group to include more than 550 stores across Australia and New Zealand.

Milgrom was No.117 on the Financial Review Rich List in 2017 with an estimated net wealth of $585 million.

Sources said the stable of brands was worth $300 million to $400 million. However, while the company has held its own against a flotilla of foreign fashion names like Zara, Topshop, H&M and Uniqlo, it's still facing the same tough retail conditions as other retailers.

According to filings with the corporate regulator, the company had $459.4 million sales in the year to July 31, 2016 and a $17 million profit before foreign exchange impacts. Those numbers were down from $474.2 million sales and $38.7 million profit a year earlier.  

And like a lot of retail conglomerates, some brands are said to be doing better than others. Sportsgirl is the shining light, while Sussan Group has seen heavy discounting to attract budget-conscious consumers and clear inventory. 

Milgrom is prominent in the philanthropic and arts communities, setting up the Naomi Milgrom Foundation in 2014, which supports public design and architecture. She was appointed Commissioner for the Australian representation at last year's Venice Biennale.

It will be interesting to see where interest emerges. Source said South African retailer The Foschini Group, which snapped up menswear retailer Retail Apparel Group last year, was unlikely to take a look. 

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Cerberus Capital Management is nearing a deal to acquire Bluestone Group, a transaction that would see a third private equity giant enter the local mortgage market.

New York-based Cerberus, which has $US30 billion under management, is said to be in exclusive talks with the lending and loan servicing business about an acquisition.

Sources suggested a deal to snap up the bulk of Bluestone may be signed within the next week.

Bluestone's shareholders include private and institutional shareholders Macquarie Group and Lloyds Development Capital. The vendors are hoping to secure a transaction after receiving final bids late in 2017. Rothschild is managing the sale which started as a dual track process.

The company has net assets of about $50 million in Australia, and expects net profit for this market of $10 million for fiscal 2018. Those numbers exclude offshore operations in markets including the UK and Ireland.

Bluestone would add to Cerberus' other portfolio companies in financial services.

They include independent French lender My Money Bank, real estate financing group FirstKey, Austrian bank BAWAG P.S.K. and reinsurer Scottish Re Group, according to the firm's website.  

 Cerberus has already had a busy start to the year globally, announcing transactions including the acquisition of Cyanco Holding, the largest global producer of sodium cyanide.

Interest in the domestic non bank lending sector has been hot in the past year as global players seek to capitalise on a retreat by the banks in some parts of the local mortgage market.

As foreshadowed by this column, New York-based Blackstone snapped up an 80 per cent stake in Melbourne-based lender La Trobe last year.

That followed the acquisition by KKR & Co's credit arm of listed non-bank lender and loan servicing company Pepper Group.

 

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Utilities Trust of Australia's management rights may be settled, for now, but the job's not over for adviser Grant Samuel Corporate Finance. 

Street Talk understands the firm is holding UTA's hand as it considers offloading its 50 per cent stake in Victoria's Port of Portland. 

It is understood UTA is in talks to sell its share to fellow investor Palisade Investment Partners, which has pre-emptive rights under the shareholder agreement. The port is expected to be worth about $100 million, which makes it one of UTA's smallest assets.

Port of Portland specialises in shifting bulk commodities, as well as aluminium and fertiliser. It has about six million tonnes a year throughput, according to its website. 

Palisade is expected to take up the stake, with little interest likely to come from outside the existing ownership group given Port of Portland's size and outlook. As always, it's just about whether the two parties can agree on a price. 

UTA's potential divestment comes as the fund is readied for new manager Morrison & Co, which was selected in a process overseen by UTA's board, Grant Samuel and Herbert Smith Freehills.

Morrison beat a host of its rivals to secure the mandate, and saw off IFM Investors in the final stage. 

Former Hastings Funds Management portfolio manager Peter Siapikoudis is expected to oversee UTA under Morrison's watch, along with Morrison's bigger team including chief investment officer Paul Newfield. 

UTA shareholders had been presented with two choices: Morrison or IFM Investors, as Street Talk revealed earlier this month. It's expected that the formal transition to Morrison will occur on July 1, following an extraordinary general meeting vote by UTA unitholders.

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