On 6 December 2019, the Private Equity Reporting Group (PERG) published its 12th annual report on the conformity of the private equity industry with the Walker Guidelines. These are Guidelines, recommended by Sir David Walker in 2007, designed to encourage transparency through enhanced reporting and disclosure by the largest UK portfolio companies and their private equity owners. The PERG's 12th Report found that only 53% of its sampled companies and firms have prepared disclosure to a good standard under the Walker Guidelines, in comparison to 73% from the previous year. Additionally, only 80% of portfolio companies published annual reports in a timely manner on their website and only 68% published a mid-year update in a timely manner on their website. 7% of companies did not comply with any of the three components of the Guidelines that applied to them.
Alongside its report, PERG (in conjunction with PwC) also published an updated version of its Good Practice Reporting Guide for portfolio companies. This Guide highlights examples of good disclosures to help support portfolio companies with their narrative reporting and, for example, points out that the inclusion of gender pay gap reporting in disclosures should not be seen as a replacement for a broader gender diversity discussion by portfolio companies.
PERG's 12th Report can be found here.
The Good Practice Reporting Guide can be found here.
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